Adventures with Alisha

Boston is Wicked Awesome

alineswala — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:37:00 GMT

If there has been one city I've always wanted to go to since I was young, it's been Boston. After learning about Boston and its rich colonial history, from the American Revolution to the Boston Brahmins and clam chowda, it's a must-see part of America.

I flew into the harbor, so to speak, and it was one of the most exciting things: to be able to see all the little islands and the big blue Atlantic. It's not to say that I haven't seen it before, but when you're flying into Boston, the plane (probably because of wind patterns), makes an entire circle around the harbor before it lands. If you're sitting next to the window seat, this gives you a fantastic view. I could even see people running on the stone walls and Martha's Vineyard!

That said, Boston was filled with history at every turn. My recommendations: Quincy Market, Boston Common, the Freedom Trail, the Public Garden with the lake and boat rides, Massachusetts Statehouse, Longwood Medical Area, the Paul Revere House, Fenway Park, Little Italy, Harvard Yard, and the JFK Presidential Library (to see a wonderful skyline of the city).

I'm not just recommending these because they were all the places I had been to, but there really are some quaint and unique things to see in each place. My favorite had to be finding which pastry shop was better: Mike's or Modern's. Unfortunately, I thought both pastry shops were over-hyped and you probably could get cheaper and better pastries elsewhere. If you like canolis or rum cake though, Mike's is the way to go.

And you really can't go to Boston without visiting Harvard, or any bays, so that's a iven. You can get everywhere around Boston with cheap and efficient public transportation with the $1.70 ride for the metro. Another wonderful place to visit is the Sam Adams Brewery, if you want to see the original brew house and where the Boston Lager was born.

There are many things to do in Boston, so sit back, ride the metro, and expect to hear the accent a lot.

The Aftershock of Coming Home

alineswala — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:04:00 GMT

Many people choose to go on amazing trips that enrich their perspectives, take a break from the mundane, and evaluate their lives from a distance. Most times, these cross-cultural experiences lead to opening your mind in an entirely new way, and it seems to be something that you can only gain by immersing yourself in another culture. This is wonderful and perfect. Sometimes going abroad and removing yourself from your daily worries and comforts is the only way to find yourself again, and discover parts of yourself that you did not know existed because you never had to use them.

However, in doing this, your real life problems become irrelevant. Not only because you are so overwhelmed with a new culture and just learning how to survive, but in reality, you are so far away from them (literally). How do you deal with coming back to reality? I know that when I had to come back to America and start school again, I didn't feel ready. Of course, nobody is ready. I couldn't even think in English for the first few days. But in being away for so long, I didn't know how to get in the rhythm of being focused, and using my new-found confidence and energy to my benefit. Especially since I would be surrounding myself with most of the same things as I had before going abroad.

Then again, going abroad is meant to be a challenge, and introducing yourself back into your old life must also be a challenge too. It's difficult to merge the old with the new, and find the perfect balance in the mix, but I think it's possible. After all, what choice do we have accept to believe that in changing we will always try to keep adding our new perspectives with our old ones to have the best possible perspective for you?

Shanghai: Modern Beauty!

alineswala — Fri, 7 Oct 2011 15:21:00 GMT

As troublesome as Beijing is, Shanghai is a completely tourist friendly city, and you don't even need to sign up for any tours! My friend and I brought a Shanghai tourist book and managed to self-navigate around the entire city through the subway system.

Here is something I did notice though in Shanghai: if you want to save money, forget about it. In Shanghai, the taxis start at 14 yuan, more than double that of Xi'an, and 4 more than Beijing. I understand that it's the most populated city in China, but still? That's a lot! A taxi ride might as well cost as much it does in America at that rate. Food is equally expensive. People in Shanghai know that it's filled with foreigners, and if you go to any sort of decent quality restaurant, it's going to cost a bit more money than in any other part of mainland China.

The other thing that I noticed is that Shanghai is that the sun is almost unbearably hot. And not that I mean that in a bad way. All of China is unbearably hot in the summer. However, Shanghai's sun is intense. I went to take my shoes off after a long day of adventuring and I was shocked because I had an entire spider web design on my feet (where my skin was exposed) and became tan. Make sure to bring sun screen with you if you want to avoid one of these surprises.

