Until Next Time, China

6/6-6/8

So the last three days have been super eventful! Holy cow! So on the 6th, which was my and Sophie's

Twin Towers, Across from my Hotel

free day, we spent it sweating our butts off at the forbidden city. Granted, it was really really cool, but oh my lord it was scorching hot. More than that. We were jumping from shaded spot to shaded spot all morning, as well as half of China it seemed. It was so crowded I could barely believe my eyes. Thankfully Sophie brought an umbrella, so that gave us a bit of shaded while we stood in line to get our entrance tickets. Not only was it hot, but for some reason everyone in China is in a constant rush and feels the need to be right on top of you, even in an organized line. Rude. Well, rude from my point of view, but that's just the way it is there I guess. But yes, so besides the guy behind me standing so close he was touching me the whole time, the line wasn't that bad. After about five minutes I just accepted that I was going to be a sweaty mess all day and I just let it happen. I did out sunscreen on though that morning! Woot! So at least mum will be proud of that hahaha.

So after we got out tickets we were basically herded through the entrance gate with thousands, and I'm not kidding when I say thousands, of other people. Te city really was amazing, though, with the huge red buildings with

Forbidden City

the cool roofs you imaging you would see in China. You know the ones I'm talking about. W basically just walked around and went to a few different exhibits, like the clock exhibit and the porcelain one too, pretty much anywhere that would get us out of the sun. The clock one is apparently on some travelers list of must see things in Beijing, and it was pretty neat, but really it was just a building with a bunch of brass clocks in it. After a few hours there we were so incredibly hot, sweaty, and drained that we decided to head back. Even being on the crowded subway was a relief because it was out of the sun!

I spent the entire afternoon clothesless, too hot to even move, on my bed. I took a cold shower, which was nice, but I couldn't stay in there forever! I vegged in front of the TV some more, watching the news and whatnot, and then Karen, another StudyGroup rep, called and asked to have dinner with Sophie and me. Of course we

Elephant Clock

agreed and went to the restaurant that I went to the first night I stayed in Beijing. It was, of course, delicious, and we all split ways soon after because Karen and I both had a full day of travel for an expo and Sophie was leaving in the morning for home. Sophie came back to my hotel for a bit with me just to chat and say goodbye, and then after it was straight to bed for me.

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Yesterday was interesting. So I met up with Karen at her hotel across the street from mine and we got in a cab and headed towards the train station. No worries, this isn't a short ride, it took about fourth minutes in the sweltering heat. We finally got to the station, early of course, and then after an uneventful two hour train ride we arrived in Jinan. We had another hour long, super hot cab ride to endure before we got to the hotel that the expo was at. It was really nice to just have to do what Karen told me and not have to truffle along on my on (like my journey back), but when we got to the hotel we parted ways. I headed to the expo right away and one of the people working it decided to stay and chat with

Stirring the Pot

me. The entire time. It wasn't that bad, he was nice (his name was Joey, after the character from friends), and he had studied English as his major. From what I gathered it is his life's dream to travel to the States, and is miserable in China. Beats me why he isn't trying harder to get out, but whatever. So we talked for the entire two and a half hours I was there, and about five people came up to ask about UMaine (a new record, woot!), and then I was packing my things up and heading back to Beijing.

Now, the ride home was interesting, and filled with potentially regrettable decisions on my part. Totally my fault. So I had this kid Joey help me to call a cab and while we were outside waiting for one this man said he was going to the same place. I know the dangers of sharing a cab and have never done it before, I'm not usually prone to making such horrible decisions, but for some reason yesterday I had a lose in judgement, or the heat finally melted part of my brain,

because one minute I am waiting to get in a cab by myself and the next I am sitting in the back with the strange man I just met on the steps of the hotel. Well, no exaggeration, I spent the entire ride thinking of an escape plan if things started to go south, and telling myself that whatever horrible things that were going to happen to me were my own fault and it was just karma biting me in the butt for getting into a cab with a stranger. It doesn't help that he could speak English and was telling me about his daughter who studies in New York and how he visits there often, in my mind all I could think was what a perfect story to tell a young American girl to distract her from the fact that she was, in fact, being kidnapped. He was chatting up the driver too, who had a walkie talkie (which I had never seen a cabbie have before), so that made my suspicions even greater. I was recognizing a few landmarks, though, luckily, so I knew we were at least headed in the right direction. My only worry is that we were going to drive right past the station and into the kidnappers lair, so to speak. Well, turns out that I had some good karma

