To Shave or Not to Shave? That is the Question.

Hello, all my dear readers! I hope you all are having great holiday times. I know its been awhile since my last post so allow me to apologize for that. Like I always say being a college kid doesn't leave room for many other activities. :( But now its break and I have time! Yay! Let's get back to the topic of this post. A few weeks ago I was watching a documentary called "Mansome." This movie was all about hair and how certain types of hair (mustaches beards, etc) can affect a man's masculinity. I know it sounds odd, but seriously, that's all the movie was about. As I watched this movie I started thinking about the "Shaving Revolution" which is this new need among people to shave themselves nearly bald. This revolution isn't gender specific either and so it affects both men and women (though I think women still have it a bit harder...).

Of course back in the day people didn't have the tools to shave so it was just a fur for all, but then came the invention of the razor. Both men and women would shave, but women were expected to be less hairless than men (same as today). Where men would just shave the hair off their faces, women would have to shave their legs, armpits and in some hairier cases their faces as well. However, in today's world shaving has been taken a step further. Now some people are going completely hairless! When I say hairless I literally mean no hair on their bodies except their eyelashes and eyebrows but with some not even that.

Body baldness has become some sign of beauty and the media( as usual) can promote this. You see these gorgeous people on tv and all the hair they have is on their head. Even men now have started to shave their arm pits , legs and straight down the middle if you know what I'm saying. How many times have you heard commercials advertising laser hair removal, a Brazilian Wax?  I hear them all the time on the radio. My question is this: why is body baldness considered beautiful? Why do so many people consider hair to be gross? I'm not really sure of the answers myself.

I would like to think that there was a time when growing hair was some how admired as a sign of maturity. Isn't that when you start growing hair? When you hit puberty, the physical transition from childhood to adulthood. So why now are we trying to turn back time and become prepubescent tweens by getting rid of one of  the very things that makes us men and women not boys and girls. I'm not saying we should let the hair grow whichever way. A nice trim now and again would be fine, but taking it all away just doesn't work. Maybe in today's world that's what people want. Men want women who looks like 12 year olds and women want men whose voices (cough balls cough) haven't even dropped yet. So I ask you my readers, will you shave or will you let nature run its course? Until next time!

Fulfillment: What Does It Really Take?

Hello, all my readers! I know its been about a month since I last wrote but let me tell you that it has been a CRAZY month! With school coming to a close Professors are trying push that last bit of knowledge in their student’s head before bombarding them with final exams. So as you can imagine and as i have stated, its a crazy month. Anyway, I’m here now and lets not talk about school because its depressing (just kidding or maybe not). So today I was watching an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” which I personally think is hilarious. In this particular episode Raymond told Debra that it was his writing that supported the household. To this Debra replied that she supported the household as well by being a stay at home mom. Now is it just me or doesn’t this conversation sound familiar? Haven’t we all heard this debate before?

Many modern women don’t believe that being a stay at home mom is a real job. These women advocate stay at home moms to go out “into the real world and get a real job.” Usually stay at home moms are depicted as having a low education, having no true dreams in life, lacking in certain personality traits such as drive, strength and motivation. So as you can see the term “stay at home mom” has a lot of negativity that comes with it in today’s world (I’m not even going to talk about the poor stay at home Dads). One major argument against these women is that they’r e not fulfilling their potential, but who can say this for sure? And what does it really mean to be fulfilled? Aren’t there many out there everyday who aren’t fulfilled with their lives? Drug dealers, thieves, janitors. Or maybe these people are happy just where they are doing what they do so maybe they are fulfilled. Is that so crazy to imagine?

Much value is placed on material things and social status in the world which is why many believe that for a person to be fulfilled he/she needs to make lots of money drive a nice car, be the CEO of a top company or something even more grand. But the world can’t be full of people like that? Everyone’s not going to be a CEO or rich and I’m sure there are a lot of people who don’t want to be. Some people just want the necessities, common things and whats so wrong with that? Whats so wrong with not wanting to have all the power and instead preferring to to just do what makes you happy even if its not as glamorous? Nothing is the answer. Some people just don’t want all the hassles that come with the things I listed above such as money and power. So to all the stay at home moms out there, I have to say this: Keep doing what you want to do and if you ever decided that you want to go into the “real world” than do it because fulfillment, in my young opinion, is doing whatever makes you happy and makes you fell complete. Take as you wish or throw it in the trash, whatever.

For one to be fulfilled you don’t have to look at their material goods or value. Sometimes just look at them as a person and see who they really are. And what does it take? It just takes doing what makes you happy instead of doing what society expects you to. If you’re fine being a teacher and not the man eater( just kidding) at a firm then do it. What’s that? You’re fine with throwing trash away. Okay, then do that because the only person who can really determine if you’re fulfilled is you. Until next time! Have a nice weekend.

Identity: We Were Lied To

Hello, readers! It’s been awhile since I posted. My school work definitely keeps me busy so I do apologize. College life is not an easy one, but onto the topic of this post. The school I attend is not the most diverse. Noted that it is a private college in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania…I guess you can’t expect much, huh? Anyway, due to the lack of diversity my school encourages minorities to form clubs where they can gather around people who are similar to them and share their cultures with other ethnicities. This also looks good to minority prospective students who many not be used to attending a school where they are the minority. I don’t see anything wrong with. The clubs don’t separate themselves from the rest of campus and I am actually proud to say that race (or racism) is not a major issue at my school. We all mix together very and we’re definitely on our way to being a small melting pot. Our pot just has more white right now than any other color and that’s okay. However, as a freshman I was somewhat worried about attending this school. Not because I am ignorant of other races or cultures and not because being surrounded people who are different than me makes me nervous. I was worried because didn’t want to be “the black girl.”

So obviously I am African American, but I didn’t want my skin color to be the basis of my identity. The same as a homosexual wouldn’t want their sexuality to be the basis of their identity. But if you think about from the day we’re born we are programmed to think of ourselves at this or that. Society, our culture, our family, our friends they all affect how we identify ourselves. Here’s some news for ya (and you can guess it from the title). We've all been lied to.

As a child I was taught about the injustices my people had to suffer through and it was explained to me why I should be proud to be black. My grandmother wasn't hesitant in explaining to me how black people and white people were different and why it was better to date within your own race. Now my grandmother isn't a racist. She doesn't hate white people or anything like that but she was born in a time where such concepts as separating races and one superior race were openly discussed and even supported. So you guess that this has had some effect on her. There are many things she witnessed that I will never have to thank goodness. Sadly, my grandmother didn't realize (or maybe she did) that through her I learned to identify myself as only black. That was my identity. Nothing else. I was just black, but that wasn't enough for me. It didn't speak to all of what I am. I guess you could add the word girl into there since I am a female. My grandmother did treat me different than my brother or male cousins because I was a girl. Her expectations for me were much higher as well. However, even just being a black girl was just the surface of who I really felt I was.

