Tuesday I went back to America! Or, as I like to call it, the United States. (Chinese people would always correct me when I said that, though.)
Woke up at 5, was out the door and in a taxi by about 5:45. Found the airport and checked in, etc. They have a line at security (or maybe it was some sort of customs-related thing) that is specially for people with disabilities...and people involved with the Olympics. If Beijing could rename itself after the Olympics I think it would.
Ate some dumpling-like things and went next door to get a mocha; what a great country. Dawdled for a bit and then got on my plane. We sat at the gate/on the runway (can't remember which) for about an hour because there were so many planes taking off, but it was okay because it just took an hour out of my layover in Tokyo (and I watched Cars on the flight so it went quickly). Hung out at Narita-Tokyo for a bit, then hung out for two-and-a-half hours on the plane before it took off, due to mechanical concerns. Luckily, the flight still went, and something around 10 hours after take-off we found ourselves in San Francisco, where I met up with my parents. I guess that's the end of the story of Ali in China...tune in next time?
P.S.: I'll go back to blogging on http://journals.aol.com/seafoam9/AlisUpdate/ now, but I make even fewer promises about its entertainment value than I made about this one.
P.P.S.: Thanks so much for following along. It really meant a lot.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
My lastday in China
Monday was my last full day in China. (And basically my last day period, since I expect to be in the air by the time I actually wake up tomorrow.) I'd had such a great day Sunday that I was fine with having a pretty chill day today, which was good because I'm kinda exhausted in a lot of ways.
Slept until 9, had the Swiss breakfast at the cafe across the street, did email until my computer crashed, and decided to head out. Took the public bus to the Summer Palace, which was an hour and half but cheap and simple. The Summer Palace is really amazingly gorgeous; I can't imagine how breathtaking it is with a blue sky. My pictures aren't going to do it justice with all the hazy grayness, but you'll have to trust me. It was kinda on the humid side though (surprise) so I got pretty worn out walking around and climbing steps and so on, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Kind of wish I hadn't had to stand for most of the bus ride home, but I guess I needed a last long, uncomfortable bus ride in China to complete the experience.
Got back to the hostel and did a lot of packing and some interneting, then went to eat dinner, and now I'm waiting for the massage place in the hostel/hotel to be free, which should be any minute. Can't believe I'm actually leaving tomorrow. I'm sure it'll all be more complicated in retrospect, as it was when it all happened, but at least right now I'm so happy with my time here. Really a wonderful experience that I think has made a very big, very positive impact on me. I'm a little too tired to be more articulate about it right now.
I'll write again from home for the sake of including any plane-ride adventures or last-minute thoughts.
Slept until 9, had the Swiss breakfast at the cafe across the street, did email until my computer crashed, and decided to head out. Took the public bus to the Summer Palace, which was an hour and half but cheap and simple. The Summer Palace is really amazingly gorgeous; I can't imagine how breathtaking it is with a blue sky. My pictures aren't going to do it justice with all the hazy grayness, but you'll have to trust me. It was kinda on the humid side though (surprise) so I got pretty worn out walking around and climbing steps and so on, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Kind of wish I hadn't had to stand for most of the bus ride home, but I guess I needed a last long, uncomfortable bus ride in China to complete the experience.
Got back to the hostel and did a lot of packing and some interneting, then went to eat dinner, and now I'm waiting for the massage place in the hostel/hotel to be free, which should be any minute. Can't believe I'm actually leaving tomorrow. I'm sure it'll all be more complicated in retrospect, as it was when it all happened, but at least right now I'm so happy with my time here. Really a wonderful experience that I think has made a very big, very positive impact on me. I'm a little too tired to be more articulate about it right now.
I'll write again from home for the sake of including any plane-ride adventures or last-minute thoughts.
Winning China
Sunday, Lizzie and I won many hard-fought battles, and it was extremely satisfying.
The day started with a dragonfruit, which is extremely cool-looking and pretty tasty. And things only got better.
