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.