Doesn't it suck that from the day we’re born were labeled and placed into categories like some sort of human filing system? When a baby girl is born and wrapped in her pink blanket so many concepts and expectations come along with that blanket. The same goes for boys. That blue blanket is a heavy burden to carry. Despite society trying to file us I’m here to say that we can’t fit into anyone file. Besides being a black girl, I am also a writer, a friend, an athlete (not the best one),a dancer, an intellectual (a girl has to flatter herself every now and then), a listener, a talker, a sister, an aunt, a niece, an animal lover, an admirer of art, music and television ( you should see my show list): and that’s not even all I am and that’s not all anyone is. No one is just an artist, just a mother, just a teacher, just a woman, just a man, just this or just that. Everyone is more than a one word description. Everyone has a list of words that is all their own.

So to conclude this post I guess I’ll say this. Shrek was right. People are like onions, they have a lot of layers. Until next time!

The Color Red

Hello, all my dear readers! I hope you all have had a good few weeks. Mine have been full of exams, test and colds. :( Not fun, but I felt that I needed to update my blog and so here I am on a Saturday morning in my school’s cafetiere with a cup of Chai tea to aid my sore throat. For the past week I had been wondering what I wanted to post about. Should I go on a rant about the stresses of college life? Or maybe I should make it more lighthearted and humorous with an awkward tale about me walking in on a friend having sex?(I got a flash of her ass. Our relationship will never be the same.) However, after some contemplation I decided that I wold rather write about something simple, something personal, something that everyone could relate to and so I decided why to write about my favorite color, red.

As far back as I can remember red has always been my favorite color. It didn’t matter much which shade of red. For some reason I’ve just always clicked with red (perhaps it’s my soul color), I thought pink and blue were horribly cliche and weak colors compared to red which was strong, powerful, beautiful and most of all alarming. It could catch anyone’s attention and draw them in with its richness yet it was so powerful that it didn’t really need anyone’s attention because it could stand strong by itself. I admired this color and one day hoped to be just like it. Confident, beautiful, eye catching and independent.

Have you ever been to a cook out and watched the flames on the grill dance wildly on the dark charcoal int the grill, completely dominating it? Like most people I always associated fire or heat with the color red. I would sit out on the house patio on those warm summer days and watch my uncle start the grill (We never used a propane grill, always charcoal. That was the way my grandpa liked it). He would first take off the racks and then drop the bag of charcoal into the pit. A small piece of paper would be lit and thrown in as well just to get the flame going. He’d let it burn for awhile before adding lighter fluid. As the fuel touched the dead rocks the fire would suddenly come alive. It would blaze up from the pit with so much heat that my uncle would take a few steps back.

The flames would dance almost tauntingly, as if they were daring my uncle to come any closer. It was a challenge that he never accepted. He’d wait for it to die down before approaching the grill again, but even then he’d be careful. Wary of the fact that it isn’t wise to play with fire because you will get burned or worse.

I would sit and just watch the flames, completely mesmerized by the swirling colors of orange, yellow and red. I would watch how the flames would move wistfully from left to right, right to left. The heat would radiate from the fire in long strands of warmth that would engulf me with their warmth and make me feel safe. I was kept away from the coldness of life at that moment and completely transported to another world where the sun touched every part of my skin.

Have you ever seen the Hunchback of Notradame? Remember the part where the crazy guy is picturing Ezmerelda dancing in the flames, her hips moving in a way that hit his temptation at the core? Drawing him in. Just picture it like that. She had many of the characteristics of fire after all. Strong, beautiful and desireable. He tried to play with fire and in the end he got burned.

To end this long post about one color let me say this. In my opinion red is a symbol of life. It’s the color of blood which is what runs through us to make us live. It is also the color of love. During Vday I like everyone else see how red hearts invade all stores and red rose sales sky rocket. Yet it can also be a warning of danger, an alarm to let you know not to approach. This one color has so many meanings behind it, it has variety and that’s just another reason why it is my favorite color. However, I think the reason I love red the most is because to me it symbolizes the color of a warrior.

When I was young I had this red hood I would wear. When I pulled the hoody over my head I felt like I was protected from all outside forces. Nothing would mess with me when I wore that hood because I was no longer Tasha, I was a warrior, a force to be reckoned with. Til this day when I think of that red hood I think of the warrior inside of me that can withstand anything. I know I can go through it all and still come out at the end because I am a warrior.

Juniata College Welcomes Bill Yoast!

  Hello, all my readers! As usual its been awhile since I’ve last written. I believe its probably been two weeks or a little over, I think. Well either way sorry about the wait. I try to write as often as possible but my professors do love to dish out the work. Anyway on to the topic about this post. Tomorrow evening Bill Yoast will visit my college to speak. If you don’t know, Bill Yoast is the coach portrayed in the film “Remember the Titans” which is based on true events.

      “Remember the Titans” tells the story of two football coaches and their racially diverse football team. A white coach (Bill Yoast) and a black coach (Herman Boone) come at odds when Herman replaces Bill as the head coach and adds new recruits to the team. Previously the team had been only white, but under Herman’s leadership black students were allowed to play on the team as well. There is obvious racial tension through out the movie, but this tension fades as the players ( and the coaches) gain respect for one another and eventually form friendships.

      When I saw the poster about Mr. Yoast’s visit it made me think of a conversation me and my best friend had during our summer vacation. My best friend is white and I’m black. In today’s world a lot of people would think that this fact doesn’t make a difference, but actually it does. We always disagree about the effects of race in the modern world. I believe that race and racism is still an issue. People are still discriminated against and hated because of the color of their skin. I believe that there are still people out there who will treat a person differently depending on their skin color. Now my friend is the complete opposite. She doesn’t think racism exists anymore (or at least isn’t an issue like it use to be which I can agree with to a certain extent).

      We constantly argue about race and beauty, race and opportunities, race and work. Growing up in the black community I witnessed the favoritism men would show to women of a lighter complexion. Now I’m not saying all guys are like that, I’m just telling you all what I witnessed. Most of my black female friends would agree with me when I discuss this topic. I think it really stems back from slavery. The lighter skin slaves were house slaves, a step above the darker skin field slaves so of course through out the generations the darker slaves came to believe that lighter (or whiter) was better. That’s why we have skin lightening creams and perms to straighten black hair. True it can curl straight hair, but that’s not why black people buy it.

    Thankfully in today’s world people of color have the opportunity to go to school and choose a career. There are even special minority scholarships offered to aid in just that purpose, but despite all this I can’t believe that certain opportunities may not be offered to individuals based on their race. I just refuse because I honsetly think racism will always exist. I hope it will one day eventually fade away, but that is not what I think. There’s an obvious difference between thinking and hoping.

     The point I’m trying to make is that racism still does exist and still can effect an individual. And let it be noted that when I say racism I don’t mean just whites against blacks. I mean all forms of racism because all forms of racism are wrong. Perhaps one day my friend and I will learn to agree to disagree on the extent and reach of today’s racism. Maybe we never will, but that doesn’t matter because my best friend will always be just that no matter her color. Until next time!

