As of today, I’ve had 10 language classes, which is about 25 hours so far. I went to the PC bar with Harry for the second time, today. We ended up playing some Warcraft 3 and Counter Strike.
Category Archives: Travel
Day 139 – Beijing
I’m talking to this Chinese university student about encyclopedias on my computer, and I mention my partial offline Wikipedia that I setup custom for myself. I also mention that the Chinese government blocks Wikipedia so no one here can easily see it. She disagrees and says the government doesn’t block anything. She says it is …
Day 138 – Beijing
Yesterday, 1.6 Million Olympic tickets went on sale at 9AM. My teacher was in line to buy them, but the entire system was overloaded and no one got tickets. So instead, I got an hour cut out of my class. Normally, I’d be happy with something like that, but I’m paying a lot of money …
Day 137 – Beijing
Today I visited the main 2008 Olympic site after class. The Olympics are less than a year away and the location is a huge construction yard. Today I wish I had a mask because I had to walk along a main highway in order to get there. I could feel the dirt and pollution in …
Day 136 – Beijing
This week I have a private Mandarin Chinese class from 9:30AM – 12:00. Today was mostly review so I can catch up for the group class starting November 12. After class I was able to ride on the new subway Line 5 that opened up in Beijing just 3 weeks ago. That’s the exciting thing …
Day 135 – Beijing
Today the skies really cleared up and it must have been one of the clearest days I have seen in the city. I made it to Peking University to meet up with a student and look around the campus. The university is supposed to be one of the oldest and best in Asia, something like …
Day 134 – Beijing
Today began with a power outage that lasted until about 1PM. The surrounding block had no power and I’m not sure why. For the past two days, the skies have been filled with fog and apparently smog. I also read today that on November 20, visitors to Japan will be photographed and fingerprinted. I avoiding …
Day 133 – Beijing
Today I took a trip over to the Beijing Underground City. I ended up paying $2 to a pedicab driver to get me there. I didn’t want to, but he kept asking and I didn’t know for sure where it was. It is underground after all! I was close and it was only a minute …
Day 132- Beijing
When I first arrived in Beijing, the home stay guy said that people have changed a lot in the three months I’ve been gone. There have been politeness campaigns such as billboards in an attempt to make the city more hospitable for the 2008 Olympic games. I’ve had a cold for the last couple days, …
Day 131 – Beijing
I should note the Internet situation is much better at this home over the last home in Beijing. Instead of paying by the minute, they have a proper unlimited service. Still, it is only 1Mbit and I’m trying to talk them into upgrading to 2Mbit downloads. The first day I arrived, the son showed me …