Finally, Shanghai is just so relaxing. It's truly a city where you can do anything you want. Whether you want to relax on the Bund or People's Park, go shopping on Nanjing Dong Lu, enjoy a cup of tea/coffee, or get some drinks in a club or a bar, it's the city with everything.

But beware, if you go during Chinese Valentine's Day on August 6 (like me), you might have to stop yourself from retching at the matching t-shirts all the couples wear, especially when they are staring soulfully into each other's eyes on the subway. Just kidding. It's really cute, but really! The Chinese take relationships to an entirely new level. I would probably be afraid to wear the same clothes as my boyfriend out in public.

That said, I hope you guys enjoy your trips to Shanghai! I know I certainly did. After visiting, I really thought that if I could get a job as a writer in Shanghai, I would most definitely take it (if it was only up to 2 years). On a Western salary, one could live really well over there and in a completely high-tech and modern environment.

Teaching English vs. Special Needs

alineswala — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 15:30:00 GMT

As you know, I came to Xi'an to teach English at Xi Kai Bao Yu Yuan for the summer. My school closed this past Friday for summer break and I got relocated to a special needs center for my last few days of my stay.

First, let me say, I loved teaching English. Even though I definitely did not understand a lot of the kids, and what they were saying, I loved teaching them English by teaching them duck-duck-goose or other fun word games like Hangman. And the kids were insanely cute and I always could make them so happy by playing with them. Some of them even coul tell me a few sentences in English after I taught it to them! Furthermore, I got to know a lot of cool teachers that were always so interested in what America was like and interested in me and my plans for the future. As egotistical as it sounds, it's nice to be able to talk about yourself and what you want to do and get a totally foreign perspective on it. And I was practicing Chinese. Overall, it was a great placement, and I am sad that it's over, but it was wonderful while it lasted!

On the other hand, special needs is much more challenging in different ways. There are fewer kids by far. The center has only about 10 children. While I was teaching English, I had at least 25 kids per class and I had four different classes. However, special needs children are high energy and maintenance and they are not easily disciplined. In the kindergarten, the kids would listen to the teacher immediately and even clean up on their own when they heard their "clean up" song being played on the piano. They were well trained and more or less really smart 4-6 year olds. Special needs? Not so much. They don't listen and they can become violent. On my first day, the child I was working with hit me a few times across the face because he didn't want to do any more crunches. Instead of teaching English, I help them to exercise and eat and control their muscles. It can be frustrating work, especially when you feel like it's something kids should learn on their own, but then, special needs children often cannot play on their own. In the end, both schools have a different teaching method for the different kids.

The one thing both programs have in common though is that it's a gratifying experience to work with children. Since I spent so much time teaching English at my old school, I became attached to the children and the teachers there and ended up making some great friends that I hope to stay in touch with. While my time at the special needs center will be short, I am still happy to be working with the children and seeing their progress. And this whole experience and being around kids all the time has helped me to understand how kids function and think about whether I want kids or not in the future.

Ultimately, if you want to volunteer abroad and do programs teaching children or high school students, I would highly recommend it. Yes, it's challenging and different and times of frustration are guaranteed, but overall, it's worth it. Even though it may seem you aren't making much of a difference, you probably are without realizing it. And even if that doesn't matter, the amount you yourself will learn about a different culture and what values are important in a foreign country is invaluable knowledge that you can't learn anywhere else.

Beijing: Historical Fantasy Land or Danger Zone?

alineswala — Tue, 2 Aug 2011 14:53:00 GMT

Last week, I decided to take some time off and go to Beijing to visit the wondrous China that we all seem to have some fantasy image of in our minds...the Great Wall, food markets, many people, soldiers marching in Tiananmen, etc. Was I expecting to eat scorpions on a road block like the contestants in Amazing Race? No. But I was expecting a somewhat hassle free and tourist-friendly city, just because it's Beijing. It's China's capital! And the Great Wall is only an hour away. Common sense and experience tells me that people come from all over the world to visit Beijing.

