我们聊天儿。

lu chao and i talked.

w/p

[10:27pm]. [05/14/09]. [shanghai].

第十八天

t-minus: 两个星期，十四天， 三百三十六个小时， 二十千一百六十分钟。。。ahhh

okay, so i'm at work, and this is perhaps a little counter-productive...but i just had the realization that...right now it's approx. 3:59pm on a thursday afternoon here in shanghai.  today's may 14th.  it all pieced together quickly enough for me to have just realized that in exacTLY 2 weeks from right now...more than likely i'll be beginning my ascent into the sky and headed back home.  [my flight's at 3:55pm]...ahhhhh

that's sooo: scary, sad, surreal, soon, satisfying,[...wow, those were all with 's', ha...]...but seriously.  these next couple of weeks--i can't even imagine what's about to go down.  all i know is that what has to go down in the next 14 days is this: test&oral test tomorrow, essay this weekend, 2 more readings for classes, 4 more chapters in chinese next week, so 4 more quizzes, 2 reading quizzes, another test and oral test, then...review, oral final exam, 3 final papers due, final exam...grab all of my stuff [which somehow has to be organized/packed/mailed between now and then] right after the test...and then hurry through whichever goodbye's present themselves as i speed off to the airport to make sure i get checked in before they close the gates...and i may/probably have forgotten some things...wow.

so who knows how much i'll be adding to this before i'm back already...but i imagine if i do, they'll be quick, chaotic, emotional, weird.  it's going to get really sad really quickly, but it's also going to be so crazy that i'm not sure if i'll have the time to enjoy/lament it.

regardless...it's definitely about to fly by...it's about to get crazy.

okay, back to work [which, bTw, today is my 3rd from last day here...also sad! :S ahhh]

until next time, [maybe from the u.s. of a? haaa...hopefully not]

w/p

[4:09pm]. [05/14/09]. [shanghai].

第十八天

跑步.

well...nothing too much today; except that...i did:

wake up.

shower.

study.

class.

one-on-one.

lunch.

class.

homework.

ran.

shower.

burgers.

homework.

internet.

bed.

ha...yes, i did say i 'R-A-N' haha...for me, exercising much has been hard...buT...today i did the one thing i hate more than anything in the world...not exercising in general, but runninG!  i absolutely abhor running.  it's something i pretty much never do without a purpose [i.e. in a game or athletic situation...] but today i did hit the track, and knocked out...okay, well, at least i made it through...a little more than 1.5 miles i think?  haha...it's been awhile, so for me that felt good.  i perhaps could have done more, but breaks would have been necessary...especially since it was about...95 degrees, sunny, and pretty humid--all of which were intensified by the nice, freakishly hot asphalt.  aghhhh lol...

ummm, okay...gonna get to sleep now, after just that little tidbit.

until next time!

w/p

[11:42pm]. [05-11-09]. [shanghai].

第十五天

the beginning of an end.

just wanted to insert a snippet from an e-mail i just sent.  it's nothing eloquent, and i'm not even going to go through it to edit/enhance/perfect it...just wanted to document it again so that i'll be able to look back at this entry, and not necessarily be able to read too specifically what i was feeling, but at least i'll be able to look at it, and spur those memories.  i'm really going to miss this place...

"so know that i love you, i miss you, and while i'm ready to be home in less than well...in 18 days! wow...i'm going to be super busy trying not only to survive the work here, but to also enjoy this last bit of time i have with shanghai, and china, and with lu chao & the other guys.  because not only might i never even make it back to this country or city...i know for a fact that i'll never be back with the same guys at the same place in the same setting...not experiencing the same things in the same, new ways.  i can already tell that because i've forgotten how it felt to view things in that light already, after just being here a few months.  i can't even remember what it felt like for anything here to be weird to me.  it's the strangest thing, and i know that once i get on the plane or at least in the rush to the airport and all that stuff that day, that's when i'll flip the switch and be fully ready to be back in america and back home.  [but] until then, i think it's about to get really hard and really sad...really quickly.  so i don't know what i'll be saying between now and then, but know that it's going to be a whirlwind of emotions for a bit."

that's all i really have...except that:

[1] i really miss my dog...it's certainly got something to do with me watching "marley&me" for the first time the other day, and it just sooo closely resembled the relationship i like to think i have with my king, and how he's also getting pretty old...it's just very sad, and made even worse by being thousands of miles away...