A Summer IN Customer Service

Hello, all my dear readers! I hope you all are enjoying the last few weeks of the summer. I’m trying to do that and work at the same time. From one job to the next. Like most college kids, during the summer I had to find a job to bring in some doe that I could take back to school with me. After sending in dozens of applications in I was asked to be interviewed by my local Wal-mart Asst Manager. I went in there, aced the interview and passed the pee pee test with flying colors. I was completely ecstatic. I thought that I was the luckiest college kid scoring a job like this. The Wal-Mart was only a 10-15 min drive from my house so distance wasn’t an issue, I’d be getting paid above minimum wage and would be getting 32-40 hours a week even though I was only a temp worker. Plus I was in the deli dept so I got paid for my overtime. Can you saw sweet or what? That’s what I thought too but sadly it turned out to be way less than sweet. Actually it was kind of bitter and not even bitter sweet, just bitter.

In the beginning it was great, but I think that’s how all really bad things start, huh? I liked the people I worked with. They were tolerable and didn’t bother me to the point where I thought I’d need to break a few dishes (on purpose) to get through the day. But as the weeks went on I realized the dynamics of the deli. First, my dept. manager thought that since she was the dept. manager the rules didn’t apply to her. Including the rule that she actually had to work! A normal day for my dept. manager consisted of her sitting in the back in a rolly chair, disappearing for several hours saying she was interviewing other potential employees. Oh and lets not forget her 2 hour lunch breaks. Now I will admit that she was pregnant so maybe that’s why she spent so much time sitting (she was just lazy really), but that doesn’t excuse her disappearing for hours. Nor does it excuse her always asking us, her employees, to run to the McDonald’s and the Bakery to buy her food.  With out own money!! And did I mention that she got paid more than us? If anything she should have been buying us lunch. I’m just saying.

Then, of course there were my fellow employees. Can you say the laziest people ever? Seriously, I understand that everyone has their days but it makes no sense to be a lazy ass 24 hours a week, 7 days a week. Let me give you an example of how lazy these people are. I worked the 1-10pm shift so I took over for the morning shift. I remember one particular day I came into work and all the food on the hot bar needed to be replaced (there’s a limit on how long it can stay out there). I asked the morning shift cook why the food was so old. Her response to me was this, “I don’t cook. I don’t like it.” Yes, those are the exact words that came out of this woman’s mouth. And yes the thought of slapping her ass down to the ground right that minute did cross my mind. But I controlled myself. How? I didn’t want to go back to school with a law suit against me.

Another example of how lazy these people were: When morning shift leaves they have to take out the trash before so that night shift can continue on working without having to worry about the trash. One day the day shift tried to leave without taking out the trash. My friend, lets call her Alexa, stopped on their way out and told them that they had forgot the trash. Their response: “That’s not our trash anymore. That belongs to night shift.” Yes, I am so serious.

There were many other things that made this job so not worth the pay. Like I said I worked night shift so we got stuck with all the cleaning. And we got blamed for everything. First let me point the fact out that we actually got in trouble for having too much overtime. Our managers must have forgot the fact that the only reason we were getting over time is because there usually 3-4 of us cleaning and prepping the whole deli. We couldn’t get done at 10pm when the deli closed at 8pm. It wasn’t possible. It’s not like we wanted to get out of there every night at 10:30pm or 11. However, if something wasn’t done int the morning, like we forgot to put the dishes (the clean ones we washed) away, day shift would have a cow and complain that night shift was lazy and did nothing. Utter bullshit may I just say. 

Then there were the customers. Oh, dear god the customers. I was cussed/fussed out 4 times out  of the 2 and half months I worked. Customers were impatient and thought since I was a Wal-mart employee it also meant I was their personal employee. Therefore, they could talk to me anyway they wanted and treat me anyway they wanted. Their wish was my command. Or at least that’s what they thought. Oh you want 4 pounds of meat shaved with cheese and you expect me to have all that done in two minutes with other customers being waited on and giving the evil eye? Oh, of course, let me just use my super speed and get all that done for ya. Ugh! I was reported to management twice for being disrespectful when I was just moving too slow for the customer’s standards. To sum up this post, working at Wal-mart this summer has taught me one thing. I will never work in customer service again.

A Black Sheep In A White Sheep's World

Hello all my readers! Okay, yes I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote. Trust me when I say that I have chastised myself enough already. It’s hard trying to juggle a 40 hours a week job, friends, family and then all the extra. I guess my blogs just slipped my mind, but no worries my summer job is about to come to an end so now I’m back and ready to blog away. 

So by now I’m sure you all have noticed my very odd title. I’m going to answer the question that may be on a few of your minds. The title is in no way a reference to the popular phrase, “A black man in a white man’s world.” This post has nothing to do with race. It has to do with individuality and uniqueness.

If any of you aren’t aware yesterday was Amelia Earhart’s 115th birthday (Thanks Google!). As I was surfing through the web and I saw Google’s tribute to her I started thinking about when I first learned about Amelia in elementary school. At that time what I admired most about Amelia was that she was  the unexpected. An odd ball, a pariah, a black sheep. I’m sure you all have heard people refer to themselves as the black sheep of their families. I’m also sure that many of you feel that way too( I know I do 99.9% of the time). The black sheep stands lonely and isolated in a field of white sheep. Not completely accepted by their fellow sheep because they are different.

Being a black sheep isn’t an easy life. There will be points where you won’t have many friends, you’ll be laughed at, mocked and you may even thinking of picking up that white paint brush and converting. But I beg you, do not convert be strong because in the end it is the black sheep that remembered in history. And we aren’t alone either. There are thousands of black sheep out there but we’re just dispersed across the world. It would be nice if we could all huddle together in our own unique community separate from the rest of the world but then wouldn’t the world be so boring! It’s us black sheep that reveal the truth, explore the unknown and propose beliefs that go against society’s norms. Without us the world would be lacking quite a lot of luster.

Amelia Earhart is just one example. Lets not forget about our other black sheep like  MLKJ, Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth (a personal favorite of mine), Einstein, John Brown, Coco Chanel, Dr.Seuss, the Wright Brothers, Edgar Allen Poe and even Freud! (I’m not saying I agree with all his theories but you gotta give props to the brother for not giving up) So I guess what I’m trying to say here is that if there were no black sheep in this grassy green field, this field would still be stuck back in the Middle Ages.

Until next time my dear readers. I’ll see ya then and don’t scared to message me with what makes you a black sheep. :)

A Red Blouse & Jean Capris

Hello all my dear readers! So recently,for some reason an old memory has conjured up in my mind and since being conjured has been a constant thought. Its always on my mind, at the most random moments and I honestly don’t know why it occurred to me. I’ll just start thinking about it and then I’ll relive the memory several times before my mind is satisfied. This memory first appeared to me a few weeks before school ended. I had to leave school early for family reasons and since I was home I saw many of the neighborhood kids I had gone through elementary and middle school with. This doesn’t mean we all were friends in any way, but they know who I am and I know who they are. I guess you could say, we grew up together since we lived in the same neighborhood, separated by only a few blocks. Arriving at my house and seeing these people and who they are now, I couldn’t help but think of who they use to be…and that’s when this memory infected my mind. I guess by now you all want to know what I’m talking about exactly. I’ll go through the memory  before explaining why I think it is haunting me. Here it is…..

