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 1st 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]
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