Beijing again

So I was going through my posts and realized that I never posted the following entry. I'm guessing I missed this entry becuase I didn't finish writing it and because all the functions to post it were in Chinese.


I've finally made it back to Beijing! Whoa, what a trip it has been. It feels like it has just started. Today we saw Tiananmen Square and what I think was the Forbidden City. I also did two things I haven't been able to do yet in China. The first, I attended Institute. Yay for me! And the next . . . . (Grandma if you are reading this you might want to wait for me to get home to explain) (and as for my friends that I know are laughing at me for constantly referring to my Grandma you know how awesome she is and how 'in' it is to refer to family in ever blog entry) . . . (so once again) I rode the subway system on my own (gasp)! (And the crowds go wild) I know, I know, it's amazing that with the little Chinese language skills I have that I rode the subway system effectively by myself! And I actually didn't have any problems until I saw the friend I was meeting and somehow couldn't recall how to exit through the .. . exiting booth thingy. I even had to transfer twice and go outside to walk to another entrance. Hahaaa, as I was waiting for another train a girl behind me asked if the train went to a certain stop but all I could do was laugh because I couldn't remember how to answer her. I wouldn't know anyways. Heehee.

Hmmm, so I think this entry is going to be a little more scattered than usual because this cafe is a lot more warm and smokier than usual. The girl next to me is cute but she keeps on singing and I'm a little distracted by the arguing going on a few rows over. China has been interesting and I can't wait to find the opportunity to travel more of China and of other places. The people here are different than I expected. (I can never remember what I've already written but . . .) The general public bugs me. They spit and they snort, and not just in the street. But when you are inside or at a store or even when you are at dinner. I've been in the middle of dinner where someone turns around to blow out snot into the corner. Oh gosh that makes me laugh.

Twinkies make a 30" waist line

Hmmm, well I was going to try to post some pictures but the computer has a hard time functioning here. Today I did the same thing that I usually do here. I woke up, took a shower, read, went to lunch, walked around town and shopped, ate dinner, read some more, got on the Internet, and in a few minutes I'll go to sleep. Maybe I shouldn't complain. It's nice to have some kind of schedule instead of uncertainty and spur of the moment activities . . . right? I guess if I suggested that we try something different I might be told there isn't anything else. I doubt it though. I think taking a few hours tomorrow to explore and take picture would be a fun idea. Except that I don't have any room left to take pictures, and I'm too cheap to buy a USB or a new card. It's probably worth it. I'd also like to rent a bike and go further and see more of the city and the river that runs through the city. It's Friday night already but maybe I can convince Liz to ride a bike around, I doubt it. It would be good exercise and a definite adventure - seeing as how people don't really follow the idea of staying in the lines (I wonder how their coloring skills are). I might be a little frightened too, but at least it'd get my adrenaline running a little.

Speaking of exercise, boy does my body need some right now! The fact that I didn't dance much during finals, the few weeks before I left, and this whole month in China has resulted in me gaining a lot of weight! Haaaha, and I guess buying bags of candy at the store and eating American food (KFC) for the first time in weeks today isn't going to help. I didn't really notice I was gaining weight until I tried to buy some pants here. I don't really remember what the average size is in the United States but a size 30" waist is considered almost non-existent in China. I can not find a good pair of pants. Plus it seems the makers of pants here don't like to offer pants that allow extra baggage in the trunk (curse those petite Chinese with their flat derrieres). It seems that the Chinese always try to guess what part of the country you are from by the way you look. I wonder if there is a part of China with really big booties, I could go there to buy some pants. Hahaa, Liz and I asked her Aunt where they have plus size stores here so I could find some pants. And whenever we walk into a shop and they ask what we are looking for we tell them we need large pants (a 30-31) to fit my big butt, sweetness. I guess if I worry about gaining too much weight I can always take comfort in the fact that in a few weeks I'll be in LA sweating it all off! Woot woot! Even if that doesn't do the trick I'm not too worried seeing as how when school and dance starts I rarely have time to stuff my face with food. I'll end up losing the weight I gained anyways.

Well, I'm sure all two people (minus my parents and Grandma) who are reading this aren't really interested in how my weight fluctuates. So to move onto more interesting things I have some kind of exciting news (I'm trying to make reading this worth your time ;))! I didn't realize what I was getting myself into until I started to organize my schedule yesterday. When school starts I will be involved with at least five dance projects! I have no idea how it ended up being that many. The Asian association at the University of Utah has asked me to choreograph three pieces for the Chinese New Year celebration. I auditioned for the Modern Department's Senior concert and made the limit imposed dances of two (which are jazz and tap . . no way do they want me doing any kind of modern). Then I have the University dance club that I am in charge of starting up again . . . and I'm trying to put together a concert. Then there is Transfusion Hype which I love and hopefully my school schedule won't mess things up. A girl I took jazz with last semester is putting together a benefit concert that she asked me to be in and to choreograph for. I teach ballet on Tuesday nights but I want to teach on Monday and Thursday evenings too so that I don't have to look for a pointless job I don't enjoy. I'm not really ready to give up dance to focus on a 9 to 5 job just yet. Plus it would help to just teach a few hours in the evening when I have 18 credit hours. Well then, I guess that wasn't really exciting news but it felt good to share my concerns about my overloaded schedule and my absence of well-roundedness.

I would have some exciting news about finding some genealogy, but I don't sadly. When we were in Xi'an we went to the police station where I guess they keep all their records for the city. We went through a few different people but eventually we got a short and very simple answer that stopped us in our tracks. She said that they only started to keep records after they (the communists) took over. And I'm guessing that if there were any other records left over that they were burned or that they won't allow us access to them (supposedly because the Chinese communists are weird that way . . . I don't know). We talked to a investigative reporter but she or they thought that it would be too difficult to find anything. If I could speak the language better and were on my own I'm sure that I would be able to do more research. But for right now it doesn't seem like I'm going to gain complete fluency overnight. I think that if my Mom decides to come back to look she would have more luck with addresses and current family that lives here. I wish I could have found out more. My Grandparents seemed to have lived such a different and interesting life compared to mine. They lived in a time filled with revolutions and wars. I wonder how they felt about Mao, about the emperor, about Shang Kai Scheck (wow, I really can not spell that), about democracy, about Taiwan, about a lot of different things. I want to know more about my Grandparents families. I love to learn about my Dad's side of the family. I guess I'm beginning to find more interest in genealogy like I should.

I did find out something else though. In the morning I usually wake up to honking horns (even though the building is in an ally), loud music from a few streets over, a kids toy playing 'what child is this', someone selling who knows what in a Chinese monotone (if that is possible) voice, Liz's gradparents talking loudly (her cute Grandpa refuses to get a hearing aid), and the occassional setting off of fireworks. I didn't understand why they would set off fireworks. I was tempted to attribute it to the fact that 'it's China'. But when asked liz and I found out that they set fireworks off to celebrate a marriage. Okay, if you thought people get married in Utah like crazy, take a walk into Ganzhou. I hear fireworks at least twice a day, sometimes three! I wondered if for one couple they set fireworks off for seven days or eight and so on. But they only do it once. Then I asked if it is because they think this is a good season to get married, but I guess that isn't the case either. Wow. Now I can feel like an old maid on two continents. Hahaa, just kidding.

If you have read this far congratulations on running the reading marathon with flying colors! Woot woot! If you only read the first part and then skipped to the bottom to see how it ended then I have to say that you didn't receive the full benefit than if you read all the way through. The middle is always the best part (except for in Oreo cookies . . . and twinkies . .. and sushi . . . and hot dogs . . .and lots of things come to think of it). I think I'm craving fatty foods only because I'm in China. I don't think I've had a twinkie in at least ten years. Okay, I'll stop the ramblings- especially since it isn't about my trip to China. Good Night y'all!

Cheers?

Life has been crazy in China and things haven't really gone according to plan. I ended up staying less time in Shanghai than I expected. I really liked the place and definitely plan on going back. I ended up making it to one dance class, rather than the few days of classes planned. It took a lot of work to get there and I almost missed the chance to take class. My friend that I am traveling with has close family friends in Shanghai and I guess they liked me enough to send a driver and their son to accompany me to the dance studio. We found the studio but outside the building was a banner that said all the buildings in the area were being torn down to be rebuilt, and a stranger told us that they had moved already. But we took a chance and talked to one other person who said it was their last day of classes there! I ended up taking one contemporary jazz class. I enjoyed it, especially since I got to take it all by myself. I guess they didn't have many students because of how their schedule works. My teacher's name was Yorkie and she came from the Netherlands. I liked her class, and only found a few differences from American style of dancing. She was only a substitute there so making a connection to the studio didn't really happen. But she wanted to keep me longer and gave me her numbers and email address so that I can contact her!


I haven't figured out the whole work thing for when I get back. I had planned on coming back to having another dance job at Collette's dance studio but I guess they couldn't switch the day of the class. My friend told me she sounded excited about having me and was going to give me a call. But I can't really receive calls here on my cell phone, and I can't change the times that I work at Pulse. I was hoping to just teach instead of finding another job unrelated to dance! Boy do I wish:)

Yesterday we went to a park and there were tons of people! I think the park is a place for the elderly to go when they retire. They were sitting on rocks and playing cards or majan (I can't spell that). Some had their grandchildren and others were getting exercise by doing some fan dancing. Kids were playing badminton and we had a mentally ill but gentle old man stand in front of us and stare for a few minutes. We also went to the supermarket so that I could buy some toothpaste, lotion, hair dye, and oreos.

I had my hair dyed in Shanghai and it turned out awful! I don't recall if I have already written this but my hair is streaked with ORANGE! Blech! After the hairstylist had finished hitting on Liz and me he showed me my hair and it had spots! I don't know if the guy that died my hair knew what he was doing. I should have said something when I saw his shaking hands, look of deep concentration, and the action of licking of lips every time he touched my hair. But then again I probably wouldn't make any sense . . . "bu hao! bu hao!". I've never had my hair dyed before. The dye I bought at the store looks brown, and hopefully it won't turn out too light and unnatural. I'm hoping that my hair will be okay by the time I get back.

I don't know if I had actually communicated my distaste if he would have been offended. I don't really understand how things work here. I know that in the US if you don't like it you can say something . . although I don't always do so. I think that I may have already disrespected somebody without meaning to. Liz's third uncle (or fourth, or sixth . . .) took us out to lunch and his wife had made a toast saying in English Cheers! But before that she had used the Mandarin word for it and I had repeated it to be polite. So when she said the English version it didn't register that it was English and that I actually knew the word so I repeated what she said again trying to match her tones. I never realized it was English until Liz said that I was being disrespectful later that evening! I tried to explain to her what happened while trying to understand understand the situation myself. I really didn't mean to offend or mock anyone. Liz doesn't believe me though. Oh well, there are a lot of things I need to ignore on this trip to get along peacefully. It's not fun being misunderstood though (especially in your own language).