Assorted images from Chinatown

Here is the first picture of a tea house that is in Chinatown. I
thought the name was clever. Then I thought the image that went with
it was cute.

The next picture is of a hair salon, but the name was translated to
English poorly. I guess you would be walking into a saloon where they
serve some hairy drinks. Like maybe a fuzzy navel. Anyways I thought
you would get a kick out of the sign.

The last photo was is of a museum that is all lit up. I went to
another museum nearby this one. It was a silk museum. I looked around
the exhibits. Then I looked around the store. I wanted to by a nice
silk jacket, but I thought I would wait. I didn't want to spend my
first paycheck that quickly. I also really want to go somewhere to get
a tailored silk jacket. That way it looks really nice on me. I also
think that I could haggle with a tailor and get a jacket for cheaper.
I really wanted to buy a silk scarf though. They were a reasonable
price, but I still wanted to save my money. The cheaper ones that I
was thinking of getting were 180 yuan (30$). I was glad that I waited
though. On my way back from the birds nest I found a vendor in the
street selling similar scarfs for 15 yuan (2.30$). I was awesome. I
love the scarf that I got. If it breaks or frays I won't care too much
considering it cost 2.30$.

So those are all the high lights from my exploration of Beijing. I had
to break it up into different posts because I could only send so many
photos.

Chinatown

So here are some pictures of Chinatown. The way I walked to the
Olympic village I went through Chinatown. Yes indeed I said Chinatown
in China. It is an odd concept I know. I wondered if there should be a
American town. From what I was told there is a big expat area in
Beijing that pretty much is America town. Although there are
foreigners from all over who live and hang out in what is called
Wadaoko.

The first picture is of the gate in front of China town. The next is
of the gate of Chinatown with the McDonald's restaurant featured. I
think that the juxtaposition of the old classical Chinese gate next to
the McDonald's restaurant is a real interesting combination.

Then there is a picture of the Chinatown sign.

The last picture is of a sort of totem pole like thing that is
Chinatown and you can see the crows nest in the background.

More Pictures of the Olympic Arena

Here are some more pictures that did not fit in the last post. I hope
you enjoy. They are of the birds nest, water cube, and other Olympic
monuments.

You can see those kites that I was talking about in the last post in
the second picture. After I bought those stuffed animals. All the kite
guys tried selling me some. I was like I don't need any. When I
started my journey they tried to sell me some, but they were not that
persistent. Once they saw I had money and could buy stuff they were
all over me.

I like watching the little kids trying to fly them. That was really
cute. I don't know if they could get it as high as the people that
were selling them. I guess that is like when you see kids flying kites
on the beach in America. They are struggling with it, but still having
fun. Or they can only get it up in the air a very small amount.

Fwd: My Visit to the Olympic Arena

So the first bit of the Olympic are I saw was from China town and you
can see this sort of totem pole and behind it is the Crows nest. Here
is a picture of the birds
nest and the Olympic rings from a distance. Then there are several
pictures of the birds nest. I took some panoramas of the surronding
area. Then I took a panorama with the water cube and the birds nest in
it.

While I was here I got the Olympic mascot stuffed animals. I haggled
with the vendor to get a lower price. She would not budge. Instead I
said lower the price and I might buy two. So I ended up getting two
sets of the stuffed animals. I still think I overpaid some, but I
couldn't get the seller to budge much and I really wanted them. I will
keep one for myself and my apartment. I am thinking of giving away the
rest. I was thinking of giving them to my little
cousins for a Christmas present or something.

After I bought the two sets of stuffed animals though I attracted all
of the other vendors. One guy came up to me offering to buy the
stuffed animals from me. I had just bought them like two seconds
before. He was asking for a much lower price. So I said 不 (bu) (no). I
said I paid more than that for these. I kept walking away and was
yelling prices at me still. Then there was this persistent guy who
kept trying to sell me kites. I kept saying 不,不 (bu, bu) (no, no). He
was like have four. I was like 沒侑(don't have or don't want). He was
like have it. I kept walking though. You will see the type of kites
that I am talking about in the pictures.

I also saw people dressed up as minnie and mickey mouse. I was like no
way they are in China. I wanted to take a photo. However I got the
impression you had to pay money to take a photo with them. There were
other characters from a popular Chinese kids show. Then as you got
closer to the Olympic arena there were people dressed up as the
Olympic mascots. You had to pay to take a picture with them as well.

Well that was my adventure in Beijing. I didn't get to see much since
I was busy in class. Oh and of course sick. So I had no energy to see
any of Beijing. However I enjoyed exploring the Olympic area. I went
not knowing where I was going and just explored. I knew how to get to
the Crows nest and from there I just explored. I enjoyed doing that. I
am surprised I was able to do it since I like knowing exactly where I
am going and how to get there. It was very different for me to just
sort of go with only a vague plan. So living in china has changed me
some. I have learned to go with the flow and just figure out how to
cope.

Anyways I have been to Beijing twice before and seen the big stuff. It
just occurred to me I came to Beijing in 2005 when they were prepping
for the Olympics, then came back in the summer of 2007 a year before
the Olympics while they were still prepping, and now I am back in 2011
after all of the Olympic buildings were finished. Who would have
thought I would see Beijing change so much with my own eyes. If you
had asked me in high school where I would be living and teaching after
I was done with school I would have never said China. My world was
forever changed once I stepped foot in China with the members of Heart
of the Valley choir. I am blessed to have such opportunities.