So what was the first thing I noticed when I got off the plane? That there was no sun. Literally, there was a gray-white fog lining the sky for my whole stay in Beijing. Well, at first I thought it was fog. And then I realized that it was actually smog, or the infamous pollution that has become the norm in Beijing. It was quite sad for me to see that China's capital, one of its most visited cities, wasn't beautiful because there is just so much pollution. I fully realized how much there was when I went to blow my nose and my snot was covered in black specs.

That said, my travelling experience in Beijing was filled with horrors. I know some Chinese. I had another friend who knew some Chinese. Between the two of us, we could compensate for our whole group. You would think that us being able to speak Chinese would deter people from trying to rip us off. Not so. Maybe it was the fact that we all looked like foreign college students that could easily get ripped off, but there were a few incidents that really shocked me and I had never encountered before. Anywhere.

First of all, our tour guide spoke no English. I think it's a reasonable requirement to speak English if you want to be a tour guide, especially in a city like Beijing. It's a necessary must. All she could say was "please" and "thank you." If that wasn't enough, my friend accidentally forgot her Australian iPhone in our tour van after we returned from the Wall. She realized as soon as we got off, and we quickly called the driver, and asked if he would come back. He said that he couldn't unless we gave him 100 RMB. We agreed, but then he called a half-hour later and said he would come the next morning at 8 AM. Because he didn't come right away, we told him we weren't going to pay the money and expected to meet him the next morning. What happens? I get a call at 2:30 at night, with some random Chinese guy yelling at me to come downstairs and get the shouji (cell phone). I run downstairs and nobody is there. I sit with the security guard and talk to him about the recent train accident. He offers me a cigarette and I decline.

One hour later, in my pajamas, in a half-sleep state, and bitten by numerous mosquitoes, the tour driver shows up with the iPhone. He demands the money from me, which I don't have, and I am forced to call another one of my friends to scram downstairs as quickly as he can with 100 RMB. At the end of the day, we got the phone back, but would that have happened to us if we weren't foreigners? Probably not.

The next day, we went to the Forbidden Palace. Our group got split into two and my friend and I finished first. After that, we were waiting for our other friends, but they were nowhere to be seen and not answering their phones. About 45 minutes later, I heard the Chinese girl singing voice that is my ringtone on my Chinese phone. I answer it to a panicked friend blathering on and on about being mugged in an alley by a Chinese rickshaw driver and how Jim was still back there. My heart literally dropped to my stomach.

I call my friend Jim and he doesn't pick up. And then I realized his phone was out of money, so he wouldn't get the call anyways. What happened in the alley? Well, as my friends exited the Forbidden Palace, they hailed a Chinese rickshaw driver to take them to Tiananmen for 3 RMB. Instead of taking them to Tiananmen, the driver took them to an alley, and asked them for 300 Euros. Jim, so smart, responds, "I'm not European" and pays him 100 RMB. At that point, my other friend with him, Kelsey, scrams for his life and runs away leaving Jim all alone with the rickshaw drivers. Jim said he had no idea what to do, so he started walking and after a while, he hit the main road and the rickshaw drivers stopped following him. While those drivers may have not been the meanest people around, and begged for money because they were old and Beijing is really hot, that is still some really shady stuff.

Finally, to wrap up the adventure, the night our plane was to leave for Xi'an, there was a thunderstorm in Beijing. Our flight was cancelled and I was in the midst of 500+ screaming, angry, and desperate Chinese people fighting to get the first free tickets available on the next flight out. The guy behind me, who had spent the whole time breathing down my neck so that it was wet, tried to shove me out of the way at the last second because he probably thought he could, since I was a foreign girl. I never have been more thankful to know some Chinese, because I yelled at the guy to wait his turn and ran for the counter and quickly told the employee to change two tickets for Xi'an. All in Chinese. It was singlehandedly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life - being stranded in a foreign airport with many people trying to get the same ticket as you. Somehow we made it through and flew out the next morning.

