Access Granted

I have found a way to update my blog! Yay! Mallori was going to do it, but I was too lazy to get everything organized as of yet to send her.
I will start updating maybe twice a day to catch up, but we shall see. I want to try and add pictures, so it may take a little longer than it would otherwise.


Saturday, May 29, 2010
The rest of the flights were very interesting. On the long flight, Rachel’s seat was right behind me and there was no switching. I was sitting next to an Indian(asian) couple that was heading back from LA. They kept invading my space, which I am normally fine with except it was during a 13 hours flight. They kept switching seats, and the woman would lay in his seat when he was up. At one point, when I got up, she was even laying in my own seat. At one point, he randomly told me, “You are like my son.” He really meant that I was about the same age as his grandson. He thought I was in my mid twenties, however. He ended up telling my all about how he has a million grandsons that are all doctors in America. Not just doctors though, specialty doctors. When I told him that my dad is a doctor, he was confused that he was not a specialty doctor. It ok a while to explain what a specialty doctor was, but eventually he got it. He was also wearing a turban. After that, we had a meal in which he gave me his vegetarian dish. I said, “maybe,” but then he put it down on my tray table. It was interesting. I ate my normal non vegetarian meal instead- but ate the rice from his because I didn’t want to be rude. They had a ten year visa that was ending, so that was their last trip to America. They were in their 70s, and I had thought they were no older than early 50s. It makes me feel like American’s age much more quickly than other cultures. Also, the wife had two knee replacement surgeries, which ended up explain her trying to lay down everywhere.

In LA, I made a new friend. His name is Diego, and he is a mechanical engineering major at USC. He and his friend Kevin, who I met as well, were heading to Nanjing for an internship. They ended up being our LA and Beijing airport buddies. The Beijing airport has changed a lot since I was there in 9th grade, most likely because of the Olympics. Going through customs was much simpler. We walked through a gate that checked our temperature with a thermal camera. I guess this is to ward of disease, but we were all really hot and that made us nervous. We made it through though! Also, I got to go through the Chinese National line instead of the Foreigner line. We got there so early that customs wasn’t even open, and none of the restaurants were either. We waited and walked around, and ended up eating random bread things from a café called Kiss and Bake. The bread was delicious, and even though it was airport food (and water) it only cost a few dollars. I love China.

When we got to Kunming, we were greeted by Mia, one of the teachers (who won’t really be our teacher). Rachel used her first squatty potty. As we were leaving, someone threw two advertisements in the window, one in the front seat and one in the backseat, even though they only threw it in one window. The precise skill of Chinese people never ceases to amaze me.

We got to the Hotel, which is the equivalent of our dorms. They ran out of standard rooms, so Rachel and I got a Deluxe Suite. They are supposed to move us when a standard opens up, however. The difference is that we have a living room and a “sink room”- a kitchen-esque room, but that only has a sink. We found out we had to pay a room deposit- which was unexpected and all of the students were upset, especially because they keep charging us differently. Then we went to lunch with Mia and Zach (an OU student who is getting his masters and came on this trip last year, and has been living here since February). Zach speaks very well, but apparently couldn’t speak well before he came here. That makes me feel hopeful. We ate at Heavenly Manna, and ate some traditional mashed potatoes with spices, amongst other things. We came back and settled in a little, and met up with the American students who had already arrived. They attempted to give us cell phones, yet Jeremy’s and mine didn’t work. We then went to dinner at some Chinese restaurant. We came back and some of the boys went out for literally5 minutes. Rachel fell asleep on the couch at 9, and after about 5 minutes of trying to wake her up, we both went to bed. We discovered that lying on top of our comforter is best, as the mattresses in china are very, very firm. Think floor firmness.

Oh, and our room is the only one with internet. There is a very angry lady who works the front desk at nights, and she said that nobody should have internet in the building at all. Oh, the lies. Especially because she was playing Café World, which was partly why she was so upset to talk with us.

Tonight we also went to buy a hairdryer, and I was reunited with bargaining for things. It was great.