However I am leaving Beijing tomorrow. I am glad to be heading back to
Wuxi. I was just beginning to feel like Wuxi was my new home before I
was dragged away to Beijing. So I will be happy to be back in Wuxi.
However I am sad to leave the internet here at the hotel. I am going
to have some of the other teachers over to my place to figure out how
to get my router to work. I gotta get the internet working with my
computer since I am paying for it. Anyways you can still get a hold of
me through skype even though I am not signed on. The call will get
forwarded to my Chinese cell phone. If you don't have skype I can
e-mail you my online number that you can call for no charge. I bought
the rights to an Oregon number so it is like calling an Oregon cell
phone except it goes to skype. Oh if you call and I don't answer stay
on the line and leave a voicemail. Just comment on this post and I can
e-mail you my contact details. I am really excited about this whole
skype package. I have basically made skype my international cell phone
sort of. I love the technology out there. Maybe I will talk about the
whole set up in my tech blog.

Sights on the Streets of China

These things have been somewhat shocking and odd to see, but I am
slowly getting used to the sights.

The first thing to mention is that you see small children going to the
bathroom right there in the street. I see it and go oh my and look
away. At first I couldn't believe it and was like is that really what
is happening, but I have gotten used to it. All the kids here wear
these pants that have a slit down the middle. So you can see their
little behinds. So they can go to the bathroom whenever they need to.
Although I have seen grown adults going to the bathroom on the
sidewalk. You have to watch where you step in the sidewalk so you
don't step in any human feces.

So I got used to kids going to the bathroom in the street, but when I
was walking to my class I saw a little boy completely naked. His
family was around him and I guess they were washing them. I didn't
want to stare and seem weird. I don't really even know if it was a boy
considering I didn't get a good look. I just saw small naked child.
They were behind the gate of an apartment complex so they weren't like
hanging out on the sidewalk. However it was a new experience for sure.

Then recently if that was not enough I saw a mother breast feeding her
baby on the street. Considering what I said earlier it only makes
sense that they do not worry about modesty. It was just one more thing
that added to the complex world of Chinese streets.

I have also seen parents driving around their electric scooters with
one hand and cradling their tiny baby in the arm. I just thought about
in America how we have all these rules and regulations about car seats
and seat belts. I was like people who did that in the states would get
tickets and moms everywhere would raise a stink about it.

I included two pictures that I took along my walk around Beijing. One
is of a car that is parked on the sidewalk and I had to squeeze past.
It is a sort of tiny side street so I guess it makes sense that they
had to park on the sidewalk, but still kind of funny. The next photo
is of this car that is super dented the tire and hubcap is completely
worn down. It is just crazy looking. It hasn't moved since I have been
here. I wouldn't expect it to move considering the car does not look
like it could go anywhere.

I also included a picture of the vendors selling their wares on the
pedestrian bridge over the major Beijing highway.

Beijing

I snapped these two photos on my walk back from my class. I am here to
keep my work visa. I am enjoying seeing a different Beijing. I am near
the Crows nest, Birds nest, and water cube. I am going to visit those
soon and will post photos. They are not terribly exciting, but it will
still be cool to see the place where Michael Phelps dominated in
swimming.

The first photo is off a man selling some sort of fruit from his cart.
I saw the horse pulling the cart earlier and then passed him on my
walk home. I had to snap a picture. Many people sell fruit on the side
of the street no matter what part of China you are in.

The next photo is of people buying Nikes in the street. It was an
interesting site. I was not suppressed, but it was interesting to see
the boxes getting passed around.

I walked over the pedestrian bridge over the highway and it was lined
with people selling socks, shoes, and other knick knacks. I will take
a picture next time because I was looking at the wares. I think I may
even buy something next time. I will have to get my haggling skills up
to par. (Wish I had Beth with me to help. She would get me the best
price. She is amazing at haggling.)

Anyways that is a small look at Beijing. There will be more tomorrow.

Photos of Wuxi No. 1 High School

These are a couple photos of the other high school in town. There is
an AP center, IB program, and an A-level program at this school. The
big Dipont conference was held here. Over 300 people attended. I met
another Willamette graduate and another fellow Oregonian. I talked to
other Calculus teachers and got advice. Here is a look at the school.
The big display screen shocked me and when it came on I was kind of
impressed. So I snapped a photo.

When the weather is nicer and I have more time I will take you on a
photo tour of my high school. I thought you would all enjoy seeing
these.

Photos of Wuxi

These are two photos I took from the hotel in Wuxi. The hotel is near
the school I teach at. You can kinda tell it is on the edge of the
city. You can see most of downtown Wuxi in these photos. The area of
Wuxi I live in you definitely feel like you are in a city. However
there isn't too many good things to see on my side of town. A lot of
the good restaurants, bars, and other sites are down town. It is about
a 20 minute cab ride that costs about 31 yuan (about 5 bucks). I don't
know the distance, but maybe next time I will look to give you guys an
idea to compare costs of taxis. Although the school reimburses all or
most of my taxi rides as long as I save the receipt. Well here is just
a quick look at the city I now call home. I will post more photos of
the city once I get that tourist bug and the time to be a tourist in
the city.

I hope the formatting comes out right. I can't edit how the post looks
since blogger is blocked and I am writing this as an email with
attachments. I hope it all works out.