[2] so this weekend was kinda a bust...as far as the whole 'getting work done' thing...it wasn't the most productive, i realize, but it did provide for some nice time spent outside our little "cet bubble"...yesterday i went to the french concession for a bit to work and just enjoy the scenary [well, actually we--oh yeah, it was annie's idea in the first place bTw--kinda got lost aka couldn't find this other place, so the french concession it was! ha]  it was soo nice though, especially considering i had just recently begun to think about how, with my time coming to an end rapidly now, how i probably wouldn't ever find time to make it back down to the bund or dowtown or old city or the concession...so it was sooo perfectly ironic that i really didn't mind that i didn't work too much, or that i bought expensive-ish hot chocolate and a croissant [bTw...soooo good!  idc that it's like 80-90 degrees...it was inside with a/c!]  so yeah, that, along with picking up my clothes i had made was about it for the weekend...well, besides all of the fun i had washing clothes! :)

[3] as the end draws near for me here, another portion of my life is also coming down to its last days...f-r-i-e-n-d-s is almost over! :(...haha, no but seriously...i'm on disc 15 of 16 now...and am really trying to ration myself so that i can have just that little bit of entertainment left all the way until the end!  it's sooo crazy to think that by now, i've probably seen nearly 200 of the episodes [not that i haven't seen them all already countless times before]...but it's been awesome and cool to watch it from beginning to end.  after all, isn't just about every life situation and drama played out at some point or another with the gang?  i know it's been eerily similar to some of the things i'va had going on with me since i've been watching it that it's kinda cool/spooky.  ahhhhh the life-experiences one can experience via the life & times of this timeless group.  haha...

[4] last for tonight, i just realized recently that in keeping up with school, working through some tough things from afar, and just being really busy //slash lazy// about it, i really failed to ever mention my sister being here back during spring break.  yeah, i realized this past week that it was exactly a month ago then that she'd been here, and that we'd gone around shanghai seeing the same ole' stuff for me [cool for her, i hope!] and then catching a plane to beijing and having a wonderfully hectic 3-4 days in the ancient capital.  among other reasons, i can say without a shadow of a doubt that her being here allowed me to really see the hand of God working in my life...just the timing and the fit...it all happened sooo amazingly that it's just hard to explain...and couldn't be any other way!  anyways, this is just an intro...i just wanted to at least jut-in a little spot about that experience, so that hopefully in upcoming posts i'll be able to recap it a little more [i'll have to refer the pictures as usual for my reminders! ha]  but so yeah...hopefully sooner rather than later i'll give that portion of my trip the credit it's due, and document a little bit of the roe family asian adventures! ha :p

okay okay...well my sleep schedule's all out of whack...and i don't really know why.  regardless, i'm already tired, and am going to call it an early night once again [3 in a row!]...ha...so good night for now; look forward to continuing soon...

w/p

[[[...bTw...photo's from the other day...hair's might long...hmmmm....]]]

[11:10pm]. [05/10/09]. [shanghai].

第十四天

1:16pm...sunday

things that are awesome...and especially after 3 months in china:

pb & j...these two items have ultimately kept me sane.  [[new found favorite option--pb & j on/in pita bread...soooo legit]]

coke.  in an earlier post, i mentioned how phenomenal this liquid is sometimes, and today, after being up since early this morning, getting things done, picking up the last of the clothes i had made, and making it all the way back here...i'm hot, i'm a little winded...and am now enjoying probably my 2nd coke classic since that last post...so roughly 4-5 or so this semester [that i care to share/remember ha]

bargaining...sooo sweet.  i'm worried that when i get back to the states [besides the fact that everything actually IS more expensive] i'm going to wonder why i can't argue down the price of just about anything!?  granted, i'm usually one of their more passive customers i imagine, because i usually just take the prices of anything that's not a bigger investment like clothes.  my thing kinda is [most of the time] if it has a price, like a tag or a sign, i pay what it says...besides, it's not like it's that expensive anyways, and to be honest, it can get tiresome arguing back and forth so much...but, yeah, sometimes it's a pretty fun pasttime!

air conditioning...which......we currently do noT have! :O...very frustrating, not to mention sweltering...

ummm...yeah, that's all i wanted to say for now.

until 下一次，

w/p

[1:16pm]. [05/10/09]. [shanghai].

第十四天

slacker.

so...i'm not good at this. ahhh, almost [well pretty much still have] missed another day.  and i'm still exhausted! :(  maybe i'm not cut out for this...hmmm...goodnight.

w/p

[12:54am].  [04/05/09].  [shanghai].

第九天

back again.

soo i made it back.  it was a...semi-interesting weekend! ha.

[however] my internal clock's still off, i'm tired, i need to prepare for class, and i can't find the battery to my phone/alarm clock apparently...soooo i'm gonna get to bed in hopes of waking up early enough on my own to prepare well for class.  

hopefully tomorrow i'll have some time during the day to even gather some solid thoughts and get 'em ready for the next post.

until then, 晚安！[wan an...'goodnight']

w/p

[10:20pm].  [04/03/09].  [shanghai].