saved up, because it turns out that the man, Eric I found out later, actually was just a nice dad who had a daughter my as who studied business in New York and took pity on the poor white girl who could speak no Mandarin. He even paid for the cab. He helped me get to my gate and then left to catch his train. I was there obscenely early, so I walked around. My sweet tooth was aching so I tried to find candy, but of course I couldn't read anything, so I guessed at what I thought was sweets, and it turns out they were, but they were gross! Well, not all of them, but most. So I loitered around the station until my train came. The ride was not that peaceful, I had been seated in the midst of a group traveling together and they were pretty rowdy. I just plugged in, though, and tried to enjoy the ride. When I got back to the Beijing train station I still had the task of getting a cab back to my hotel, which was not a close destination. So here they have this system at big transportation hubs, like train stations, that in order to get a cab you have to wait in the taxi line. So only the sign right off the train has English on it, the rest are just characters, so you have to remember what the characters for taxi look like so you can follow the other signs through the station.

What I Always Showed the Cab Drivers

Well the one for taxi looks like two pitchforks stacked on top of each other, so I didn't have much trouble finding the line. The trouble I faced was actually waiting in the line. Not only was it boiling hot, I was also wearing my business jacket which is basically a human incubator. Also there were rogue taxi drivers that just stood next to the line and shouted at everyone if they needed a taxi. Luckily I had my big headphones so I could pretend I didn't hear them. After about fourth five minutes of waiting, and walking over piles of puke, trash, and cigarette butts, I made it to the front of the line. I had my piece of paper that had my hotel's name written in characters clutched so tightly in my hand I was worried it would be illegible by

At the StudyGroup Office

the time I got into the taxi. It was, though, and the driver actually knew where it was AND gave me a receipt!!! WIN!!! I let Kevin know that I made it back alive and he was relieved. He worries way too much. Well, when I got back apparently the nasty train station pork and rice I had eaten was not agreeing at all with my body, so I took a little nap on the bathroom floor until I was sure I wouldn't puke, and then migrated to the bed. I only woke up because of the severe thunderstorms in the middle of the night, but other than that it was a peaceful night.

So this morning nothing much really has happened. I woke up and got breakfast as usual, killed some

Saying Goodbye to the "Pants" Building

time on the WiFi, packed all my things, and vegged out in front of the news. Oh, yes, forgot to mention that there was a plane crash in San Fran last night, so my paranoia of flying has been magnified tenfold since I saw that. I wasn't even meaning to watch the news yesterday morning during breakfast, but the one other English speaker exclaimed and pointed at the tube so I was forced to look at it. Plus it is now all over every news channel, so I know all about what happened. Being informed does not squelch my fears. At all. But here I sit, in the airport, boarding in less than an hour. Fingers crossed I still have some of that good karma saved up!

My bags got thoroughly searched coming through customs, and I'm sure they will be again back in the States. It seriously always happens, no matter how carefully I pack I always get checked. Such a pain. But, of course, per usual, I was free to go.

I made it back safe and sound! My trip was utterly amazing, I really did love love love China and StudyGroup gave me such a unique opportunity to explore the country from a professional standpoint. I really want to go back in the future, although I want to learn the language before I head back, it will make my time there exponentially easier. I can only speak highly of the country as well as it's people, everyone was nice to me and patient when I struggled to communicate. It's so good to be home, but I do miss China already! 

Today, my life is just Shelby.

Scorpions and Tarantulas

7/1-7/5

IT'S SUNNY OUT!! As in, actual sun and blue sky, it's SUCH a nice change, I missed it so much. I 

Kevin Being Weird

wasn't that surprised by the brightness out there this morning when I woke up, when the weather says its going to e sunny it is usually bright, but never blue sky. It was such a nice surprise to look up when I got outside and to see blue! So it really stinks that I am cooped up in the office all day. I'm hoping, though, that my friend Hashim texts me back so I can catch lunch with him.

Yesterday was beyond boring. I went into work at 10, left for lunch around 11:15, said goodbye to Janet, headed back to work, and then left early because literally no one would talk to me and I was just taking up a table, so I left and then laid in bed until dinner time. 

Sophie and I went to eat again and it was nice to just relax there, we turned in pretty early though, but I stayed up late watching music videos and just thinking. I was reluctant to get out of bed this morning, I was remarkable tired and my digestion system has been on the fritz for almost an entire week now, so that's getting kind of old. Anyways, I did drag myself out of bed, made myself look semi-presentable in about fifteen minutes and then headed downstairs to eat and check my phone. Kevin came to get me around nine, drove me across the city to another office, and I sit here all alone again, trying to kill time reading and blogging. Intern problems at its finest.

