because it was really humid....and because i literally took a TOUR OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!! well only the east coast anyway
many things on my mind after coming back
first, of how much my chinese improved (which is basically from bad to ok...)
and second, just how much cousins AND nieces/nephews i have
AND third, HOW I MISSED THE OPENING DAY OF HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2!!!! (but we'll get back to that later)
so much has happened HERE since i went to china...for one thing the office building near my house changed from Sementech (sp?) to Seagate (sp?? lol)
well a lot of stuff happened in china and nearly all of them was surprising
one of which was the fashion.....i mean DAMN FIERCE! (do people still say that?)
i'd be just walking down the street with my aunt and i'd never seen so many super model like people in my life and i mean for real not just on TV
i mean it was like a fashion contest/pageant/top model runway show out there
everyone...even the non model like people were dressed like the catalogues that we get in america (and now they have the catalogues in china and they are twice as thick!!)
this little unknown fact (to me) came to me like a slap in the face
and i came to china by myself:
i mean i got off the plane with my huge red suitcase and a bulging backpack (not one of those cool laptop backpacks) that made me look like a turtle and looking totally like shit cuz i just came from a 12 hr flight in the economy plane eating crap food from air china
and then SLAP, a model looking person in stilettos walked briskly past me looking like she just came from the first class
i know a lot of people in china/japan/south korea are getting plastic surgery...but if they did, they are doing it right and people in america are doing it wrong, cuz you can't tell if they did it
there...if they call you a cat lady in the US now...it's probably for all the wrong reasons
anyways business is BOOMING in china's retail stores (name brand of course, otherwise if you just buy a plain old shirt, i sugest that you were it as much as possible cuz once you wash it, it's totally ruined)
stuff here is sold WAY cheaper than if it was sold in China
so make sure you buy all the essentials in the US or where it is you live then you can buy your street food and $5 chinese fans in china
but it's amazing to see how this place has grown, the skyscrapers are being built at an alarming rate; you can't fell any breeze during the summer and it's just sweltering hot
anywho, besides the generalization of china, let me focus on to the people i actually met on my travels: my relatives
my relatives, yes are very nice and all but god....do they know how to criticize (me). i traveled for about a month and a half from Beijing (middle) to Shanghai (south) to Changchun (north) and back to Beijing (middle) again. my relatives are scattered all over the country and i've been running up and down to meet them (by myself...that's the important thing here but i'll come back to that)
They like to tease me about my chinese (i knew it was gonna happen so i braced myself for that one) and my bad chopstick skills (...and that one) and my lifestyle (...and that one) and my hobbies (...and that one) and where i live (....and that one of course; that's the biggie)
well in short it when from fun teasing to all-out-ranting-like-they-were-drunk
for example, relatives' only reason to dislike America is because there's no hot water
let me refrase: there's not hot water in the hotel so they assume that all americans don't drink hot water - and that's an insult to one of human being fundamental....somethings....
anyways: no hot water, sucky country
but they do agree that they like everything else tho (i made them confess with my wits)
(actually i just shouted "OH REALLY?? I JUST FINISHED MY SODA, WHERE SHOULD I THROW MY CAN? THIS RIVER SEEMS SUITABLE, ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU GUYS DO??" ....in my head)
so yea....but they bought me a lot of stuff...like this really cool pair of adidas shoes.....so i let them off the hook....
yea i can be bought by a pair of shoes....i know....but they are REALLY COOL
anyways...i was gonna talk about traveling alone...yea
well this was definitely a "growing up experience"
i took a flight from the US to beijing, then took a flight to Shanghai then took a flight to Changchun then a flight to beijing and a flight from beijing back to the US
i got through all the security without a hitch and it was pretty much smooth sailing from the beginning :
the first flight from US to Beijing was pretty much way too good to be true - as far as economy class goes
i sat in the front row, but had an aisle seat so i could get up whenever i wanted to
plus because it was the front row, there was a ton of space in front of me along with the people sitting next to me so if they needed to get up and stand in line for 20 mins (people were way too nice, they kept on letting each other going in, and the other person would refuse and tell the other person to go in) nobody had to stand up to make room
but as i said, it was WAY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
cuz on the return flight, i had to pay for my good fortune (is that good fortune then??) and sit in the middle column...not in front...and sat in one of the middle two seats of the 4 seat row
no aisle, no window, just smack in the middle
and it was worse
cuz the next two seats by mines...had 3 people trying to cram into it
a mother, a 9 year old or something like that daughter and a toddler
it was bad...real bad the baby kept on crying while everyone was sleeping and i happen to have the very good fortune of being right next to it
so i was sorta crammed along with them
the baby kicked me at one point...and didn't get a wink of sleep
finally after...i dunno how many hours, i got really annoyed and sat up and looked straight at the baby in the pupils....and the baby stopped crying and just stared back....this went on for 30 sec
and there was a silence.....a weird silence....no not like a "rebirthing" aura where peace would've finally settle on me...and others i'm sure.....but like a silence that was filled only by the sound the huge engines of the plane was making
i must've looked like a hungover drag queen (is that redundant??) cuz the baby was as silent as a mouse....or even quieter......5 mins later she started crying again
o well
another airplane incident was that when i was on my plane from Shanghai to Changchun ( south to north) i found that someone had taken my seat
i was just about to tell him when i realized that the guy in my seat was sitting next to a...baby
so i just took the empty seat behind him hoping that nobody would sit here
anyways that came to nothing cuz 5 mins later an asian businessman came up to me and asked me what i was doing in his seat
this made me mad altho i didn't show it...i think ( he had a sleek laptop backpack...it was not helping my mood)
so i asked the guy about my seat, and then he said another person was sitting her his, and so on..and finally some lady jumped out in surprise and apologized that she made a mistake and as she moved there was a group of people (5) grumbling and shuffling around in her wake
it was pretty impressive...if i ever end up 30 rock (or something similar) writing team...i'm going to pitch this idea...cuz that was hilarious
o yea i forgot, i would've blogged before but they don't have Blogger in China so i have to cram it all here...no i'm not gonna split it into a part 1 and 2 like the harry potter movie...altho i have considered.
another experience i had in china (this is just all coming to me as i'm typing) was that when i was dining out at some fancy restaurant....i was like "alright, i'm traveling and exploring and tasting the food of a different country...CAN'T WAIT TO GET ME SOME PEKING DUCK"
but then when i got there...it hit me...
"wait....this is the same kinda of stuff i've been eating since i was in diapers...chinese food"
of course i knew that it was chinese food...but this is different when you see it as something you eat for dinner everyday....chinese food....leftover chinese food...chinese food...leftover chinese food
and throw in an occasional restaurant chinese food
this was the same thing....
anyways...food was still good...but yea kinda a kill joy
finally HARRY POTTER 7 PART 2!!!
TOTAL AWESOMENESS
but i'm not here to review...cuz a movie this good doesn't need me to review it...or any nerd with a computer who calls him/herself a blogger
well i tried to watch it on opening day in china...but then there were very few theaters to begin with...and they didn't show it yet...
one in a million chance to go on opening day....and gone the next minute
one of my life's greatest regrets
i'm not kidding...i was rather...depressed for a few days
anyways i gotta stay up for that Quill thing for PotterMore
( i might have to stay up the whole night)
NYEAHHHHHH!!!!!!! (voldemort's epic yell...can't believe i'm leaving it like this)