First off, I had to sneak out of the dorm since we found out the night before that guests were, in fact, not allowed. Our efforts were extremely successful, and may or may not have involved an empty suitcase and overcoming my claustrophobia. (The whole story is available upon request.)
Step two was finding a post office we knew only by name and convincing them that Lizzie was the same person as the Chinese name the package was addressed to. It wasn't easy, and after they became somewhat convinced we were legit it still took them about 20 minutes to find my suitcase, but I finally had it back in my hands. And the angels began to sing.
We dropped it off at the dorm and headed out to Xiu Shui, which is called The Silk Market but is a market of all sorts of bargainable things. With a 45-minute break for whatever meal you eat at 4:30, we spent almost 7 hours there, getting things for the Very Special for Us prices, many of which were proclaimed as the Chinese Prices because we spoke Just Like Native Speakers. In truth, we took a long time and got what I think were really good prices because we bargained really well. We're pretty stubborn, and you get more so once you see how effective it can be. We bemoaned the fact that China will not be this way forever.
Headed back to the dorm via the grocery store, where we bought some fruit, including more of the dragon variety. Relaxed and ate that for a little bit while we admired our purchases, then went to The Bookworm, which is this wonderful English-language library and cafe, with charming decor and rooftop seating. One of Lizzie's favorite spots, and I can totally see why. We both just about fell asleep by 11 or so, though, so we headed back to the dorm and said our goodbyes.
The day started with a dragonfruit, which is extremely cool-looking and pretty tasty. And things only got better.
First off, I had to sneak out of the dorm since we found out the night before that guests were, in fact, not allowed. Our efforts were extremely successful, and may or may not have involved an empty suitcase and overcoming my claustrophobia. (The whole story is available upon request.)
Step two was finding a post office we knew only by name and convincing them that Lizzie was the same person as the Chinese name the package was addressed to. It wasn't easy, and after they became somewhat convinced we were legit it still took them about 20 minutes to find my suitcase, but I finally had it back in my hands. And the angels began to sing.
We dropped it off at the dorm and headed out to Xiu Shui, which is called The Silk Market but is a market of all sorts of bargainable things. With a 45-minute break for whatever meal you eat at 4:30, we spent almost 7 hours there, getting things for the Very Special for Us prices, many of which were proclaimed as the Chinese Prices because we spoke Just Like Native Speakers. In truth, we took a long time and got what I think were really good prices because we bargained really well. We're pretty stubborn, and you get more so once you see how effective it can be. We bemoaned the fact that China will not be this way forever.
Headed back to the dorm via the grocery store, where we bought some fruit, including more of the dragon variety. Relaxed and ate that for a little bit while we admired our purchases, then went to The Bookworm, which is this wonderful English-language library and cafe, with charming decor and rooftop seating. One of Lizzie's favorite spots, and I can totally see why. We both just about fell asleep by 11 or so, though, so we headed back to the dorm and said our goodbyes.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Feel the love generation
While Lizzie packs, I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity to use a computer that is connected both to the internet and a power source! (The two do not come in such proximity at the Far East Youth Hostel.)
Saturday ended up MUCH better than it started out. Woke up around 8 and was kinda cold, so I headed back to the hostel, which the taxi driver got lost trying to find. Decided I was going to have to look into the suitcase situation before I could feel at peace, so I asked the hostel people how to call Shanghai's post office, and they sent me across to a service station place on the other side of the street. The guy there made a bunch of calls, none of which led to any contact with anyone helpful, but he did recommend that I go to the post office at Hepingli. It was seeming fairly likely I wasn't going to get it in time for my flight on Tuesday, which was pretty stressful and upsetting after all I'd done to try to do what made the most sense for dealing with having stuff and traveling, so I decided to eat brunch and see if I felt better. I did, but only in that I was less hungry, so I called home and panicked and made an action plan.