All in all, was Beijing worth it? Absolutely. I think about these experiences and realize that everyone must go through some trouble abroad. That's the whole point of being abroad. Problem solving and flexibility. Would we have gotten so much trouble if we weren't foreigners? Probably not. But in the end, I am still so glad we went, if anything at all, I got to climb the Great Wall!

The Muslim Quarters

alineswala — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:13:00 GMT

You know something insanely surprising? There are many Chinese Muslims. I think most people are under the impression that most Chinese are atheist if anything, and if they do follow some sort of religion, it's either Buddhism or Christianity. However, one of the things I have learned while in Xi'an is that there are lots of Chinese Muslims. I'm not sure how this happened historically, but I'm sure it has to do with some sort of expansion from the Middle East. But when and how?

This past weekend, I ventured in the Muslim Quarters again to really shop and look around. The most famous street is one filled with delicious delicacies like kao rou, Choco-Listo, and other rice cakes. I made sure to gobble up as much food as possible and then settled for a plate of green beans because they looked crispy and filled with nutrients that I needed for the long day ahead. And they were!

After that, I shopped. Shopping, shopping, and more shopping. However, shopping with two boys isn't necessarily the best thing.

Me: Oh wow this a cute top!

Other two: *shrugs shoulders* Get it if you, like it.

And then all the bargaining involved! Something I really don't understand is when to bargain and when to not. One time, a man asked me for 260 RMB for painted glass, and I said no way, and he just shook his head, took the object out of my hand, and shooed me away. Other times, people don't leave me alone. As soon as I look at something, they keep shouting prices after me, even as I am walking away. How do you know when to bargain and when to not? And how do you know that however low you get, you're still getting ripped off? Overall, if you can bargain effectively, it's very satisfying, but if not, you'll find yourself sweating in the heat, wondering how much you overpaid for something.

KTV: Sing, Sing, Sing

alineswala — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:04:00 GMT

Alright, whenever I think of karaoke, I think of Koreans. Stereotype or not, those people love to sing to music videos with their favorite words of their favorite songs on cushy couches and tone-enhanced microphones. No joke.

So when we to go karaoke, I wasn't planning on singing at all, but then I got wrapped up in the whole atmosphere. Singing is fun. I do it in my spare time and I am a music fanatic. So when it was my turn to belt it out for "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, I made sure to!

My favorite part of KTV night was the fact that it was so comfortable and fun and not high-energy. You could go with lots of friends and everyone has fun. Why? Because everyone can sing. Of course, there are those that dominate with microphones, but in general, anyone who wants to sing, can. And if you're intoxicated enough, that's a lot of voices. Furthermore, you get your own air-conditioned room with amazing couches and you can order drinks and food as you will. It's almost like a personal bar where you provide the entertainment.

So whenever you're in China, and looking for a comfortable night out, but still fun, definitely try KTV. You never know, there could be a singer in you. Also - whenever a hit Chinese song comes up, like "Nobody," definitely chime in. "I want nobody, nobody, nobody, but you!"

Chinese KFC

alineswala — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:19:00 GMT

When I first got here, lots of teachers at my school asked me whether I liked KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) or not. I was a bit confused because to say the least, KFC is one of the least popular fast foods in America. However, in China, it is really popular. Especially with families and little kids. They love to chow down the chicken for the kiddie toy included in the meal.

So, inevitably, I ended up in a Chinese KFC yesterday afternoon. I went because I got invited to eat out with one of the teacher's little sisters (one was 19 and the other 13). Unfortunately, I was late because I had no idea I agreed to the meal. This is probably one of those incidents where I got bitten in the butt because I thought I knew some Chinese that I probably didn't and just smiled and nodded my head and agreed to come (which is what I do when I really don't understand what someone is saying). Needless to say, I got a call from Zhang Ying on my phone saying that I needed to come downstairs to meet her.

When I stepped in the air conditioned KFC, I was thankful. For one, there was air conditioning. And then I looked at the all Chinese menu. I saw a picture of chicken nuggets and pointed to that with some orange soda. Zhang Ying ordered for me. However, I felt a little bad because the prices were so high. A little box of chicken nuggets costed 6 yuan. In China, you could get a pretty decent meal for 6 yuan. A combo costed 20 yuan. Basically, KFC sold at the American equivalent price value, which for Chinese people, is very expensive.

