Day 36

September 25, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

We had class today. Yes, it's Saturday here, too. The time change isn't so dramatic that Saturday is eliminated. Apparently, having time off for, say, a Mid-Autumn Festival, means that you have to make that time up somewhere else. Like the weekend. Don't get me started on how that isn't really having time off but just shuffling days around.

So, yeah, 8am class on Saturday. Awesome. You know, I'd gladly trade my Mid-Autumn days back if I could have the weekend off. The weather is finally turning around, so it might actually be possible to do something.

In any case, I have class straight through until October 1, then the Chinese National holiday starts. I get 7 days off for that. I wonder how many Saturdays I will lose because of it.

We went to the mall the other day and I snapped some pictures of odd occurrences. Like those Christmas decorations. Here's another:


Nike Sweater. A sweater from the Nike store at the mall across Chang An.

This is a woman's sweater, by the way. I can't imagine many women who could pull off that slogan. I guess it's good that the Chinese don't seem to understand what it says.

Hayden

Day 35

September 24, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

The last day of Mid-Autumn Festival. Only a few more episodes of Fringe left.

The weather has not improved. Nor has the week. Oh, well, it's done. There's always next week, I guess.

I was supposed to go on a class trip to some local temples today, but the trip filled up before I was able to sign up. It is a small consultation, however, that the weather is horrible.

Friday Favorites:

If you've read the rest of this week's posts, you can imagine that there wasn't really much to "favorite." The Indian restaurant on my birthday was good, and Fringe is entertaining, but my favorite this week is...


Birthday Greetings. My inbox on my birthday.

My Gmail inbox was flooded with birthday greetings on Sunday/Monday/Tuesday (the time change makes it a little difficult to work out). Thank you. Your messages really made my week better.

Hayden

Day 34

September 23, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Day two of my lock-down. It's raining outside, and cold. I think it might be colder than yesterday, actually.

Today consisted of:
Watching Fringe
Running to the market
Eating at KFC
Watching Fringe
Napping
Watching Fringe

That's about it. I wish the weather were better. I dunno, not a very exciting day to live. Or to read about, I guess.

Incidentally, at KFC I tried a menu item they only offer in China:


Tender Beef Pentagon. A beef option at the Chinese KFC. Photo stolen from http://shanghaiscrap.com/.

The packaging claims that the flavor of the beef is "Sichuan," which in Chinese terms seems to mean "Sichuan pepper." Honestly, it's in EVERYthing here. It is amusing, however, that KFC in China essentially sells Crunch Wrap Supremes, and that they're made of beef instead of chicken. Maybe the first Chinese Taco Bell isn't far off. Who knows.

Hayden

Day 33

September 22, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

This week isn't really going so well. I mean, not really. Today is the beginning of the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节）. This is the celebration of the Chinese Moon Goddess who makes medicine for the other gods and lives on the moon with a jade rabbit. Or something. It involves eating moon cakes, mostly, in my estimation, although everyone I know is tired of them already.

In any case, there were some loose plans to go SOMEwhere for this three day break. Those plans have not panned out, however. The weather, for one, is terrible. On Monday, it was still summer. Today? It's winter, inexplicably. The temperature dropped from nearly 35°C (95°F) to about 15°C (59°F). It's very strange, indeed.

In any case, it looks like this little break ours will be spent in my hotel room. Sigh.


Xmas. The mall seems to think its Christmas already. Well, actually, I don't think they ever take the decorations down.

Hayden

Day 32

September 21, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

We were allowed to pick up our new residency visas today, so Jordan and I went out to Chang An to throw ourselves at taxis in hope that one might stop. One did, eventually, and we made our way back to the security bureau, where, in a matter of five minutes, our journey's mission was complete.

