Oh, how I wish! It's not in the cards as of yet, but I thought I'd update this as I've been getting questions.
Due to the ever present social media integration, I'm testing out how this would work. However, my hope is to start blogging again, (notice hope, not goal) as my adventures in Minneapolis merit it.
If anyone is interested in doing a bit of traveling to my old haunts, let me know as you never know where I may pop up these days.
Much love and safe travels to all.
Ke ShanShan
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Because there are not enough people in China...
I'm back. Safe trip that was blessedly uneventful. The only downside was my mp3 player ran out of juice, so I had to wait until Tokyo to charge it. Fine and dandy.
Courtney picked me up at the airport. She had a public transit adventure trying to get to me and the return trip was the same. I was surprised at how long it took me to see something familiar and we chose the longest bus route.
Tomorrow:
-More adventures in how my Chinese has suffered
-Having lunch with a yet undetermined number of former students
-The shopping begins.
Aren't you excited?
Courtney picked me up at the airport. She had a public transit adventure trying to get to me and the return trip was the same. I was surprised at how long it took me to see something familiar and we chose the longest bus route.
Tomorrow:
-More adventures in how my Chinese has suffered
-Having lunch with a yet undetermined number of former students
-The shopping begins.
Aren't you excited?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Busy busy busy
Sorry for the long wait between blogs. We've been quite busy over here and it's only going to get busier!
Monday, June 11: After getting ready, Elizabeth and Carlson went off to the Pearl Market and I set out on my grand adventure to the Summer Palace. Getting there was no small feat! First, I had to try to navigate the Beijing Subway system. This involved buying a ticket with many hand gestures, making sure I was going the right way on the right line, riding a crowded subway for about 40 minutes, getting off, switching lines, and riding for another 10-20 minutes. As if that wasn't enough, then I could either take a taxi or figure out a bus system that had no English whatsoever. Knowing me, I went for the challenge. My guide book said to take bus 375, but of course didn't give me any clue about which stop to get off at. So I found the bus stop and pointed in my book at the Summer Palace to a girl who was also waiting for the bus. She didn't speak English, so that made things very interesting. She pointed at a few different things, then changed her mind and walked me to a different bus stop. She pointed at a different bus completely. Through many more gestures, she told me which stop we were at and which stop I should get off at. The bus in Beijing was different than the ones in Shanghai. Not only is there a driver, but there is another person on the bus who takes your money. And the bus is only 1 yuan (12.5 cents) as opposed to 2 yuan in Shanghai. I counted out the stops and got off at the one I assumed to be it. As soon as I got off, people were shoving bottles of water at me (hello lady...cold water...2 yuan!) so I knew I was in a touristy area. Success! I bought a map of the Summer Palace from some peddler and then got my ticket. (half price for students...score!) There were TONS of tourists around the gate and just inside. Once inside, I tagged along with some tour group that had an English speaking guide and listened in on what he had to say, then I broke away and walked around. It was a cloudy day, but I still got some great pictures. I climbed up as far as I could go in the Tower of the Fragrant Buddha. After climbing the Great Wall the day before, all I needed was more stairs! But the view from the top was really cool. Since it was quite a hike to get up there, there weren't many people so that was a plus too. I took a back way circling back to the gate and saw some very pretty scenery. I walked back to the bus stop, hopped the bus back to the subway, and then the subway back to the hotel. All in all, it was a very fun little side trip and I didn't get lost once! I met up with Carlson and Elizabeth back at the hotel. Carlson bought several pearl necklaces and earrings at the market. He said that he went to one store and asked how much a necklace was, the lady said 180 (just over $20) and Carlson opened his mouth and said, "That's all?!" before he could stop himself. After he said that, there was no bargaining. He could have gotten the stuff he did for much cheaper, but even so, it was cheaper than Shanghai. He spent quite a bit of money there. Elizabeth didn't get anything, but that's because she didn't have any money on her. She said it was probably best, otherwise she could have been in trouble pretty quickly! We set off together for Tiananmen Square. It was a bit less than a mile walk from our hotel. We got there and to my utter dismay...Mao's tomb was CLOSED for remodeling!!! It was devestating. I personally think they closed it to re-glue his left ear! :) The sun was boiling that day. Luckily, I brought my own shade....my umbrella. Otherwise I would have been as red as one of Mao's books. At one point, we tried to discretely get a picture with a PLA guard. However, he was wise to our tricks and kept turning around so we couldn't get one. Next, we tackled the Forbidden City. That place is HUGE...it's gi-normous...just to walk straight throught it, not even venture to the sides at all, took us several exhausting hours in the blazing sun. I think I drank about 4 bottles of water from beginning to end. Plus an ice cream break! From Tiananmen to the end of the Forbidden City has to be at least 2 miles, plus our walk just to get to Tiananmen, plus all the walking I did at the Summer Palace. When we got to the end, we crawled to a taxi and went back to the nice, air conditioned hotel. We sat around there for a while, then Elizabeth and I were hungry. She was craving biscuits from KFC and I decided that didn't sound half bad either. There was one a few blocks away, but when we got there...they had no biscuits! I think that's gotta be illegal. At least in my books it is. So she got some chicken, but I decided that I would have broken down and gotten biscuits, but not their chicken, so I found a little bakery that had some amazing croissants. We picked up our bags from the concierge and walked (aahh...more walking!) to the train station. Elizabeth and I played several card games. We took the wonderful, glorious night train back to Shanghai. I love the train, you get on, mess around for a couple hours, wake up, and there you are! Easiest traveling ever.
