24 hours of Bangkok

We only spent three full days in Bangkok, two at the beginning and one at the end of our trip. My expectations of Bangkok were not high. I thought of Bangkok as layover land. We would be here for the sole purpose and connecting flights to Phuket. I had imagined Bangkok either to be an industrial land crowded with business men, or you know, exactly how it is shown in The Hangover II. I was incorrect on both accounts.

While Bangkok is fairly industrial in comparison to the rest of Thailand, it also encompasses a different sort of modern laid back urban feel. Bangkok is a busy (understatement) metropolis. The city is full of beautiful Thai people (and an abundance of tourists), rushing streets with cars, and tuk tuks, lined with so many little shops and restaurants. It’s great.

Our first full day in Bangkok felt a little surreal. Stepping outside of our hostel to see what resembled remnants of jungle just outside our door was nice. Dogs were roaming the streets, lizards.. everywhere. We went for breakfast at this little outdoor place next to an auto shop. It was definitely apparent how laid back the culture is right from the start. I mean, how could you not be laid back living in Thailand? The atmosphere, and social interaction reminded me a lot of Cuba. We quickly learned that Thai food is ah-maze-ing. Everything is fresh and healthy and delicious.

Our first day was spent exploring. We took the sky train to the last stop Phaya Thai and just started roaming around with no agenda. I like the way we decided to tackle the day.

Markets & haggling: All throughout town there are markets, just everywhere. The weather is beautiful so everything is outdoors. Most of the markets we saw cater to females, so while it was great for me to buzz around from stand to stand, shop to shop, the boys were not having as much fun. The markets were certainly interesting though, and it’s fun just to haggle with people. We learned that heckling is a developed art form. Some people are good, and some people, just aren’t.  I consider myself to be a self proclaimed haggling pro. All six of us have very different approaches to haggling. Ranging from me who takes the overly friendlypatheticnicegirl approach, to Ryan and Dan who take the zerohagglingi’llacceptanypriceyougiveme approach to Derek who prefers the imgoingtotalkyourearoffevenifyoucantunderstandme approach to Greg’s approach where he just likes to see how low he can get a price… most times he isn’t even interested in buying anything. We all had moments of success, and moments where we were yelled at. All in fun.

Thai massage: Getting a Thai massage anywhere in Thailand is pretty hilarious. Women sit outside the parlors and will slowly drawl “Thai massaaaaaaageeee, want  Thai masaggeeeee”. The women yell at the guys in your group, and sometimes will get up and grab them. During the day the massage parlors are regular massage parlors, but at night they double at happy ending emporiums. We went in for an afternoon massage. It was a lot different from a Chinese massage. A lot more, painful. I’m sure when people think “massage” you think of a relaxing experience to loosen up your muscles. However, a Thai massage is a whole different experience. The job of a Thai masseuse is pretty much to ultimately pummel, prod and punch you. It’s a game of painful chicken. How much can the masseuse hurt you before you say “uh, no thanks”. It was an all around good experience, I think. But didn’t leave me feeling too wonderful.

Tuk tuk: A tuk tuk is pretty much a motorcycle covered in a big metal box type thing, and runs on three wheels. Our first experience with a tuck tuck was, interesting. I think tuk tuks are meant to fit only about 3 people. We were now at 6 people (Jeff met us in Thailand). We agreed on a price, and all just jumped in. Ryan, Greg and I were sitting on the main bench (actually Greg was hanging out the back). Derek and Jeff were squished on the floor. And, Dan sat in the front with the driver, on the battery… half falling out. It was pretty wild. If anyone hit us we’d be in trouble. I think it was a good first tuk tuk experience. The others may not agree though.

Muay Thai : Jeff, Derek, Ryan and myself decided to go to a Muay Thai match. I’m glad we got a chance to do be witness to such a cultural activity. In the crowds there was a lot of yelling and betting. Honestly I didn’t understand what was going on most of the time. And, I clearly do not understand the Muay Thai. I was usually wrong in my guessing of who was going to win. It was really cool.

 Another highlight of day one in Bangkok was getting my hands on some A&W! I never would have guessed A&W would be in Thailand. So happy.

Home is where the poutine is

We have now lived in China for  just over six months.

WHAT?!
I know.