Afterwards, we sat and talked about China and America. Zhang Ying had many questions about America and her English wasn't bad, but her 13-year old sister didn't know very much English and just sat shyly, not even looking at me when she spoke (she said about a total of three sentences). So what did I do? Rambled on in broken Chinese like I have been doing my whole stay here. It wasn't so bad and the kids playing in the background added some comic relief to the entirely tense situation.

From what I remember of KFC in America, the Chinese version looked about the same. So maybe that's why it's some of the more expensive food in China? Who knows? Americanization of any culture has to be expensive, I would think. I never realized it before, but American companies that open overseas aren't willing to make any less money than they would in America. And I suppose this is a good business policy because people are paying the extra money just to eat at an American fast food restaurant. The Americanization phenomenon is really astounding. In China, Pizza Hut is considered a top sit-down restaurant reserved for only the best of occasions. When I went shopping, I remember observing Maybelline eye-shadow and foundation was twice as expensive than it sold in America. Economically, I suppose this makes sense, because exporting goods is more expensive and there is always a huge profit to be made. But is it necessarily right that people are paying more for American goods?

Linking Arms: Cute, Immature, or a Violation of Space?

alineswala — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:59:00 GMT

Something odd, exciting, and a bit surprising about Chinese culture is that the girls (and sometimes boys) often hold hands or link arms while they are walking in public. This symbolizes that you are good friends with the person. Often, younger girls, three in a row, will strut down the street and with all of their arms linked. Maybe it's a strength in numbers thing. Anyways, since I spent most of my time either teaching little kids who I hold hands with anyways, my host family, or other foreigners (also working with children) touring the city, I never thought this would happen to me. I thought wrong.

Yesterday, I went shopping with a born and bred Xi'an Chinese girl. She was the daughter of one of the teachers at my school and since she and I were the same age, we hit it off instantly. I enjoyed finally meeting someone my age in China. I was really excited to see where real Chinese people hung out on Sunday afternoons, where they shopped, and to get the insider's take on bargaining. Since the bus ride was rocky, and we were standing, my friend grabbed my arm to keep me from falling over. I didn't think this was strange at all. However, as soon as we got off the bus, she linked her arm within mine and I felt my heart freeze.

I know, as immature as this sounds, I was nervous. It was like I was a little girl again. I had no idea what to do. Should I let go? Should I keep hanging on? What if I hang on too tightly? Maybe when I was younger I held hands with other girls, though I never remember doing it and I'm sure it was all in good fun. Grown women doing the same thing was a completely foreign thing. I had no idea what to feel or what to do. Obviously, I wasn't going to reject her arm and make her feel that I didn't like her, but then again, I felt a little uncomfortable being so close to someone. And moving around in a pair.

Ultimately, I ended up linking my hand halfway so that it was hanging a little lightly in hers. I think the situation didn't end up exploding in my face because I didn't pick up on any weird signals. Then again, Chinese signals are probably way different from American ones. And while I know Americans are very uptight about their space and want nobody to invade it, maybe the linking of arms is just a cute gesture after all. I mean really, who doesn't like watching cute, fashionable women holding hands?

Steam and a Burned Foot

alineswala — Fri, 8 Jul 2011 16:54:00 GMT

You know those holes in the ground, with metal lids on top of them that you only see policemen enter into on the tv shows? Yes, well, in China, steam actually comes out of these holes in the ground (that are located on main roads). In America, I'm sure steam comes out of these holes too, but I just haven't ever seen it. Restaurants, apartment complexes, hospitals all use them to vent the hot water that they use so it evaporates back into the air. Word of advice: never step on one.

