Ello!!

Last Tuesday (2 days ago), Randall, Catherine, Valentina, Luis, Drew, Arif, and I went to the Beijing Zoo. It was too big to see the whole thing, but we got to see the pandas (of course), the cool cats (lions, tigers, etc), bears, and the elephants- I like animals… so it was pretty fun. I now want a pet panda!!

Yesterday night, we all went out out to the Mango Club in Wudaokou. I like this place better than all the other places because the music isn’t bad, the dance floor isn’t empty, and the dance floor isn’t packed. We didn’t stay out too late, but definitely got a lot of the dancing done.

Today was pretty regular. We actually had (and are having every day) about 30-40ish teachers observe our class. The teachers are of all ages and races… I guess they’re learning how to teach by watching us learn. Some of the teachers were asleep with their heads down haha. After class, we had lunch, and after lunch Thomas, Arif, Olgun, Catherine, and I played some texas hold’em. None of them know how to really play except for Thomas so it becomes really hard to play against….. Catherine won. My dad actually came to Beijing today and took Olgun, Arif, Catherine, Valentina, and me out for dinner. He’s going to be here for 2 nights and leaving early Saturday to go to Honolulu for 3 weeks. Mom’s joining him there too and then they’re going to meet me back in Beijing after that. I’m actually waiting for Dad to finish up some short business meeting so he can treat me to a foot massage ;D. Guess what time it is?? That’s right- picture time!!

Beijing Zoo entrance.

Panda was put in timeout.

I want a pet panda(s)!!

Panda-monium!!

Must’ve stayed up really late!

Women was feeding this bear coke although there is a sign that clearly states that the animals are not to be fed. But at least I got a bear-y good picture!

Year of the tiger!!!

Sleepyhead.

White tiger.

“King” of the jungle. (Tiger would win in a fight though).

Orange tiger.

Simba and Nyla… sittin in a cage.

Panther.

Too bad the aquarium was closed- was looking forward to being beckoned and hearing stories about whales from smart dolphins and sea lions.

Badonkadonk!

In case you didn’t know… Closer, Easier.

Rockin’ that body at the Temple of Confucius. Enjoy!! ^_^;;

This weekend went by super fast! On Friday night, a bunch of us (and i mean a BUNCH) went to Sanlitun, which is like the big club and bar street in Beijing. We ate dinner at some Mexican restaurant which I found to be overpriced (by China standards) and not very bueno at all. After that, we all went to some bar and more people from our class met up with us. Then, we went to the very convenient Red Club as it was right across the street. We were supposed to go to some other clubs throughout the night, but I guess we were just having too much fun at the Red Club.

On Saturday, we took it easy. For dinner, Valentina, Catherine, Cinzia, Arif, and I went to some really small restaurant that served “baozi” and “jiaozi”- it was delicious. Then we all played a really simple and teachable card game that I knew called “kemps”. After that we all went to grab a drink (i.e. smoothies and milkshakes) at Helen’s Cafe… I also had a burger because I was hungry :D.

Sunday was temple time! We all met at the subway station at 11:30 and took the subway to Yonghe Temple- there we saw the largest Maitreyu Buddha carved out of a single tree- whoa! After templin’, we ate lunch, and then did more templin’. The second place we went to was the Confucian temple/college. I took a lot of pictures of the temple day, so I’ll let that do da talkin’ bloggin’.

Entrance to  Yonghe Temple.

Inside Yonghe.

Some blue guardian gods- forgot the name of em.

Chinese “gargoyle-ish” roof detail.

Yonghe courtyard.

Da temp.

No photos allowed, but I ninja’d one anyways =). This statue is HUGE!!

26 meters high….. HUGE I tell ya!

Proof I was there.

All of us at Yonghe (left to right: Tomas, Valentina, te0h, Cinzia, Arif, Olgun, Catherine)

We got a private room for our luncheon =).

I don’t know why, but I found this funny… so, I took a pic!

Entrance to Confucian Temple.

Actin’ smart.

Path to Confucianism.

Cool tree.

