Hong Kong was a mecca for shopping… stores I has only read about in magazines littered the most common malls and streets. Every street was like walking down 5th avenue. Most everthing was so expensive! I found lots of knock off stuff for a good price however. Come nightfall Jesse and I headed over to HK island to check out the nightlife. What we found was a street filled with restaurant/bars, many strip clubs and a few clubs. The two clubs we went to were of the same demography: 90% Chinese women, 5% white businessmen, 5% other (white females and Chinese men). It was absolutely disgusting to watch the Chinese women pursue with the “rich foreigners”, while the men picked out which one they’d be taking home that night. One thing is for sure after seeing what I saw in those bars is I will never ever let my husband go to HK on business. Ever.
I flew out of HK the next morning to Beijing with my SAS university trip. My group was really small (30 people) compared to the other university trips (70people). The three hour flight was spent catching up on sleep from the night before. On the way to the hotel, I couldn’t get over the fact that I was actually in fact in china!! Never in a million years would I have ever pictured myself in china. I remember being little and being told of the persecuted Christians, the “Bible smuggling,” and other atrocities committed by the communists in China. I just couldn’t believe that I had made it to China. We passed by the national stadium being built and for once I felt really proud of myself for coming on this trip. My admission essay had been on the topic of china and its excitement and preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics. And here I was… witnessing it all! How cool to see my essay unfold before my eyes. In the afternoon we met with the university students. My student’s English name was Camby. She was nice girl who was originally from the Chinese countryside. I learned a lot of China and its people from talking with her as she gave me a tour around The University of International Business and Economics. I had a really good time. The next day we all headed to the Great Wall. It was spectacular to see the wall weave its way through the mountains and countryside. It was so cold that day that I ended up buying a huge fox fur hat… which made the coldness slightly more bearable. After two hours at the great wall everyone was pretty chilled and ready to go. Our next stop was the silk market where we had to bargain down the price of everything by more then 90%. It was so ridiculous and tiring. I was looking at an abercromie zip up hoodie (since it was so cold!) and the saleslady tried selling it to me for $120 b/c she said it sold in the US for over $160. I laughed… and after attempting to walk our of her shop numerous times she finally gave it up for $20 (still more then I think I should have paid for it…) The next day we visited Tianan Square, Mao’s Body, and the Forbidden City. It was so cold that I barely made an effort to culture myself once it started rain, hailing, sleeting and then snowing. By the time I was in the Forbidden City I was drenched and I headed straight to the Starbucks inside…the ultimate symbol of globalization….Later that afternoon we went to the summer palace. The palace was very beautiful although our visit was quick.
.... Alright that is all I have for now... the ship has been pitching for the last two days which has made anything but napping impossible. I am so exhausted! I am sitting in a internet in Kobe and the weather is so nasty out right... I am just not feeling Japan right now.... But anyway I hope the weather clears and the sun comes out!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment