Call me anything but lazy

Hi one, hi all (hi friends!)

So, I've discovered that some of my friends here on my China trip have actually decided to become (semi-) loyal readers to my blog! Thus, in case they're reading, here's a shout-out! Hi you guys! I don't know why people would read this regularly, but I suppose I created a blog for the hope that that would happen. Mission accomplished? Maybe?

So, classes have become more serious lately, and thus I've become insanely busy with planned trips and studying for my Chin107 class. That is no joke. We have a quiz every day and an oral presentation every day. Today we had a quiz on the chapter lesson, and then we had a test on the entire chapter, all within the same class period. Today, I accidentally spoke when nobody else was speaking because I thought we were supposed to follow the teacher's words. You know how that happens? It was kind of loud and awkward, especially because it was the first pinyin tone for "duo." If you know Chinese and know what I mean, you know it sounds silly when randomly yelled during the broken lapses between speaking. Christina and I had a good laugh about that one.

Dinner consisted of extremely spicy food (in a good way), great tea, delicious buns (which come with a small plate of sweet condensed milk that has the consistency of caramel and is delicious), and an amazing smoked fish dish that the restaurant is known for.

So here's a recap of what's happened these past few days:

On Jan. 8, we went to the Great Wall. It was soooo cold, but my body was fighting between being extremely overheated from the difficult climb and being so cold that I couldn't feel my fingers. I wore three pairs of pants. So styling. Almost everyone was able to make it all the way up to the top of the section of the Great Wall that we climbed, but it was no easy task. It was just so, so cold outside, I can hardly describe it. I don't think it's the climb that was tiring, but rather the fact that I couldn't get my body into a natural climbing rhythm because the steps are all unevenly spaced in height. When we got up to the top, it was really amazing and nice that so many of us were there at the same time.
After the Great Wall, we went to a local rural village to see how many Chinese people still live. What was interesting was that although the alleyways were skinny and filled with dirt, outhouses, and random blankets or logs or coal, the house we ended up entering was really large. It had a middle room that had a sun roof to allow for more natural light to enter. The man that lived there was so proud of his home, and although he looked only 60 he was close to 80, it turns out. I guess manual labor can do a body and spirit good. Although I did think it was weird that Professor Chen just tracked some guy wandering along the neighborhood's alleyway and asked if he could bring 28 random students through his house so they could see what life was like in the local villages. Weird.
For some reason I always get really sad when I see stuff like that. It just makes me think about how lucky I am, and how he appreciates his life so much, despite its shortcomings. *A fun little fact for those who are impatient and prefer to skip ahead to the starry parts* : All the small shacks in this neighborhood had only one door per house, and they all faced South, to comply with the fengshui system of thinking that so many Chinese people share.

Then, we went to a really old part of Beijing that had stone streets and lots of streetside stores. It has become kind of tourist-ridden in recent years, but I got to hangout with Du Laoshi and Pong Laoshi for a decent amount of the walk, which made it worthwhile.
Finally, we went to the Peking Opera after eating dinner at a hotel that happened to share the same name as Professor Chen. The opera was really interesting, and it was shorter than I remembered it being, which was a good thing. There were three short scenes that lasted about 1-2 hrs altogether. The first play involved an action-comedy and lots of ninja-like fight scenes. The second involved classic female Peking Opera singing (not quite my style; it's very very high-pitched), and the third involved a title that was misconstrued by many members of our group and became a laughing joke for most of the night. All in all, very enjoyable. Plus, we got to watch some of the actors put their makeup on. Phew, that was a long day. Thanks for sticking with me, if you stuck with me, readers.
Jan. 9 we went to Silk Alley, but I can't talk about what I purchased because then it would give away my surprises! But, basically Silk Alley is a huge indoor bargaining bazaar of questionably legal clothes, bags, jewelry, sunglasses, electrical equipment, etc. It is intimidating and the sellers attack like vultures at any unsuspecting visitors (mostly Americans). At night, a ton of us went out to a bar and then dancing. It was absolutely amazing! Steven knows all the great places for us to go out to. Wonderful!

Jan. 10 I went to a museum, but it was pretty boring. The class went. Maybe against our will? I wanted a piece of decorative bamboo, and when Professor Pong tried to get it for me, he got a bamboo stick splinter! I felt so bad, but when I was able to extract said bamboo piece from said professor, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Then, we went to the Forbidden City. I followed Professor Pong, who know so much about the history of China and the Forbidden City!
It was quite cold but I was layered and prepared. Teresa and I went to see a clock exhibit of clocks that the emperors collected, and it was incredibly impressive. I really liked it. Perhaps my favorite part of the Forbidden City and worth the 10 kuai.

For dinner, we had Korean food, which is culturally usually spicy. And it was delicious, and Jonathan ate his body weight worth of Korean food. The tea had this unique wheat taste to it, which I really loved. Apparently that's a common taste that many Korean teas tend to have. It's fuller than most teas, with more "body" to it, so to speak.

Now, I'm off to study for two more quizzes. However, some cool info to note:

1. Asian people LOVE the classic blonde-haired blue-eyed American look, and it's not unusual for lines of girls or guys to ask to take pictures with the more American-looking members of our group. It's almost like they're celebrities.

2. The little Asian babies wear huge layers of clothes to beat the cold, but they'll have slits in the back of their pants so that they can easily pee and poop in public if needed. Thus, if they bend over, their bare butts just peek right out from layers and layers of clothing. It's really quite silly, but it only adds to their cuteness and my desire to steal one for myself and keep it.

Love,

Amy