Oh, I know you've heard this song before. Cause I've tried to write it down so many ways before. I must be the naive kind to try the same old thing.
Well, I didn't post anything last night.
It wasn't on purpose, I didn't really do anything particularly noteworthy yesterday. There was nothing to really write about. Today is a different day. I knew that I would have a lot to say about things today. And I do.
Yesterday we had our Chinese culture class, and after class I approached the teacher and told him that I was looking to improve my Chinese and also be able to understand more about the history of Nanjing. I asked if there were any books that he would recommend that I read. He told me that he would think about it and get back to me.
This morning after waking up we headed up to campus for our first class field trip. When I got there my teacher was waiting for me. He pulled me aside and said that he had talked to a few of his colleagues and asked what they had thought. They were all very impressed by my initiative and wanted to help, but they didn't know what level of book I would be able to read. The teacher told me that they had brainstormed a few books that might be helpful, and that on Monday after class I could go with him to the campus publishing house and choose any books that I wanted about Chinese history and buy them for wholesale. He also gave me another book with pictures from the famous sites in Nanjing and told me that if I ever needed anything while I was here at Nanjing University I could always find him in his office, which is rare for professors in China to say to students.
For our class field trip we went to Zhong Shan Ling, the burial place of the Father of Modern China, Sun Yat Sen. When we arrived the teachers were trying to find someone to take a picture of the entire class and I volunteered that we use my camera and set it up with a timer on a tripod. After seeing my camera and looking at a few of the pictures that I had taken earlier that morning our professor named me as the class photographer, and assigned me to take pictures wherever we go and upload them onto a website that all the students can easily access.
I took over 150 pictures while we were at Zhong Shan Ling and the nearby Ming Xiao Ling (the burial place of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty c. 1368 AD). I had a good time, but was pretty tired by the time that we made it back to campus.
I spent the afternoon resting and getting packed and ready to head to Shanghai at night.
We took the subway to the train station, and the speed train to Shanghai. It seemed like such a long train ride because I hadn't eaten since noon (we didn't get on the train till 5:30), and we didn't get off the train until 9:00 PM.
Once we got to Shanghai our roommate, who had friends that live here in Shanghai took us by his old apartment so we could drop our stuff off before we headed out for dinner. His friends were all pretty nice. One was from America, California I think, the others were from Sweden, Denmark, France, England, and Colombia. When we went out to dinner the other person with us spoke up, saying he didn't like the idea of staying on those guys couches because they were talking about going to clubs that night. I don't know what about any of that made him uncomfortable, but he said, "If I have to choose between getting a hotel room for a couple hundred RMB a night or sleeping in an apartment full of Euros, I'd want to find somewhere else to go."
All the sudden this weekend that I was going to spend in Shanghai with my friends turns for the worse. My roommate who used to live in Shanghai still has a place to stay, and decides to go out partying with everyone else. My other roommate and I find ourselves on the streets of a city we've never been to before at 11:00 PM with 35 RMB ($5 USD) between the two of us, no where to go, and no passports.
We figure the best option (of the few options we have remaining) is to make our way down to the conference building that we will be having church in on Sunday and try to find a hotel around there. The only problem is that it is against Chinese law to rent a hotel room to a foreigner without them showing you their passport, and our passports were in Nanjing. So, not only did we have to find a hotel that was still renting out rooms at 11 PM, but we had to find one that was less than 35 RMB a night, and that wouldn't require us to show our passports.
Through a lot of luck, faking we didn't speak Chinese, and pretending we didn't know the local laws we got a hotel room for the night. The only problem is there is only one bed, so I'm sleeping on the tile floor with no blankets and using my backpack as a pillow for the next two nights. Also our hotel is filled with mosquitos.
Shanghai seems like a really nice city, and I'm sure that I would love it under different circumstances, but this adventure is a little much for me.
It wasn't on purpose, I didn't really do anything particularly noteworthy yesterday. There was nothing to really write about. Today is a different day. I knew that I would have a lot to say about things today. And I do.
Yesterday we had our Chinese culture class, and after class I approached the teacher and told him that I was looking to improve my Chinese and also be able to understand more about the history of Nanjing. I asked if there were any books that he would recommend that I read. He told me that he would think about it and get back to me.
This morning after waking up we headed up to campus for our first class field trip. When I got there my teacher was waiting for me. He pulled me aside and said that he had talked to a few of his colleagues and asked what they had thought. They were all very impressed by my initiative and wanted to help, but they didn't know what level of book I would be able to read. The teacher told me that they had brainstormed a few books that might be helpful, and that on Monday after class I could go with him to the campus publishing house and choose any books that I wanted about Chinese history and buy them for wholesale. He also gave me another book with pictures from the famous sites in Nanjing and told me that if I ever needed anything while I was here at Nanjing University I could always find him in his office, which is rare for professors in China to say to students.
For our class field trip we went to Zhong Shan Ling, the burial place of the Father of Modern China, Sun Yat Sen. When we arrived the teachers were trying to find someone to take a picture of the entire class and I volunteered that we use my camera and set it up with a timer on a tripod. After seeing my camera and looking at a few of the pictures that I had taken earlier that morning our professor named me as the class photographer, and assigned me to take pictures wherever we go and upload them onto a website that all the students can easily access.
I took over 150 pictures while we were at Zhong Shan Ling and the nearby Ming Xiao Ling (the burial place of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty c. 1368 AD). I had a good time, but was pretty tired by the time that we made it back to campus.
I spent the afternoon resting and getting packed and ready to head to Shanghai at night.
We took the subway to the train station, and the speed train to Shanghai. It seemed like such a long train ride because I hadn't eaten since noon (we didn't get on the train till 5:30), and we didn't get off the train until 9:00 PM.
Once we got to Shanghai our roommate, who had friends that live here in Shanghai took us by his old apartment so we could drop our stuff off before we headed out for dinner. His friends were all pretty nice. One was from America, California I think, the others were from Sweden, Denmark, France, England, and Colombia. When we went out to dinner the other person with us spoke up, saying he didn't like the idea of staying on those guys couches because they were talking about going to clubs that night. I don't know what about any of that made him uncomfortable, but he said, "If I have to choose between getting a hotel room for a couple hundred RMB a night or sleeping in an apartment full of Euros, I'd want to find somewhere else to go."
All the sudden this weekend that I was going to spend in Shanghai with my friends turns for the worse. My roommate who used to live in Shanghai still has a place to stay, and decides to go out partying with everyone else. My other roommate and I find ourselves on the streets of a city we've never been to before at 11:00 PM with 35 RMB ($5 USD) between the two of us, no where to go, and no passports.
We figure the best option (of the few options we have remaining) is to make our way down to the conference building that we will be having church in on Sunday and try to find a hotel around there. The only problem is that it is against Chinese law to rent a hotel room to a foreigner without them showing you their passport, and our passports were in Nanjing. So, not only did we have to find a hotel that was still renting out rooms at 11 PM, but we had to find one that was less than 35 RMB a night, and that wouldn't require us to show our passports.
Through a lot of luck, faking we didn't speak Chinese, and pretending we didn't know the local laws we got a hotel room for the night. The only problem is there is only one bed, so I'm sleeping on the tile floor with no blankets and using my backpack as a pillow for the next two nights. Also our hotel is filled with mosquitos.
Shanghai seems like a really nice city, and I'm sure that I would love it under different circumstances, but this adventure is a little much for me.
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