Confucius’ disciples. (Left to right: Tomas, Olgun, Arif, Valentina, Catherine, te0h, Cizia)

Up-close. ^_^;;

Not much has been going on except for school. College in the U.S. spoiled me as I’m not use to going to class at 8am; however, I’ve been making it on time =). This week has gone by pretty fast. On Tuesday, Valentina, Arif, Olgun, and I went and got a full body massage- it only cost us 70 RMB each for 70 minutes- you can’t beat that.

On Wednesday, I ate lunch w/ most of the people in my class. After lunch, a bunch of the guys (including me) went to play some outdoor bball. Playing bball here is completely different than playing in America- apparently here, basketball is a very very NON-contact sport… almost everything is a foul and they wait till after they miss or after the ball is stolen to call the foul -_-;; One time, I passed the ball to someone wide open and he made the game winning basket… the other team then says the point didn’t count because they fouled me on the pass (even though I didn’t even feel/call the “foul”)… so we had to re-do everything lol. Although I was slightly annoyed, it was fun and competitive overall.

Today, all the guys in the class played soccer, but I took a nap instead =). After my awesome nap, Catherine, Olgun, and I went to the same massage place we went to before, but this time we just got a foot massage. It cost 48 RMB for 70 minutes- boom shakalaka!! I actually enjoy the foot massage a lot more because you don’t have to change into anything else AND you get to practice your chinese the whole time with whoever’s rubbing your feet. I’ve learned a lot of situational dialogue this past week and I was able to converse somewhat effectively- I’m most definitely going to be getting a lot more foot massages ^_^. Anyways, I’ve got to sleep now in order to make it to my 8am-er tomorrow. TGIF. Zai-jian!!

Action shot during dinner. Arif, te0h, Olgun, Luis (left to right)

Some people from my class grubbin. I ordered (most of it).

The shirtless short-blue-shorts guy knows 1 word in English- FOUL!

Today was my 2nd day of class and coincidentally I had to go #2 really badly during class… As soon as we had our first break, I ran out of the classroom to use the nearest bathroom only to find out that 1, the toilets in the university are ceramic holes in the floor (like everywhere else almost) and 2, there is no toilet paper. So I had to run all the way back to my place to do what it do… but, I couldn’t run b/c the feeling was pretty overwhelming.  Anyways, I get back to my room, do my business, and find out that the maids have not replaced the toilet paper… so, I had to use tissue paper (the kind of tissue paper you blow your nose w/). After that, I ran back to class about 10 mins late and semi-made up for my tardiness by giving the teacher a huge “dui bu qi” (sorry). Some classmates asked me where I went (as they saw me run out) and I told them I had to drop something off. After class, I went to eat at the Muslim Restaurant w/ Valentina, Catherine, Arif, Robert, and Annie- the beef kebobs were delicious- I ordered extra. After luncheon, Robert and Arif came over after to steal some of my music- I told them that they had to match me gigabyte for gigabyte. Later, Olgun came over to my apt and brought over some fruit. Yes, fruit. Then, Catherine, Arif, Olgun, and I went to eat at one of the Chinese restaurants on the 5th floor of the nearby mall. I was telling them all that I have Chinese food ordering skillz, so they let me do my thang and were thoroughly impressed- obviously, the food was very good :D. After that, Arif and Catherine cruised to my pad and we did our homework and reviewed what we had learned today… they left just now. However, I must go as well so I can wake up earlier as to not have a repeat of the crap that happened earlier. Catch that? Good night.

This past weekend was a blast! On Friday night, Cinzia, Valentina, Catherine, Arif, Robert, Joonah (sp?), Luis, and Lara ate at “College Perk”. College Perk is a spinoff of “Central Perk”… everything from the logo to the actual interior decor of the restaurant resembled that of Friends’- the pizza was just alright. After that we went to the Mango Club and did the dancing for awhile. This was the first time out out w/ the gang and I didn’t know everyone was so down to get down! It was a great time.

