China

Hey everybody,
Today was our first day of classes since returning from China.  I of course had a test today, but I think it went well.  I also have a paper due tomorrow.  It seems that between every port – where lately we have had only a couple days of class – I have a test or a paper that is due with only a little amount of time to study for.  But I guess the teachers have no choice when they have to stick to such a tight schedule.  It’s hard to complain about school though when this has truly has been the trip of a lifetime.  I can say that China has probably been my favorite port.  As interesting and eye-opening as Africa was, with its myriad of cultures and complex history as the Motherland, I am attracted to foreign (yet western) more developed areas.  The Chinese dress so well too!  Hong Kong was our first stop in China and the view from the ship looking out towards the hundreds of skyscrapers was captivating.  I have never been to New York, but I would picture Hong Kong as a more condensed New York City.  I only spent one night in Hong Kong, but at least I was able to see the building that Batman jumped off of in the Dark Night.  A group of us spent the day taking a ferry ride to the mainland and walking around, experiencing the city and taking in the sights and sounds.  We came across a bar district and made sure that we would all come back that night.  Sure enough, later that night we taxied to the district where we found a large group of SASers in each bar interacting with the locals.  Towards the end of the night we all converged to one club where SAS seemed to take over.  Needless to say, it was a fun night.

The next morning I had to get up early, pack my bags, and head out for Beijing on my last SAS trip.  This one was simply titled Beijing that consisted of a 4-day city tour.  Other groups hiked the Great Wall for 3 days and actually slept on it in 30 below weather.  Lets just say the jacket and glove industry in Beijing was booming for a couple days.  Our first order of business in Beijing, even before our arrival to our hotel, was to participate in a home stay where a host family took us in for dinner and cooked us a family style Chinese dinner.  Upon getting off the bus, all 40-50 of us on this trip were ushered into 2 person bicycle rickshaws where they supplied us with blankets.  Driving through town, seeing Chinese style buildings adjacent to lakes with overhanging sycamore trees was an incredible first impression of the remarkable Chinese architecture and immediate culture.  The wife who cooked us dinner with her sister did not speak any English so our incredible tour guide (named David but sounded like Davey when he said his own name) acted as an interpreter.  After our delicious meal the wife pulled out some paintings that her husband had made and displayed her husbands works of art.  He is a renowned artist and actually won an award in 2008 for his works.

That night I was lucky enough to have a single room at the hotel.  Originally I did have a roommate but he stayed on the ship for personal reasons.  I sure hope he didn’t sleep in because that would be a terrible excuse to miss a trip like this one.  The next morning we first went to the Forbidden City and then to Tien’men Square, which is right outside the Forbidden City.  Inside the City, when crossing through thresholds men had to step through with their left foot and women had to step through with their right foot.  This is said to keep the bad spirits out and for good luck.  The Forbidden City is the largest museum in the world, although I would hardly call it a museum even though they did have galleries scattered about.  Eventually, after walking through the “gardens of prosperity” we came to the spacious center of the City and I could only picture ancient armies lined up leading the way for the Emperor to walk through.  I’m not sure if that’s exactly what they were used for but I let my imagination wander and it was a cool sight to picture.  Walking out of the Forbidden City, we came out where the famous portrait of Mao Zedong (Tse-Tung) hung.  While we were standing there taking pictures of it, locals in front of us would get down on one knee and take pictures of us, it was pretty funny.  Tien’men Square, home of the student protests from only a couple decades ago, was also a nice touristy thing to see.  It is the largest square in the world.  There was a traffic light off in the distance and our tour guide David told us that was the exact spot where the famous picture of the student holding his hand up in front of the tank was taken.  After seeing these famous landmarks, we went to an orphanage school where one man started recruiting kids off the streets and began caring for them and teaching them in some old buildings that they now call their home.  The kids ages ranged from 12 to 18, but I would say that most of them were around 15.  Upon our entry they stood in lines and high-fived us all in a line as we walked in.  We felt like celebrities they were so excited to see us, and we them.  The kids showed us their living quarters, their lunchroom, the music room and some classrooms.  They only had the bare minimum yet they seemed to not mind one bit; most were proud to show us where they slept.  I walked into the music room and a young kid was playing the drums.  After some time of listening I asked him if I could play.  With a nod and a smile he sat up and gave me his drumsticks.  I mashed away and when I was done his smile was wider and he excitedly sat back down to practice some more.  We then played some tug-of-war with the large group of students (who were much stronger than they appeared).  We then came across a large white wall with a silhouette of some drawings all over it.  We all took turns painting in the pictures and when it was finished it was one big masterpiece that will be left with the kids forever.  This was special.  When it was not my turn to paint, I played basketball with some of the students and it eventually turned into a game of 4 on 8.  You can guess who had 8.  It was like a team of Shaqs against a lot of energetic Gary Paytons.  This was very fun, maybe one of the most extraordinary experiences of my trip.  As we were leaving, all the students lined up and sang us a farewell song in mandarin as we waved goodbye.  One student who we were playing basketball with came up and gave me a hug goodbye.

The next day we woke up early again with fresh happy memories from the day before and got even more excited knowing that we would be hiking the Great Wall of China.  We took a long bus to the Wall, towards the base of the Wall I woke up from my nap and looked outside to experience one of the most beautiful car heads I have ever been in.  I wasn’t even on the wall yet and yet was amazed by my surroundings.  We took a trolley up to the wall and walked around for about 2 hours.  The Great Wall was everything I was hoping it to be.  It is simply that, just a Wall; but you can picture Mongolians coming through the hills and crashing with the Great Wall centuries ago.  Even when we looked off into the distance towards the surrounding mountains we could still see a distant winding snake-like wall making its way through the mountainous hills.  Possibly the best part about the wall was the toboggan ride down.  I felt like I was in the Olympics as I sped past trees down this zigzag course on my little 3-foot long cart.  This was soo much fun, at least up until the point you reached the slow person in front of you and had to slow down enough in order gain some more distance between him.  It is no wonder why the Great Wall is a wonder of the world, I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Chairman Mao once said “you are not a real man until you have seen the Great Wall with your own eyes.”

The next day was full of shows and plays.  We first went to a Kung Fu school where some of the students prepared a show for us, showing off their talents they learned at school.  They were quite amazing and fun to watch.  After the show some taught us some moves.  I know kung fu now so you all better not mess with me! Or else.  It was that night that we saw a Chinese flying acrobatic show.  The show reminded me of Cirque Du Soleil.  Consisted of contortionists, balancing acts, amazing gymnastics, spinning plates, 10+ people on a bicycle, etc.  It was quite amazing.  In short, China was amazing.  I really enjoyed my time there and I can definitely see myself going back there in the near future.  Everyone there dressed so nice so I’ll come back with some fashion tips for you all.  Soon I will be arriving in Tokyo and it will be my last visited foreign country on the voyage.  It’s Myndi’s birthday on the 20th so we’ll be celebrating then in Kobe (after a nice Kobe beef meal of course).  Then it’ll be off the Tokyo where I have heard only good things – except that it is very expensive.  I’m sure I’ll see some cutting edge electronics which I’m excited for.  And who knows, maybe I’ll even try some puffer fish or live squid, so many options!  I miss everybody so much and will be seeing you all very soon, a little over 3 weeks to be exact.  I can’t believe its almost over!