Weifang has been, in a word, fresh. Living here is comparable to what I imagine living on Saturn would be like. The language is foreign. And despite somewhat best efforts, the dialect is always different from what you expect from person to person. You are an alien. And, don’t think that buying lenseless glasses, a panda hat, ear muffs, and pants with reindeer on them will help you fit in. Been there. It doesn’t.

After living in Barrhaven for 23 years, living somewhere like Fangzi is a big shock to the system. Everything is new. The smells, the people, the experiences. It’s amazing. Refreshing, inviting… just what I want traveling to be like. I hope to be this engulfed into the culture anywhere else we choose to live later in life.

While I’ve never considered myself to be patriotic, in almost any way. Besides celebrating Canada Day on the hill, and cheering for Team Canada in the Olympics. I must say I show very little Canadian pride (my bad). Though,  I keep hearing this little annoying voice in my head saying:

“Eh! Danica. Where ya at girl?”
And, that voice is me. (not that I speak like that).

It wasn’t until a few days ago where I realized that, even though I’m still soaking in the experience, lately my mind has been elsewhere. In Canada. In Ottawa. Believe it or not, in Barrhaven. (gasp!). Yep. Never did I ever think that I would miss Barrhaven. Never. Why am I mourning Barrhaven, why? I just don’t understand. I had wanted to high tail it out of there since sixth grade. Why and how is it that I could miss a place so much? I know I’m not keen on living in Barrhaven again, ever. But that is not to take away that I can’t wait to get a big ol’ dose of B-haven in the summer.

I miss my family and my friends, of course. But there are also a lot of things about Ottawa that I guess I took for granted. First and foremost I miss the luxury of getting pizza delivered to your home (oh what I would give!). I also miss: the Bytowne theatre, the Works, Chapters, Clock Tower (specifically with RGB Sr.), The Turning Point record store, Booster Juice, Pure Gelato, Rideau street shopping,the market, the homeless weirdos, Miss. Vickie’s chips, Tim Hortons (Apple Cinnamon tea!), Caesars, outdoor rinks,and… I miss poutine – more than I think is normal.

I am loving living in China. But, uh, I’m so stoked to be back in my city. And, to (temporarily) live walking distance from Riocan.

Pathetic? Yea, maybe.

An ode to street meat

Within this post I am going to try not to simply gush over my two latest Chinese culinary faves; street sandwiches.

The Sketchy Wrap

I had my first experience with the SW way back in October. Jen and Gini took Lizzie and myself to a very large indoor market that sold anything and everything. Outside the market the streets are lined with vendors selling bags, cleaning supplies, bedding, and other such trinkets. There are also vendors selling different varieties of street "delicacies". Jen and Gini being veterans knew the ideal vendor to stop at for a wrap. Had we not been with Jen and Gini I would never would have guessed that something like a sandwich or wrap was made at these stands. They look like the rusted, dirty, grimy, China version of Dickie Dee stands, though bigger and situated, with no fun little jingle to get you excited. There is a case full of veggies on sticks; eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), tofu, lettuce, cabbage, bok choy, mushrooms, green onion etc. Beneath the case is a vat of boiling oil, a small table with a cutting board, and two bowls of sauce (one hot, and one peanut). You have the option of either chicken or sausage. You make your choices, the “chef” adds everything to the oil and uses scissors to chop it all up. It takes mere minutes to make. Everything is thrown into a large tortilla style wrap, sauce is added and you’re good to go.

Trying street meat, street anything in China is nerve wracking. The cleanliness is questionable. In fact, saying that it is questionable at all is really just to comfort myself. It is fact that it is not clean in any way. Everything is made so quickly so there is a chance that unwelcome bacteria will take over your body at any moment, and you’re day will be over with you on the toilet. This all being said, though, the SW is really, really good. AND cheap cheap! Only 7 yuan, and it’s a hefty portion. I’ve realized now that there are wrap stands just about everywhere. I suppose I just never knew what they were before. A couple months ago Greg and I found one right outside the main grocery store in Fangzi. win.


Street Sandwich (formerly referred to as Seth’s Sandwich)

In town there is a small stand (much more credible than the  Sketchy Wrap stand) that sells snacks, gum, drinks etc. We had noticed that it also advertised some weird, unappetizing looking sandwich. Seth was the first to try to the sandwich on his own in town one day and shared his discovery with us. Amazingly delicious, and only 4 yuan for one. The picture does not make the sandwich look tasty or inviting at all. So, I put off trying it for awhile until out of poorness Greg and I needed to take the plunge and get our hands on these warlocks. Possibly one of the best food discoveries in Weifang. This ridiculously good, flavorful sandwich is overstuffed with chicken chunks, topped with lettuce and marinated in some scrumptious brown sauce and hot sauce all in the nice package of a deep fried flat bun. Ohmygod makes my mouth water just thinking about it. When the guys came to visit we ate our fair share these sandwiches.