Jordan and I split up to find a taxi to take us home: We figured that it might be easier if we were risking our lives separately. I got a taxi and called out to Jordan to come. Then I yelled again. Then again. And all of China turned to look at me. I told the driver in my best Chinese that I would give him 20RMB for the ride if he waited. The ride costs about 11RMB, so it was a tip of around 9RMB (or, $1.45). He waited as I made my way down the corner for half a block yelling for Jordan. Apparently, he was able to get two taxis to stop, but both refused to take him. This, however, put him well out of earshot. We're lucky my taxi guy was so nice, or else we might still be out there.

When we arrived back at the school, I handed the guy a 20RMB note and he tried to give me change. Jordan and I both motioned for him to keep it, but he wasn't getting it. Jordan finally told him that today was an American holiday and the guy smiled strangely and shrugged his shoulders, keeping the change.

I made a video of the taxi ride, but Youtube doesn't work here and I'm not sure if Youku (the Chinese equivalent) works there. On that note, here's a random photo from my trip to the store today:


Garfield. In China, Garfield is an orange lion, apparently, and he's friends with an elephant.

Hayden

Day 31

September 20, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China


Shengri Kuaile...

So, it's my birthday. I had class today, so there's that. The teacher asked another student to come up front and recite a dialogue but she didn't want to, so she deflected it to me. I said "今天是我的生日，我不要。" ("Today is my birthday, I don't wanna.") The teacher ask if that was true and I said "yes."

I found out that another of my classmates, Sanket, was also having a birthday today. I invited him to come along to dinner. He's from India, and it just so happens that I chose Indian food for dinner. A few other classmates wanted to come, too, so there were six of us in total.

We had been told that, of the two Indian restaurants near the Wild Goose Pagoda, one was good and one was bad. Separately, Sanket had been told that, of the two Indian restaurants near the Wild Goose Pagoda, one was owned by an Indian and one was not. As it turns out, the "good" restaurant and the "Indian-owned" restaurant were one and the same.


Xi'an Indian Restaurant. The good one, Indian-owned.

For dinner I had Mutton Tava. Sanket was quite helpful as it turns out. The owner was also from India and he and Sanket could communicate in ways the rest of us wouldn't be able to. Tava, as it turns out, is the name of the metal plate the food is served on.



Mutton Tava. A tava is the metal plate/pan.

Afterward, we went to the Village Cafe for dessert. I had the DRIEST slice of chocolate cake imaginable and very delicious Coke Float.


Cake an a Coke Float. Wow, that's mighty dry cake.

All-in-all, not a bad birthday.

Also, today marks the end of my first month in China.

Hayden

Day 30

September 19, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Today was Jordan's birthday.


Princess Jordan. In China, Jordan is such a pretty girl.

After some deliberation and waiting around for a bus or a taxi, we ended up having dinner at a Chinese food restaurant on the other side of Chang An. The place was on the fourth floor of a mall, pretty big, and fancy by Chinese standards.

The portions were generous, so we all picked something off the menu and shared.


Jordan's Birthday Spread. Dinner at the restaurant across Chang An.

Jordan ordered Kung Pao Chicken (it's a real thing!), Angel ordered some very hot and tasty bread buns, and I chose duck, of course. We all got a bowl of noodles, too.


Duck. Delicious golden fried duck.

Everything was universally good, and we certainly didn't leave hungry. It wasn't until halfway through our meal, however, that we realized that "half duck" meant "half of all the duck:



Duck's Head. Well, they did say "half."

"It's the duck's head." I said.
"No, it is not." Angel replied.
"It is. Here's the beak and the brain," I flipped it over, "and the eye. It's looking at us."
"That's gross," Angel seemed offended.
"I'll eat it." Jordan interjected, picking the head with his chopsticks.

Oh, well. Happy Birthday, Jordan.

Hayden

Day 29

September 18, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Well, the room is all mine now, for better or for worse. I moved some stuff around, reorganized a bit, made the floorspace larger by pushing the beds toward the walls.