I’m sitting in my elementary school hallway with a red blouse, jean capris and old tennis shoes on. I’m hunched up in the little corner between the class room door and hallway wall, wishing I could somehow disappear. Just become invisible, at least for a little while. My knees are bent up pressed against my face which is hot from tears I had tried to hold back. The day had started off like shit and I knew it was only going to get worst. That particular morning I woke up ready to go to school, only to discover that all my clothes were dirty. My mother ( I never call her that) hadn’t washed any of my clothes that weekend and so I was left with nothing to wear. She was never really a responsible woman. Except when it came to boos, she always knew where they were. As usual that weekend she had drunk herself into a slumber. It was Monday meaning she wouldn’t be up until around 4 that evening so of course my grandparents were the ones who had to wake me up. After making my discovery I told my grandma that I had no school clothes. She searched but couldn’t find any either. However, she didn’t want me to miss school so with no other option she began to search through her own closet. That’s where she found an old red blouse and a pair of jean capris. I was going to go to school in an old woman’s clothes…I was going to wear grandma clothes. And so I found myself standing outside my classroom door watching the teacher scribble on the board as my fellow peers pretended to pay attention. As I stood and watched I was scared to my very core because I knew as soon as I entered the room everyone would laugh. They would take one look at my outfit and somehow know I was wearing granny clothes. Then they’d laugh at me until I was driven form the classroom out of sheer embarrassment and humiliation. Not knowing what to do, I found myself hunched over in the corner alone. The hallway was silent with everyone else in class.  As I cried I also prayed that no one would walk down the hall to see this pathetic scene. My prayers weren’t answered. Several heavy foot steps echoed in the hall followed by three distinct male voices. I didn’t look up. I didn’t want to. Instead I turned my head farther down and sunk below my arms so far so that my chin was nearly touching my stomach. I wanted to sink within myself. As the voices got closer I continued to curl up hoping that by time they reached the corner I would have disappeared. It didn’t happen.

“Ew, whats that guys?” said one of the three boys who now stood in front of me. There was no hiding, no disappearing. I had to look up and so I did, but only a little bit so that only my eyes could be seen. The three most popular boys in school were starring down at me with extreme looks of disgust on their faces. One boy shook his head and said to the others, “Man would you ever date her? She’s so ugly.” The boy next to him jumped in surprise at the question, “No way!” The third boy squinted his eyes, “What would you call her anyway?” The first boy hummed in contemplation, “A thing. I’d never date this thing.” He gestured towards me with a strong look of finality in his eyes and said, “Gross.” Then they all walked away continuously mumbling about how gross I was. Their words had shook my little 4th grade heart to the core. Every insult was like an onslaught of burning arrows all directed at me. I had no defense, no shield, no ally, no rock or stone to hide behind. Essentially I was out in the middle of wide field with a bulls eyes painted on me.

Every insult I had taken to heart. They made me feel bad about myself, about my life, about everything. My self esteem was at sub zero at the age of ten. These type of people had power over me and I thought that they’d grow up (all the popular kids) to be rich and successful. You know what I mean. They’d be the next Brads and Angelina. The next Diddy or Dr. Dre. But actually most of them are more like a Bonny and Clyde except way less famous. These people that I once thought were so cool and strong have gone no where int heir lives. They didn’t go to college ( some of them didn’t even finish high school), still live at home with their parents, have no car, no job( not legal ones at least) and lots of kids. I on the other hand am the opposite. I’m in college, have a car (that I paid for myself), I have a job, live on my own and have no kids( not any time soon).  I don’t want to be blunt or harsh, but these people are doing nothing with their lives. They’re going down the same path many have gone down before them. It always leads to the same place, the same result.

In school, these kids were the ones everyone wanted to be. They always had the best clothes, the best shoes, the best hair. They knew everyone and got invited to all the parties. But now I look at these same kids and I think to myself, “These are the people I use to admire? These are the guys I wanted to date? The girls I wanted to be friends with? What was I thinking?” This just goes to show that sometimes the road less traveled does have the greatest reward.

Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt 10

Entry 12

Dear Journal,

               so this is my last entry. The trip to China has come to an end. It feels weird. I know it was only two weeks  but it felt way longer. I actually kind of felt like I lived there despite  not always feeling at home because of the starring and all. This has really been an amazing trip and I have grown so close with all of my fellow travelers. I’m currently on the plane to Dubai. Of course the service is amazing because I’m flying Emirates! I have to give Professor props. He made a great choice choosing Emirates.

Silk Street was very interesting. I spent a couple hundred rimibi there I(which was nothing in US dollars). I bought mostly stuff for myself since I had already gotten souvenirs for everyone else. The merchants (I guess you would call them that) were so intense. The one girl kept grabbing on me and she didn’t want me to leave the shop. She kept saying, “We friends! We friends!” I wasn’t falling for that. I looked at her and said, “No, we’re not. I don’t know you.” She just starred at me. I guess her english didn’t go that far. I was actually passing by this toy shop and the woman called out to me, “Hey, my sister come into my shop!” I busted out laughing and walked away. I don’t know what that was about.

As I sit on this plane starring out the window I can’t believe that I still can’t believe I’m actually leaving China. Soon I’ll be back in the US and the world will be colorful again if you know what I mean. lol Then the friends I have made on this trip…well, we all will go our separate ways and I can’t help but wonder if we’ll be friends after this. I hope so. I’ve had some great experiences with these people. If I could go on this trip all over again and could choose who to travel with, I wouldn’t choose any differently. These are the people I was suppose to travel with.

The other China trip has nothing on our trip. Professor Wang was definitely the right Professor to travel with. He knew how to make the trip both educational and fun. It was like he was one of the students but he still remained separate as a professor. And I never felt like he was monitoring me or like he was being too over bearing. He trusted us enough to allow us to explore China on our own. I respect him for that and would recommend this trip to anyone.

Well, goodbye China. I had fun while I was here. I learned so much about your history and culture, but I promise you one day I will return. So if you think about it China this isn’t really a goodbye but more of a see ya in awhile. So I’ll see you in awhile China!

Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt 9

Entry 11

Dear  Journal,

                today is my last night in China. Tomorrow after shopping at silk street for a few hours I’ll be on a plane to the US. It will be nice to go home, but this trip has definitely been worth every penny. In my last entry I promised to talk about the show “A Night at West Lake.” So like I said before there wasn’t much of a story line and therefore it was hard to follow, but the show was still entertaining. There were acrobats, dancers, singers and contortionists. The choreography was top notch. In particular I enjoyed the battle choreography performed by the two feuding groups. They were so fierce and intense. You can tell that the actors really put their heart into it. There was spinning in the air, flips across and over one another. This show had no dull moments and what made it even better was the fact that we had VIP seating only a few rows from the stage! 

Professor took us to another jade shop. I still love the stone but it really is outof my budget. However, I did help myself to a few pearl necklaces at the pearl shop. They had a good deal going because we were foreigners so I decided why not? It was really cheap. The woman at the pearl shop said real pearls if rubbed leave a powdery residue. Fake pearls if rubbed leave no residue at all. I think a fact like this would be of great use to tourists in China since people sell stuff that’s fake, real and all the in between.

I’m currently back in Beijing. We caught the high speed train from Shanghai to Beijing. It only took 5 hours compared to last year where it was a 14 hour ride. This was before the high speed train was built though. Surprisingly the ride felt super long for me. I think it was just that I was separated from the group during the ride. Everyone else was seated in the back and I was seated a little further up so no conversations to pass the time. None of my neighbors knew english either so I couldn’t speak to them. I can’t wait to learn Chinese.

I had some Chinese acu puncture done the other day. The doctor said that there was something wrong with my digestive system which makes it hard for me to lose weight. He offered to sell me a tea that would make me skinny. I said no for two reasons: first it was way too expensive and second its not so much about being skinny as it is about being healthy. Those are just my personal feelings.

Today is the 27th according to the itinerary. Since arriving back in Beijing we’ve went to Tiaman Square, National Theater of Performing Arts, Monument to the People’s Hero and some shopping areas where we could buy street food. The Performing Arts Center was a building. Not much I can really say about it. I thought the architecture was nice. It was surrounded by a shallow moat which was pretty cool. Apparently this center had produced some of China’s most talented.

There are two things I remember about Taiman Square: it  was full of people and it was huge. Our tour guide said it could fit I think a million Chinese people and 500,000 foreigners ( that was a little joke she made). The issue is China has 1.3 million people so what are you going to do with the other .3  million people? I guess they can squeeze in too.

The People’s Hero Monument was the most recognizable monument for me personally. When you think of China you think of General Mao and then you think of this long wall with his face on it. Many people may not know the name of this actual monument but if they saw it they would recognize it. Its featured on tv whenever China is being discussed.

Well, tomorrow is silk street and then the plane. I’ll probably update you one last time to conclude the trip. Until then.

Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt 8

Entry 10

Dear Journal,

             I am so sorry I haven’t updated you in awhile, but since coming to Shanghai the number of things we do in a day have been increasing and now its to the point where I’m so tired at the end of the day I just pass out in the hotel room. I don’t have the energy to even pick up my pen to write. Were going to a different hotel every night traveling deeper into the Southern part of China. At least I think we’re going South…I don’t know. My sense of direction was never great. There are only a few days left before I head back to the US. How do I feel about that? Hmmmmm, I’m not sure. There are definitely many things I miss about the states.  For instance cheese! Apparently cheese isn’t that popular in China nor is chocolate which are two of my favorite foods. Cheese is good on everything and its good in every form. I’ll eat it as a solid, a liquid or that weird in between phase. I mean almost everyone loves cheese unless you’re lactose intolerant. It’s the King of all dairy products. And chocolate? Do I really have to explain chocolate? It’s delicious, heavenly, tasty and delightful beyond the words in my limited vocabulary.  As you can see its something I’m passionate about. :) Besides food I miss the diversity the US has to offer. I miss walking down the street and seeing a rainbow of colors, ethnicities and stories. I miss my melting pot of people. Not to mention the freedom, spirit and pride that comes to mind when I think of the US now. The Chinese of course have pride in China and they definitely should because its an amazing country but America is that classic underdog story that pulls at my heart strings. It’s different. Anyway I’m just going to give a general overview of the past few days.

So we visited a Jade shop. This stone is so goregous. The Chinese people believe that jade has brings good fortune and protection to those who wear it. Women wear it on their left wrist to protect them. I think men tend to wear them as necklaces. The lighter jade is more expensive I think because its more pure. Despite that I was the most attracted to the darker shades of jade. There was this particular bracelet that was kind of a dark purple shade like grape cool aid. Hahaha. It was in the shape of this fierce dragon and hung off of this thick piece of rope. I loved it but too expensive so no buy. 

We also visited Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Mausuleun. If I remember correctly he was the Manchu conqueror of China. In the same day out tour guide showed us Linghan Buddha and Palace. Linghan Buddha and Palace was so mystical. It was one of the more religous sites we visited. The palace was huge and covered in gold. This place is so respected that in order to walk inside the building one must remove their shoes and walk through the building in slippers. 

We also went to a pearl company, took a boat ride on West Lake and saw a show called “Night At West Lake.” I couldn’t really follow the story line but the show was still very entertaining. I’ll write about the show more when I have a chance. I’m really tired. Night.

Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt7

Entry 9

Dear Journal,

               we did so much today I’m actually struggling to remember it. If I miss something forgive me. So first there was the couples garden and by the way we’re no longer in Chengdu. We’re now in Shanghai. See I’m so tired I forgot where I was. Haha. We move around so much that my mind is losing track, but I like the fact that we get to see a lot of things. Anyway so the couples garden was interesting. Very peaceful actually. There weren’t that many people so I could walk around without getting separated from the group. I enjoyed just walking around the garden and trying to take in the beauty of the garden. To be able to live there has to be a blessing. I love the stone they used to build the garden and I found myself frequently touching it, allowing the moisture of the day to soak into my skin. It was really nice.

Besides that the group and I traveled to a Buddhist temple, a silk factory, the Yangzi River, the river towns and the Confucius Temple. The Buddhist temple and the river town were my favorite. There is so much superstition in religion. The temple had this bell that if you rung it 3 times you would recieve good luck, but if you rung it 4 times than you would become a monk of the temple. The men who worked there would actually come to the bell tower, take you to a back room and shave your head. Officially a monk! Hahaha I told my friend Frank he should ring it 4 times and become a monk. He didn’t think that was the best profession for him personally.

The river town was so amazing. The houses were old school Chinese architecture and each rested on wooden pillars that were hidden beneath the river. In order to get around this town a boat was a necessity. I thought that part was really cool. I mean I’m so use to just walking around my own city but to have to actually take a boat is something totally different. Mind boggling isn’t it? Anyway that’s basically what we did today. I am definitely having more fun on this trip than my trip to Europe. Though we’re going to a lot of tourists sites I believe Professor is showing us the real China. We go beyond the tourist attractions and see what really makes China China. More tomorrow.

Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt 6

Entry 8

Dear Journal,

               okay so today was the Panda Nursery and the Jinsha Ruins. I mean what can I really say about the nursery? It was a panda nursery and so therefore it had to be amazingly epic! They were so cute and did you know that there was such a thing as a red panda? I didn’t, perhaps I’m just a bit slow on the animal know how. Well, the red panda doesn’t look much like a regular panda in my opinion. It actually looks more like a raccoon with red fur and splotches of black. It’s small with a long tail and pointy ears where as …well we know what a normal panda looks like, big fat with black white fur. I’m not exactly sure how they’re connected, but I’m not an evolutionary biologists either so give me so slack. However, the tour guide did teach me a lot about this animal. Unlike what most people think pandas aren’t herbivores. They’re omnivores, but they don’t eat meat because they’re too big (and lazy) to actually catch any prey. Pandas were discovered by the French and that is where they received their name. The pandas are nearly extinct which is why many of them live in captivity so that they can be in a controlled environment and breed.