And, to make our lives of street sandwich love that much more exciting is, there is a stand near the grocery store in Fangzi. These sandwiches are only 3 yuan, and not as delicious as the originals in town. But, they are still good.
I enjoy that eating in China is affordable, and delicious. Especially when you least expect it.

 I’m hungry.

The good, the bad, the China

While we were only away from China for two weeks, the return felt comparable to how I imagine Dorothy actually felt upon leaving technicolor Oz and returning to Kansas. There are so many things that I like about living in China. But, leaving for a little while made me notice certain unfavorable China traits that the country (well, the very small portion that I’ve seen) possess.

1. Lack of color. True the overwhelming grey in Weifang is due to the extensive smog. Though, it seems that even beyond the skies the country is experiencing pigment deficiency. China is generally pretty dry (at least where we are) so it seems there is a thin layer of dust covering, well, everything. This doesn’t help the “color” problem.

2. Seeing green, or, not. The most welcome, wonderful thing for me (besides the warmth) in Thailand was the abundance of green. It is nearing the end of winter, so granted most trees don’t have any leaves right now. But, even during lovelier times, China is lacking in green. Even in Bangkok, Thailand there were examples of flora everywhere. Living in China I find myself mourning, nature.

3. The stares. Uh, yep, I’m foreign. I’m not from here. So, obviously I need to be stared at uncomfortably as if I were from Mars. Beijing is touristy so the “stares” we receive aren’t as noticeable, or quite as much. Weifang though, and Fangzi, oh jesus! Thailand is so touristy. Like, so so so touristy. I was nothing special. I had forgotten about the stares until one instance when Greg and I were at the grocery store in Fangzi where we noticed an older woman so uncouthly staring at me, bug eyed, and nervous. I don’t bite. Promise.

4. Smoke… cigarette smoke… in the face. Neither Greg or I are cigarette smokers. I don’t mind if people smoke around me generally. It’s really not something that bothers me. Living in my old apartment, for those who know… I mean, comman… you would need a tolerance for smoke.  In China though, it’s a whole other story. Even the most lenient of people could have a problem with the smoke. Most people are quite rude about it, and have no problem smoking anywhere and everywhere, and blowing their smoke right in your face. What’s worse is this multiplied by dozens of people in a crowd. No matter where you turn, you will have smoke all up in your business.

5. Don’t push. I have a difficult time being too too angry about the pushing and shoving of Chinese people. The only reason is because it is merely a cultural thing. It’s not meant to be rude at all. Everyone pushes and shoves. Everyone. We were reminded of this at the airport. We were waiting to board our plane back to China, and for the first time in two weeks were surrounded by Chinese people. Our gate was different from the other gates at the airport. The other gates had orderly lines full of patient people waiting to board. Our gate was a sector of impatient pushers throwing their bows all over the place (unintentionally of course). Unless you join in the brigade of thrusting and shoulder rubbing, you will be left behind.

6. Dirty. It’s no secret that China is very dirty. Walking down the street I’m pretty sure we ingest various ailments. It was nice to breath in fresh air in Thailand. It was nice to blow my nose and not have dust come out. It was also nice to not have some strange cough uncaused by sickness, but by pollution for two weeks.

I do enjoy living in China. But, there are some annoying things that come with the culture. Unfortunately.

Sliding down the Great Wall

Again, I would like to stress that everything seemed to be closed during our time in Beijing. Well, most Chinese, touristy types things at least. When we arrived back in Beijing from Xi’An, after checking back into the Hai Inn, we made an attempt to go to the Pearl Market. I had heard so many good things about the Pearl Market, it was probably one of the places I was most excited to visit. But due to our unfortunate timing, it was closed. From what I’ve heard the Pearl Market has all types of things. It’s a building full of vendors selling knock off, everything! My hecklers game face was on, I was so ready to get some cheap, fake stuff. But, oh well, next time.  The five us split up for the afternoon, Greg and I decided we would try to find the Silk Market (even though we knew it would probably be closed) and the other three guys went to the Olympic park. We had seen parts of it when we arrived in August, and didn’t have much interest in going back.

