So! Yesterday I checked into my spiffy new 8 person room, and was instantly attacked by Chinese-speaking youth (all Chinese except for one Korean exchange student). They were five, I was one, and they were happy I could speak Chinese. Apparently in our room there also used to be a German guy and a French girl, but they both are not nearly as good as me (this is a prime example of Chinese make-you-feel-good-about-yourself. This happens to me on a daily basis when I tell salespeople “我不要！" "I don't want it!" and then the salesperson replies, "你说汉语说得很好！" "You speak Chinese so well!!!" This quick judgement based on three words is obviously a gimmic because it is followed by the price of whatever it is being sold.)
But yes, they were all very nice and four were going in different directions the next day (today), so we all just HAD to say our goodbyes at a bar. We laughed about cultural differences--I voiced my complaints about Chinese peoples' inability to form lines at the train station, they told me that American interferes in other nations' business too much, and we all got tipsy. I now have everyone's QQ number, essentially the equivalent to AIM screenname. I tried to register on QQ today, but I had a hard time reading the instructions... I'm going to have to set aside some more time for that another day.
The afore-mentioned Korean exchange student just arrived yesterday from Beijing, where she is an exchange student in a Master's Program in Architectural History (I just can't seem to stay away from architects). Before starting that program at Tsinghua University (a University I hope to attend in Fall 2008!!), she had only studied one year of Chinese, also in Beijing. She is really amazing to be taking classes and writing a thesis in a foreign language after studying it for only one year. Today she found out that she, like me, will be trapped in Kunming for 10 days: all of the Beijing return train tickets have been sold out until the 20th. [I will refrain from complaining about the train system in China.] However she plans to go to Dali and Lijiang (where I was the past five days) tomorrow, so I guess I'll just hope for new cool roommates tomorrow.
Today she and I walked to the Kunming Zoo, a sad, sad place. I honestly do not remember the specific condition of American zoos, so please--unless you are very familiar with your local zoo, keep in mind that zoos are most likely the same everywhere, and that China is probably not especially unkind to its animals. But anyway, pretty much every animal we saw (monkeys, bears, giraffes, zebras, racoons (are those in American zoos?), flamingos, other assorted colorful birds, pandas, elephants, and lions) were very, very dirty. My friend asked me, "I thought Zebras were supposed to be black and white?" No chance--yellow is all you get. The thing that bothered me the most about this zoo was people feeding the animals. In fact, I might even assume that the zookeepers didn't give the animals food at all, given the way the creatures would scramble for every scrap thrown through the bars. In addition, I saw peakcocks eating out of people's hands: no fear at all.
A difference with American zoos though, (I think anyway,) is that there was an amusement park in the middle of the zoo. Rollercoaster, merry-go-round, unhealthy and overpriced food, you name it. Also there was a lot of just open green space with trees, so people could lay down and play Mah Jong. By the looks of it, people paid the 10 kuai (about $1.15) fee each day to meet their friends in the shade. OH also I forgot to mention about the pandas in Chengdu: you could pay 450 kuai (about $60) to touch the panda (wearing gloves and booties of course). This zoo had a similar set up but we didn't bother reading the sign for the price. haha
I thought I could leave you with some funny pictures I've taken that I myself am still confused about. Hope you enjoy, and have a gooood day
in a public bathroom. yes.
ok i've been attacked by two small children,must run
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