Last night, after playing pool at a local pool club in Xi'an, I was already shrouded in smoke. The pool place was filled with slick, aviator wearing, gambling Chinese men with a a lot of power in their hands. The entire room was covered in a dimly lit green light and after a while I got a headache from the entire atmosphere. As I got off on my taxi, my friend and I discovered that we were dropped off at the wrong place, and decided to walk in the direction that seemed most reasonable to get back to our neighborhood. Maybe it was dark. Maybe I was careless. Needless to say, one second we were asking a Chinese rickshaw driver for directions to Bei Feng Lou and the next second I yelled out as a searing hot pain came across the inside of my left foot. It turns out that I stepped on one of these holes in the ground and steam hit my foot, in the bottom and on the side. I forced myself to walk on it because I needed to return home to soak it in water, but by the time I finally got to the 18th floor of my apartment building and rang the doorbell and headed straight into the bathroom, the side of my foot was a bright cherry red.

I could have sworn the steam only hit my foot for a second, but the damage was done. I had no idea what to do but to keep it in cool water and soak ice on the burn. Afterwards, I spent the whole night writhing in bed as I experienced possibly the worst pain I had ever experienced, a constant knitting and burning feeling within my foot.

I was extremely worried, but it seems that the burn could have been more serious. It's almost been 17 hours after the fact and I still haven't gotten a huge blister on my foot and the pink sections seem to be getting smaller. Of course, I got some Chinese medicine to help soothe the area and keep it from getting an infection, but only time will tell how serious this burn is. The most important rule I've learned: look three ways before you cross the street, left, right, and down.

The Chinese 3

alineswala — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 15:13:00 GMT

After two weeks in China, I have reformed the way I demonstrate the number 3 using my hands. In America, if we want to show 3, we hold up our first, middle, and ring finger in a W shape. In China, they make a circle with their thumb and first finger, holding up the middle, ring, and pinky in a slanted W. This change was involuntary and I had no idea until I saw myself do it in the mirror while I was thinking to myself.

The one cool thing about the Chinese way of expressing numbers by hand is that they have a way to show all numbers up to 10 on one hand. Those of us in the Western world can't claim the same. See diagram below.

Terracotta Warriors!

alineswala — Tue, 5 Jul 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Anyone who has researched anything at all about Xi'an will know that it is famous for two things: the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Terracotta Warriors. I was super psyched to see the first army of Terracotta Warriors that were ever discovered in the world.

As soon as we got the site, we first went through the attraction museum. The actual founder of the army was there, but they were charging 150 yuan to get a picture with the founder, a book, and a signature. I was really excited to get just a picture with the founder, but I had no desire to lug a book back to America, so I asked whether or not we could just get a picture or not. Of course not. Alas. I missed my chance.

Anyways, all I can say is that however historically amazing the Terracotta Warriors may be, in person, they are a bit boring. It's basically three pits that you look at and try to find all the warriors, snap pictures, and read the historical captions. As much of a history nerd I am, even I couldn't get into the trip. So moral of the story: go because it's the first Terracotta Army ever discovered and it's something you should see if you go to Xi'an.

The saddest part is that one pit remains entirely unexcavated because once you dig up the soldiers, the paint oxidizes and results in their colorless, stone form as they are today. Because of this, the Chinese stopped excavations so that they remaining soldiers can remain terracotta and with colors. Is it worth it though if you can't ever see what they actually look like? Apparently x-rays have sweeped the entire pit and we know how many soldiers rest there, but looking at an undug grave is just not as cool as seeing the other soldiers. Neverthless, this made the pit different from the other two, which was good for variation.

Silk, Silk, Silk

alineswala — Tue, 5 Jul 2011 16:15:00 GMT

In Xi'an, on my way to the Terracotta Warriors, our tour group stopped at a silk museum and witnessed the process of how silk was made on the ever-famous Silk Road. All I have to say is that it's amazing how something so beautiful can be made out of some of the most grotesque creatures in the world. See picture below for futher clarification.

Astoundingly, one cocoon from a silk worm can yield an entire meter of silk. After stretching about 200-300 layers on top of each other, the main part of the silk is formed. There's some other process for the shiny texture, but I will have to get back to you on that after more research.

Something exciting? The silk museum had a special custom made Avatar bedset! Although I am pretty sure they were featuring Avatar: The Last Airbender. The price: 1600 yuan for a double bed. Add 300 yuan for each increase in size.