Of course the Silk Market was also closed. Lizzie was back from India and had been in Beijing for a few days with her parents. We were hoping to meet up with her so she could meet Derek, Dan and Ryan but realized that it probably just wouldn’t happen. We were leaving on Thursday and had plans for Wednesday and it was already Tuesday. After realizing that the Silk Market wasn’t going to happen Greg suggested just sitting in Starbucks. I could feel my mood going down. We only had a little time left in Beijing and my frustration with Chinese New Year was becoming apparent. In attempts to cheer myself up with biscotti and and Iced Shaken lemon tea who walks into Starbucks? I look over and see a white person who looks so familiar. I was Lizzie’s mom, with Lizzie and her dad following closely behind. We had no idea but their hotel was pretty much right beside that Starbucks. We sat with Lizzie and her parents for a little while before heading back to her (swanky) hotel for a bit. We texted the other guys and got them to meet at our part of town. I was mostly happy that Lizzie was able to meet our friends from home, and happy they could put a face to the many stories. I think Dan was happiest to meet her. We went to Pizza Hut, before parting ways with Lizzie. We did have a pretty big day on Wednesday.

Wednesday was a great day. The day started off right with an American breakfast (…with bacon!) before we were picked up by a pretty cool old Chinese guy. Our tour guide. We hopped on a van of about 10 other people and began our journey to the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall (is not actually directly in Beijing) is actually accessible by bus. The city bus will take you to Ba Da Ling. This area of the wall, being the most accessible, is the most touristy. Though, cheapest way to see the wall. We chose not to do this. We figure if we’re going to see the Great Wall of freakin’ China, we should do it right. So, we paid a bit extra and took the van. The van took us to a further area. We left around 8am and arrived around 9. We were surprisingly the first people at the wall. We started our climb. Which consisted of many trees, and crooked steps. It was a pretty cold day, and we were all bundled up real well. But, I started peeling off clothing before we even reached our main descent. I was already amazed looked out at the ground we had already covered, thinking “oh wow, oh wow we’re about to climb the Great Wall of China”. This feeling was in no comparison to how I felt when we actually got to the steps taking us to the wall. When we reached the mountain the five of us were just in complete awe, no one spoke a whole lot for the first few moments. Just looking out and seeing the length of the wall, a length so long that you cannot see the end. Seeing first hand what we had all seen a million times on TV, in books. We continued to climb the wall, not letting the steep (and I mean STEEP), crooked, gnarly, jagged steps kick our ass. No joke steps go from mini, to the size of my thigh. There was a constant changing in climbing technique; side step, crawling like a baby, running and skipping a step. The view was just phenomenal. And, just knowing that we were on the Great Wall of China was the coolest thing. Around 10 we started to head back to meet our group. Derek and I decided to grab a Great Wall beer for the walk back.

The Great Wall, so untraditionally, offers a luge type slide down to the bottom. I doubt this is what the Chinese had in mind when they were thinking about keeping the Mongolians out. The slide was sweeeeeeet! It was pretty long, sometimes steep with tight curves and the option to go fast. Worth the 80 yuan or whatever it was. So fun. We spent the rest of the time at the wall brushing off vendors.

We left the wall and were taken to a Jade factory which was surprisingly interesting. I had about,uh, zero interest in Jade prior to this trip. But, I left having spent a good chunk of money on souvenirs for my family. We got to see how different Jade sculptures were made and learned how to differentiate Jade from, well, not Jade. We ate lunch at the factory and spoke with a family from Michigan who are now also living in China (in a small town near Harbin–cold!). After the factory we were then taken to the Underground palace. I had actually never even heard of this place before, but I’m glad it was offered in our tour. It deemed a lot more interesting than I thought (worth googling, do it). After the Underground Palace we were teased. Our guide told us that he was taking us to the Silk Market. This got me all kinds of excited since we missed the markets the day before because they were closed. But, this Silk Market was actually just that, a Silk… market. A factory where they sell silk bedding and clothing. They teach you about the silk, which would have been much cooler if I didn’t spend a chunk of my childhood playing ‘Where in the World is Carmen San Diego’ on the computer and already knew its origin. Then, after teaching you about the silk (really, it is all a sales pitch) they try to uncomfortably coax you into buying their silk bedding. I was cornered (but didn’t buy any).

