Tuesday, October 01, 2002

 
Arrived home safely on Saturday evening. My cousin picked me up at Kennedy airport and drove me home. I'm endlessly grateful for that.

My domestic flight (San Fransisco to New York) was really interesting. I ended up sitting in a group of non-english-speaking chinese people (TOTALLY coincidental! With it being a domestic flight, the chances of there being 8 non-english speaking chinese on board was slim, let alone the chance of me being seated in the middle of them!). So of course I struck up conversations with them and they doted on me for the entire flight. I now have a pile of their business cards, and I've promised them that I'll write to all of their kids in china (in fact, one woman gave me $20 and told me to send her son that amount's worth of postcards... which i need to get around to doing really soon). Halfway through the flight, one woman tried to get me to understand what exactly they do for work. I caught that they were in the states for a conference, and that they all do something for the government, but that was as far as I understood. So she spelled it out for me. "You know New York City? You know Giuliani? That's what we do." And the number of people in her city was six million.

So now about 8 Chinese large-city mayors love me and want me to be their American Kid. Huh. Talk about connections.

Upon returning home, my stepfather mentioned to me that the chinese restaurant in town is looking for help. So Sunday morning I wandered over there to inquire. I told the manager I had just come home from China and was looking for work. I spoke to him in Chinese for a bit, we talked about my trip and the restaurant, and he asked me to come in Monday to "watch the staff and learn how to waitress" (as i am completely inexperienced). Monday I went in, and was immediately thrown onto the floor to waitress on my own. I picked it up and had a good time. Then worked the dinner shift. Then did the same thing today. That's right, folks. Sarah just flew halfway across the world and has NOT YET taken a day off to rest. I'm surviving just fine, though, and I couldn't have asked for a better job. My manager is a wonderful man from Shanghai who used to be a teacher, and he insists on helping me learn chinese. "And you don't even have to pay me!" he says.
posted by sarah 12:30 PM

 
What would have been posted Friday, Sept. 27th at 12:15 pm if China had let me access blogger.com....

I have about 3 hours left to play, but nowhere really to go because my luggage is stashed in the hotel and i can't venture too far from it. After that, I get on a bus, and then another, and hope to end up at the airport. And from then, it's roughly 48 hours of never leaving aiports and airplanes. Sounds like fun, eh?

This hostel has been a lot of fun. By the end of my time, I was friends with all five of the other people in my room--the Swiss guy I met at Bard, his girlfriend, an english fellow named adam, a japanese guy who is really excited to practice his english, and a friendly english girl named Haley who helped me pack (and gave me the "you don't need that" advice i needed to hear). Chinese backpacker hostels can be a really enjoyable experience--everyone's travelling, many on their own, and it becomes a supportive, friendly community, ever-changing with people coming in and out--friends you're close to for 48 hours and then never talk to again. Lotsa fun.

I liked the hostel more than beijing, actually. Beijing is dirty and crowded, and transportation can be quite a pain. The northern section, where all the universities are, is a bit nicer, but i've been staying in the farthest south section, and having to navigate everywhere. Also, the treatment of foreigners is different here. In shanghai, foreigners are business people, and the chinese ignore them. In Qingdao, foreigners are teachers and students, and the chinese are very friendly and excited to talk to them. In Beijing, the foreigners are rich tourists, and the chinese treat them as sources of money. In the university area, I was treated like I was in Qingdao, but anywhere near the center of the city i'm treated like a dollar sign.

I've gotten a few different opinions on study in beijing, but nothing decisive. Right now (meaning February), I think Beijing Language and Culture University is the place to go, and probably only as a short-term program. I'm still considering getting the degree in China (cheapest and most thorough chinese education possible), but someone recently pointed out that an american degree is worth far more. So we'll see how things go. If anyone wants to send me any "here's what you should do for the rest of you life" proposals, I promise to read them.

So that's all for now. Time to seek final chinese souvenirs and prepare for airports. Next communication will [hopefully] be from the states. Over and out.
posted by sarah 12:12 PM