Saturday, we went to The Great Wall. It was a workout and we definitely should have taken the cable car up (of course, we rode it down!). I really don’t know how else to describe the wall except that it was great- I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. After wallin’, I took the great nap. Later that night, we all went to eat at a Chinese restaurant located on the campus of a neighboring university. Robbie and Thomas (my buddies from TX) actually joined us. After dinner, we went to see some live rock n’ roll at a cool little place called D-22. Watching the Asian headbangers headbang with the European headbangers was quite awesome- I was tempted to join in, but I’m really not that cool. You know who’s cool though? The band we saw called “Rustic”. They totally stole the show and everyone left after they were done including us. We then decided to go to Mango Club one more time, so I could show Robbie and Thomas something a little different since they were leaving soon. Like the previous night, Mango Club was really fun and I’m sure Rob and Tom enjoyed it as well- they both danced more that night than I’ve ever seen them combined. After Mango Club, we went and got some street food, but that was not enough so we cruised to La Bamba, a Mexican restaurant, after. I ordered a burrito.

Sunday was actually my favorite day of the weekend and we didn’t even go out! Most people slept in, but Randall, Emmy (his “flat”mate), Olgun, and I met up for breakfast at the Bridge Cafe. They have a lot of random dishes, but most of us including me got the “American Breakfast” (i.e. pancakes, bacon, eggs (I got them overeasy), homefries, and oj)- so American right? It was yummy! In the afternoon, Valentina, Catherine, Olgun, Arif, and I went to Nan Luo Gu Xiang, which is supposedly a 700+ year old “Hutong”.  This place was amazing!! The whole time I just kept trying to imagine how it looked like a 100 years ago, 300 years ago, 700 years ago…!! I don’t even know. We then walked to Houhai, which is a lake very nearby. Houhai was the best part of the weekend- it’s so beautiful and peaceful (but not really that peaceful, because there are a lot of locals and tourists). We wanted to ride the paddle boats, but there was too long of a wait. Some locals were playing hackie sack and they were soooooo good- this one guy and girl were like kicking it from behind them- I can’t even really explain it, you’d have to see it for yourself… amazing! There were also many people dancing and they were all extremely good, even the really old people- I did not even dare to try haha. After that, we just sat and talked around the lake and then went home. What a weekend. Okay, picture time!

The beginning of the climb. Dun dun dun…

Break time!!

Look how small the wall is……….

More wallage.

The Mom told her little daughter to do this. I had to take a pic!! :D

Wallin’ outa control. Arif, Catherine, te0h, Olgun, Annie, Randall, Drew, Luis (left to right).

My 1st day has been amASIAN!! Class goes from 8am-12 and we have 2 different teachers (one from 8-10 and another from 10-12 w/ a 10 minute break every hour). The class for this 6 week program is based mostly on pronunciation and vocabulary; it is taught through mass repetition (seems like a very Chinese way of doing it hehe). I like my teachers and I’m pretty sure they like me as well… who wouldn’t =)?? The class has around 20 ppl from all over the world with about 2 or 3 who are a little older than the rest (i.e. older as in the 35-45 year old range). Class is alright for now, but then again the 1st day is always like that. I can’t help laughing (or just grinning from ear to ear) when I hear some of the Europeans pronounce stuff in Chinese- it just comes out so funny!! So after class, I went to eat lunch w/ my new acquaintances and then we had coffee after (so Euro). I’ve met so many new people… and now we’re all buddies! Here’s who I’ve met (in the order I’ve met them):

1.  Randall - I knew this dude was gonna be coming here before via facebook. He’s actually a huge NBA fan (more specifically- a Utah Jazz fan) and it’s great that I can get my daily dose of bball banter. We sit next to each other and we literally repeat EVERYTHING the “lao-shu” says.

2.  Charles - This guy’s hilarious… Every time the teacher calls on him, he gives him/her a very frustrated wtf look and says something along the lines of “this is my first day of learning chinese” or “you’re going way too fast”. He’s Swiss-German, and is one of the people whom Chinese accents I find humorous. But hey, he can speak Swiss, German, and English… while I’m the Chinese kid who only speaks English taking Chinese lessons…

3.  Valentina - Italian girl who came in an hour late! I forgot exactly what city she’s from, but it’s on the Adriatic coast- she’s really really cool. One of our homework assignments was to exchange numbers w/ 5 other ppl in the class. She was 1 of them, but we both were taking way too long to say the numbers in Chinese so we just copied them down from our phones!