Now onto the Jinisha Ruins. It was interesting but honestly there were so many people I couldn’t really get a good look. Of course people starred at me. One woman’s jaw literally dropped and she shook the woman beside her so they both could stare at me like so middle school science project. Lovely, but I wasn’t the only thing on display. There was this guy there who had to be at the least 7ft tall. Probably more actually. People followed him around and took pictures of him. They posed with him and one woman tried to make him hold her baby. They basically treated him like he was a freak. It was really sad. I don’t want to be rude but China needs to open its eyes a bit more and realize that people are different, but that doesn’t make them freaks. China’s not very internationalized. It along with the people are so cut off from the world that they don’t realize that there are people out there who are different than they are. It’s 2012 man, there’s a whole world out there. Get use to it! I don’t want to sound rude, but I’m just going to say it. I feel like China and its people are somewhat ignorant and closed minded in terms of the rest of the world. This is not a racist statement and I hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

For dinner we ate a hot pot which is a Chinese style of eating where people cook food in several boiling pots of spice before eating it. It’s really cool since you get to cook your own food. After dinner we all went to a Chinese night club. Haha. That’s a post for another day. Lets just say that the club was a new and very interesting experience. But if anyone wants my advice if you want to have a really good time in China than make sure you travel with some white people. Why you ask? Because to simplify it white people (especially white americans) are top notch. Ya know what I mean?

Well thats it for tongiht. I’m going to sleep. Night.

Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt5

Entry 6

Dear Journal,

              okay so I’m so tired I’m just going to make this entry quick. Alright, so today I went to the Forbidden City and the Beijing Coca-Cola Factory. They were both cool and included a lot of walking which is why I am so tired right now. I really liked looking at the old Chinese Coca Cola advertisements. They were similar to the US advertisements in the fact that all the people were amazingly attractive and happy…all because they decided to drink some coke. lol Definitely realistic. Just like those tampon commercials. Haha. Though I have to say many of the bill boards and posters I’ve seen in China would be considered child advertisement in America. There are always these little cute cartoon characters on bottles, posters and packages of food for people of all ages. I think it has something to deal with anime being way more popular in Asia for all ages. So after learning more about China today I have decided that I could never live here. There are several reasons but I won’t go into them now. All I’ll say is that I love the freedom, flexibility and opportunity that the US has to offer. And apparently so do many foreigners. A lot of foreign students come to the US to study and then  go back to their home country when they’re done. Now as you all should know by now I’m no racist and I believe that everyone should be rewarded the same opportunities with education, however, doesn’t the US feel a bit used by these foreigners? They come over to our country to use whatever part of it they want and then leave to tak eit back to their own. I mean not all foreigners do that and I’m probably sounding really bad right now, but I hope no one takes it the wrong way.

I’ve learned to try to ignore the stares. I try not to react to it and get angry because maybe if I just smile and wave the next time they(the Chinese people that stare) meet another black person they won’t stare so much.

Oh,k yesterday I got my first experience with haggling. They really do try to jip you because you’re a foreigner. It was so intense. Some of the shop keeps would literally come up and grab on you to try to pull you into their store. Every time you walk by their shop they’ll yell at you begging you to come in. Craziness! I saw this man get hit and yelled at simply because he refused to buy the woman’s item. She had set the price extremely high and he haggled it to a lower price but it was still not low enough for him so he decided to walk away and oh boy did she go after him! I really didn’t know it would be that serious. They just assume that because you’re a foreigner that you have  shiz load of money. Oh man are they wrong. But I guess to them we would be considered rich. 

I tried some roast duck for dinner. It was so good. I just love duck!

Entry 7

Dear Journal,

               goodbye Beijing, hello Chengdu!  Alright so lets just skip breakfast and go onto lunch because that is where all the action was today. Alright, so for lunch we had street food and man can I just say it was good! Chinese street food i the equivalent of food trucks in NYC. Get me? Restaurants are nice and so far every place we’ve been too I’ve had my full, but I believe that you can’t really have experienced a nation’s food unless you get it from the nitty gritty. Restaurant food is kind of done up and designed where street food is kind of layed out in its raw form, usally cooked in front of you and its just done! It’s no fake bs. It’s real food without the fancy costume. You know what I mean? Perhaps, I’m rambling too much but I hope my point is getting across. If you ever want to know a culture eat more than just their restaurant food because chefs with classy culinary degrees cook that food. But the regular people  cook the street food. :)

Besides the street food, me and my fellow peers found this store where you could dress in traditional royal clothing and have your picture taken. Kirk and Thu Zhar decided to go for it after a bit of coaxing. A few photos turned into a photo shoot. They attracted so much attention. There was seriously a crowd of people just watching them get their pictures taken. We all decided to join in on the fun and before I knew it the whole group was taking pictures with them. I mean I guess it didn’t make a difference since people were already taking pics of us so why not do it when we are actually posing and aware of the fact. lol

Besides the street food we all got massages tonight. It was great bonding time for Jess and I but I can’t lie that it felt a little awkward to have someone all in my personal space. It was a traditional Chinese style massage so they did the whole body. Having someone massage my butt was definitely a new experience. Haha. Oh, I got my first ride in a Chinese taxi. It was fun, crazy and scary all at the same time. There are like no traffic laws in China, you just go when you feel it is right. lol  Whatever happens, happens. Well thats all for now.

Crossing Borders: My Journey To China pt 4

Entry 5

Dear Journal,

               okay so I asked some of the Chinese students and apparently Koreans love Americans. No one get mad at me, this is what I was just told. They’re crazy over Americans though so far from what I’ve seen I wouldn’t say it was just Koreans… and by the way when they think of Americans they think of white Americans so they’re really crazy over them. Blonde hair and blue eyes is top notch…like it is around most of the world I hate to say. People have preferences. But why? Where do they come from? That would probably take a long look in history and society. A bit too much work for this girl, but I have a few ideas of where racial admiration and preferences come from, but back to China since that is the point of this journal. Okay so besides the Great Wall yesterday we all went to the Nest which is where the 2008 Olympics were held. It’s called a nest on account of its shape which resembles a bird’s nest. It was really cool, but honestly I think most of us were more interested in the Food Expo that was passing through. They had food from all across Asia. Thailand, China, Japan, Korea and so many I can’t even remember them. It was here that I tried my first fried ice cream and can I just say mmmmmmmmmm. Now the ice cream was different than American ice cream. Less sugar and toppings, just basic old school ice cream that tasted a lot like milk. I enjoyed it but my friend Jessica who calls herself an ice cream coniseur ( I know I spelled that wrong) thought one lick was enough to last her.

Dinner tonight was good. I won’t go into too many details, but I’ll just say that the egg plant dish was delicious. I give props to the Chef. Egg plant is a hit or miss dish or at least it is in my opinion. On to the next topic. Jet lag! Oh yes, isn’t it lovely! Thank fully I don’t have it that bad. During the day I’m a little tired but not to the point where I’m falling asleep and actually most of my exhaustion comes from the heat. Since arriving in Beijing its been getting hotter and hotter. The heat also isn’t good for my hair. Dries it out. So of course I haven’t been on this China trip for very long, but so far I’m enjoying it much more than my trip to London and Paris and I expect these feelings to continue. I’ve wrote about this before so bare with me. Europe is cool. I mean they have the Eiffle Tower, Big Ben, an amazing history full of influential philosophers, inventors and artists, but its so similar to the states which makes since because America was originally a British colony. We have a similar foundation and therefore a similar culture even today. Asia on the other hand is across the globe and though its modernizing and becoming “americanized” there is still that essential base that makes the nations so different. I like it and wouldn’t mind coming back for another trip.