Working Out in China

alineswala — Tue, 5 Jul 2011 15:57:00 GMT

Yesterday, my host sister and I decided to go "work out" because that's a healthy thing to do no matter where you are in the world. However, I was flummoxed because I hadn't seen any gyms around and never anyone really running on the streets (there are way too many people and street shops for that). Anyways, it turns out that everyone goes to the public park and powerwalks.

As soon as I stepped through the entrance, people were everywhere. I was surprised about how scenic the park really was. There were Chinese weeping willows everywhere. A huge lake with self-powered duck boats sailing on the water, authentic Chinese songs floating through the air, groups of people playing ping pong and practicing taichi and dance teams jigging out. Families with their little kids playing ball and running around in the sand. Futhermore, there was a path you could take to walk around all these things happening, if you wanted to run or powerwalk.

As soon as we started, I instantly agreed with the atmosphere. Surprisingly, mostly old people were in the park - walking slowly, though there were some who had headphones on and armbands and legitimate tennis shoes that were powerwalking their way through the crowd. I spotted a ton of mother-daughter pairs that were walking in 4 inch heels at a leisurely pace - most likely delaying their return to home or trying to be seen in public. Or maybe I am being cynical and they just enjoy the refreshing walk in a park in dresses and 4 inch heels?

Nevertheless, there were people who were serious about the actual exercising. For those people, there was a man selling sports wear outside the park on the street (always the best way to make money). I was really excited after I spotted a couple cement-made Chinese ping pong tables. As much as I wanted to stop and watch, I knew how serious my host sister was about losing weight, so we kept trucking on.

Ultimately, the walk was great. My host sister and I made it three times around and then returned home to eat more calories: vanilla ice cream!

Journey to the East Peak of Hua Shan!

alineswala — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:16:00 GMT

On Saturday night, me and the rest of the volunteers teaching English in Xi'an had the brilliant idea to go on a "mountain hike." What did we end up with? A mountain climb to Dong Feng (the East Peak) of Hua Mountain in a two hour bus ride away from Xi'an. Something to clarify at this point: I have never climbed a mountain before.

As a first experience mountain climbing experience, climbing the tallest mountain in Shaanxi Province wasn't probably the best thing to do. Also, I probably could have run a few laps beforehand to warm up. Or something at least.

Nevertheless, the trip starts out swell enough with a bunch of pagodas and other ancient Chinese tombs and structures that you can take pictures at and see for free. When you are ready to begin the climb, there is a ticket you have to buy to suffer the enduring pain! (Of course - the way every government exploits its natural highights). Added tip for those of you that are students: bring your student ID's and you get 50% off the ticket price any other ticket you want to buy! You have the option of taking a cable car both up and down the mountain and the fee is one-way only.

Of course, my friends and I wanted to have the whole "mountain climbing experience" so we chose to climb up from the bottom. We started at 7 PM...and reached North Peak (about 1600 meters above sea level) around 10 PM. East Peak is 2096 meters above sea level. However, we had to cross the entire mountain and then go upwards on a steep, steep slope, so this stretch took the longest. I swear I started hallucinating and hearing things by the time it was midnight.

Finally, we were convinced that this mountain had to be the "paradox" or the infinite staircase that Arthur talks about in Inception. However, we climbed a vertical patch, hanging onto the chains besides us that were swaying in the wind. My friend ahead of me shouted into the air, "Did we make it? Did we make it?" as he did after every time we finished a particuarly rough patch and this time, instead of the wind howling in silence and pants filling up the air, we heard a little Chinese voice, "You made it!"

We whooped for joy and collapsed on a rock near the edge of the peak. Even though the mountain was hard, we were determined to see the sun. After all, who wouldn't want to?

Conclusion: if you come to China, climb a mountain. You might want to kill yourself during the journey and question the existence of your life and what you wanted to get out of the journey, but it's worth it. It's worth having the experiene of drinking two liters of water without having to pee because you are sweating so much. Not everyone can say the same, right?

Also some interesting facts about Hua Shan:

it's the tallest of the Five Sacred Mountains of China
the name means "flowery" or "splendid mountain"
the character "hua" has been adopted as synonym of China itself

No better place to say you've experienced China! This is what I would have seen if there wasn't any rain: