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Post by Pikachu on Jun 29, 2007 12:00:36 GMT -5
Just gonna make a thread here before I go. Will post any interesting happenings on my trip here.
Wish me luck! ;D
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Post by feedback on Jun 29, 2007 20:02:26 GMT -5
Very well, good luck, have fun, and I'll see you in a month or so.
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Post by dyuman on Jul 1, 2007 10:18:22 GMT -5
Good luck. Legends still hasnt called  |
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 2, 2007 23:18:22 GMT -5
Hey guys, I made it here alive. Took me a few days to get everything settled and get online to say hi.
The place we're staying at is pretty pimp. Hopefully I can post pics somewhere later. We're staying in a financial district of the city, so it's pretty nice here.
Dyuman, give Legend a call at 408-253-6944 and ask about stuff.
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 4, 2007 22:43:51 GMT -5
So, China's pretty cool. Well, Beijing is. I still think Shanghai is a cunty city. They think they're better than Hong Kong. Right.
I have learned that people in Beijing are all really hard working, especially in service industries, and they'll bust their balls to get you what you need. For instance, we were slightly shortchanged at a KFC, and a counselor working for us spent an extra 20 minutes to get us back our 10 RMB, which is like, a little more than a dollar. We order lunches from restaurants just down the street, and they happily deliver the meals straight to our doorstep. So yeah, things are really comfy here.
On the other hand, I've also realized how fragile the infrastructure really is. Ordering around 47 meals all at once will literally break a restaurant. They will simply not know what to do, especially since their stock is limited. You'd think that in the capital of China, a country of a billion people, that they'd be able to handle massive orders, but apparently, individual places are very hard pressed to do so. They can't overstock, because they also have a concern that they won't be able to sell their supply. Technically, then, the demand is pretty low in China, based on the low buying power of the general population. Therefore, when we stay in these high class places, they're not frequented by a ton of people and can't afford to keep a surplus stock of things in case ginormous groups like ourselves come along.
Still, they're happy to have our business... we just need to warn them in advance that the Zerg have arrived. Quite the irony that we'd be the Zerg in China, huh?
I've gotten the hang of how traffic works in China, too. There's a method to the madness... kind of. Crossing the streets is still dangerous, but I've gotten used to knowing how to cross even on a red light (not that I'd do it often, or with the kids).
Let's see.. what else? I still haven't had a chance to go to the TGIF down here. I hope it's better than the Defiler Mound that is the one at Vallco, or Cupertino Square as they call it now. The local restaurants are hella good... even have a good ramen place nearby. One bowl of ramen was like 20 RMB... less than 3 bucks. Howard Dean would lose his voice if he ever came here.
I'm getting better at speaking Common, though my Elvish is still much better. I had a conversation with this old dude teacher, and I couldn't understand what the fuck he was saying, because he had some accent that I've never heard before. American English has Southern, Boston, Brooklyn, Proper Host/Radio Talk, and Normal. Every damned province here has their own, or even multiple accents when speaking Common. I had to use two translators to fully understand what he said... one of the translators translated for another translator to get to English so I could fill in the blanks that I didn't get. The irony? He was joking that since both the campers and myself were learning Chinese, he'd give me an honorary certificate for my abilities. Hmm.
Hope you guys are having fun back home. Happy Independence Day. Oh, a camper complained that she'd miss 4th of July by coming here. I promptly made fun of her.
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 4, 2007 22:51:50 GMT -5
So, China's pretty cool. Well, Beijing is. I still think Shanghai is a cunty city. They think they're better than Hong Kong. Right.
I have learned that people in Beijing are all really hard working, especially in service industries, and they'll bust their balls to get you what you need. For instance, we were slightly shortchanged at a KFC, and a counselor working for us spent an extra 20 minutes to get us back our 10 RMB, which is like, a little more than a dollar. We order lunches from restaurants just down the street, and they happily deliver the meals straight to our doorstep. So yeah, things are really comfy here.
On the other hand, I've also realized how fragile the infrastructure really is. Ordering around 47 meals all at once will literally break a restaurant. They will simply not know what to do, especially since their stock is limited. You'd think that in the capital of China, a country of a billion people, that they'd be able to handle massive orders, but apparently, individual places are very hard pressed to do so. They can't overstock, because they also have a concern that they won't be able to sell their supply. Technically, then, the demand is pretty low in China, based on the low buying power of the general population. Therefore, when we stay in these high class places, they're not frequented by a ton of people and can't afford to keep a surplus stock of things in case ginormous groups like ourselves come along.
Still, they're happy to have our business... we just need to warn them in advance that the Zerg have arrived. Quite the irony that we'd be the Zerg in China, huh?
I've gotten the hang of how traffic works in China, too. There's a method to the madness... kind of. Crossing the streets is still dangerous, but I've gotten used to knowing how to cross even on a red light (not that I'd do it often, or with the kids).
Let's see.. what else? I still haven't had a chance to go to the TGIF down here. I hope it's better than the Defiler Mound that is the one at Vallco, or Cupertino Square as they call it now. The local restaurants are hella good... even have a good ramen place nearby. One bowl of ramen was like 20 RMB... less than 3 bucks. Howard Dean would lose his voice if he ever came here.