I almost forgot! Let me talk about their toilets. Lets they have toilets which for some reason several people didn’t believe China had. They don’t have the seats you sit on, they have…well…I don’t want to make it sound  barbaric, but basically they have holes in the ground. The toilet seat is installed in the ground with regular plumbing and everything, The only thing missing is the neck of the toilet. Well, now I’m going to sleep or else I won;t be able to make it through the tomorrow. See ya.

Crossing Borders: My Journey to China pt 3

Entry 4

Dear Journal,

               I asked again and I remember what my Professor said the rent was. $600,000 US dollars a month. What the hell!? Now that’s like a 100,000 of their currency if I remember correctly but based on the salaries the majority of Chinese people get I don’t see how they do it. 100,000 rimimbi is still a lot even by American standards. How many Americans do you think live in apartments where the rent is $100,000 dollars a month. Uh… not many… I can tell you that. And usually the apartment spaces aren’t that big since they go by per square feet. Okay now they area we were riding through was a bit more uppity so that plays a role in the price but even so living in China isn’t like buying gum at candy store if ya catch my drift.

Yesterday I forgot to write about the Great Wall. I must have been really tired to forget about something so epic. We just do so much in one day that some stuff slips out. So yeah yesterday we climbed it and when I say it I mean like I made it to one watch tower and that was it. Hahaha there was no way I was climbing the whole thing. It’s over 4000 miles long man! That’s seriously amazing and I patted myself on the back for even making it as far as I did. And even though people were amazed at the Great Wall they were also amazed at me and my group as well. I don’t know if I already mentioned this or not but China is not a melting pot likee the US and you don;t really feel that until you actually go there. That’s when it hits you. Since we were foreigners we got a lot of attention…so basically people starred, pointed and took pictures. Lovely ( not). I hate pictures. I especially recieved an extra long glance or two because if you think white people are a rarity in Asia trying black people then add in the fact that I was wearing my natural hair and you’ve got yourself a regular freak show! I tried to ignore the stares, but it was so annoying. i wnated to turn around and as the on lookers if they had a problem but of course they wouldn’t understand me so there was no point. This Korean couple even stopped and talked to us and started posing with us. Strangely they didn’t want to take pictures with the Chinese students in our group. I guess they weren’t exotic enough but I kind of felt bad as they so blatantly tossed my Asian friends to the side. Not cool man. Most of the people who were starring I think had never seen a black person before so I guess I was their first….hm. So I kind of took their black people virginity in a way, right? Okay, maybe I’m the only one who thinks like this but I think its hilarious. I was their first and I always will be haha. I’ll write some more later. See ya until then.

P.S. That Swedish guy also mentioned that before carbon trading companies there were similar companies except with electricity. Cool, huh.

Crossing Borders: My Trip To Journey pt 2

Dear Journal,
              Is there anything better in this world than fried lemon duck? Seriously. Today the group and I had lunch at this nice restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. As in usual Asian style we all sat around a circular table with a spinning middle. The spinning middle is used to move the food around the table so people don’t really have to reach over each other. There’s also a lot of food served as always. You know before coming to China I thought that Chinese people didn’t eat as much as Americans and that was why they tend to be smaller than us. However, since arriving here that thought has been destroyed and buried. Every meal is composed of several dishes and when I say several I don’t mean five or seven. I mean like ten plus man! There is always so much food. And its not just because we’re in restaurants. According to my Professor the only Asian that don’t chow down at the table are the Japanese who believe in eating only 3/4 of their meal out of respect. If this is fact I still have to wonder how they stay so small then. Perhaps by the time I leave China  I will know their secret. Oh, I just realized I completely diverged from the original topic. So back to the fried lemon duck. It was one of the dishes served today at lunch. When I took my first bite my tongue and taste buds were greeted with a surprising taste. Actually it was so surprising that after the first taste I paused in contemplation and raised my eye brows. The thick bright yellow sauce was also sweet and citrus -y, but it was definitely not a dessert. The actual duck itself was cooked perfectly so that the breading wasn’t too soft and just slid off nor was it too crunchy and hurt too chew. This dish was perfect, but I think its time to move onto another topic before I start drooling. Food is just such a big part of every culture and the Chinese students (as well as my Professor) put emphasis on how important food is in their culture, He actually joked that because the Chinese put so much time in effort into food is why it took them this long to catch up with America. Haha. He’s an interesting character.

As we were riding through Beijing today I starred outside at the city. I didn’t really see many houses but I saw loads of apartment  buildings that reached the sky and beyond ( so basically they were seriously tall). Out of curiosity I asked my Professor how much rent was? He gave me a rough estimation based on the area of Beijing we were in and said 600 riminbi per square feet (I think that’s what he said at least but trust me it was a ridiculous amount despite). I nearly fell out my seat. I took in a deep breath and shouted ” How the heck can people afford to live in China?!” He luaghed but I was serious. Rent is extremely high except in the rural areas. Oh you wanna buy a house? Forget about that! It’s still mind boggling now to think about it as I’m prepping to go to sleep. Actually I’m struggling to keep my eyes open so  I’ll write more tomorrow. Good night.

Crossing Borders: My Journey To China

Hello dear readers! I hope you’re all doing well. Okay so as you know I recently returned from a trip to China. The trip was awesome and I learned a lot about Chinese culture and history. Now originally I planned to create a new post each day I was in China so that you all could keep up with what was happening, but I found it a bit difficult since I was gone usually until late at night. By that time I was exhausted from the day’s events and passed out as soon as I lay in bed. My last post was the first entry in the journal I kept during the trip. I decided that instead of writing a single post each day, I would combine several journal entries into one post. I hope you guys don’t mind the format. The entries are below. Enjoy!

Entry 1:

Journal, allow me to go through my first day in China. After having my first meal in China I can already see the clear difference between American Chinese food and authentic Chinese food. Big difference! Everything is lighter and less greasy. The sauce and seasonings are much more distinct and everything isn’t breaded or deep fried. The style of eating is very different also. In America you take one plate of a few items and fill it up. Here you take a little bit of several dishes so that way you get to try everything. I really like their style of eating and can see why they’re not dealing with an obesity problem like the US (too harsh? Maybe..) There are more organic options and less processed crap which I think is awesome. You don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for some fresh food! That’s how it should be everywhere. 

In the dining area I was lucky enough to get a window seat so I could see right out into the hotel’s garden. It was so beautiful. There’s this little river and all these beautiful flowers surround it with small fountains. When the sun shines down on this scenery I get this really peaceful feeling. I suddenly just want to lay out in the sun and laze the day away. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so. A relaxing day in the sun is good for everyone. Anyway after breakfast we went to a carbon trading company in the business area of Beijing. The company was bought out by a Swedish bank so the the big boss (who we spoke with) was obviously Swedish. He was very nice and answered all our questions, but I have to be honest. The dude seemed a bit arrogant. Just a bit. Oh yeah, okay so just in case you don’t know what a carbon trading company is let me give you a quick definition. Countries that have caps on their amount of green house gases like the US help other countries that don’t have caps like China reduce their amount of green house gases and increase their amount of clean energy so that inn return countries with caps like the US can somewhat extend their cap limit and be able to produce more green house gases without breaking the cap. You get it? Though the business was definitely interesting and a fresh idea, I cant help but to wonder how other environmentalist feel about such companies? Okay, so these companies do give a somewhat strong consistency to the amount of green house gases (because one country helps another produce less gh gas the first country gets to produce the amount the second country didn’t), but environmentalists don’y want a consistency in the amount. They want a decrease. I look at it like this. If there wasn’t a consistency there would be an increase in the amount of gh gases and I prefer  consistency over an increase. Of course a decrease is better,but the chances of that happening are slim to none. Sometimes you have to settle in life.

