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Oct. 14th, 2006 03:54 pmI was lying in bed, trying to sleep and it just wasn't happening. I have so much rushing through my head, I thought that maybe if I journaled a little bit it would get some of thoughts out of my head so that I could rest.
Our trip to Beijing has been pure craziness. This city is so huge. I though Nanjing was big. Ha! No, Beijing dwarfs Nanjing easily. I don't like how big it is. It is also very polluted, which is no fun either. It seems that every taxi we get into, the driver has no idea where anything is. This has happened like 5 times. Very frustrating. Once a guy even dropped us off and refused to take us elsewhere even though it was clear he had taken us to the wrong place. I think they get flustered when they realize Chris can speak Chinese and he's not going to let them fool us. Sometimes Chris has to yell at them, which to me seems quite rude, but it doesn't seem to bother them. I think they expect it in someways. It's odd to see him yelling at strangers, but it's what has to be done in order to get things done. Does this make any sense? It is the same sometimes with servers in restaurants. Our Chinese friends tell us that we have to be firm with servers or else they won't take you seriously, they won't think they have to actually do as you ask. It's strange to think you have to yell at someone to communicate. It's just expected, it's all part of the culture. Of course, bargaining during shopping is also quite a unique experience. Frankly, I suck at bargaining. I just can't do it. Chris is a pro at it, naturally. He starts so low that they act offended. My price is never low enough and they often take it without trying to get me to go higher. Then I know I didn't start anywhere low enough. Hopefully I'll get better at that as time goes on. Also, I never know when to bargain. Many people say that you should bargain everywhere. But should I bargain in a department store or a produce stand? What about when I buy shoes for the kids at a regular shop? What about at the museum, where all the prices are posted? Is it still ok to bargain then? I never know. I suppose there is no harm in trying, but to be honest, I'm a wimp when it comes to bargaining. I could blame that on my lack of language skillz, but everyone always has a calculator which is used to type in prices. There is no need to speak. You type in your offer, the sales person counters by typing in their offer.
Supposedly there is wicked-awesome shopping in Beijing on Silk Road. I have no interest in going there. From what I've heard from the students, the sales people there are super aggressive. They grab onto your arm and don't let go until you agree to buy their product. This is partly due to the fact that Chinese people have virtually no personal space in comparison with the American need for A LOT of personal space. Still, I don't want to be around that...even though I know they have clothes in my size there...
We went to Tianeman Square and the Forbidden City today. The kids were mobbed in Tianeman Square. They were stopped every five feet with people asking to photograph them. Tomorrow we are going to the Great Wall. I hope it will be a little better (do I hope in vain?) OH! and tonight we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, just one close by. As we were getting ready to leave, a woman comes over with her camera and her friends. We had noticed this group earlier because they were seated next to us and they were getting quite drunk. At a Chinese dinner, a lot of toasts are made and people drink themselves under the table. Everyone at this table was very red faced; they'd been drinking for quite a while. So, when they come over to us, the lady with the camera shows me all the pictures she's snapped of our family from across the room. Then she asks if she can take some of us posing with her friends. Ok, sure, why not? It turned out not to be just one photo, but several. I'm talking like 15-20. Different people from her group kept coming over wanting their picture taken, and then other people in the restaurant noticed and they wanted their picture taken with us. It was getting pretty uncomfortable, plus we had to leave because we had tickets to a show that started in just a few minutes. Finally I just walked out with Petey and Josh, leaving Chris and Zack to fend for themselves. I figured Chris would follow. Well, I look back through the window, and Zack is being held by some Chinese guy as he poses for a picture. Zack is a big kid, like 60 lbs! He's not the kind of kid (almost 8 years old) that you carry around in your arms. I had to LOL when I saw that guy holding Zack. Zack is such a good sport though. I think, of all of us, Zack likes the attention the most.
Now that I've complained so much about Beijing, let me say some things that I LOVE about this city: there are so many familiar western restaurants here. We ate at TGIFriday's yesterday and Hard Rock Cafe today. I had root beer at Hard Rock. Oh, it was delectable and delicious. Such a treat! Also, the foreign language book store totally rocks. We spent 900 yuan there. yikes! But, in justification, it was mostly all children's books that we will use for home school. I bought "The BFG" by Roald Dahl and I've been reading it to the boys at bedtime. They love it, of course.
Ok, I think I may be able to sleep now....after I check email and my friends list...btw, we've taken loads of pics and I have much, much more to tell. This is just a teaser, so to speak. We've actually filled up our digital camera and forgotten our cord to upload the pics to the computer. I'm not sure what we'll do about tomorrow, as we HAVE to take pics at the Great Wall. Maybe buy a new memory card?