The five of us were bored by this and spent our time sitting on the floor of the nice building waiting to leave. All in all, though, it was a great day. We returned to our hostel and spent our final night drinking beers and chatting with a ton of other young travelers. I enjoy this part of traveling. Meeting people from all over the world, and hearing their story is so enjoyable for me. Hearing about where people have gone and what they are doing. What their dreams are makes me reflect on my own, and inspires me to want to travel more.
We left for Thailand the next morning, which is a whole other story.

The gypsies

Our second, and full day in Beijing was a day full of, meandering mostly. Being Chinese new year most things had started shutting down for the holiday. Which was really inconvenient for our plans while in Beijing.

The day started with checking out of the Hai Inn. Meaning that for the rest of the day Derek, Dan, Ryan and myself were going to be lugging around our fairly heavy travelers backpacks. Greg was smart and packed EXTRA light (maybe too light). I was dumb and packed a tad way too freakin’ much.

Anyways. We started the day off right with American breakfast (….with bacon!) then took the subway to Tiananmen Square. Getting out of the subway and looking up at what I had seen so many times before in books was surreal. We stood there looking around for a few minutes, and I remember just thinking so cool, sooooo cool (this also would not have been the last time I had this thought while in Beijing). We walked up and through (the free) parts of Forbidden City. Which was, nice. While the overall splendor of the Forbidden City was impressive and all fine and dandy. It quickly became, like much else in China, a former beautiful imperial palace turned tourist stomping ground and money maker. Good thing we took the cheap route. Despite my “naysaying” the Forbidden City is pretty majestic. As read in Frommer’s it is the most intricate palace in all of China. The rest of our day was spent wandering. Like I previously said, a lot was closed because of it was the eve of Chinese New Year (a family holiday). We made a strong attempt to see the Sumer Palace. We did see it, I guess. We saw the roof and the gate to get in. But, not the interior because it, like everything else, was closed. We walked nearly an hour to get to the Summer Palace from the subway stop that we got out at. At this point in the day, it was getting late. Most of us were getting tired, and pretty hungry. After our failed Summer Palace attempt we decided it would be best to just head to the train station.

At about 9:30 that night we were taking the train to Xi’An. While our ride to Xi’An would last about 15 hours over night, our stay in Xi’An would be a mere 8 hours (or so). We were going with one stop in mind, The Terra Cotta Warriors. We get to the train station (Beijing West) and are all snapping pictures in awe of it’s exterior size and beauty. Of course, this is where the beauty ends. Inside the station it was packed! We nestled ourselves into a hallway near a McDonalds until boarding. The place was absolutely disgusting inside… though, I guess most of China is pretty disgusting (dirt and grime absolutely everywhere). Excited to get on our train, we wait in a long line of pushing and shoving Chinese people, this is standard China behavior, only to board the most hectic, repulsive, cramped area I have ever been in (excluding the outhouses at Bonnaroo). It had seemed as though we entered a train full of traveling gypsies. Not the loveable Esmeralda types either. The weathered, smelly, pushy, in your face types. The gypsies added to the initial disgustingness of the train by smoking, ashing, throwing garbage and chicken bones on the ground. There were countless gypsy babies too. Babies who were left by their sleeping gypsy parents to crawl in the dirt, eat chicken bones off the ground and meander about without being watched by their parents.

We had paid for the cheapest train, yes. But, oh wow. 15 hours of this garbage. I figured as long as I could nestle in a small spot and get some rest I’d be OK. Which I was. The other guys were not as lucky. Ryan, being a pro at falling asleep in any position was good. Derek was however left with no room for his tall self and was crammed in a “booth” with Dan, some lady, and two men. Dan, in an even worse position was squished between Derek and some lady. And, Greg, was left alone in a separate seat. Left to sit next to a hobo gypsy seat snatcher. Greg adjusted his position, and before he knew it she had moved in and was sprawled spread eagle across their shared bench. We soon started referring to this hat wearing, absent toothed, wrinkly bag of gypsy unaffectionately as, Toquey. Luckily Greg is a good sport, and cut his losses by falling asleep whilst leaning against Toquey’s legs. Not something many people could, or would want to do. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was squished between a wall and Ryan… which was probably the best seat of us all. Other than the teenage Chinese girls seating across from us. They decided to sing, loudly, for the majority of the ride. I was happy when they got off at a stop about 7 hours before ours. Thinking back on this train, I feel like we were acting out a scene from a mid century film. Homeless, freeloading gypsies sleeping where they please. Probably robbing us as we close our eyes. Carrying bags upon bags upon bags of who knows what. The gypsies were, gross. But it was definitely an experience.