Took a 2-hour nap, after which I still felt fairly fragile but better. Took a taxi to the Hepingli post office, where they had no idea why I was told to go them, but did make a lot of calls, and when I didn't leave after they told me to go back to Lizzie's school and look for it, they eventually contacted the post office near the dorm- where it had arrived! I'm trying not to count my chickens before I actually have it in my own hands, but what a surprise and relief.
Had some time before evening, so I went to the Temple of Heaven, which was pretty incredible. I have trouble seeing these sites as real places and not just iconic images of China; I drive past the big Tian'anmen gate (I think? You know, the thing with Mao's picture on it.) on my way to Lizzie's dorm and it's so weird just to see it out the window.
Chilled at the hostel and did some dinnering, then met Lizzie and friends (one of whom sang a cappella with Daniel Herriges) to go out and about. The first place, Hou Hai, was a really pretty, decent-sized lake with lights and stores and bars and restaurants all around. There were people releasing lantern things into the sky, and it was really cool. Anyway, we had a good time, mostly just talking, and got back to the dorm. We were a group of 2 Swatties, 2 Yalies, and a Stanford student (Stannie? Stanfordie?) and conversation went from lip gloss to the SAT 2 Writing test to cross-cultural relationships in the blink of an eye. I enjoy my peers very much.
Saturday ended up MUCH better than it started out. Woke up around 8 and was kinda cold, so I headed back to the hostel, which the taxi driver got lost trying to find. Decided I was going to have to look into the suitcase situation before I could feel at peace, so I asked the hostel people how to call Shanghai's post office, and they sent me across to a service station place on the other side of the street. The guy there made a bunch of calls, none of which led to any contact with anyone helpful, but he did recommend that I go to the post office at Hepingli. It was seeming fairly likely I wasn't going to get it in time for my flight on Tuesday, which was pretty stressful and upsetting after all I'd done to try to do what made the most sense for dealing with having stuff and traveling, so I decided to eat brunch and see if I felt better. I did, but only in that I was less hungry, so I called home and panicked and made an action plan.
Took a 2-hour nap, after which I still felt fairly fragile but better. Took a taxi to the Hepingli post office, where they had no idea why I was told to go them, but did make a lot of calls, and when I didn't leave after they told me to go back to Lizzie's school and look for it, they eventually contacted the post office near the dorm- where it had arrived! I'm trying not to count my chickens before I actually have it in my own hands, but what a surprise and relief.
Had some time before evening, so I went to the Temple of Heaven, which was pretty incredible. I have trouble seeing these sites as real places and not just iconic images of China; I drive past the big Tian'anmen gate (I think? You know, the thing with Mao's picture on it.) on my way to Lizzie's dorm and it's so weird just to see it out the window.
Chilled at the hostel and did some dinnering, then met Lizzie and friends (one of whom sang a cappella with Daniel Herriges) to go out and about. The first place, Hou Hai, was a really pretty, decent-sized lake with lights and stores and bars and restaurants all around. There were people releasing lantern things into the sky, and it was really cool. Anyway, we had a good time, mostly just talking, and got back to the dorm. We were a group of 2 Swatties, 2 Yalies, and a Stanford student (Stannie? Stanfordie?) and conversation went from lip gloss to the SAT 2 Writing test to cross-cultural relationships in the blink of an eye. I enjoy my peers very much.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Pictures posted
I haven't posted the end of Shanghai yet (most camps) but now I've added an album of the Qingdao and Beijing photos from so far. (Well, it's loading, but I don't think any of you are up in the middle of the night so by the time you read this they'll be there.)
It takes a while to load them onto a blog and I couldn't just pick a few...so take a look. (Or if you can wait, I'll let you know when I've gone through and labeled them and deleted ugly ones.) Again, that address is http://picasaweb.google.com/Alison.Flamm.
Go look at the Great Wall at least...it requires no captions. :)
It takes a while to load them onto a blog and I couldn't just pick a few...so take a look. (Or if you can wait, I'll let you know when I've gone through and labeled them and deleted ugly ones.) Again, that address is http://picasaweb.google.com/Alison.Flamm.