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Today (the 3rd) is hot hot hot outside. Sunny again, though, with blue skies, I wish I could be outdoors

Silk Worms

enjoying it, but oh well at least it is shining through the windows on me. Apparently it is really crappy weather back home, sucks to suck! I am sad, I have to say goodbye to Kevin in a bit, I did after lunch but then he had to come with me because the cab driver didn't know where he was going.  Today I got to kill some time this morning and video chat with Heather before I went to the StudyGroup office with Kevin to go over all my expenses and then go out to lunch. We ordered my favorite (sweet and sour chicken) as well as some Starbucks where Kevin also ordered my favorite (caramel frap), and had a nice time relaxing and fending off the heat. So here I am back at JJL (one of the offices) waiting for students to talk with me. Sophie should be here soon, though, so at least I'll have company when Kevin leaves.

So Kevin left, which sucks, but at least Sophie and Pavel are here until I leave, for the most part. So Pavel is from a country right outside of Russia and I can't for the life of me remember which one, but he is pretty cool. I'm the oldest one in our little trip, which is weird. So yesterday we bounced out of JJL and went to change and then

Live Scorpions

headed into City Center. It was soooo hot out, but we were bored to death and tired of sitting around and so we went exploring. After about a half an hour of walking, maybe closer to an hour, we finally reached City Center and it was so worth it, it was awesome!!! We went down all sorts of crowd side streets and huge streets filled with sky scraper malls and shopping plazas. The best part by far, tough, was the outdoor food market. They were selling things from squid on a stick, silkworms, lizards, tarantulas, fried bananas, fruit, and even scorpions! I, of course, had to try at least one weird thing, so I picked a tarantula and a scorpion. I hated the tarantula, it was way too salty and I think it was old cause there was no flavor, which is disappointing because I've heard really good things about them. I also tried a scorpion which was actually really tasty! I have videos and lots of photos of each, so there is no end to the entertainment it provided us. Pavel tried the scorpion too and liked it alright, although he had a different technique to eating his, he just popped the whole thing in his mouth while I ate the legs and claws first and then the body. He didn't like how the legs got stuck in his teeth but I didn't have that problem by eating them one at a time. All in all it was a great experience and neither of us got poisoned! We continued to explore and decided to take the metro

home, which proved harder for us to find than walking home would have been. We finally made it onto the crowded train and headed home. About two stops away we experienced a true Chinese metro experience with the crowd pushing us around. It didn't really bother me at all, except Pavel almost didn't push his way off the train so we almost missed our stop! We made it off just fine though and after a dinner of sushi we turned in for the night. We were all so tired from walking around we just crashed as soon as we got home.

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So today (now the 4th) it is almost 100 degrees and humid out, so I am really not looking forward to walking to work, even if it is only a block away. The skies are blue again, though, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much because it could be rainy and moody wants that. I only have four more days here and I'm hoping Orono is going to be sunny when I get back, if its not that is going to be a huge bummer, but I'll be home and 
with all my friends so it won't be too too terrible if it is a bit cruddy outside. Today I am headed back to JJL,

About to Taste the Tarantula 

 but only for a couple hours, then I assume that Sophie, Pavel, and myself are going to go explore a park or something until dinner time. Same goes for tomorrow.  It is pretty much the same routine every day, which is good and bad. I have all of Saturday off, which I sort of wish I didn't because it really is too hot to go exploring outside during the afternoon and I am going a little coo coo cooped up in the hotel, but Sunday I have a day trip to Jinan so that will keep me busy. Then Monday I head out. I am going to miss the food a lot, although I've gained so much weight here people back home probably aren't going to recognize me!! It will also be a bummer to have to pay for meals again, it's been nice to not have to worry about money here, although I have spent am obscene amount on gifts for everyone back home. In retrospect I probably shouldn't have, but there's so much cool stuff here that so many people at home will love I couldn't resist. I made my budget for the rest of the year today and it is really depressing, especially if I have to get a new car,  I will have zero wiggle room. Oh well, I have enough to get by and that's all that matters.

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Well yesterday went just as predicted, went to work, sat there for two hours, I did talk to one student for

Scorpion Tasting 

about five minutes, then Sophie and I packed up and headed to the silk market. W bought a few phone cases and I got my jade elephant then we headed to meet Pavel for dinner. We went to Los Pradise again and it did not disappoint. I got curry and rice, which I haven't had since it made me deathly ill in India. It was really good, but after a few minutes I had a hard time with it just because India ruined rice and curry for me basically forever. But after dinner we split and headed back to our respective hotels. It was too hot to do anything else.