The train, and diseases we all probably inhaled was well worth it though. The Terra Cotta Warriors were awesome! I had vaguely heard of the warriors prior to traveling to China, but did not know too much. But, at the Ottawa airport when Greg and I were getting our money changed the woman working there said that we had to go. She even had a book and showed us pictures. It was so worth it. The history behind the Warriors is so interesting. Worth googling I’d say (finish reading this blog first though).

After a few hours of hanging around the Warriors we heading back to the train station, where we waited in McDonalds for our train back to Beijing. Xi’An didn’t seem to offer a whole lot in the winter. In the spring and summer it would have been nice to do a bike tour. There is a wall where you can bike, pretty much, around the whole city. But, it was snowing when we went, and biking with backpacks would not be very enjoyable.

We got on a 13 hour train back to Beijing. It needs to be noted that this train was substantially cleaner, and lacking in homeless gypsies… which really made it much more enjoyable.

When we returned to Beijing with much excitement knowing that we had a lot more to look forward to in the upcoming days.

Backpacking - the first day in Beijing

When Dan, Derek and Ryan came to visit Weifang, honestly, Greg and I weren’t quite sure what we would show them or what would be exciting to do. All three of their personalities are very different.

We were only staying in Weifang for about one week before heading off on travels. During the week the guys were able to see our town of Fangzi. We ate at the BGR (countless times), we went for three massages–each one including new and funny stories, they were introduced to a few Chinese friends as well as most of the foreign teachers, we played “Cocaine”, we walked around exploring parts of the city, we went to markets, we went to Mbox and two new bars (Muse and new SoHo– old Soho is closed!) and mostly just caught  up. We still needed to plan the next leg of our time together; Beijing, Xi’an, Beijing again, Thailand.

Also, I’m so impressed at how quickly the three guys got over their jetlag. Crazy fast. And, Derek and Ryan even picked up some of the language in a short time!

I think, speaking for Greg and myself, the week with our friends in our new town was more than a little a lot welcome. We appreciate it so so SO much!!
On Sat Jan 21st we left Weifang for Beijing. The night before Dan, Derek, Ryan and myself had drank (Ryan not so much), leaving us feeling not so wonderful.. The train ride was pretty nice though with no complications. We got to Beijing after a four hour ride. The five of us, feeling cheap, and still hostile towards Beijing after our last experience with the place were looking for a feasible way of getting around.

Thank you Beijing subway system.

The Beijing Subway is the most immaculately run mode of transportation. For the low price of  2 yuan you can ride the subway, with an many connections as you need. It’s clean, safe, and quite reliable.
We found that we could take the subway from the Beijing South station right to Yonghegong street stop next to Lama Temple, which just so happened to be about a 500m walk from our first hostel.

When we arrived we walked the wrong way, and were confused which meant we missed the tiny side street leading to our hostel. We stopped in a convenient store (difference from Weifang #1…) and were lucky to meet a few expats (difference #2…) who spoke English directing us in the right direction. Beijing is fairly touristy, so at times I felt I was experiencing reverse culture shock. So many white people! So much English!

We all loved our hostel and would recommend it to anyone traveling to Beijing (hint hint, Gabby and Alanna). It’s called 1 Hai Inn or also called the Candy Inn. The girl at the front desks name is Roxie and she speaks incredible English. Oh, also they serve American breakfast… with bacon. Greg and I lucked out during our time here and managed to get rooms with just us in the them. Dan, Derek and Ryan shared a room with a guy named Max traveling around by himself, from Quebec and three British girl currently attending University in Shanghai.
Our first night was fairly low key, unintentionally. After accepting our free beer upon arrival we went to eat. We found a place across the street from the Lama Temple to eat. It was alright, no BGR, but pretty good. We returned to the Candy Inn and were trying to figure out our plan for the night… we knew that we wanted to go out. We had heard that if you get into a taxi and say “Sanlitun” street you will be taken to the bar street. So, we tried this. And, were a little mistaken. Everything was crazy expensive! Foreigners were everywhere. I quickly realized that in Beijing foreigners are nothing special like in Weifang, and all prices are inflated. When we finally settled on a bar, after a long time of searching, we go in and sit down only to find out that just to sit in the booth will cost us 500 yuan. We could stand… but just left. The majority of the bars were pretty deserted. Apparently there is a bar street… with a bar called “Sanlitun”. We just weren’t there.