Go look at the Great Wall at least...it requires no captions. :)
Barricades can't block our way
Friday was kind of a super-day, although I didn't realize it at the time. I woke up at 5:45 and got on the bus to the Great Wall at Jinshanling. It was a 3-hour ride. Once at the wall, they just told us to hike to Simatai and to meet the bus there in 4 hours. No one really knew how to get to the wall, which was convenient because in trying to figure it out, I found 5 guys from London, Toronto, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and France who were also traveling alone. (I guess women don't travel alone in China very often...who knew?)
The wall was everything I ever imagined, but so much cooler in person. When they showed us a video advertising School Year Abroad in Chinese class in high school, the part that really made me want to go was the part where they were all hanging out on the wall...so it was very cool to finally go it for myself (and not have to miss a year of high school for it). Anyway, I took lots of pictures (that probably all look the same) so you can see the bright blue sky and the gorgeous mountains and the magnificent wall. A 4-hour hike in the sun was a lot, and we were definitely counting towers for most of it to keep aware of our progress (we started at 1 and went to 32), but there was shade in the towers and plenty of opportunities to buy water (or coke or beer, if you're stupid) from elderly Mongolian ladies. The company was good too; English-speaking, but all but the Londoner had some Mandarin so that was fun.
Got to the end of our part of the wall and had the choice between a 30-minute walk downhill or a $5 zipline ride over the river...looked relatively legit, and it was actually not scary at all, just really cool to be flying over the water looking up at the wall. Hung out in the cafe and bused back to the hostel.
Once back, I ate dinner at the cafe associated with the hostel, ate some fruit freshly picked from their courtyard, and of course cleaned up a bit. Then I went to meet Lizzie, a friend of mine from Swat who had just earlier that afternoon graduated from her summer language program. Hung out in her room and met her friends, then went out dancing with them and their teachers. They had all been released from their language pledge about 5 hours before I arrived, which meant they spoke Chinglish like I'd never heard it before and were constantly re-introducing themselves to each-other by their English names.
Had a good time, but tired out (Lizzie had just gotten through exams, so she was the same) and just spent some time catching up on Swat news and gossip. She was on the wait-list for a room for next year, and got one in my dorm on the floor below, so that's great. Eventually turned in for the night in la casa de Lizzie.
The wall was everything I ever imagined, but so much cooler in person. When they showed us a video advertising School Year Abroad in Chinese class in high school, the part that really made me want to go was the part where they were all hanging out on the wall...so it was very cool to finally go it for myself (and not have to miss a year of high school for it). Anyway, I took lots of pictures (that probably all look the same) so you can see the bright blue sky and the gorgeous mountains and the magnificent wall. A 4-hour hike in the sun was a lot, and we were definitely counting towers for most of it to keep aware of our progress (we started at 1 and went to 32), but there was shade in the towers and plenty of opportunities to buy water (or coke or beer, if you're stupid) from elderly Mongolian ladies. The company was good too; English-speaking, but all but the Londoner had some Mandarin so that was fun.
Got to the end of our part of the wall and had the choice between a 30-minute walk downhill or a $5 zipline ride over the river...looked relatively legit, and it was actually not scary at all, just really cool to be flying over the water looking up at the wall. Hung out in the cafe and bused back to the hostel.
Once back, I ate dinner at the cafe associated with the hostel, ate some fruit freshly picked from their courtyard, and of course cleaned up a bit. Then I went to meet Lizzie, a friend of mine from Swat who had just earlier that afternoon graduated from her summer language program. Hung out in her room and met her friends, then went out dancing with them and their teachers. They had all been released from their language pledge about 5 hours before I arrived, which meant they spoke Chinglish like I'd never heard it before and were constantly re-introducing themselves to each-other by their English names.
Had a good time, but tired out (Lizzie had just gotten through exams, so she was the same) and just spent some time catching up on Swat news and gossip. She was on the wait-list for a room for next year, and got one in my dorm on the floor below, so that's great. Eventually turned in for the night in la casa de Lizzie.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
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