Everything that I said I'd do like make the world brand new and take the time for you, still the world spins madly on
I've been in China for one week now. And it's starting to feel a lot like home. I'm starting to get acquainted with the area, the people, my life. It's not so much of a new experience anymore. This is just my life now.
This morning I got to sleep in. I didn't have class until 10 AM. It was quite nice. After classes a few of us went back to the Muslim noodle shop that we went to a few days ago, and then we went to register with the police department. One problem that we seem to constantly run into is businesses close from noon till 2 or 3 PM for an afternoon nap. During those hours it seems like we have nothing at all to do. The library is even closed (I tried to go study there during those hours today). Today those of us who went to lunch walked north of campus and found another shopping district (that makes 3 large ones within a mile of where I live), and found a park nearby. We sat and rested and I took pictures.
There were two exciting things that happened at the park today. The first came as I was looking around for things to photograph, and I looked at a nearby building. There, tied (literally tied) to the end of a rope (like a 3 inch thick one) and hanging from a building (at least 60 stories) was a man washing the windows. I was so excited! I took a few pictures of what looks to be one of the most dangerous jobs I have seen in China thus far （and there are some ridiculously dangerous jobs here).
The second thing that happened at the park was a little funny. You see here, to save money (and because it just isn't a big deal I guess) parents don't buy diapers for their children. Instead they buy pants which are split the entire way down the middle from the front to the back. When a child has to go to the bathroom its easy, the parents take them to a patch of grass, dirt, etc. The child squats down and takes care of business. When there is no grass, dirt, etc.? No problem, the parents hold a piece of paper or magazine underneath their child to catch all the deposits (much like people do with their dogs) and throw it away in the trash can. So as we were sitting in this park we had noticed a large amount of children going to the bathroom. Despite all of this, we had a police officer come over to one of the students and ask him not to lie down on the bench 'because it wasn't becoming'. China. Crazy place.
After registering with the police I came home. Oh, here is a chance to tell another story that hasn't yet been put on my blog.
Many, many days ago. Before the beginning of time and before I had internet access in my apartment, we would go to a small coffee shop across the street, order a 5 RMB drink and use the wireless internet to communicate with people. One fateful night as I was sitting there writing a post for this very blog, I realized that I was singing along to music. But I wasn't playing the music, it was coming from the coffee shop speakers. It was then I realized that they were playing 'Gotta Have You' by The Weepies. Well I got really excited (because how many of you had heard of The Weepies before reading that last sentence? [Thank you Alyssa]), and went to ask them how the heck they had The Weepies playing in their coffee shop. They told me that they had a certain worker who was really into music and had chosen the music for the coffee shop with a few friends. I decided these people had to be cool and that I had to have them as friends.
This afternoon I made a mix CD for them of other music which is also amazing from America. After making the CD I took it over to the coffee shop and gave it to the employee at the front. They were all excited to hear the CD, and I told them that I would probably be stopping by the coffee shop more to talk about music and ask them if I ever had any questions about where to find things, even if I already had internet upstairs. So I made some new friends today.
At night we went exploring up north of campus on streets we hadn't been up before. Nothing too interesting to report on. Came home and studied. Tomorrow will be a full day of classes. Time to get to sleep to get ready for those.
This morning I got to sleep in. I didn't have class until 10 AM. It was quite nice. After classes a few of us went back to the Muslim noodle shop that we went to a few days ago, and then we went to register with the police department. One problem that we seem to constantly run into is businesses close from noon till 2 or 3 PM for an afternoon nap. During those hours it seems like we have nothing at all to do. The library is even closed (I tried to go study there during those hours today). Today those of us who went to lunch walked north of campus and found another shopping district (that makes 3 large ones within a mile of where I live), and found a park nearby. We sat and rested and I took pictures.
There were two exciting things that happened at the park today. The first came as I was looking around for things to photograph, and I looked at a nearby building. There, tied (literally tied) to the end of a rope (like a 3 inch thick one) and hanging from a building (at least 60 stories) was a man washing the windows. I was so excited! I took a few pictures of what looks to be one of the most dangerous jobs I have seen in China thus far （and there are some ridiculously dangerous jobs here).
The second thing that happened at the park was a little funny. You see here, to save money (and because it just isn't a big deal I guess) parents don't buy diapers for their children. Instead they buy pants which are split the entire way down the middle from the front to the back. When a child has to go to the bathroom its easy, the parents take them to a patch of grass, dirt, etc. The child squats down and takes care of business. When there is no grass, dirt, etc.? No problem, the parents hold a piece of paper or magazine underneath their child to catch all the deposits (much like people do with their dogs) and throw it away in the trash can. So as we were sitting in this park we had noticed a large amount of children going to the bathroom. Despite all of this, we had a police officer come over to one of the students and ask him not to lie down on the bench 'because it wasn't becoming'. China. Crazy place.
After registering with the police I came home. Oh, here is a chance to tell another story that hasn't yet been put on my blog.
Many, many days ago. Before the beginning of time and before I had internet access in my apartment, we would go to a small coffee shop across the street, order a 5 RMB drink and use the wireless internet to communicate with people. One fateful night as I was sitting there writing a post for this very blog, I realized that I was singing along to music. But I wasn't playing the music, it was coming from the coffee shop speakers. It was then I realized that they were playing 'Gotta Have You' by The Weepies. Well I got really excited (because how many of you had heard of The Weepies before reading that last sentence? [Thank you Alyssa]), and went to ask them how the heck they had The Weepies playing in their coffee shop. They told me that they had a certain worker who was really into music and had chosen the music for the coffee shop with a few friends. I decided these people had to be cool and that I had to have them as friends.
This afternoon I made a mix CD for them of other music which is also amazing from America. After making the CD I took it over to the coffee shop and gave it to the employee at the front. They were all excited to hear the CD, and I told them that I would probably be stopping by the coffee shop more to talk about music and ask them if I ever had any questions about where to find things, even if I already had internet upstairs. So I made some new friends today.
At night we went exploring up north of campus on streets we hadn't been up before. Nothing too interesting to report on. Came home and studied. Tomorrow will be a full day of classes. Time to get to sleep to get ready for those.
Comments (1)
I'm so happy you've found some friends there who have great taste in music! I'm expecting you to bring back lots of amazing music and share it with me. :)