Today (now the 5th), I have literally not been any use to the world. I slept in, went to breakfast, used the WiFi, did some an workout because I'm getting so fat, and now I'm sitting in Starbucks with Sophie using the free WiFi and trying to avoid the blistering heat outside. I really don't have much to do today, I need to go back to the silk market to exchange the pink phone case because I don't like it and I think I might get an American flag or bald eagle phone case or something funny like that. Ironic since I'm in China. I think it'd be funny to put on my case for the wedding, I know Chris would think it was hilarious. But yes, yet another super unproductive day. By tomorrow Sophie and I are headed to the forbidden city, so that should be a good time!

Squid

So I went to see if I could get that bald eagle phone case for 10, and the lady totally did not go for it. Maybe I can get it for 15, but I can't justify spending much more than that on something I don't really need. Oh well. So I'm at JJL now, sitting here with my banner. I wish they would advertise us being here more, then maybe people would actually come.

After killing time at Starbucks I did end up going to JJL for a bit, but left around 3. Sophie and I met up a bit after that and headed back again to the silk market, cutting through the subway market without getting the case. Seems like we spend our whole trip shopping, but we really don't, we mainly just love to people watch and the silk market is air conditioned so it is the perfect spot to people watch and not sweat to death. So we walked around for a bit and then headed up to the sixth floor to get some dinner. We had hotpot for dinner, which was the most amazing thing ever. Basically everyone gets their own pot with water in it and their own hot plate. The counter is cut so the pot and hot plate rest in it so it can't be knocked over. You then order whatever you want to boil, like engines, seaweed, meat, etc, and then you can order a sauce to put on it, I got peanut sauce, then you put the different things in at different times and cook them right there. It's kind of like fondu

Sparrows

but with water. It was amazingggggg! I got all veggies except for some dumplings and it was so tasty and fun! I wish I hadn't have had such a bad headache, though, that made me feel super nauseous, but after the food kicked in and we were walking around a bit I felt better. I am trying to drink enough water but it is hard so that might also be why I feel kind of funny. So anyways, Pavel met us there and we ran into some people from Kazakstan so he was blabbing on in Russian to them which was entertaining. We then proceeded to show Pavel every corner of the silk market, I helped him bargain, and of course we made a few enemies out of the shop keepers because of my low-balling, but we also made a few friends! It's one hallway everyone knows my name now and shouts it out whenever I walk by; it's super entertaining. I really really really want this bag that has a map of the world on it, but can't justify paying more than 80RMB for it, and no one is coming below 250, so I think I might have to live without it. Probably better I did anyways, seeing as how tight my budget is anyways. I noting even need it, I just really like it. First world problems right there. Anyways, we browsed around a bit and actually had a really good time, laughing like idiots and Pavel pretending to be German and not able to speak English. The reason that all those shopkeepers now know my name is Pavel wanted to buy a bag and apparently I am now the designated bargainer so he was calling to me,

and then before I knew it about fifteen people were calling to me, it was quite confusing until I figured out what was going on! From then on out every time they caught a glimpse of me it was like a ripple effect, everyone shouting my name and laughing. Quite the experience. After we had our fill of shopping (I showed incredible self restraint, I didn't buy one thing!) we headed back towards our hotels, only stopping to take a few panoramics of the skyline.

So we all came back to my room because Sophie had left some things in there and we bid each other adieu. I went over to the bathroom and clicked the light switch, because I was about to pee my pants and needed to go ASAP, and BAM, the power went out. Literally pitch black. Luckily my hone was on the bed just a few feet away so I grabbed it and turned the flashlight on,  opened the door, and tried to turn the lights on. I seemed, though, that a fuse had blown or something so I headed down to reception to get some help. The guy there didn't speak English and he thought that my card wasn't working, so he reprogrammed it and I gave him the benefit of the doubt and headed back up to give it a try. F course it didn't work and my power was still very much out, so I headed back down again. After failing to communicate my problem with him I motioned for him to just come with me and he obliged. We got to my room and then he definitely understood what the problem was. He made a call to the electrician or someone and he came and fixed it. The receptionist left and I went to turn the bathroom

list on so I could finally pee and BAM, out again. So I called down to the front desk this time and luckily the girl spoke a bit of English and told me that they would give me a new room. Thank goodness I hadn't unpacked because a moment later the same guy came up to help me move my stuff and it only took me three trips to get everything to my now room a couple doors over. I'm not complaining at all because this room is way bigger, with a queen bed and everything! Living the dream. But yes, so I reorganized again, because I leave in a couple days and I don't want to be rushing to repack, used the WiFi in the lobby for a bit, and now I'm just vegging in front of "Channel V," which is the music video channel here. I'm up pretty early tomorrow to head to the forbidden city and I am just crossing my fingers that the rain holds out until the afternoon! We will see though!

Today, my life is just Shelby.