I'm getting better at speaking Common, though my Elvish is still much better. I had a conversation with this old dude teacher, and I couldn't understand what the fuck he was saying, because he had some accent that I've never heard before. American English has Southern, Boston, Brooklyn, Proper Host/Radio Talk, and Normal. Every damned province here has their own, or even multiple accents when speaking Common. I had to use two translators to fully understand what he said... one of the translators translated for another translator to get to English so I could fill in the blanks that I didn't get. The irony? He was joking that since both the campers and myself were learning Chinese, he'd give me an honorary certificate for my abilities. Hmm.
Hope you guys are having fun back home. Happy Independence Day. Oh, a camper complained that she'd miss 4th of July by coming here. I promptly made fun of her.
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Post by dyuman on Jul 6, 2007 9:39:14 GMT -5
Sounds like fun times, bring back some prostitutes for Craig pls
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 7, 2007 4:02:46 GMT -5
Haven't seen anyone offering prostitutes in Beijing where we're staying. People can get arrested for looking shady in this district.
28 RMB Long Island Teas here. That's about $3.50, maybe a tad more. Happy hour is buy one beer, get one free. China is cool sometimes.
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Post by Duragar on Jul 7, 2007 13:08:29 GMT -5
Glad to see your trip is going well so far.  As for me, I finally returned home from Annapolis. The short story is that my mother asked me to stay an extra week, and I agreed. I apologize in advance for sidetracking your trip thread to talk about my trip, Josh. ;D Our dog became sick over the course of my graduation. When my mom got back from seeing me walk, Ruby was really distressed. She had something roughly equivalent to cancer in some gland I can never remember, and it was causing a whole mess of problems, not the least of which was a hideous rash all over her back (at least it had spread that far by the time I saw it), a loss of energy and appetite, and loss of equilibrium and strength. So, coupling this with the fact that my sister has no real friends out in Annapolis (and the fact that my father is no longer with us), she and my mother were, for lack of a better word, depressed. So, they asked me to come out and spend some time with them. Don't ask me how I did it, because I did jack shit out there, but it made both of them feel better. Also, by the time I left, Ruby's rash was receeding and her energy levels were picking back up, so I think that should hopefully not be as big an issue as it was when I got there. I'm pretty sure it's something she'll have to live with the rest of her life, but at least it shouldn't be as detrimental as it was when I got there. So, I got to spend my 4th of July in a place where fireworks are still legal! Woohoo! .... Well, at least the little sparking fountains are still legal. No bottle rockets or stuff that shoots up into the air and explodes... just fountains of multi-colored sparks. There were some pretty awesome ones, but the huge finale fountain I bought was a let down - it was basically three of the other fountains I bought tied together, so it lasted a long time, but didn't do anything we hadn't already seen. Course, someone across the street didn't let a little thing like laws stop them, and they bought rockets and other aerial fireworks, so we got to see their show, too. All in all, a nice way to end the evening. Other than the 4th of July... I didn't really do anything special on the trip. I got sidetracked and didn't work on my game nearly as much as I wanted to, I only had to deal with relatives a couple times on my trip. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse on Erica's birthday, which was pretty awesome.... Yeah. That's pretty much the high points of that trip. At least there weren't any really low points aside from my initial apprehension when I saw Ruby's rash. Oh... I got sick on the trip, too. Go figure. I ALWAYS get sick in some way, shape, or form when I got out to visit my folks. God Dammit. Oh well. Not like I'm gonna die of a cold. Right. Carry on, Josh. ;D |
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 8, 2007 9:24:09 GMT -5
Hey, nothing sidetracked here. Was hoping to hear how your trip went, anyhow. I hope your family feels better after these difficult times. This first week happened real quickly. All in all, this is shaping up to be a great year. Only one crazy parent so far, and all the neurotic ones from last year have settled down. W00t. Can't wait to go to Hong Kong, though, and of course, return to the US  . |
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 8, 2007 20:59:26 GMT -5
I am awesome. I am infecting my campers with the Dean Scream. I got some of them to do it at an obstacle course we visited. There was a part where we got to go on one of those hanging bars that are suspended on a cable, and swing across. Several of them did the Scream while swinging.. that was hilarious.
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Post by Duragar on Jul 9, 2007 20:01:48 GMT -5
Heh... I can hear the in-unison Dean Scream now. Random questions for you. You said that you were getting the hang of driving in China. What's it like? What are the speed limits like, if there are any? Are people just outright callous about pedestrians walking in front of them, or are they just driving too fast to be able to stop themselves in time? Also, I was curious about what it was you were doing out there. Are you on a field trip with kids from the US? Are you teaching kids in China? Dunno why, but I just became curious concerning what your trip was for, exactly. |
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Post by dyuman on Jul 10, 2007 23:48:07 GMT -5
You played StreetFighter 2 Chung Li stage... there are no cars, only bicycles
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 14, 2007 3:13:00 GMT -5
No, I have a feel for the flow of traffic from the point of view of a pedestrian, not a driver. I can't drive here.
Our program here, Camp International, is to provide kids with language (Chinese) training, leadership training, and general knowledge of Beijing so that they can volunteer for the 2008 Olympics. Actually, we're going to be a part of a major media event on the 18th and 19th... I'll post the details up after these events transpire.
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Post by Pikachu on Jul 14, 2007 3:14:49 GMT -5
Sorry, realized I didn't answer your questions in full about traffic.
Think about an urban area, and how people walk closely with each other. Now, think of those people walking in a manner which is like jockeying for position (walking in front of others to go faster, etc.). Now apply it to cars on roads. That's traffic here.
As for crossing the street, the cars will inch forward at you no matter what. They just expect you to move out of the way.
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