Blue Sky

On Thursday morning, I woke up to a sight I have yet to see in my 3 weeks (1 in Shanghai and 2 in Beijing) here in China. That pleasant spectacle before my eyes was blue sky!!!! I know there's plenty of blue sky in Oregon and the Bay Area and even in most parts of LA, but it's a rare sight here in the metropolises (did i pluralize that right?) of China.

I had hoped to spend part of the day walking through the Central Business District to see the new skyscrapers in all their glory but our class field trip took us out to the rural countryside, about 2 hours south of Beijing. On our way our bus broke down and we sat by the side of the freeway for an hour waiting for a new bus (please note that there are no shoulders on freeways here in China). Then once we finally got off the freeway, we were met by a black Audi A6 with tinted windows (all government vehicles seem to be black Audi A6's with dark tinted windows) and it escorted us to this random person's house where we walked past wandering chickens and pigs to see how a rural family lives. I thought it was pretty decent for a house out in the middle of nowhere. Next we walked around the garden, or I should say farm and saw all the food that they plant out there. After that we got back on the bus and drove to an elementary school and saw some kids who sang songs to us. Then it was another 2 hours on the bus as we headed back to Beijing.

I don't think it was exactly what we had in mind for a "company visit," which is listed on our program schedule. Personally, I thought it was valuable for the European students to see another side of how people live in China since they've primarily only seen the modern lifestyle of the city. Hopefully it was quite an eye opener for them, though I know that life is much more difficult further in inland.

Stupid Me!

So, I ended up going to the Manchester United soccer match on Tuesday with Allison's friend Jumi and we both didn't want to spend more than about 100 Yuan per ticket. Jumi called earlier in the day about tickets and was told that all the 80 Yuan tickets were sold out. Thinking the game would be nearly sold out, I decided to head over to Worker's Stadium early to check out the black market for tickets. Outside the subway, I bargained with a guy for a pair of 780 Yuan tickets for 150 Yuan a piece. The tickets looked pretty legit and so did the envelope that both came in. (These tickets looked really good!!!!) I usually don't scalp tickets in the U.S. but (stupid me) I figured i would do so today. Lo and behold, when we got to the gate, we were told the tickets were fake. I admit I was an idiot and had a major brain fart! With aspirations for working in sports marketing, I should really know better. We ended up going to the ticket office and just spending 80 Yuan per ticket. I felt really stupid, but in the end, I only lost about 35 US dollars so it wasn't that much of a loss. A small price to pay for learning a valuable lesson and I can laugh at the whole situation.

Sitting in the stadium, it was virtually empty. Soccer and basketball are the two most popular sports here in China and I thought the place would be packed considering it was a chance to see such a heralded soccer club such as Man-U. NOPE! the stadium was only about a third full. I dont think atmosphere and would compare to a match in Europe though there were pockets of very passionate fan. Anyways it was a good experience being there and Man-U easily won 3-0. I'd like to thank Jumi for putting up with my stupid mistake.

While walking around outside the stadium, I also ended up approaching a group of people who all wore Nike polo shirts and all-access credentials. I asked if they worked for Nike (they had that look) and talked to them for a few minutes about which departments (global sports marketing in Asia or Europe or Beaverton, etc.) at Nike were responsible for the event. One of the guys even gave me and Jumi a Man-U pin so that was cool.

A Beijing Weekend

This past weekend was packed with things to do and places to see in my continued exploration of life here in Beijing.

Saturday rained and rained and rained, reminding me of the days in The Eug when I thought I would never see the sun again. The only exception is that it's warm enough here that I can wear shorts in the rain. Our class field trip was to the Beijing Planning & Exhibition Center, where they document the civic development of the city from ancient days to the current and future, especially with all the development surrounding the Olympics. The scale models of the city were awesome. I highly recommend this as the first place to visit on your list if you come to Beijing in order to get a sense of the layout of the city. After that, I ditched my classmates and walked around Tiananmen and went to the National Museum. The museum is quite a disappointment but I found the wax figurines quite amusing, although there was no english on the signs so I recognized very few people. The funniest was seeing figures of Yao Ming, Beckham, and Michael Jordan all wearing the wrong brand of shoes. (i guess you have to be a sports marketer to fully see this).

Then, I met up with Allison, her mom, and friend Jumi to go visit her sick dog at the vet. The news wasn't so good as the dog has been in the hospital over a week and he just didnt look in very good shape. It was quite depressing since he is so adorable. Al left for the US for a month so I guess I'll see her when she gets back.

Sunday, we went to the Forbidden City and all that it encompasses. It was a nice and clear (for Beijing) day. This also meant more people there than the eye can see. I think there were more people in Tiananmen and the Forbidden City than all of the Eug. It was crazy. The city is spectacular though.

Later that night, I went to Ikea (E-GEEA in Chinese) to eat dinner and look for a rack to hang my clothes on when drying. I really take for granted having a dryer back home when washing clothes. Going to Ikea made me miss my Poang chair but the meatballs tasted the same. I also had some curry chicken. The menu is definitely altered to Chinese tastes.

After going to Ikea, I decided to wander around by foot and found a couple of public parks nestled in between a couple of major expressways. These parks are gorgeous getaways from the concrete and humanity of the city. They have nice paths, rose bushes everywhere, ping pong tables, and little exercise yards for the community to enjoy. It was great to see so many people able to co-habitate together on a nice Sunday evening. I guess I just don't see that very often in the parks back home. A couple of the key points were the outdoor karaoke on the sidewalk next to the street, a step aerobics/line dancing group in the center of the courtyard, and kids playing around in the fountain. Anyways, it was nice to see.

It's the middle of the week now and classes are back in full boredom. Tonight, I'm gonna try to go watch the Beijing Gu-an take on Manchester United, who is on their Asia Tour 2005. It should be awesome. My first pro football/soccer match.

First Week of School

I'm in the middle of the first week of school and so far I'm learning alot but it's kind of boring sitting in class all day, especially without having my laptop in front of me (like at Oregon). Most of the classmates are from Europe. They're cool, but it's frustrating when they start speaking in their native tongues and I can't understand. Also, they dont really seem interested in Chinese culture so I often go exploring on my own. I think they're pretty much just here on vacation. Oh well.

Went to a remote part of the great wall yesterday and it was absolutely amazing!!!!!! We'll go to a touristy spot later on but it's definitely nice to see an untouched area. Then at night, we went to go see the Chinese Acrobats. They were awesome too, much better than what I saw as a kid at Magic Mountain.

First Full Day in Beijing

Today was my first full day in Beijing. There's a farmer's market across the street from Allison's apartment complex so i went down there to look for some breakfast. The fruits and nuts on sale looked awesome. However, i barely made it into the fresh poultry (and i mean fresh) room and was about to puke so i quickly headed outside for some fresh air. let's just say they're not too keen on refridgeration. anyways, after walking around, i got some fresh soy milk, sweet tofu soup, and a bunch of fresh baked breads all for about fifty cents in US dollars. quite a bargain.

after breakfast, allison and i took to subway over to tiananmen square and walked around. tons of tourists and locals everywhere but the place is just huge. it's just too bad the air is so polluted you really cant see the place in all it's true glory. allison suggested that we take a three wheeled rickshaw over to Bei Hai (the north lake), which was only a few LARGE blocks from the square. al says you gotta be really careful with these "independent contractors" because they often swindle foreigners by screwing around with the terms after dropping you off. Our first guy kind of screwed us cuz we said we'd pay him 30 yuan to take us to the lake but he couldnt cross one of the major streets. since he looked like he worked his tail off to haul allison and my overweight ass, we paid him 10 yuan instead after i sternly put my foot down and lectured him in chinese that he was full of garbage for charging us more.

so, allison and i walked a bit and then took another one of these rickshaws over to the lake. i specifically told him 10 yuan to take us and once we got to the lake, he too tried to ask for more money saying i'm a big guy. and i had to break out the adamantly stern chinese and tell him "10 YUAN, 10 YUAN, 10 YUAN" I dont mean to be mean but please keep in mind that a cab ride would only have cost 10 Yuan so he was lucky to get our business. anyways, the lake was absolutely beautiful and i'm gonna have to go back to see the rest of it.

at night we ate thai food at a western type thai restaurant, walked around the chaoyang district and then hung out at a lounge bit. we also went by worker's stadium, where a pro soccer match was being played. the best part was seeing the cops outside in riot gear just in case the hoodlum soccer fans would get rowdy later on.

also, allison has the cutest puppy pug ever, and she named it "ice cream" in chinese. unfortunately it's always sick and al thinks he might not make it too much longer. apparently the breeder really sucked. i'll be very sad if he doesnt make it.