Also, with my arm hurting again, I went out on round two of my mission to find a cure. This time I focused on two aspects: Diet and posture. I went out specifically to buy a folding chair. I thought, just maybe, the fact that our desk stools don't have a back to lean against might be causing the pain. We'll see. I also bought a multi-vitamin, which was an interesting conversation. I didn't know the word for vitamin and she didn't understand English. She asked me to write down the word. She looked at the paper and then she laughed and said "汉语！" ("In Chinese!"). I glanced around and noticed some bottles that looked like they had fish oil in them, went over and noticed Vitamin A. I wasn't sure how to say "Multi" either, so I say "A 和 E..." implying a mix. She reached over and grabbed a bottle of "Vitamin A & E!" I had no idea that combination was possible! Sigh. So I said "A 和 E 和 B...." She realized what I meant and grabbed the "Multi-Vitamin" bottle.

So, what did I learn today? Folding chairs can be quite heavy if carried for more than half an hour. In China, A & E is a common vitamin blend. Oh, and...


Star Trek Car. To boldly drive where 1 billion have driven before.

...Starfleet makes automobiles.

Hayden

Day 28

September 17, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

I have never been so happy for a week to end. It was just the longest week ever, and every day of it was more frustrating than the last. Now in for a nice relaxing weekend.

Nope.

Damn it! My arm is hurting again. Sigh. I may have pinpointed the problem, I think it has something to do with my posture. I'm not saying it had changed since I arrived in China, it's just that my desk has a stool and not a chair. This is mainly significant because I've been mostly computing from my bed lately. Today, however, I got the brilliant idea to clean off my desk and use it. This, as it turns out, may have been a mistake, re: The arm pain.

Jordan is moving out. Today, actually. He found an apartment near the school with some Chinese guys. So, I'll have this room all to myself. Let's hope the hotel doesn't try to complicate my living-alone plans.

Friday Favorites:

So, what can be salvaged from this week? Not much. The pizza was good, so there's that. And, I guess I got to ride in a taxi two more times. So, bonus there. But, this week's Friday Favorite is...


My New Shirt. Bought at the Vanguard, in Xi'an.

"Easy Your Life." Poorly-chosen words to live by.

Hayden

Day 27

September 16, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Sigh. Today was exhausting. With our visa deadlines quickly approaching, Jordan and I made plans to go to the security bureau to drop off our passports and paperwork. Jordan picked up his documents from the Foreign Student's Office yesterday, so I stopped by to get mine today. The office is always full of people, and the one or two people who are actually working there are stressed out beyond belief. I sat down with one of the counselors, the other was out, and she thumbed through my paperwork:

"Did you turn in four photos?"
"Yes, almost a month ago."
"Copies of your passport?"
"I turned them in at the same time."
"A copy of the receipt for your housing?"
"Yes."
"None of that is in here. Can you just come back next week? When does you visa expire?"
"Monday."
"Monday?!"

Yes, Monday. Which wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that your office lost everything I had already turned in. It's not as if I could do any of this earlier, since I didn't get my health exam results until last week. So, I spent the morning running back and forth from the school to my room trying to find the items I needed to complete my visa documents. I missed one session of my second class (we have two sessions per class per day), in order to accomplish this. After I got everything I needed, I sat down in a chair while she v-e-r-y s--l--o--w--l--y c---h---e---c---k---e---d o----v----e----r t-----h-----e f------o------r------m------s....I was worried that her speed would cause me to miss the second half of my class. Luckily, she finished just after the bell rang, 15 or so minutes later.

This would be mirrored in my later experience at the security bureau. Let's cut past the fact that we left two hours late, and that I didn't get to eat lunch because we were waiting on others to go to lunch who were apparently at lunch and didn't bother to mention it. We'll also cut past the 20 minutes it took us to get a taxi during this sudden September heatwave, and my complaining about how they won't pick up foreigners. We'll cut right to the security bureau, where we waited in the un-air conditioned building in a long line while one woman poured over every single person's documents. ONE! This is so typical of China, there are 8 million people here, any given store employs 30,000 of them to jump on you if you seem remotely interested in buying something. But banks? Or government offices? There will be dozens of desks and one person running the whole show. If you need to get something done, it's probably not happening today. Other employees even came in while we were waiting, made a joke to/at the lady and then walked off. AND she took, like, three phone calls while we waited. You know, just hanging out in a line sweating to death.

God we were sweaty. Anyway, the actual document "interview" consisted of sitting in a chair while she looked to make sure everything was in order. It was, so we went downstairs and paid (400RMB, by the way, on top of the fact that we paid $200 to get our visa already).

We hunted for food or water or a taxi, and found water. Then a taxi. This driver was actually quite a change for the better. He was so friendly. And, he explained to Angel, our Chinese friend, that he had been going on his lunch break but decided to take pity on us.

We ended up eating at Subway, which was not my choice, but I was starving. I ordered a foot long, and they cost about the same comparatively. I got somewhere around 2/3 of the way into it and didn't think I could make it. Chinese food has shrunk my stomach.

"Come on, finish it, you wimp." Angel said.

Hayden

Day 26

September 15, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Blah. Jordan is sick. I'm not, thank goodness, but I haven't been sleeping very well and his sickness isn't helping much.

I slept in today, and skipped my classes. It's not as if they take attendance, and we're still in review territory. You would just not believe how exhausting it is to not be able to actually communicate something to some one else. Ever. Even when some one does speak English, conversations can be little more than superficial. Ah, well.

So, for this Wednesday, please enjoy this Chinglish:


Jianmin. "the series high qualityfoodstuff were produced carefully.it is your firstchoice of present."

At present, I guess it is my first choice, mainly because it leads me to rather an interesting end note to a previous discussion. Jianmin is a brand of what is essentially just a very high-gluten flour they use to make cakes and that sort of thing. Gluten in Chinese is "mianjin" (面筋, lit. "bread muscle"). It's really chewy when cooked and a little spongy. One of the many ways in which is is prepared is skewered and grilled. Said skewers are spiral cut in order to allow them to cook more evenly, and then rolled in spices. The result is a spicy, chewy sort of cake. A cake, mind you, that doesn't contain ANY sheep's penis at all, and is sold by street vendors ALL over China.


Mianjin (面筋) 2. Roasted, rolled in spices, and delightfully sheep's penis-free.

Phew.

Hayden

Day 25

September 14, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Hmm. Well, I had the worst class probably in the history of time today. The day started off as it should, fried-bread-egg-thing, class on time. The first of my two classes was just fine, it was the second one that was awful. I had missed it last week because I wasn't feel well; I wish I could never "feel well" again. The class is a pronunciation class and consists entirely of a the world's loudest Chinese woman (I use that loosely; she's maybe 22), yelling syllable at the top of her lungs from a text book. FOR TWO HOURS. Sigh. It's a bit like:

"ZA! ZAI! ZAN! ZANG! ZAO! ZE! ZEI! ZEN! ZENG! ZHA!" Blah, blah, blah. FOR TWO HOURS.

This class took place after my run-in with my secret arch-enemy. The lady in the bookstore and I have never been very good friends. She speaks zero English, and she pretends like the Chinese I know is some sort of gibberish even though I know I'm communicating something. There was our first encounter, when she needed some one other than me to say "一班" ("Class 1") for her to understand what I meant. Later, when I discovered she had given me the wrong book, her indignation that I had brought a friend's book with me was beyond belief. Today, I discovered that my courses require 5 books, not 4. I marched down there, with a classmate's book again, to explain to her about the mix up. I told her "你给我四本书，你不给我五本书。我想这本书。"("You gave me four books, you didn't give me five books. I need this book."). This made her very angry indeed, she stormed around the room yelling something in Chinese. A few people who spoke both English and Chinese came to try to help, but she was having none of it. She tried to charge me for the book and I attempted to explain that I had paid for it already, but this wasn't working. She actually took my friend's book away from me at one point and threw it onto the pile of books and motioned for me to leave! Eventually, after repeating myself over and over, she gave me two copies of the book and I left.

It doesn't end there. Cut to the blissful period after that awful class ended. There she was, standing in the hallway looking forlorn. She was holding a copy of the book. The book in question contains a CD, you see, and she had given me two new copies. Brian, the classmate whose book I had used, had already removed his copy of the CD, so she was down a disc. She started to say something, giving me sad eyes. I cut here off: "一下" ("One second."). I grabbed the book from her, switched with Brian's copy, and gave her a look that said "Do you see how normal human beings solve very simple problems?"

Anyway. On a brighter note, Xi'an is full of statues. They're everywhere, jutting up in the medians like so many metal-and-steel blooms. It has something to do with this city's 90s renaissance as a cultural haven. It's too bad that most of the art pieces are IN THE MEDIAN OF A SIX LANE HIGHWAY. So, you know, I can't actually get to them to take any pictures. Still, I'll try to update you with some of them from time-to-time.

Over near Saga, there was this art piece:



Saga Art. People running up a mouse, the symbol of the "Electronics District."

It was surprisingly shiny and clean-looking given the amount of air pollution and dust in this city. So, I guess, it can't really be that old.

Hayden

Day 24

September 13, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Monday, Monday. What can I say? Back to school again.

If you know me well, you know I'm not a fan of waking up, so its no surprise that I wake up JUST in time to run to class everyday. Well, run to the dining hall and grab my favorite breakfast, a sort of fried bread dipped in egg that has bits of green onion and ham in it, then run to class.

This is the routine, this is how it will be.

So. Yeah. Here's a picture of a bunny:


Overtime Rabbit. That's really his name, and I think he's adorable.

Hayden

Day 23

September 12, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

So, yeah, today. Today we went to Saga (pronounced "Saige" but not spelled that way, apparent. Actually, it's spelled "S@ga") again, so that meant another trek across this part of the city. We took Angel with us, who is Chinese. I'm not sure what her Chinese name is, actually.

After Saga, we walked around a bit and discovered:


Wal-Mart. Conveniently located in China.

Wal-Mart was supposed to be an interesting look at Western Cultural inroads into China, what it was, however, was mostly boring. The store is about the same as an American Wal-Mart, which I guess is saying something, but, oddly the prices are higher than you would get at any local market. They are not China's "Low Price Leader." Also, I guess it should be noted that the Wal-Mart was INSIDE a mall. Yeah. That was the strangest part of it for me. Not very interesting, I'm afraid. But, I did see these while I was there:


Happy Buns. These buns seem very happy.

The one thing that should be noted about Wal-Mart is the lack of air conditioning. This is actually pretty widespread in China, but since Wal-Mart is completely enclosed without a single window or outward-facing door, this was VERY noticeable. It was like an over-lit sweat lodge. I had a vision of the Wal-Mart smiley face. He told me I should expect low prices. Always.

The more interesting yin to Wal-Mart's boring yang would be our choice for dinner.


Pizza Hut. Hmm...the outside seems familiar.

Ah, Pizza Hut. I had been looking forward to finding one of these for some time. They have commercials for them here, illustrating their abundance of available side dishes. What I didn't expect, however...


Pizza Hut Interior. Well, that's different.

...is that Pizza Hut is a FOUR-STAR RESTAURANT in China. The place was incredibly fancy on the inside. Small tables, mood lighting, a hostess. I didn't really know what to think of it. And the menu items:


Pizza Hut Menu. A look at the first (of ten) page(s) of the Pizza Hut menu in China.


Lamb Shank. Pizza Hut offers many additional dinner choices.


Escargots. Yep, you can get an escargot appetizer at Pizza Hut.

They did, of course, have pizza as well. Some options were more foreign than others:


Stuffed Crust Pizzas 1. Two choices for additions to your pizza crust.


Stuffed Crust Pizzas 2. This pizza has pigs-in-a-blanket built right into the crust.

We looked over the extensive menu and settled in on a classic: A Supreme Pan Pizza. It arrived and we were very happy:


Supreme Pan Pizza. From the Pizza Hut in Xi'an.

Just like home. Well...almost. There's always an almost, isn't there? It should be noted that a Supreme pizza in China comes with everything you're familiar with...and pineapple. Not that weird, but it's a surprise when you bite into it without realizing it's there.

Hayden

Day 22

September 11, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence - China

I had planned to go to the city wall today, but that didn't pan out. So, I slept in nice and late.

I've been having a little problem. You see, I have money in China. I took out my spending cash so I'd have it if I needed it. But, I don't have much money in America right now. This problem seemed to be fixed by the announcement that my tuition disbursement was happening this week, a whole month early. That excitement was tempered when I received an email saying that an error had messed up the Cashier's Office and refunds would not be going out. This was, of course, after I received the receipt for my refund in a previous email. Blah. They said they've fixed the problem, and things should be OK by Monday.

Nothing too adventurous today. A little trip to the market, lunch at KFC. Not totally exciting. My lunch today did come with...


Egg Pie. Courtesy of KFC.

...an egg pie. It's sort of a sweet custard in a flaky crust. Pretty good.

Also, my birthday is soon. I'm not sure how that's going to be here in China. Jordan said he'd buy me dinner for my birthday if I buy him dinner for his. His birthday is on the 19th of September, incidentally. In any case, I bought myself a present today:


Bread Head. I have no idea, either.

He was only about $2. And he's a bank! I'm not sure why this cube man has bread on his head. I'm also not sure why his butt has "It's So Delicious!" printed on it.

Hayden

Day 21

September 10, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

This afternoon, we trekked across the (southern part of the) city to Saige, a giant, four-story electronics store in the "electronics" district. They have districts here. The bus ride was...let's go with awful. It was hot, and crowded. And small: It was like a van. We arrived after what seemed like forever and made our way to the third floor to look at pocket translators. Pocket translators are something of a must here for foreigners, but they are SO expensive in the states.


Saige. It's huge.

The floors are divided by what they sell: First floor is mostly cameras and cellphones, second floor is computers, the third is a variety of hand-held devices like pocket translators and eReaders, and the fourth is peripheral stuff like keyboards and webcams. There is also a large section of bootleg material:


Bootleg DVDs. Titanic 2? Too soon?

I really liked the cover of the Inception DVD. The photo on the front of Titanic 2 was from Revolutionary Road. I wondered if the film was just that, having nothing to do with the original at all. The description on the back was priceless, however. Something about Jack being frozen for 80 years and then thawed by researchers. He escapes the research facility...blah, blah, blah. All of this was in the best Chinglish, by the way. And I think that description comes from an MTV Movie Awards sketch with Ben Stiller and James Cameron. So, who knows what movie is in the case.

Friday Favorites:

Okay, so this is gonna be a little out of left field. For me, anyway. After Saige, Jordan and I walked around looking for the bus stop. We had planned to have dinner at Pizza Hut, because we found out there was one about 2 km from our school. In our wandering we ran across...


McDonald's. The McDonald's near Saige in Xi'an.

...McDonald's. At this point I was tired and quite hungry (for the first time in days!). So, you know, let's do it. We walked upstairs (apparently they're usually upstairs. First floor rents are more expensive and they have the name recognition to get people to walk up a flight of stairs), made our way to the counter, and ordered. Jordan got the equivalent of a Double Quarter Pounder, but without cheese. I ordered a Big Mac. And a small McNugget to check out their sauce options.

We sat down at a table, I opened the box, took a bite, and...its was exactly like a Big Mac. Well, almost exactly. I think there was mustard on it rather than thousand island dressing. But, that's not the point: The bun, the burgers, the cheese, the lettuce, the pickles. It was all the same. Exactly the same. It was like biting into a Big Mac in the US.



Big Mac. Just like home.

Now, I'm not even really a fan of McDonald's. That's no secret. I like Egg McMuffins, but that's about it. But, in this instance, it was just right. It was the first thing I've had here that was supposed to taste American that actually did. And the fries! My god, the fries. They were so HOT. The remained at maximum temperature for more than 15 minutes! I was having trouble eating them after we had sat there and ate nearly everything else!

The McNuggets, too, were on point. Although, to be fair, they have always been a little Asian. They are tempura battered, or something like it. The sauce options were:


McNugget Sauce. Malay, American, and Italian, respectively.

I tried all three. The Italian was spaghetti sauce and the American was BBQ sauce, so, you know, smoke flavoring. But the Malay was amazing. It was satay sauce, and I know that I'm harping on American familiarity here, but we need this in the US. It's perfect on the nuggets.

Most things were just like a US McDonald's. One key difference? Well...


McDonald's Pies. I guess apples aren't as popular here.

The pies here aren't apple, they're purple yam. ((shrugs))

Hayden

Day 20

September 9, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence - China

The school arranged to take the foreign students for their medical exams today. I had already gotten mine, of course, but decided to go along in order to (finally) pick up my results. I was informed on the bus that the school would have picked up my results for me, but by that time it was already too late.

We arrived, I got my results, and then I left on my own, as it would probably take two or three hours for everyone else to finish. The results of the medical exam, in case you were curious: Perfectly healthy. Well, it said something about a slight "sinus arrhythmia," but also that I was free of any disease that would require quarantine or deportation. So, you know, that's good.

My plan was to take the bus back, but as I was walking to the bus stop, a taxi pulled up and let a lady out. So, I had my first ever taxi ride.


Taxi Driver. Only about $1 to get me all the way back to school.

The taxi dropped me off at the gates of the school, so I did a bit of walking around. Nearly three days without an appetite, I thought I'd try to find something to eat on my walk home. A street vendor was grilling up some skewers and I stopped to ask him what it was, assuming it was spiral cut potatoes. I said "这是土豆吗?" ("this is a potato?") to him, and he responded with some word I didn't understand ending in "肉" ("meat"). I thought "oh, well" and bought one. It was chewy, so "organ meat" was my first instinct. I ate the not-a-potato wondering the whole time what it might be.

((NOTE: You might not want to read the rest of this misadventure. I'm just saying, it goes to a weird place. Maybe you could just go Google "fluffy kittens." That will turn out better than this.))

I meant to ask Xiao Liu about it, but never remembered. I brought it up in class while we were on the subject of restaurants. One of my classmates, he's from Indonesia, told me that he had been told that those spiral skewers were dog meat. My teacher said "no, no, no!" emphatically. They were NOT dog meat. I was relieved, but what were they? The texture had been weird and spongy, so I suggested “豆腐" ("tofu"). She said that sounded right and the conversation ended.

Cut to the internet: I searched and searched for the answer, mostly because I wanted a picture to post on my blog. And, unfortunately, I finally found my answer:


Street Vendor. Picture stolen from http://www.livingstupidly.com/?cat=1&paged=2.

It was sheep penis. Grilled. On a skewer.

It seems weird to say this, but somehow, this was bound to happen sooner or later...

Hayden

Day 19

September 8 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Today marked the second straight day of rain. The season is turning, you can feel it all around you. Unlike in Florida, autumn may actually be here by my birthday.

I ended up going back to the room today during a break in classes. My stomach was not happy about something, and wasn't going to let me forget it. I laid down and skipped my second class.

After my nap, I got up, thinking it necessary to find dinner. I had no interest really, so I bypassed the dining hall in favor of the small campus market. The market has a little tea...counter? It's not much bigger than that. So, I decided to have a milk tea, thinking it might help. It tasted good, but I can't say it made my stomach feel any better.


Ma Qidou. I like that they translate "latte" and "mocha," but not "macchiato." Admittedly, I had to look up the spelling.

The shop was quite full, as most places are now that the freshmen have arrived. I browsed a little to see if something would arouse my appetite:


Chinese Snacks. Chicken feet anyone? I think they're BBQ flavored...

Nope. That's not going to do it.

A traffic altercation on my walk home reminded me of something I've been meaning to talk about. I know I've said a few things about Chinese driving in the past, but this is different. And the same, I guess. I've not seen a single "STOP" sign here. There doesn't seem to be any. Well, I assume that there has to be stop signs somewhere, but I've not ran into one. In fact, there are "DO NOT STOP" signs. And they are everywhere:


X-Men X-ing? Nope, its a "don't stop" sign.