Tuesday, June 12th: We took a cab back to the hotel, unpacked, did some laundry, and other miscellaneous whatnot. Then, we walked to Lotus, took bus 33 to the Bund, and took a cab to the fabric market. This place is pretty much my idea of heaven on earth. Silk, cashmere, tailored clothes, unbeatable prices! I could have got in some serious trouble here. I went to a place to get a dress made. I showed the lady a picture of what I wanted and she led me to severeal different fabric stores to pick out one I liked. On the way there, she said, "don't ask anything about price, I'll handle that because they will give me a much better price than you." I found a really cool pattern. It was brown and blue on a cream background. Then I got a little bit of solid brown for an accent. They took some measurements and asked me a few more questions about what I wanted then told me to come back in a week. Next, we went to a place where Elizabeth got measured for a pair of black wool cashmere pants for 140 yuan. ($17.50 for tailored cashmere!!) Then she got a 2 piece suit; I got a 3 piece suit and an amazing chocolate brown pea coat with a silk lining. Suit: 500 ($62.50) Pea coat: 480 ($60) After that, we had to leave before we drained our bank accounts! We went back to campus and checked our email, ate supper, and other random things I can't remember.
Since I only have 10 more mintues before they lock me in this place, I'll give you the short version of events for the past week:
Wednesday, June 13th:
-not a whole lot in the morning
-lunch
-work on some powerpoints for class
-meet with Eric (friend of ours also from UND) in People's Park
-get dinner (yummy pasta)
-decide to go to a movie
-tried to figure out how to say 'Pirates of the Carribbean'
-finally find a poster and just point
-have 2 hours to kill until movie
-go to his hostel and look at pictures of his 3 day cruise through the 3 Gorges Dam
-go back to movie theater
-watch Pirates of the Carribbean
-take cab home
Thursday, June 14th:
-class at 8am-11:40am
-lunch
-kill time until guy came with me and my sister's tickets to Chengdu
-get tickets and do a little dance because I'm going to Chengdu
-teach class from 6-8pm
-go to my rock hard bed
Friday, June 15th:
-teach class at 8am for 2 hours. Boo.
-sit in on another 2 hours of class.
-chinese cafeteria food
-ANOTHER 4 hours of class. (don't worry, this much class isn't normal, their schedules are quite wierd, so we just had a really long day)
-supper, walk around, and other not very interesting things
I'm about to be locked in so I'd better leave!
Monday, June 11: After getting ready, Elizabeth and Carlson went off to the Pearl Market and I set out on my grand adventure to the Summer Palace. Getting there was no small feat! First, I had to try to navigate the Beijing Subway system. This involved buying a ticket with many hand gestures, making sure I was going the right way on the right line, riding a crowded subway for about 40 minutes, getting off, switching lines, and riding for another 10-20 minutes. As if that wasn't enough, then I could either take a taxi or figure out a bus system that had no English whatsoever. Knowing me, I went for the challenge. My guide book said to take bus 375, but of course didn't give me any clue about which stop to get off at. So I found the bus stop and pointed in my book at the Summer Palace to a girl who was also waiting for the bus. She didn't speak English, so that made things very interesting. She pointed at a few different things, then changed her mind and walked me to a different bus stop. She pointed at a different bus completely. Through many more gestures, she told me which stop we were at and which stop I should get off at. The bus in Beijing was different than the ones in Shanghai. Not only is there a driver, but there is another person on the bus who takes your money. And the bus is only 1 yuan (12.5 cents) as opposed to 2 yuan in Shanghai. I counted out the stops and got off at the one I assumed to be it. As soon as I got off, people were shoving bottles of water at me (hello lady...cold water...2 yuan!) so I knew I was in a touristy area. Success! I bought a map of the Summer Palace from some peddler and then got my ticket. (half price for students...score!) There were TONS of tourists around the gate and just inside. Once inside, I tagged along with some tour group that had an English speaking guide and listened in on what he had to say, then I broke away and walked around. It was a cloudy day, but I still got some great pictures. I climbed up as far as I could go in the Tower of the Fragrant Buddha. After climbing the Great Wall the day before, all I needed was more stairs! But the view from the top was really cool. Since it was quite a hike to get up there, there weren't many people so that was a plus too. I took a back way circling back to the gate and saw some very pretty scenery. I walked back to the bus stop, hopped the bus back to the subway, and then the subway back to the hotel. All in all, it was a very fun little side trip and I didn't get lost once! I met up with Carlson and Elizabeth