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I'm a recent graduate with a BA in international business trying to search for my place in the world. Never content - always searching for new opportunities and experiences. | Log entries 11 - 16 of 16 | Page:
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Nov 07, 2005 09:00 PM *sigh* I gave in....
Okay, so... I bought the premium account. $18... I honestly doing believe in this sort of thing, unless its a video game. And, ps... it's not a video game.
100 pictures a month did me in, since I'm obsessed with making this damned reports and I really want to make a photo album.
Just so you all know, thats nearly two months worth of video game playing... haha ;-)
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Nov 06, 2005 09:00 PM Extremely Excited and Highly Caffinated!
I just can't let Guilin be my last trip... and thank the father figure for putting it into my head that I should take another trip.
On the phone the other night Dad asked "Is there anywhere major you haven't been?"
And I replied quickly "Yes, Sichuan."
And he said "Go. Take $500 and go."
That is zhen ta ma de bang!
So, I just looked up prices for a round trip flight to Chengdu, the captial of Sichuan. And, since its low tourist season the prices are astronomically low... I can fly cheaper than I can train it! (Train is like 30 hours or something ridiculous).
1160 rmb which roughly translates to exactly $141. Plus... the main attraction for me in Chengdu is the Panda Breeding Reserve where you get to see China's illusive Giant Panda. They have "wild reserves" but everyone says you can waste a lot of time looking for pandas and never finding any. At this reserve, for $100 you can hold/play/take pictures with a panda! I think they base the size of the panda on your size, and its mostly a baby one. ANd, since there is no way I'm not holding a panda if I get that far that brings the total to 241, plus lets give me $100 extra for hotels (we should be able to get them cheap if we do hostels), food, and souviners. thats 341 and since we all know I'll overspend thats $400. Is this a good idea? That's the question. I'd go probably Friday December 2nd, morning, hopefully with three other people. Perhaps spend 3 nights in Chengdu and return Monday sometime. Hao bu hao?!?! I'm really excited I just have to really think about this monetary wise...
And, another trip that I'm planning on taking is much cheaper, probably 580rmb= $70. This is to the next door neighbor of Beijing, Hebei. This is an already arranged travel package including transportation, lodging and all meals (480 rmb) plus 26rmb an hour for horseback riding (I allocated myself 100 rmb for riding, but thats a lot of horseback riding!). This tour got good reviews in the english magazine and I can't imagine passing it up.
Whether Chengdu happens or not, I am going to Hebei for horses.
In other news... some may wonder why I am massively posting reports about my journey in China. Well, my time here is almost over... 40 more days, and I am feeling waves upon waves of homesickness and at the same time feeling anxiety over returning to the US and leaving this life I've made for myself here. I can't explain the feeling really, its just suffocating me in many ways.
Now, I have to outlets to get rid of all these feelings. The first is/was writing/editing and trying to finish up this novel I've been working on for a quarter of my life and the other has become doings this reports.
By clinging to this past years travels, going back and thinking about them again, I am holding onto the memories and preparing myself for the closure I know I'll need. Plus, its been keeping my mind busy instead of idle. During idlness I tend to fall into the depths of anxiety and homesickness. Not to sound like a whiney brat, but I really appreciate this community for helping wrap up my year and prepare to go home.
Thank you for your thoughts, encouragment and inspiration!
*tear*
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Nov 04, 2005 09:00 PM Back from Guilin
Spent a week in Guilin, Longshen and Yangshuo. I just finished uploading my pics and once I look through them I'll be sure to post a report on each place, or maybe just Guilin and Yangshuo. We'll see I suppose.
It will be more positive because this was a great great trip and I absolutely loved it.
Hey, China needs to learn that if it does something shady, people will call them out on it. lol
But, when they do something great- I'm really going to give them props for it.
And, I'm still going to stay any vulgar words that pop into my head as I type.
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Nov 04, 2005 09:00 PM Aww, thanks for the support
Haha I just realized that I had a guestbook and that on that guestbook people might have actually signed it. And, to my suprise and excitement, people REALLY DID SIGN!
That makes me so happy I can't even express the happiness properly.
Thanks for the thoughts, encouragement, critisim and support. I've never done this kind of I guess, um, reporting so its all new to me but I'm glad it is amusing most of you and only offending a few.
Plus, I mean, a little controversy sometimes piques curiosity right? lol
Anyway, thanks for signing my book. I don't really know where else to write thank you!
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Nov 03, 2005 09:00 PM Little Rant
Last day of my vacation, return to Beijing tomorrow morning. Not going to do a long update, just been catching up on globo sapians and my email and livejournal.
I think its really hilarious that people get worked up over my very negative Xian report. Sorry, I'm brutally honest about how I feel about things and sometimes brutally vulgar too. But, it gets me how people read one and then make really broad judgements about me... just because I hated one city in all of China doesn't mean I hate all of China or go from place to place hating things. In fact, if they read the other reports they'd see that Xian was my only truly negative report. So, spare me. Oh people.
Sorry, I love China, I love Chinese people, the language gives me headaches because I spend hours upon hours studying it and still feel like I have the vocabulary of a three year old. But,tourism in general irritates me and China has created this tourism irritation disease that seems to bubble to the surface whenever I find myself in a place that has been trimmed and manicured just for tourism. I feel like it rapes the true culture of places, and suddenly the culture isn't because thats their lifestyle, its because it makes a TON of money. But, I'm always a capitalist, so I believe people should make money. I know, it is kind of a contradiction that I'm still working through.
In my Minorities and Cultures of China Class we read a lot of essays on the effects of tourism to a culture- all concerning Chinese minorioties because well, its a chinese culture class, and that may be why I have such a harsh opinion because its something we've studied so now I'm more aware of it.
I did write a somewhat-sorta-kinda apology to the person that took the most offense to my Xian post. I didn't mean to offend people, I just vented my feelings about the tourist trap. But, I understand you can't see China without seeing the terra cottas, even if it gets you all knotted up inside with tourist trap rage.
But, as soon as I get back from my weeklong vacation in Guilin I will do another report because this vacation has been amazing. not quite tibet, but amazing, nothing will ever compare to tibet.
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Oct 26, 2005 06:00 PM A Little Late
Well, I've been in China for about 10 months now and officially turned 20. I'm happy to be spending the year that falls between legally drinking in Canada and legally drinking in the US in a country that doesn't really care how old you are, just take the fking shot of bijiu damnit!
I go home in December, so it's a little late for me to put up pictures, update and such. That's a lot of back journaling that probably isn't worth it. If you are really interesting, I keep a detailed blog at http://www.livejournal.com/users/vbx523 and I post nearly all my pictures at http://community.webshots.com/user/vbx00
Sorry I suck as a globosapien. haha
I've been all over China though so please contact me if you are coming or thinking of coming. I live in Beijing but have been to Yunnan Province, Gansu & Xinjiang Province (travled along the Silk Road), Inner Mongolia (not the uber touristy hohut), Hangzhou, Suzhou, mini-canal towns, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guilin and Tibet. Well, I leave for Guilin on Saturday but whatever.
Feel free to contact me.
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