It seems to me, that you can pretty much do whatever you like while driving here. If you want to stop in the middle of the highway, go for it. People are going to honk, but they'll work their way around. If you want to drive in the wrong lane because a bus isn't going the speed you'd like, so be it. You can always force your way back into the line of traffic. It's like there aren't rules here. I was standing at the bus stop the other day, looking at the madness and thinking "we (America) gave China the car. This is all our fault." Maybe that's not entirely true, at any rate the West gave the East automobiles. Traffic laws were, however, lost in translation.

Hayden

Day 18

September 7, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

The days are dissolving into classwork and sleeping. I've fallen into the routine already. Even though I'm in China, the small section of the city I inhabit has begun to feel familiar.

The freshmen arrived today. In China, they start a bit later than everyone else. I guess it allows for the endless rounds of paperwork to be spread out a little. They won't start classes just yet, however, as they are required to do (I think) two weeks of military drills. Every student in China is required to learn military drills, it's just one of their quirks.

The freshman have made this crowded campus even more so. When I first arrived, I was a week ahead of most of the other students. Shida Rd was mostly empty, save for an odd pedestrian. Now, you have to fight your way down the sidewalk. And don't get me started on the over-populated madness that is the dining hall.


Welcome, Freshmen. The inflatable banner in front of the dining hall.

Speaking of sidewalks, the Chinese don't use them. I'm not entirely sure why they have them to be honest with you. Well, they don't use them to walk on, anyway. Cars park on the sidewalk, more often than not, and people walk freely down the middle of the street. Cars and scooters honk when they want you out of the way. It just seems like they have it all backwards to me, but then again, this isn't my country.

In other news, I met Archie's Chinese cousin today. They should swap for a little while, sort of a Country Cat and City Cat deal. Chinese Archie approached me in the park this afternoon, and was vaguely interested in me. When he discovered I wasn't holding delicious fishes, he rubbed himself against a nearby tree and ignored me.


Chinese Archie. He loves delicious fishes. I'm assuming.

I named him 二乞 （érqǐ, pronounced "ar-chi"). It sounds like "Archie" AND it means "#2 Beggar."

Hayden

Day 17

September 6, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Let's get this right out there: It rained today. All day. It was that sort of day. I went to class, I came back and I...napped.

The rest of my day was...



My life. This is what my life will look like for the next few months.

...homework.

So, how about some randomness, then?

You know what's weird? Chinese toilet paper is three-ply. This is mostly weird because everything else is so...let's say cost conscious. Seriously they will hand you boiling water in the THINNEST plastic cup you've ever touched. It's micrometers between you and scalding. But, the toilet paper is thick. First of all, it's not soft, at all. Do you remember primary school and those long rolls of butcher paper teachers had in order to distract you with drawing time? It's like that, maybe slightly less thick. But its three-sheets of that. Also, it isn't perforated, so mostly it looks like our bathroom has a roll of jagged streamers sitting on the counter.

Currently, my soundtrack is Jenny & Johnny's new (also debut, technically) album I'm Having Fun Now. The Jenny is Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley/her solo career. You should listen to "Big Wave" to see if you're going to like it. It's my favorite song on the album. So far.

Additionally, I think the Chinese character for "family" 家 （jiā) looks a bit like...


家 (jiā). def. home, family, a person engaged in a certain art or profession,
measure word for stores and schools.

...Cthulu wearing a beret. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm currently reading "At the Mountains of Madness" by H.P. Lovecraft. Maybe. I'm enjoying the novella: Lovecraft manages to say so much while saying so little about saying so much. He describes everything in such detail, while simultaneously revealing nothing. It's like watching reading a magic act.

When I was searching for a picture of Cthulu, I ran across this:


Family Cthulu. Makes as much sense as the regular strip.

Yep, I think that about sums it up.

Incidentally, a search for "beret" turned up photos of...berets. (*cough*)

Hayden