So here are some observations from China so far:

- people are rude and dont have a sense of personal space so they bump you and dont care

- the drivers are insane and have no respect for pedestrians

- the pollution is bad, and i mean bad!!!!

- lots of great counterfeit stuff to buy

- chinese food is really cheap

anyways, tomorrow is my orientation for school and then classes on monday. looking forward to it

Finally in Beijing!

Made it to Beijing after the 2 hour flight from Shanghai. Also took the bullet train to Pudong Airport. The train hits about 275 mph and people pay the 50 Yuan just to ride it even if they're not going to the airport.

I just want to publicly thank my aunt and uncle in Shanghai for showing me just about all of the local scene in such a great city from both the urban and rural perspectives. It was truly amazing. Did I mention how delicious the food is? It was awesome!

So, I'm now in Beijing for about the next 7 weeks. Hanging out with my high school friend allison at her apartment complex that her family's business operates from. It's one of those new high rise communities that has just about anything one would need to live in comfort within the gates of the complex. I haven't Al in over a year so it's great to hang out with her again. She's also got this really cute pug she named ice cream in chinese. She knows mainly the western stuff here in Beijing so I'm gonna have to find some people who know the local scene better.

Gonna do a little bit of sight seeing tomorrow before I check into my school on Sunday morning.

Shanghai is Amazing!

It's my third full day here in Shanghai and the city is simply amazing!!! People say NYC is the greatest city but I'd have to chime in with Shanghai. There's an equivalent to Times Square just about every 10 blocks. The city is simply alive with so much energy.

Basically my aunt and uncle have been showing me around everywhere and it's been awesome. My aunt's in charge of the shopping so she's taken me just about everywhere for the real and the fake stuff.

Here's what I've done so far:

- met with Jenny Yu of FUON Sports Marketing Center at Fudan University
- had a suit and a couple of dress shirts tailored at the garment district
- ate some of the best chinese food ever for dirt cheap prices
- avoided getting killed by all the crazy drivers, bicyclists, and motorcyclists
- saw the UCLA clothing section of one of the department stores in Shanghai
- came down with a case of the runs but quickly got over it
- met with Adam from Zou marketing to discuss the World Flag Football Championships

So far, it's been great. I just wish the weather was nice. It's either hot and humid or rainy and there's never any sight of blue sky. Anyways, I'm having a great time and will be in Beijing by the end of the week.

Shang-hello

Made it to Shanghai last night. Flight went well except that they showed Catwoman as one of the movies and i didnt even make it through 5 minutes before falling asleep. Chasing Liberty was the 2nd movie. Mandy Moore looked awesome so quality didnt really matter.

For dinner already ate at one of the best places in Shanghai. Had xiao long bao at this really famous place in Shanghai called Nanxiang Steamed Dumplings. I remember eating there 8 years ago when I was last in Shanghai and I must admit the dough is better than any equivalent I've had in the US. Yum! We were lucky to get there before they closed cuz the line can sometimes be a couple of hours long in the daytime.

Welcome to the Rock!

In 2 days time, I'll be on a 14 hour flight to China for the remainder of the summer. As promised, here's my attempt to keep people updated on my adventures through the Mother Country. "Why is Andy going to China?" you might be asking. Well, I'll be in Shanghai for a week hanging out with my aunt and uncle and trying to meet with some sports marketing executives and then I'm off to Beijing for a 4 week study abroad program in management at the University of International Business and Economics. I'm looking forward to eating great Chinese food, learning more about about the Chinese business culture, and buying cheap counterfeit goods. haha.



So, what have I been doing in LA? The answer is not a whole lot. Just hanging out with friends, doing some shopping, went to San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay to visit a friend, saw the dress rehearsal for Pageant of the Masters in Laguna, and eating great food that I don't get to eat living in Eugene.

I went to go watch March of the Penguins today. It's a great documentary on the emperor penguins. It was a remarkable movie filmed in Antarctica and I gotta admit that my favorite part of Sea World has always been the penguin exhibit. Also, the preview for Murderball looked pretty cool. Wheelchair rugby looks pretty intense.