Around Campus & Apartment

Hey everyone. A few "announcements" before I write today's entry. It has been a while since I last blogged. I have been wanting to blog a bit every night so that I dont have to do several entries all in one sitting...but, I ended up not getting to it at all this weekend. So...that is what I will be blogging on. I think that instead of just doing it all in one blog...I will make several so that I can separate by day if not by subject. Hopefully...I will be caught up in regards to daily life by tonight.

I do have to say, though, that I have decided to continue my blogging for Yangjuan starting this weekend. Next week is China's National Holiday and we have the entire week off...well...almost. To make-up for some time lost due to break, we have class this Saturday as well as the following Sunday. *Shrugs* I guess that's just how it's done. Anyways...there's still quite a bit more to tell in regards to Yangjuan...the killing of the yak, the trek to green pastures, the eating of wasp larvae...etc. I still have a couple of more photos to upload into Yahoo. I will do that all next week. I am, as of now, not really planning on doing much this holiday. I would like to travel around Chengdu and just get some of the local attractions down, like, the opera, the changing masks, some of the temples, visit a couple of tea houses, things like that.

Last time I got caught up talking about my family and ended up not posting the rest of my "adventures around campus" photos. I took a couple more since then...and will add them here...including a picture of my apartment complex. So...to start out with, Mao. I dont know what it is that fascinates me about his statues...maybe it's because freshman year, our professor for my international health class discussed the changing economic environment in China. First he showed a statue of Mao...and then zoomed further out to find that there was a huge billboard for...what was it? CocaCola? I guess it just reminds me of how time really passes by fast...and sometimes...the unexpected may happen. Li Yun and I went to the local electronics store the other day...and I have to say that this 5 story shopping mall totally pushes places like Best Buy outta the league. Everything dealing with electronics you could find in this one place. We ended up getting a...splitter? Right now, only one of us can get on the internet at a time. So, we got one so that both of us can. So...the first picture is of Mao...in its entirety. As opposed to what my professor did...I zoomed in to find this bird, perched on top of Mao's head. Rather interesting. :)

The following pictures are a few of the places I often go...mostly to pass through or to take classes. The first is the Humanities building. This is where I am taking my Chinese politics class. As of now, we are talking about Confucianism. I am not a huge philosophy buff...but it is important to understand this as background knowledge so that I can understand modern Chinese politics. The following that one is of the SU Museum. It is mostly a museum regarding anthropology and archeology. This is where I am taking my archeology class. Last week we talked about early human history in China and some of the remnants that archeologists currently use to determine the activities of their daily lives. We are going to take a class fieldtrip to Xi'an sometime during the semester. I am rather excited. Although I have been there before...it was during my first trip to China. I feel that since then, I have gotten a bit more knowledgable in the realm of Chinese history...but I know that after this class...I will at least be able to understand what it is that I am visiting. Of course there's going to be the Terra Cotta Warriors...but we are planning on stopping in a few other areas as well. If anyone is unfamiliar with where I am at...I am studying at Sichuan University. I took the liberty to take a picture of a sign around campus...but pretty much...it's just named after the province I am currently in now. There are a few interesting things you can find daily within the university. One of them is rickshaws. I havent had the chance to ride in one...mostly cause I've been getting around on my bike. These ones in the picture are the ones you can ride anywhere on campus for 2-3 RMB. I'm not sure how much the ones outside of campus will cost...but I do know they are alot more expensive. It's amazing to me what people with wheels can do. When I was waiting for my Chinese politics class to start...I saw this lady pushing a wheeled cart loaded with what looked like a bunch of wood pieces. I have seen everything from stacks of modems to piles and piles of organized discards. It is rather impressive what they can load up, even just on bicycles. This is the IMA equivalent here at SU. I havent been in it yet...but I do know that right next door they have a small skating rink. :) When I say small...I do mean small. But there's one nonetheless. I have included a picture of one of the student dormatory. I cant start to describe what their dorms are like. You think the ones at UW are bad? These...in my opinion of course, are pretty bad. First, all dorms here have curfews. That means...you have to be back before 11 or 12...otherwise, you get locked out of the dorms for the night. I was talking to Jackie the other night we went karoking and asked him whether or not he was going to be able to get back into his dorm...it being close to 12. He said that he was going to be okay. The last time he and Eugene went karoking...they didnt finish until 3 in the morning. Knowing they couldnt get back into their rooms...they went to the outdoor stadium, got the school bus door to open, and the two of them slept there for the night. He also mentioned that the people who manage the entrance into the dorms of the guys' dorms are easily convinced to allow them in if it doesnt get too late, unlike the girls' dorms which may be more strict on getting back home on time. I have heard that up to 8 people can live in a single room. The floor is all cement, one bathroom, one sink. There is no hot water...so, if you wish to drink tea in the morning, you have to go down to the public hot water area and fill your canister. Showers are in a separte building. You have to walk to the place with everything you need...and there is a time retricting too. I think they open the "bath house" at around 6 and they close it at 9. So, you really have to manage your studies around these times. I believe Li Yun also told me that the lights go out at 11 or 12. With these conditions...many people choose to study in the classrooms. The last time I was at the library helping a friend...it closed at 10. However, these classrooms are accessible until midnight.

So...my apartment. I live outside of West gate...but I am really close to South gate also. The campus has four gates, North South East and West. However, they are not really organized in a fashion that has each of the gates opening in each of these directions. West gate is considered the area that is most "westernized" (i wonder how they arranged that!) Most of the western style foods are located on the street right outside of my apartment. There is a Tex-Mex resturant called Peter's Tex-Mex (I have to regrettably say that I have been there twice. I know! When I was in Texas...I didnt go to a Tex-Mex place...not even once. But to eat Tex-Mex here in CHINA..not once but TWICE!?! Yeah...a bit overboard.) There's also Casa Mia...an Italian pizzaria, a few coffee shops, etc. There is actually a Taiwanese place really near where we are. It is part of a food chain..but I know it because whenever I lived in LA...my family would always pick up my grandparents on a weekend and we would head over there for breakfast. It is absolutely my favorite kind of breakfast: hot soybean milk, sweet and flaky bread, fried dough, pickled cucumbers and vegetables, fermented bean curd, and hot and spicy beef noodle soup. The last dish was something my brother and I always got. My mom would always end up taking the broth home so that we could just add more noodles into it and have it for dinner too. Besides these places, right next door to our apartment complex is a small square full of Chinese resturants. One of them is Saoko (sp?) or Chinese BBQ. We went to one of the places in that square for Laura's birthday. It is good stuff...although I still like my sheep-on-a-stick better. These are just a few of the places I could squeeze into my frame. So, right next to these is our apartment complex. I actually have one of the larger balconies in this building. I am not sure if you can see it...but it's one of the outter apartments on the fourth floor. Our apartment complex is called Sakura Holidays....or in Chinese, it is written this way.

Alright...I think that's enough of a introduction to the places I visit most often. Next, I will start with my experience in KFC. NEXT BLOG!

***I'm having some trouble posting the rest of the pictures...I guess they will have to wait.***