第七天

window washers and family pop trios.

sooo...looks like this will the be last post for a few days.  we're heading out of town right after testing tomorrow morning to hit the road headed south to a small town...well, maybe a village?  maybe just outside on of these things??  anyways, we're headed south to lin'an near hangzhou for the weekend to go camping!  we're not going to be up to much besides just hiking a little, playing cards or tossing the 'bee, reading, doing homework [obviousLy], and i guess just chillaxin'.  i'm not sure if this is to be a 'chinese weekend' or if it'll be like our past weekend trips where we're allowed to throw in some english, too! [ha]  either way...it should be interesting!  [and beautiful]

so no electricity, meaning no computer, no phone, no ipod if/once the battery runs out! :p, and most impactful--no f.r.i.e.n.d.s!!! :o ...

anyways, lemme stop and start with a few more random things from today-ish:

• so this morning when i woke up [an hour late, pressed for time...having apparently subconciously turned off my phone's alarm] i had a few remnants of my dreams in mind, and so i jotted 'em down on my treo.  having done this a few times before, i can attest to it being one of the most interesting things to start one's day off doing.  i mean the words and nonsense i can somewhat remember enough to type in while i'm still coming-to...yeah that stuff's a real pick-me-up later in the day!  nothing like reading "pandas...cold stone...swing dancing...funnel cakes"...[just an example...of course...ha] and wondering what in the world was going on in there!?  haha, anyways, today's dream was a little more vivid, and i actually still remember it somewhat for once...but the note said "bus/mini-bus in the subway...run"...haha, and so basically, from what i recall, i was walking down one of the freakishly long staircases here in the shanghai subway stations leading down to lines far, far below...and then all of the sudden i heard something and turned to look back up the stairs...only to find that on one side of the now-expanded staircase there was a full-side greyhound-like bus just rumbling down the stairs at a pretty fast pace...i tried to forcefully halt it's movement, if i remember correcty.  then as i tried to avert the disaster to the left, i encountered a second, smaller 'mini-bus' filling in the gaps almost perfectly.  and so i ran and ran down what felt like an escalator going the wrong way!  all i could remember thinking was how i hoped once i made it to the level ground, that the buses would lodge themselves due to the incline...but when that didn't happen...well, that's about where it ended! ha.  nothing too crazy, but needless to say, having that memory to revert to during the hum-drum of today's class/events...it was amusing!  i'll try to continue to jott those thoughts down [if i can remember!]
• the 2nd thing i remember about today was how when i was walking to work today, i was waiting across the huge intersection near my work for the little green guy to pop up so i could continue...and while waiting, i felt this like...rain-like material hitting me sporadically.  i looked everywhere, and with today being especially clear and sunny, i hadn't the slightest clue what was happening!  luckily [well, not really] the lights take forever, so i had a little more time to figure this whole thing out...suddenly, it occured to me to look higher up...or farther away...and low-and-behold, i saw a crew of window washers suspended on their individual little chair-things on the side of the huge tower my office is locating within.  so it all started to make perfect sense [which, in turn, kinda made me realize how gross that essentially was] but then, i was sooo overly-amazed.  i mean, my building was a good 200-300 yards away from me...and they were probably like 30-40 floors up...and little droplets were still hitting me across this huge 10 or 12 lane road...it was soo weird! ha
• something i forgot to mention yesterday was how i learned that an old friend of mine, ben, just got a new job.  well, let me stop there.  he has a j-o-b.  and not like a summer-thing or something to do in the afternoons...no no...ben now has an official 'big-boy-job'...which is sooo wierd!  anyways, turns out he got hired right down from vanderbilt on west end...which is really cool--and for which i was excited to hear.  it's going to be nice to have another good friend in town sometimes to kinda be able to enjoy nashville with a little more often.  should be some good times.  

 and well, that's about all i have down as notes from the day.  the only thing left to do now is to...[1] wrap this baby up. [2] finish up this latest episode of f.r.i.e.n.d.s [which, bTw, is kinda sad in a way...i'm on disc 13 of 16...looks like it's all coming to an end...again...soon! :(  what ever will i do!?  haha], and then get some sleep for a few hours.  it's about 2am now, and i need to probably get back up at about 6 to get some better last-minute/hours studying/cramming...and also to make sure i'm fully packed before i head off to class.  after all, jeremy said we're leaving as soon as the last test is completed...and who always is last to finish?? yeah, that's right...typical i know!

alright, well, i don't know what else to say, except so long for now.  i'm about to shut'er down, and call it a week/end until probably sunday sometime.  hopefully i'll have some great photos [which, bTw, i know i haven't updated/uploaded any in well...a very long time...who knows, maybe someday right!? ha] and some good stories from our weekend on the mountain.

not sure why, buy i'd like to end with a few songs that i either can't get out of my head, can't stop listening to, or simply coming to mind right now for some weird reason:

"alright" -- darrius rucker

"this is how we do it" -- montel jordan

"word of God speak" -- mercyMe

"mmmbop" -- hanson [and no, i haven't even heard this in years...i mean...ever...ha, but i think it's just because it was in an article i read today about a settlement for illegal downloads in new york...off all the songs they could have listed as having been 'stolen'...'mmmbop' was undoubtedly one of them! :p ]

okay...gotta go...eyes are starting to cross! :)...

to a wonderful weekend...加油!

w/p

[2:02am].  [04/30/09].  [shanghai].

第五天

day full of...nothing.

so...not sure what's gone on today...definitely nothing interesting! ha

however, let's see what i can remember doing or what i can remember thinking about that was interesting [or not]:

• had class...3 of them actually!  and they all were pretty much slow and draining...plus, i just wasn't in the best of moods today...neither of which was very conducive to the whole 'studying' thing...
• at lunch, i realized i just had Y1.10 on my card...that's like...16 cents!  ha.  so i enjoyed a nice heap of rice [米饭--mi fan]  haha...good times
• after classes, a bunch of us decided to run up to the big supermarket to buy some stuff for our upcoming camping trip this weekend!  i did what i could to keep it under a reasonable amount...as we're only going to be gone for a couple of days!  so i got the basics...bread, peanut butter, lays originals, and stuff to make spaghetti...only thing left is a nice bunch of bananas [yes, that's the word for a 'set' of bananas...:)] ha...should be good times.
• i really am looking forward to the trip this weekend...no computer, no electricity, no anything...well, except for the chinese and homework, still! ahhhh
• i read an interesting article today...one that certainly peaked my interests...it was an article discussing how verizon may soon acquire the iphone!  that's awesome.
• then there was another article discussing counterfeit cell phones in china...and it was really kinda neat to see since i could relate to everything it mentioned and showed in its pictures, despite the fact that it was being written about shenzhen, and not shanghai...same difference! ha

ummm, yeah, so i think [1] i'm out of stuff, [2] it's kinda late, i'm done with work for the night, and i could get to bed a little earlier than normal, [3] my latest f.r.i.e.n.d.s episode is wrapping up, and [4] i'm outta stuff [both interesting and notsomuch so]

sooo....so doneskiii for now.

w/p

[12:30am].  [04/29/09].  [shanghai].

第四天

classic.

so today i was walking back from work, lugging a large pack of bottled water i had picked up at carrefour, and then by the time i made it all the way back...and after being in carrefour contemplating whether or not to by some milk and hershey's syrup for chocolate milk [28rmb], my mouth was just as dry as could be thinking about what i had missed out on buying.  so then i made myself stop in the ke di, and see what could possibly hit the spot.  after some deliberation, i decided on a classic--a coca-cola classic, actually.

while in china, i've done what i think is very well in cutting down, practically eliminated carbonated beverages from my routine...and for that reason, i think i justified today's indulgence all the more.  i gotta say, i'm so very thankful to coke.  ever since the days when it actually was laced with actual cocaine, the now world-reknowned soft drink is certainly very impressive...if for nothing else than it's ability to pervade every conceivable market on the planet.  for some price, you can always find a coke; and whenever you have a coke, you always get the same flavor and fulfillment as you did the time before [although i gotta say, the only way to experience a true coca-cola moment is to sip on an old-school 8oz glass bottled coke classic.  there's nothing like it.  i remember walking down the street back home from my parents' drug store to another drug store, simply to stop in, say hello, and pick up a glass-bottled coke or two.  those were the days!  it's a shame that--they can't/they won't/it doesn't make sense for them to--make like...20oz glass bottle versions...that would be phe-nominal.

anyways, that's the randomness that i had in my head for tonight--insignificant?  yeah.  but oh well, that's what i most enjoyed about my day probably! [as sad as that is! ha..]

and so for now, 再见 from 上海

w/p

oh yeah...i forgot...i realized today that it's one month until i head outta here!  it's a very overwhelming thought, as i think about how fast things have flown by and how i've spent my time so far...and to think about all of the changes that have happened in my life since/because of being here...and also about all the things i had planned on doing but never have and probably won't get the chance to...about the friends that i've made and how they'll be hard to leave...and then honestly, about how freaking hard my life's about to get now that it's getting down to crunch-time...4 weeks, 3 papers, 1 chinese final...not to mention buying stuff, packing, and still trying to make the most of every day! ahhhhh...i'm probably about to be in for the fastest/hardest/most ridiculous 4 weeks of recent memory.  it should be interesting.

[12:44am].  [04/28/09].  [shanghai].

[第三天]

biggest accomplishment to date perhaps?

whoops...almost forgot!  as i got into bed i suddenly realized "what!?  no blog?!"  but alas, i made it.

for today, simply a photo will do.  my biggest accoomplishments today?  among working through several other things much more important and much harder to deal with, i was able to take some time out of the day to [1] take a nap, and then [2] do something for only the second time ever!  now all that's left is a little more memorization, and a little less tip-using!

w/p

[2:08am].  [04/27/09].  [shanghai]

第二天。

seen better days.

okay, well it's late, i've wasted way too much of my day...and today just wasn't a very good day.  among other more important reasons, i left my football shorts at a tailor's shop in this huge fabric market while trying things on.  i just realized it about...5 min. ago!  ahhh...a fitting ending i suppose.

anyways, i'm gonna cut this one wayy short.  all i really wanna put down right now is a verse that has been important for me today...so:

psalms 37.4:

      "delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

that's all for today.

w/p

[04.26.09].  [12:32am].  [shanghai].

[第一天]

dinosaurs and table scraps

alright...well, 'day 2'! ha...it's obviously going to be hard to do this everyday...but to help, today's will be exceptionally short, i imagine.  in fact...let's get to the bullet points for a run-down of today/random events:

• so the first thing i remember is how i couldn't find my shoes this morning...perplexing, seeing as i left them on the floor in the hallway before bed...however, after going down for breakfast/lunch, [yes, aka brunch in some sense], i found that lu chao's mom had hand washed/cleaned my tennis shoes!  not that they were spotless, but they had been horendous...and now looked at least cared for in some way!  how freaking nice was that of her!?  [and] why isn't that a common theme in the states!?  it made my day that much better...i might need to start that upon return actually...
• one thing i forgot from yesterday was that while lu chao and i were waiting in the train station in shanghai, a guy tugged on my shoulder.  upon turning around, i found a coworker of mine there, smiling, and just wanting to say hey!  ha...it was so funny/weird at first, but after thinking about it, it was a really nice/surreal feeling to have someone random recognize you in a city of 19 million people...a little taste of home!  [embarrassingly enough, i can't remember his name...and i will def. be learning that in the upcoming internship days!...although, in my defense, if i wasn't the only white guy, with a bright yellow rain jacket, with a frisbee and monkey in a bookbag...standing in the middle of a see of blair heads [blair='black haired'...also, simply a typo i've chosen not to correct, but charter as a slang word of my own! :p]...if not for the slight dissimilarity, i have a feeling he, too, would not have noticed me.
• today we went to dinosaur park--a 'famous' chinese theme park located in changzhou.  long story short, i would compare it to a larger liberty land [memphis] in that it was trying to be cool and fun, and some of it kinda was, but for the most part, it just seemed pretty run-down, out-of-date, etc.  we did, however, ride a couple of rides [which, sidenote:  the freaking lines to every ride were soooo lonG!  it was as if every single ride was the tower of terror or space mountain at disney...and they weren't even on that same level!]  anyways, so the finale was this big swinging, spinning disc ride...which lu chao 'went to the bathroom' while we were waiting in line for, and somehow failed to rejoin us.  such a sissy!  anyways, so me, and, oh yeah...forgot to mention that one of lu chao's friends from middle school who still lives in changzhou--and actually had worked at 'konglong yuan' [dinosaur park] previously, wang bing...joined us today and helped us make our way around the park.  she and i ended up doing the ride anyways, and i gotta say, it was a lot of fun...but very scary for me at times!  i'm not exactly a rides kinda person anyways...so it took a lot for me to do it.  [although] at first, i was just being brave/calm about it for lu chao's sake, so that he would ride it with us.  when he jumped ship...i had to tell wang bing that, in fact, i, too, was pretty nervous/worried! haha...but obviously i made it, and it was great! soo...ya know, there's one point for 'going for it'.
• last point i have is family.  i ended the day/trip by having dinner with lu chao's family, as well as having a nice little photo shoot with the whole family and getting some good photos of them alone as well.  it's crazy, because as is epitomized by western views of china, lu chao lives with his parents, grandparents, aunt.uncle.and cousin., and has a dog [lulu, remember?]...it's soo funny and stereotypical, but i gotta say, they really do love and care for each other, especially lu chao.  he's very luck to have such a caring and interesting family behind him!
• okay, okay, absolute last point:  you know how in america, we always say 'don't give the dog table.scraps; they should eat their dog food!' ??  well i thought it especially funny that the way they do it, is that we all sit at this little square table [2 on each side] and we do the traditional chinese-sharing-style food setup, and when you're eating something, if you must spit anything out or simply bite off parts of foods like shrimp, etc., you simply allow the bits to drop inbetween you and the table to the floor...where, nevertheless, lulu is camped out awaiting such donations!  ha...it was very amusing! :p

okay...done.  gotta get some sleep--tomorrow's set to be a busy/long day, running errands and getting ready for yet another trying week of classes!  let's hope i make it back tomorrow for day #3!

until then...

w/p

[04.25.09]  [1:50am]  [shanghai]

[[[photos:  

d-d-d [ 狗-说法-问题 ]

wow...it's been a long time!  i see now that it's been over a month actually since i last posted anything--this is partly due to busy-ness, and partly due to an extreme loss of motivation to write.  with soo many twists and turns in my life in the last month, i sort of voluntarily chose not to write...unsure of what to say or not say...but i think maybe now i can give it another shot?

so yeah, my new 'goal' i think [as decided like...a few hours ago, ha] is that i'll try to write something everyday.  probably nothing terribly long, or even very important sometimes...because writing such long entries like i was doing before--while fulfilling--is just very draining.  that being said, i plan on today or tomorrow trying to compile a short-hand summary of the highlights of this past month!

tonight, however, i'll just write something short...and pretty silly actually.

so right now i'm in my roommate's hometown [changzhou].  lu chao and i took the train up tonight from shanghai, and will probably return tomorrow night [since he says there's just not much to do here...it's 'too small'--which is what he considers a little over 6,000,000 people to be! ha]  it's been soo nice already just meeting his parents and seeing the area.  

when we got off the train, lu chao told me i should buy some food from mcdonald's near the station because he didn't think i'd like the food his parents had prepared too much...and he wanted me to "chi bao le"-->"get full".  haha...sooo, reluctantly i gave in, and i got just a double-cheeseburger [plain...] and we then caught a cab and headed out to 'the country' as he called it--to his home.  he said he lived in the city for 17 years, but then when he was needing to study for and focus on his "gao kao" [高考]-->"big test", his family moved out of the city to give him an environment more conducive to studying.  it's a very big deal i think that they were able to mobilize so relatively easy...and i'm very happy they had the means to do so!  it's also very convenient that lu chao's father is an engineer--and that his company is literally down the street from this house.  it is a quiet area, but that's a very nice change-up from the bustling shanghai we're used to.  i really like shanghai...i'd say it's definitely my favorite city to date, but being here in changzhou feels a little bit like going home back in tennessee.  although nashville's nowhere near as large as shanghai [heck, even near as big as changzhou!], the transition from nashville to humboldt feels very similar to this shanghai-changzhou movement.  the peace and quiet is very fulfilling!

anyways, i'll keep this short--so after dinner [which was very good actually...i had some rice, beef, and some potato-derived dish...well, and that double-cheeseburger! ha.]  lu chao and i took his dog ["lulu" as in "lu chao"'s 'lu'...which LC informed me that his nickname was, in fact, "chao chao"] for a walk down the street, across this pretty bridge, and back.  [and] as we talked [in chinese no doubt! :)], i told him about something that, since arriving in china, has been very funny/interesting to me--dogs.

i relayed to him that when i first saw dogs here in china, i thought nothing of it.  however, upon further meditation, i began to amuse myself by thinking about the fact that these dogs must "speak chinese".  haha...as obvious as that sounds, it really just made [makes] me laugh thinking about it!  i mean, honestly, until i left the u.s., i innately assumed that all dogs essentially "spoke" english! ha [not seriously, but you know what i mean!]...and so when i got here and witnessed dogs taking orders in chinese, i found it excessively interesting! :p...lulu's very smart, too...[as LC says, 'this kind of dog everywhere else is mainly used for...hunting?!]  in still a rather large city, lulu requires no leash, only commands which she loyally obeys.  

[and] so i told LC of my amusement with this phenomenon, and i think he thinks i'm disgraceful...since i don't think he really understands that i didn't really believe that all dogs spoke english! haha :P...but i told him about my two dogs, and how my "xiao gou" [小狗] "small dog", furgy, is very smart, very clever, and often makes fun/messes with my "da gou" [大狗] "big dog", king.  [and that] king isn't too bright, but he's sooo very happy, cute, and awesome!  and so i said it'd be very interesting to 'hear' our dogs 'talk'.  i told him, i wonder if all dogs have a universal language that they 'speak'...or if king and lulu genuinely could not understand each other's foreign dialects?!  very interesting...[okay, maybe not; but it got me thinking!]  it also has made me really miss home, and really miss my king! :(...and after seeing this, the 2nd person in recent memory, practicing regular, consistent dog-walking every day in the morning and after dinner...i really want to try to implement that either with my current furry pals or with the dog i have officially decided i must have someday 'when i'm grown'...ha.

[and] so, i'll end with that story for tonight [--my 'doggy-dialect-dilemma'], and am going to try to get some sleep.  like i said, hopefully tomorrow i'll be able to at least begin outlining some of the past month's events...as well as give some updates from changzhou!

until then,"wan an" [ 晚安] "good night",

w/p

04/24/09.  11:15pm.  [changzhou.]

[[[pictures: [#1.] 这是陆陆！"this is lulu!"  [#2.] 我跟陆超的妈妈! "me with LC's mom!"]]]

photo-finish?

so i'm not sure which photo is best for my page's title area--the english?  or the chinese??

weekend.

hey there

  well we jst got in from the day of seeing a few more factories and such...it was long, not very exciting at any particular point, but it was good nonetheless.  [and] now i 'm just digressing and chilling out for a bit.  no plans from now until we leave tomorrow at 12 to get back...not as a whole anyways, so i'm sure we'll just get dinner in another hour or so, maybe come back, and inevitably they'll wanna go out again tonight [these guys are consistent!]--and so we'll see how i feel about that later on...also, it's already sat. evening, and i've yet to get to work on my schoolwork that's due when we get back [test and essay] and then i have like this really intense preparation routine i do these days for the next week...nothing really serious except get all of my words and word lists and study sheets written and in order...just kinda saves me time throughout the day-to-day!  

as for recently, these past few days have just been on the road with the group touring rando-yet-successful businesses throughout a region south of ours.  some have been semi-interesting, some notsomuch.  all in all, they were eye-opening, as one company's sole purpose is to make the plastic displays that are seen in convenient stores for like nestle products, and also they make all of those display units of knobs/light switches/hooks/etc. that you see at home depot [silly me, i never thought about that having to be madE!?]  another company was the world's largest spinner of linen in the world i think.  i think he said they have 25% of the market globally, which is huge.  they source and process flax grown in europe near normandy, france, and redistribute the finished string/material to companies like armani, gucci, etc.  the head of sales, mr. son i think, let me and jordan ride around in his bmw while we were transferring from one location to the next...it was freakishly nice--not sure of the model--although i know i sat in the back on the right side and watched a little of kungfu panda on the right monitor...while jordan watched something else from the 6-dvd changer in the back console.  it was a great 6-7 min.  ha.  today we wrapped up with a lenses company called sunny optical...and they're the like largest optical lens company in china, and among the top 5 in the world...making all kinds of lenses from those in cameras to telescopes to cell phones to high-end machinery...it was pretty neat to hear about.  but again, all of the sights weren't exceptionally exciting to walk around in or anything...after all, we were just watching people work...which, reminds me...i think i've decided i just never wanna work!?  ha...it doesn't seem to be terribly fun the more i see it going on [and as i work at my internship as well!]

it's been a fun trip overall i guess though...i've just not gotten a real chance to catch up on my rest in awhile...and so most days i drain pretty easily...which doesn't help when all you're going to be doing is walking around a lot and be spoken to in chinese a lot...not ideal.  however, we've all had a good time, as we've seen some pretty cool cities.  i'm pretty sure i didn't take many pics, as i was always just tired and not in the mood [or when it's been raining...not ideal], but i think there'll be some good and funny ones of the group up soon.  ningbo [the city we're in now] is a really neat place.  it was once the most 'international' city, ahead of shanghai.  it's since been surpasses, but still remains to be a great place to visit [especially for me, since it's still pretty international is far as finding familiar food joints! :p].  maybe tonight i'll take my camera with me and take some more revealing shots...or in the morning if tonight's not too late...

speaking of food:  i've tried quite a few more things since i last mentioned it...just this trip, i've tried [some more than others]: octopus and rabbit [okay, so rabbit's nothing too crazy...but hey, it's me]  also, last night we went to a brazilian bbq restaurant--and it was phenomenal!  while i, of course, didn't take full advantage of all of the wonderful meats, i was pleasantly filled with the different chicken options, and some beef ones as well...it was a legit brazilian establishment, workers and all, and they even had a little filipino cover band that sang some great songs.  i had had a particularly bad day leading up to the meal, and so i wasn't really sure if i wanted to go or not...but i'm soooo glad i did!  being around other people and being forced to interact [along with a lot of great food] can really help lift your morale.  it was also jeremy's birthday, and so we all sang to him, and today we had his cake on the bus.  i sure wish we could eat that kinda food more often...as i told some of the others, it was definitely the best 'chinese food' i'd had since i'd arrived...ha!  it was a little expensive in chinese terms, but certainly not in american dollars.  i think it would have ended up being about...120RMB/person with a drink...so like...$18!  beat that texas de brazil!  :)

oh, and i gotta say, the other night while bubba was still here, we stayed up until at least 1am just refreshing the box score for the basketball game in murfreesboro.  i was sooo excited about the game, and was crushed when within like 2 seconds the game seemed back in our possession to being over, done, they win.  aghhh, i was soo sorry to see that happen, as i know they were truly worthy of the first championship in a long, long time.  so sorry, vikings.  i was really rooting for you...even from 7,000 miles away!

okay, well, i think i'm going to try and get some work done.  so i'm off for now...but i hope everyone's doing well, and that i'll get some more info on here asap.  the only other big news i know of is that sis is coming over in...about a week  from today!  so that's exciting...i'm looking very much forward to it!  except...i know that after she leaves, it'll be down to the last, long stretch, and i'll be by myself once again for a long time ... :( ... 

...再见 for now...

w/p

08:04pm.  03/21/09.  [ningbo].  

quick check-in.

more info on the pics later...

so…long time no write again!  where to start i simply do not have a cLue.  today i’m in jianxing, a town south of shanghai, and it’s the first night of our 4-day Yangtze river delta tour/trip with the group [us, roommates, and teachers]…and will be spending most of our time in and around Ningbo—which, from what i hear, is a pretty significant city as far as business is concerned.  the trip is essentially designed to 1.) get us all out of shanghai, 2.) let us see parts of the country that we’d most certainly not see on our own, and most importantly, 3.) for us to see 6 of the ‘fortune 100’ companies in china [i believe this is the right label]…anyways, these are mid-size companies who may not control the market just yet, but are certainly expected to continue their ascents.  some of them are simply in a league of their own as they are  doing something completely new, and others are simply seeking to put their dent into the pre-existing markets.  our first stop was on the way here, and it was the shanghai vw [volkswagen] plant/headquarters.  it was a so-so tour, as i feel like there’s just not much to actually see, but for the most part, it was semi-interesting.  let’s just say i hope that the others are much cooler.  one that sounds particularly neat is this coal processing company [which…apparently 2 things: 1.] coal is inexplicably abundant here and 2.] china has recently discovered immeasurable amounts of uranium somewhere, so their energy possibilities seem to be expanding and self-sustaining to the nth degree!]…anyways, this plant does something that is apparently picking up steam around the country.  the company harnesses all of the steam produced from converting the coal into energy…and it’s this energy that is then sent out to provide electricity for the greater area.  in fact, i think j. told us that it’s some sort of law that if you live within 10km of the plants, you must use their steam for electricity/cooking/etc.  so it’s good and it’s bad.  they’re significantly increasing their efficiency, but also creating some sort of monopoly in the surrounding areas.  oh well…more on that later [after we actually go!] 

                okay, so this trip could be good…we shall see.  however, this past week [and nearly a month it seems] also deserves some attention…so we’ll see what i can remember about things here since my last significant post.  we’ll get into the random bullets now…:

• ·         the first thing i remember i’ve been wanting to put at some point, was that probably like…3 weeks ago now [wow]…i finished my 1^st audiobook [angels & demons].  it was wonderful…and i absolutely hated finishing it.  i’m really glad i finished it since i know i’ll wanna see the movie when it comes out this summer.  it was something i always looked forward to when thinking about any long travels i may have [even in the u.s. when i could just drive and listen through the car stereo…]  it was great!  i’ll be looking for a new one soon.  i think this is def. my fav. way to explore more literature.  [although this wasn’t anything really ‘literary-esque’…and other books’ readers may not be as welcoming…but we’ll see…i loved it.  [because] the thing is, for many people, i’m sure audiobooks aren’t quite so convenient since they read at a slower pace.  however, for me, it’s just about right.  i read embarrassingly slow…and so having someone else do it for me is awesome.  there’s nothing left out [in unabridged versions obvi.] so for me, it was just like watching a movie [the best], but yet i still got the full effect of the text.  i would def. recommend audiobooks in general—and a&d, especially.  a little pricey, but for me, def. worth it in most cases!
  
• ·         most recently, [yesterday] i received word that the huge dilemma that was housing back at school worked out as planned.  so that was awesome—i semi-know most of the guys i’ll be living with [5 others total], and they’re all great guys from what i can tell.  so that’s going to be great getting to know them better, and also to just be in a nice living situation that’s near many of my other friends i’d imagine. 
  
• ·         random #1:  i reeeeeeeeeeeeeaLLy wanna play golf and tennis soo much and soo badly right now.  both of the sports seem magical when you’re stuck without them.  i remember even telling bubba this past week that all i wanted to do for the rest of my life was just play golf, then play tennis, then play more golf, and…well you get it! ha…it just seems like the perfect getaway right now from all of the stresses of school and from the lethargy i’ve gotten caught up in here…so, when i get back to the states…i’m game for whoever wants to play…anywhere! ha
  
• ·         random #2:  i really enjoy playing Frisbee i decided…i’m not very good, and would likely be terrible at ultimate, but i simply enjoy just ‘tossing the bee’ around a lot—again, a good stress-reliever.  bubba actually brought me a good one from the u.s. so that we didn’t have to play with our like $.50 one we bought here in china…which was sooo crappy and even cut my hand, and also the area above my lip below my nose! ouch.
  
• ·         so this past week [well, like 9 days actually] a friend from home, bubba, came over during his spring break to just see the sights and enjoy the time off.  i think/hope he had a good time..although i know a lot of the time i was completely too busy for his liking.  it’s just soo hard to stay on top of things when you also wanna be a good guide/host…and so the academics struggled a little bit this week, but i think we ended up making a good time of his stay.  last weekend we went with my roommate to Nanjing…a little north of shanghai.  a little more traditional, Nanjing was a first for me as well.  it was definitely good for bubba to see a little more chinese-y type place…and me, too. 
  
• ·         we spent the weekend being shown around by lu chao’s ex-ex-girlfriend, who goes to college there—she studies architecture like jon corey. ha.  anyways, it was a lot of fun, and i really don’t remember exactly what we did except by looking at all of my pictures that i put on picasa! ha…it just went by really quickly, and i do remember the zoo…because we saw pandas…and pandas are my favorite! :)…haha [and] another thing i remember was our late-night mcdonald’s experience.  it was an encounter that almost thwarted my never-ending love for the double-cheeseburger, fries, and fanta establishment.  however, i’m not sure this could ever happen.  the experience has even been enhanced recently since my American friend brought a nice big bag of good ole’ mcd’s bbq sauce…the perfect addition to an order of nuggets or fries! :P
  

 

ahhh, anyways, i think that’s enough for tonight…not really…but at least i’ve put something down again.  surely more will come soon; and also pictures from the trip this weekend, too. 

 

so this was a pretty abrupt wrap-up…ha, sorry, it’s just getting late and we need to be up early in the morning!  until next time…

 

再见,

QOTD: 

Joey: "So here's what you do...you'll go to China, and you'll eat some Chinese food!"

Chandler: "Yeah, you know...there they just tend to call it 'food'."

--Friends

12:03am.  03/19/09.  [jiaxing]

 w/p