Our trip to Beijing has been pure craziness. This city is so huge. I though Nanjing was big. Ha! No, Beijing dwarfs Nanjing easily. I don't like how big it is. It is also very polluted, which is no fun either. It seems that every taxi we get into, the driver has no idea where anything is. This has happened like 5 times. Very frustrating. Once a guy even dropped us off and refused to take us elsewhere even though it was clear he had taken us to the wrong place. I think they get flustered when they realize Chris can speak Chinese and he's not going to let them fool us. Sometimes Chris has to yell at them, which to me seems quite rude, but it doesn't seem to bother them. I think they expect it in someways. It's odd to see him yelling at strangers, but it's what has to be done in order to get things done. Does this make any sense? It is the same sometimes with servers in restaurants. Our Chinese friends tell us that we have to be firm with servers or else they won't take you seriously, they won't think they have to actually do as you ask. It's strange to think you have to yell at someone to communicate. It's just expected, it's all part of the culture. Of course, bargaining during shopping is also quite a unique experience. Frankly, I suck at bargaining. I just can't do it. Chris is a pro at it, naturally. He starts so low that they act offended. My price is never low enough and they often take it without trying to get me to go higher. Then I know I didn't start anywhere low enough. Hopefully I'll get better at that as time goes on. Also, I never know when to bargain. Many people say that you should bargain everywhere. But should I bargain in a department store or a produce stand? What about when I buy shoes for the kids at a regular shop? What about at the museum, where all the prices are posted? Is it still ok to bargain then? I never know. I suppose there is no harm in trying, but to be honest, I'm a wimp when it comes to bargaining. I could blame that on my lack of language skillz, but everyone always has a calculator which is used to type in prices. There is no need to speak. You type in your offer, the sales person counters by typing in their offer.
Supposedly there is wicked-awesome shopping in Beijing on Silk Road. I have no interest in going there. From what I've heard from the students, the sales people there are super aggressive. They grab onto your arm and don't let go until you agree to buy their product. This is partly due to the fact that Chinese people have virtually no personal space in comparison with the American need for A LOT of personal space. Still, I don't want to be around that...even though I know they have clothes in my size there...
We went to Tianeman Square and the Forbidden City today. The kids were mobbed in Tianeman Square. They were stopped every five feet with people asking to photograph them. Tomorrow we are going to the Great Wall. I hope it will be a little better (do I hope in vain?) OH! and tonight we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, just one close by. As we were getting ready to leave, a woman comes over with her camera and her friends. We had noticed this group earlier because they were seated next to us and they were getting quite drunk. At a Chinese dinner, a lot of toasts are made and people drink themselves under the table. Everyone at this table was very red faced; they'd been drinking for quite a while. So, when they come over to us, the lady with the camera shows me all the pictures she's snapped of our family from across the room. Then she asks if she can take some of us posing with her friends. Ok, sure, why not? It turned out not to be just one photo, but several. I'm talking like 15-20. Different people from her group kept coming over wanting their picture taken, and then other people in the restaurant noticed and they wanted their picture taken with us. It was getting pretty uncomfortable, plus we had to leave because we had tickets to a show that started in just a few minutes. Finally I just walked out with Petey and Josh, leaving Chris and Zack to fend for themselves. I figured Chris would follow. Well, I look back through the window, and Zack is being held by some Chinese guy as he poses for a picture. Zack is a big kid, like 60 lbs! He's not the kind of kid (almost 8 years old) that you carry around in your arms. I had to LOL when I saw that guy holding Zack. Zack is such a good sport though. I think, of all of us, Zack likes the attention the most.
Now that I've complained so much about Beijing, let me say some things that I LOVE about this city: there are so many familiar western restaurants here. We ate at TGIFriday's yesterday and Hard Rock Cafe today. I had root beer at Hard Rock. Oh, it was delectable and delicious. Such a treat! Also, the foreign language book store totally rocks. We spent 900 yuan there. yikes! But, in justification, it was mostly all children's books that we will use for home school. I bought "The BFG" by Roald Dahl and I've been reading it to the boys at bedtime. They love it, of course.
Ok, I think I may be able to sleep now....after I check email and my friends list...btw, we've taken loads of pics and I have much, much more to tell. This is just a teaser, so to speak. We've actually filled up our digital camera and forgotten our cord to upload the pics to the computer. I'm not sure what we'll do about tomorrow, as we HAVE to take pics at the Great Wall. Maybe buy a new memory card?