We headed back to the hostel, giving up on our night out, ate some noodles and drank some beer. We met a couple guys from Alberta. One of them named Andy is an Engineer who has been living in China looking for work. His buddy Steven came over to see him. They were nice guys. Mostly just exchanged China stories with Andy and Chinese slang we’ve learned. We took a shot of Bai Jiu and headed to bed.

Spring festival and sketchy times in Beijing

To preface this post, I would just like to take a moment to apologize. Apologize for not only neglecting this blog but for updating it quickly and without much thought. Since before Christmas, life has seemed slightly whirlwindish (more on that later). And, as I sit here in my bottom bunk of the Sunwest Guesthouse hostel in Thailand (I’ll get to that later), I can’t help but feel the pull to recount my tales to you, reader. Thank you for taking the time to read about mine and Greg’s life there and for taking an interest in us until we are back again.
Onto the happenings.

Spring Festival is a yearly holiday. It happens every year around Chinese New Year. Greg and I, being the lucky little foreigners we are, get a six week vacation during this time. Our last day of teaching was December 31st, and we are off of work until February 13th.

Our Spring Festival started off with New Years eve on Saturday. That morning all teachers from Beihei gathered in the cafeteria for lunch and some teacher appreciation (each staff member received a gift of 100 yuan). For the most part we just mingled, and ate and “gala-ed”. In the afternoon the teachers at Beihei (not including the foreign teachers) put on a show. It was hilarious (from what I saw). It was all in Chinese. I didn’t actually stay for the whole thing because I wasn’t feeling too well, but Greg did and said it was good… from what he could understand.

2012 started off great. The foreign teachers, Greg and I went out for dinner at the Mayflower restaurant. It’s a fancier restaurant in Weifang, but definitely worth the money. My mom and dad had sent Greg and I Christmas crackers from Canada that we hadn’t used yet, so I brought them along to the dinner. Of course, we followed dinner with a trip to SoHo, and ofcourse, I had the time of my life. Everyone seemed to have a great time actually. If you looked around at any of us, you would see a huge smile covering everyone’s faces. Everyone was dancing, and drinking, and singing and having a wonderful time. At one point just after midnight, I had a “my god! I can’t believe I live in China and this is my life”. I looked over at Greg’s smiley face, and looked at my new Chinese friends, Lizzie and Seth and felt so happy. It’s a shame that we could not also be surrounded by Ottawa friends, and have the ability to call our families at midnight. Never the less, the year started off on a good foot.
The beginning of Spring Festival was spent mostly hanging around with my new Chinese friends, Lizzie, Greg, and Seth. Our friends from SoHo were to be leaving soon and I wanted to get in as much time as possible with them as I could. All was well worth it, and goodbyes were said. I know I have made a good friend in Maymay, who happens to be one of the sweetest people I know. And, I don’t doubt that Greg and Slos will keep in contact. I regularly miss them along with Jerry and his hilarity, Rita and her loving demeanor, and Hyde’s coolness. Lizzie, Greg and I were most said to say goodbye I think. But, all three of us are so happy to have been able to be apart of their lives.

On Wednesday January 11th, I took the train to Beijing to pick up three (amazing) pals from the airport– arriving from Ottawa. Ryan, Dan, and Derek were to arrive between 5 and 11 that night. I could not be more excited. From when I arrived in Beijing things were not going quite as smoothly as they could have been. Lizzie (who accompanied me because she was flying to India from Beijing) and I took a cab from the train station to the airport. Which lasted over an hour long. We watched at the meter kept rising and rising. Ending in a 130+ yuan fee. Also, the driver tried not to give us our change. No matter, we went in, Lizzie found her gate and she was off. I was on a mission to find out which terminals the boys would be arriving in, which was simple enough. And, the wait started. Ryan and Dan were on the same delayed flight so I ended up waiting a little longer that I had anticipated, but it was worth it. Seeing Ryan’s Sens hat poke out behind the entrance and Dan’s smiling face made me feel so happy! Derek’s flight was coming in later so we found our way to his terminal and waited. Again, seeing Derek made me so happy! Familiar faces!!! Upon being with them for no longer than 10minutes I forgot I was in China. It was as if I had never been away at all. The jokes were the same. Felt good.

Here is where the “fun” begins.

We waiting in a taxi line at the airport for a cab. A woman working at the airport motions for us to go to a taxi. So, we do. The taxi, though looking different from the other taxi’s, has a “Taxi” sign on it. We get in, tell him where we are going (the train station in hopes of getting a train at our late hour) and we go. After about 25 minutes we arrive at Beijing South train station, the cab driver lifts a card covering the meter and displays the price, 460 yuan. This ride should have cost us no more than 80 yuan (at the absolute most). He shows an airport card with fees on it. In the words of Derek, we were fleeced! None of us were happy to have been obviously fooled. I was particularly angry because I knew for a fact that it should not be that price, and had been trying to catch a glimpse of the meter for part of the ride.

Trying to brush off the unfortunate cab price, we go into the train station. The deserted, bereft of warmth, very closed train station. I had asked my boss earlier in the day if train ran most of the night, he said yes. He was wrong. We walked around trying to figure out what to do. We would need to stay in a hotel because it felt sketchy to sleep in the station. Also, it would freezing. So, we tried to find an exit. An easy enough task. Wrong. We were locked in. Locked in the train station! Eventually we had found someone who worked there, a guard I presume, who walked us outside. We tried asking him for help to find a taxi or where we could get a hotel. But, despite his best efforts, he was of no real help. Luckily, a white dude happened to walk by us as we were pacing the outside of the station. The French native, immaculate speaking English guy, just so happened to also be fluent in Chinese. He helped us find a taxi AND a hotel, sort of.

A grey van on the cusp of breaking down drives up. Our ride. The four of us climb in. Derek and Ryan get actual seats in the back while Dan is left to sit on the floor. I took the front seat in hopes that my very small amount of Chinese could help (it didn’t). The driver and the white guy are chatting away in Chinese, both on their phones calling other people, talking in …. Chinese. The whole situation began to feel very uncomfortable, and all around sketchy. We all had our guard up. I had a death grip on my belongings, with my passport and money zipped tight in my  pocket, and cell phone in my hand. The white guy tells us that the driver will take us to a hotel not far from the station. We thank him a bunch of times and leave. All four of us thinking the same thing, are we about to live a scene out of the movie Taken? Am I going to die tonight? Where in the hell is this dude taking us?

We arrive at some sleezy hotel. And, of course are overcharged for two rooms (one room was not an option, and we were all hesitant to argue with the men handling our dealings at this point). We get our rooms; Dan and Derek in one, Ryan and I in another. The cab driver walks into mine and Ryans room, and holds out his hand for money. I assumed the ride would cost no more than maybe, maybeeeeee 30 yuan. In my mind I had planned to give him a little extra for taking us to the hotel at such a late hour and what not. he demands 200 yuan. 200! At this point, as a person who rarely feels scared, I felt highly uncomfortable. These men were dealing with us just did not make me feel as ease. We paid him the 200, and that was that. I called Greg who was in Weifang to help make me feel better. At this point it was almost 3 in the morning and we wanted to be awake at 6:30 to get a 7:45 train. I slept for a total of maybe 30minutes that night.

Thursday did not introduce an effortlessness. We woke up and scoured the streets for a taxi. After about 10 mins we get one, get inside and I type into my translator Beijing Train Station South. He says OK, and away we go. The night before we were all tired, but were awake enough to know that the ride to the station should take no more than 10 mins, which is why were were confused when it took us nearly half an hour to get there. BUT the main said yes when we told him where to go, so we were trusting him. We arrive at a train station, that doesn’t really look familiar, except for the sign that says “Beijing Railway”. At this point we’ve missed the 7:45 train to Weifang. This day is was freezing. The guys were saying it felt colder than Ottawa. After moving from line to line (outside), and waiting in various lines for nearly an hour we come to the obvious conclusion that we are probably at the wrong train station. Oh, and right we were. We got the name of the correct station written for us in Chinese and found a gypsy cab.

Another 50 yuan later, and we are at our destination. AND bought tickets to Weifang. I was honestly elated! The stress associated with the previous 12 hours was enough to make me feel like I had been away from home, and from Greg forever. I could not wait to get back, to introduce the guys to Weifang and get away from Beijing.

After a 4-5 hour train ride, we arrived.

More on Ryan, Derek and Dan’s visit to come.