4.  Catherine - Frenchie from a city near Paris! She introduced herself to me as Catherine w/ a “C”, and I told her my name was Chris… w/ a “C”. She’s super nice and I’m loving the French accent. Her # is longer than everyone’s because she doesn’t have a Chinese sim card yet- she better get one soon if she wants to hang haha!!

5.  Arif - The only other American in my little buddy network that I’ve made so far. He’s from Philly and also living on campus.  This dude’s a TRIPLE-language major and now trying to pick up Chinese. Wow! He was showing off his Spanish and Italian skillz puaha.

6.  Robert - Guy from Sweden. This guy’s funny- not his accent, just his personality. Oh and he loves dubstep as well!! After lunch we traded iPods for a little and were rocking out to each other’s tunes- we’re going to definitely trade some music sometime. He’s actually here because his gf lives here, so he lives kind of far from everyone else.

7.  Olgun - This guy’s from Turkey. I met him through Arif as he joined us for lunch and coffee. His sister is living here as well, but I didn’t meet her or anything. This guy’s cool- we ended up playing some bball after coffee. I beat him 15-1, but I think his forte is in soccer as he played semi-professionally when he was a teenager (he’s 20 right now). He has a moped and he picked me up in that to go to the courts.

8.  Cinzia - Valentina’s older sister who’s been here for 4 months already. She knows more than us, so she actually chose our lunch destination and ordered for us. She’s really helpful and uber nice- she bought us a huge watermelon after lunch while we were all hot n sweaty from the heat/humidity.  

9.  Lara - Spanish girl who we all met through Cinzia. She can also speak Italian! She was telling us her experiences in China saying that they don’t really think out of the box here. For example, rather her example, was that once she wanted a potato salad and all the waitress kept telling her was “tuna salad”. And then when she said she didn’t want tuna salad, the waitress still brought out tuna salad… Haha, sounds fishy.

10.  Louie - Italian guy who I also met through Cinzia. He didn’t talk much, but all I know was that he wants to play me in ping pong- he’s supposedly pretty good… I’m not, but maybe he thinks so because I’m Chinese. I feel like my inability to speak Chinese is already a huge tell that I probably ain’t the best ping ponger around.

I LOVE meeting new and interesting people. It’s kind of like when you find new, great music or some new, delicious restaurant… except BETTER… andddd also people can introduce you to even more songs and more restaurants hah!! So, we’re all planning to meet up for din din, and then I think we’re going to see some live music somewhere. Tomorrow, we are gonna go to The Great Wall, and there will be pictures for sure =).

Chi-Chien!

-te0h

Yo! I’m moving just moved to Beijing!!!! I’m gonna be learning Chinese and hopefully finding a job (but I obviously need to somewhat be able to communicate before I can find some non-English-teaching-type work). Classes officially start tomorrow and I actually had an oral placement exam today… I get the results tomorrow but the “lao-shi” already told me that I was going to be in the very very beginner’s class. I’m pretty essited! Right now, I’m just unpacking stuff and setting up shop in my new room… it’s technically a hotel, but there’s a special rate for students and it’s on campus, so I’d say it’s more like a dorm (although it’s a little nicer and more expensive than the dorms). I don’t really know anyone yet and it’s raining or else I’d be going around campus taking pictures- maybe next post? Oh, and there’s outdoor bball courts right outside my pad and it kind of reminds me of Rucker Park-Peking style lol. There were a bunch of games running last night, but there’s one main court (which has a ref [for pick-up games!!!]) where a lot of ppl are just watching… I GOTTA hoop here- I actually bought a basketball a few hours ago! I actually really need to ball or do some sort of physical activity- I’ve gained 10 lbs during my 2 weeks in Asia thus far… Not my fault, the food’s just damn good. Anywayz, I’m gonna finish unpacking now and leave you w/ some pics of mi casa. Chi-chien! ^_____^;;

Living room.

Balcony.

My (rustic) view from the balcony. That tall building is my school btw. I see you.

Where the magic sleeping happens.

Where the shower happens.

-te0h.

Deadmau5 dubstepped. So clean, yet so filthy. <3

*Deadmau5 - I Remember (Caspa Remix)

Yeah Drake is way too overplayed.. especially this song. And then there are all those remixes.. however, this one I had is the best ever!

*Drake - Best I Ever Had (Matamatics Remix)