Things just got a lot more exciting.
Well, I'm in Gaungzhou and while I may have been prepared for anything it was impossible not to be a little blown away by everything. I'm spending an extra day in Gangzhou so I don't have to travel over the weekend, which I hear can be a nightmare. The train trip will last about 13 hours. I will be heading to Guilin in the Guangxi province.
My first impression is probably:
There are soooooo many people here. The second thought to enter my head is, "oh shit, I need to learn Mandarin". I expected this and am enjoying trying to pick up as much as I can as fast as I can. My vocabulary is about 20 words and 10 phrases which I hope to triple within the next couple of days.
China is truly an assualt on the nose and the beggars here like to grab people. I've had to be very assertive with people about personal space, which seems to be understood slightly differently here.
I am loving everything. I have to throw out a special thanks to the young man sitting next to me who stopped whatever he was doing and walked me three blocks to a internet station. Also, Sam saved me a huge amount of time by helping me get my wits about me when I first arrived. I'm on my own now and every moment is quite an adventure.
I hope everyone is doing well.
My first impression is probably:
There are soooooo many people here. The second thought to enter my head is, "oh shit, I need to learn Mandarin". I expected this and am enjoying trying to pick up as much as I can as fast as I can. My vocabulary is about 20 words and 10 phrases which I hope to triple within the next couple of days.
China is truly an assualt on the nose and the beggars here like to grab people. I've had to be very assertive with people about personal space, which seems to be understood slightly differently here.
I am loving everything. I have to throw out a special thanks to the young man sitting next to me who stopped whatever he was doing and walked me three blocks to a internet station. Also, Sam saved me a huge amount of time by helping me get my wits about me when I first arrived. I'm on my own now and every moment is quite an adventure.
I hope everyone is doing well.
posted by Robert at 6/18/2005 10:24:00 PM
2 Comments:
Hey tall, ghostly one!
The smells are amazing! Wait until you get back here and after it's been awhile, you go into a good asian market and the whole adventure rushes over you again... Quite a trip.
Have you found a job yet? Plugged into the youth culture? Gotten seriously off the beaten track? Okay, okay... I know it's too soon, but I'm waiting.
I heard there's an island where everyone makes paintbrushes out of rat fur.
Don't you feel really, really tall?
Robert,
It just occured to me, if you end up staying for awhile and we could figure out how I could get you money and how you could do shipping... I'd love some exotic Chinese tea. If you come across any really interesting incense, I'd be interested in that too. I'd don't want you hiking around with it though. If it turned out to be fairly easy to ship...
Eliot
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