Entry 2

Apparently the way business is done in China is quite different than the American style of doing business according to my Professor. He claims that in the US business is more formal where in China its on a more friendly level and more relxaed. People want to get to know you before they do business with you. I guess in American business there no play time. This comparison is unexpected because in general I believe Chinese culture and society to be more more reserved than the US, but there are certain aspects of the cultures where the opposite is true instead such as business handling. It’s late and I’m tired. I’ll try to think of some more comparisons tomorrow. Night.

Entry 3 will be posted tomorrow. Thanks and please give feed back.

China Entry One: Dining In Economy Class

Hello, all my dear readers! I am very sorry that I have not posted anything these last few weeks. While I was in China there was little access to the internet and so I recorded my experiences in a journal so that now I can post them just for you. I first want to start with what it actually took to get to China. As my grandmother would say, “It’s not just a hop, skip and jump away!”

First, I had to drive from my hometown in Maryland to my college located in the huge state of Pennsylvania (it took forever to drive through). From there me and my other class mates (along with our Professor) took a shuttle to JFK air port in New York. I’ve traveled before so I was use to the long and yes sometimes quite annoying process of actually getting on a plane. There were so many lines! First is check where you get your luggage weighed, your carry on identified and your tickets. Then you go through security where you and your luggage are both checked for any harmful items. I believe they actually made us take off our shoes which I think is common in most American air ports. Next you go through customs and then finally you can head to your gate where you must wait to board. Of course people start forming a line to get on the plane, but depending on the airline customers may be called in based on their class and not their number in the line. On my way back to states first and business class were called in first to be seated. They usually got the top area of the plane and economy class (like me!) were seated in the bottom. I know just reading this post it seems like the process isn’t that long, but trust me you don’t just walk through security and customs. You’re questioned several times, checked repeatedly and constantly watched. Plus as I said there are lines everywhere so to get through each area you have to wait and when you have a baby (or babies) crying in your ear it makes the wait seem much longer.

Now enough of that boring stuff. Allow me to brag for a minute about the service provided by the airline I flew with. Emirates. I’m not sure if you all have heard of this airline before but let me tell you if you ever want to travel internationally fly with them! They provided such an amazing service! I was impressed with everything they had to offer. When I boarded the plane the first thing I saw were the uniforms the stuartess wore. Their outfits were extremely classy, but they made it more than that because of how they carried themselves. Heads held high, makeup and hair perfect with not one hair out of place. They were gracious with bright smiles and this air of elegance. They helped seat you and then 40 minutes (or an hour) into the flight they start serving snacks and meals. The number of meals you get or snacks is dependent on how long your flight is.

I know people always make jokes about airplane food, but they can’t make those say comments about Emirates food which has actually won an award for how good it is! Before serving the food they give you a menu with several options each option being delicious. Besides the main meal they serve you side dishes with it, a dessert, a roll and something to drink. After eating one meal I was stuffed. Honestly I felt like the staff kept offering me food and it got to the point I just simply had to refuse because I was so full. Each employee was so kind and tried to meet the requests of each customer. I recommend this airline to anyone.

From JFK we flew to Dubai (this airline only flies in and out of Dubai) where we had a three hour lay. From there I had a 12 hour flight to Beijing and then I took my first step into China.

I'm Going To China!

Hello, all my readers! yes, you read right, I am going to China and actually should be on my way out the door right now(oops!). Sadly, I won't be able to use this sight while I'm over there. Howeveer, I will be able to use my other blogging site tumblr. So, if you wanna keep an update on my trip just go to my tumblr blog and read. Here's the link:
http://tasha9011.tumblr.com/
Got to go, I'll be gone for two weeks. Keep updated. :)

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! No, It's Tanning Mom!

Hello, all my readers! Today my post isn’t so….depressing and pitiful….um yes, lol, I think those are the words that would describe my last post. However, in its defense I will say that its also honest, real and was a true expression of my feelings at the moment. But anyway on to Tanning Mom. So if none of  you have heard yet a month or so ago a woman was accused of causing tanning burns on her six year old daughter and arrested. She has been banned from at least 63 tri state area tanning salons(her real name is Patricia Krentcil). Patricia denies the accusations and says that her daughter became sunburned outdoors. TMZ asked her if she felt that her case was a modern day witch hunt, Patricia replied “Yes. yes. There’s somebody out there on my whole life that doesn’t like me because they’re jealous, they’re fat and they’re ugly.” Oh, yes Patricia thats why you are in the situation you’re in now. Because some one is that jealous of you….and you’re beautiful tan. I bet you they’re even more jealous now since being made in doll version! Yes,that’s right! Tanning Mom is going to be a super hero doll. Watch out Justice League and Avengers because Tanning Mom is the new star! What’s her superpower? Because she has been exposed to uv ray lights so much she now has the power to shoot these same lights from her skin and burn her opponents to a crisp. She is the ultimate hero. lol My question is this? How can someone be so obsessed with tanning that not only have they probably permanently damged their skin, but they’re trying to do the same to their daughter? I mean I know the story. Americans ( and most people around the world) long for those spring and summer days where they can lay out in the sun and bronze up(that’ll be her catch phrase). I don’t see a problem with people doing minor alterations to “improve” their appearance though usually I just go natural (check out my older post about going natural with my hair), however, honestly I am big opponent of plastic surgery (or of anything somewhat extreme) unless an individual is disfigured. I don’t judge people who do decide to go under the knife ( I know many who are and some who have), but I think before one runs to a doctor’s office he/she should learn to try to work with what they have. Look in the mirror and admire how you’re big nose makes you unique and works well with your other features. Or how your small jaw line lengthens your face and gives  it some elegance. All I;m saying is always try to look on the bright side of things.

            I know that there are a few people out there that are upset with the creators of the tanning mom doll because they feel like the creators are making this woman famous when she doesn’t deserve to be. She is receiving attention she shouldn’t be receiving. To these people I say this: maybe she is becoming famous, but it is only slightly and for the wrong reasons. She isn’t famous for changing the world or some amazing talent, but she’s famous for an extremely unhealthy habit that she attempted to pass on to her daughter. Fame is fame, but some fame is valued more highly than others. And honestly who wants to be famous for something negative? (ok maybe that’s a dumb question) So yes a doll is being created based off this woman, but the people creating it ( and nearly everyone else in the world) is laughing at her not clapping for her. Ya see? Well, thanks my readers. As always if you have any comments or questions please don’t hesitate to send one or the other to me. Thanks! Until next time.