back at the hotel. Carlson bought several pearl necklaces and earrings at the market. He said that he went to one store and asked how much a necklace was, the lady said 180 (just over $20) and Carlson opened his mouth and said, "That's all?!" before he could stop himself. After he said that, there was no bargaining. He could have gotten the stuff he did for much cheaper, but even so, it was cheaper than Shanghai. He spent quite a bit of money there. Elizabeth didn't get anything, but that's because she didn't have any money on her. She said it was probably best, otherwise she could have been in trouble pretty quickly! We set off together for Tiananmen Square. It was a bit less than a mile walk from our hotel. We got there and to my utter dismay...Mao's tomb was CLOSED for remodeling!!! It was devestating. I personally think they closed it to re-glue his left ear! :) The sun was boiling that day. Luckily, I brought my own shade....my umbrella. Otherwise I would have been as red as one of Mao's books. At one point, we tried to discretely get a picture with a PLA guard. However, he was wise to our tricks and kept turning around so we couldn't get one. Next, we tackled the Forbidden City. That place is HUGE...it's gi-normous...just to walk straight throught it, not even venture to the sides at all, took us several exhausting hours in the blazing sun. I think I drank about 4 bottles of water from beginning to end. Plus an ice cream break! From Tiananmen to the end of the Forbidden City has to be at least 2 miles, plus our walk just to get to Tiananmen, plus all the walking I did at the Summer Palace. When we got to the end, we crawled to a taxi and went back to the nice, air conditioned hotel. We sat around there for a while, then Elizabeth and I were hungry. She was craving biscuits from KFC and I decided that didn't sound half bad either. There was one a few blocks away, but when we got there...they had no biscuits! I think that's gotta be illegal. At least in my books it is. So she got some chicken, but I decided that I would have broken down and gotten biscuits, but not their chicken, so I found a little bakery that had some amazing croissants. We picked up our bags from the concierge and walked (aahh...more walking!) to the train station. Elizabeth and I played several card games. We took the wonderful, glorious night train back to Shanghai. I love the train, you get on, mess around for a couple hours, wake up, and there you are! Easiest traveling ever.
Tuesday, June 12th: We took a cab back to the hotel, unpacked, did some laundry, and other miscellaneous whatnot. Then, we walked to Lotus, took bus 33 to the Bund, and took a cab to the fabric market. This place is pretty much my idea of heaven on earth. Silk, cashmere, tailored clothes, unbeatable prices! I could have got in some serious trouble here. I went to a place to get a dress made. I showed the lady a picture of what I wanted and she led me to severeal different fabric stores to pick out one I liked. On the way there, she said, "don't ask anything about price, I'll handle that because they will give me a much better price than you." I found a really cool pattern. It was brown and blue on a cream background. Then I got a little bit of solid brown for an accent. They took some measurements and asked me a few more questions about what I wanted then told me to come back in a week. Next, we went to a place where Elizabeth got measured for a pair of black wool cashmere pants for 140 yuan. ($17.50 for tailored cashmere!!) Then she got a 2 piece suit; I got a 3 piece suit and an amazing chocolate brown pea coat with a silk lining. Suit: 500 ($62.50) Pea coat: 480 ($60) After that, we had to leave before we drained our bank accounts! We went back to campus and checked our email, ate supper, and other random things I can't remember.
Since I only have 10 more mintues before they lock me in this place, I'll give you the short version of events for the past week:
Wednesday, June 13th:
-not a whole lot in the morning
-lunch
-work on some powerpoints for class
-meet with Eric (friend of ours also from UND) in People's Park
-get dinner (yummy pasta)
-decide to go to a movie
-tried to figure out how to say 'Pirates of the Carribbean'
-finally find a poster and just point
-have 2 hours to kill until movie
-go to his hostel and look at pictures of his 3 day cruise through the 3 Gorges Dam
-go back to movie theater
-watch Pirates of the Carribbean
-take cab home
Thursday, June 14th:
-class at 8am-11:40am
-lunch
-kill time until guy came with me and my sister's tickets to Chengdu
-get tickets and do a little dance because I'm going to Chengdu
-teach class from 6-8pm
-go to my rock hard bed
Friday, June 15th:
-teach class at 8am for 2 hours. Boo.
-sit in on another 2 hours of class.
-chinese cafeteria food
-ANOTHER 4 hours of class. (don't worry, this much class isn't normal, their schedules are quite wierd, so we just had a really long day)
-supper, walk around, and other not very interesting things
I'm about to be locked in so I'd better leave!
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