Pyros Paradise.

Lets face it, we all love fireworks. But god damn! Chinese New Year anyone?

It finally came around. Like a Christmas or a New Years. Well, technically, it was a new years. If things around here weren't leading up to the Beijing Olympics (didja hear!) they were leading up to the flipping New Years. Year of the Rat I should remind everyone. My only beef was that I was told I had to volunteer that night. Until 1am! Like wtf! But I didn't let that ruin my new years. ...Entirely.

We met the group at the front gate of Long Tan park to attend the opening Temple Fair ceremony. For the longest time, I was hearing Temple Fire, assuming they were going to light an altar or something. No. We went in and sat down, watching the rehearsal of the dancers and performers. We were sitting right in front of the world ambassadors I think! Now THAT's how volunteers should be treated! We watched the ceremony, chock full of kick ass dancing, martial arts, flowing ribbons, stilt acrobatics, children dressed as mice and the fuwa mascots, and dragons. It was very cool. However, it was quite frantic, with everyone running about. And the ambiguous style of our program was at full level. "What are we doing now?" "Waiting" "Then what?" "I don't know." "Where are we going" "Lets just go over here" I know some of the Chinese participants try, but never knowing what's going on is very frustrating. But we sorted out that we would just go do our own thing. I went with some of my group along the temple fair and checked out the booths. There were booths all around the lake, more then your average fair. Most sold food. And I love food. I wanted to try everything, or at least the really freaky stuff. I ate fried squid, silk worm, scorpion and some other bug looking thing. Don't try the silk worm. We walked through an amusement park and decided to check out the ferris wheel and get a high elevated view of Beijing. Quite neat. We were going to go go-karting (or go-karking as they wrote on a sign) and pit the Canadians, all who have driven, against the Chinese, some who have never. But we decided to leave that for another day. Everyone went their own way for supper, and I was kind of on my own with an hour to have supper before I went to my workplace. Fortunately, I ran into a co-workers of Gary's, who had a really cute daughter who spoke English very well. I told them I couldn't get ahold of Gary (I couldn't get ahold of Gary) and the woman phoned him, talked, and Gary told me to go with her for dinner, she'll bring me to the workplace after. Yay! I get shipped off again. But the cute 25-year old named Sunny was worth it. And the free dinner. So after, I went to the work place. I ran into Gary's supervisor, who handed me to another co-worker, who put me in an office, who then handed me over to the supervisor again. Not only this, I still hadn't seen Gary, whom I learned would be volunteering in another "community" Now, the community in this case refers to the hutongs. I guess it never crossed his mind that his counterpart might want to volunteer with him. So I walked with Gary's supervisor (as I don't consider her mine) for 7 hours that night. First, we went into a hutong house and delivered a small card, a New Year's gift I guess to a deserving family. It was my first time in a hutong house, which is basically a small room with a small stove, but large bed, and everything piled up on the sides. I guess the young girl slept in the same bed as her parents. But these hutongs don't really seem like impoverished. They seem less off, but happy and unique. You don't feel sorry for them as much as you might a homeless man laying in cardboard. With that in mind, although it was a brief visit, it still made me appreciate the box I live in at home here in China. After that, the night was about playing fireman. I would go around for 7 hours, dousing random dry areas with water from a pop bottle or empty detergent bottle. The intent was noble, but the act just seemed so disorganized. I told Gary's supervisor that it would be easier if we had one of those three wheeled bikes you see everywhere and filled the box with containers of water. She thought about this and decided it was a really good idea, and that none of them had thought about it before. I revolutionized this whole act right there. But she insisted no one had a bike like that or knew anyone that had one. I persisted they try to plan that for the next 5 days later where they would do this again. Luckily, they had planned shifts and snacks, so that was nice. Midnight came rolling around faster then I thought, and that's when all hell broke loose. I kid you not when I say this, the only possible way to describe midnight on Chinese New Year is a world war. Sure, for the whole day, there were fireworks, but this was when they lit off the biggest, brightest and most bad ass fireworks anyone had. And it's not just a city block, doing it for half an hour. It's the entire CITY! There's explosions everywhere, screaming, whistling, sparks, blasts from large ones that make you check to see if your arm is still there. Around every corner there's a light up from fire crackers, sounding like gun shots. This went on for at least a good hour before it died slightly. I was amazed and promised myself I would never forget that feeling. But despite the amazement, I was indeed tired, from being awake 18 hours and walking in the cold hutongs for 7. I asked the supervisor when I could leave, but she said the leaders haven't told them they could. I waited patiently, and when she made some phone calls, we went back to the office. I looked for Gary, but the other workers insisted I have eat jiao zi (dumplings, as per traditio) I humoured them and said just one, but ate a whole box so they would leave me alone. I finally saw Gary and told him I'd like to go home, but he too insisted I eat jiao zi. I was a bit frustrated and told him I already had. He said young people stay up late, but I told him I'm a foreigner and was tired from walking all day. He told me the same story, that the leaders hadn't said they could leave, including Mr. Li, my host dad who was volunteering as well, who would drive me home. I was fed up with the leaders and asked if anyone had tried to talk to them, contacted them. He told me they were in a meeting. I'm quite sure just hooting and a hollering from jiao zi, bai jiu and new year merriment. I idly-threatened Gary that I would take a taxi at 2am if I didn't leave by then. Well, 2:05am came by, and I did what I don't usually do; I said something! I told my counterpart I was tired of the beaureaucratic bullshit that had been plaguing us since we got to China and that he and Mr. Li had a responsibility that the leaders should be aware of. He had this goofy, clueless look on his face. "Me, Gary!" I think he seemed to have forgotten that. He might as well have had a joint in his hand and told me, "Just relax, maaaaaaaaaaan" Instead, what came out was, "Devon, haha, you need to be more tolerant." That just pissed me off. We went to get Mr. Li and were going to talk to the "leaders" but it turned anti-climactic, as we reached his office, he had his coat in hand; the leaders said they could leave. Gary told me I was angry for nothing, but I didn't back down. I insisted that I was still angry. Although it was an amazing night, that still bugs me and will be circle check material in the incoming weeks.

Althought street cleaners came out around 1:30am to start cleaning, there's still bits of fireworks debris everywhere. My first thought before all this was "Who the hell is gonna clean up this mess?" Thoses guys have a big job ahead of them; kudos.

The days after have been going by fast and full of friends. I've visited my host family's aunts house for dinner and almost every day, have went to a different temple fair with friends. They are everywhere around the city, at parks, at actual temples. Most sell the same stuff or foods, but some sell something unique or have cool performances you don't see elsewhere, so it's nice to get out and explore, never knowing what you're going to see. Although yesterday, I took a break and took some me time. I received money my friend lent me, as well as her remaining calling card minutes to which I used to call my previous host mom, Brenda! She was so happy to hear from me, which makes me wonder why they haven't called me! That day, I also had dinner with a CWY alumi ex-pat living here in Beijing! I brought some of my group along and we had a great night, talking about working here in Beijing, the differences in programs, and the New Year's here. And today, we're celebrating our own Canadian Chinese New Year's party at our supervisors house, who, ahem, left us the key to feed his turtles. Should be fun!

GONG XI FA CAI! It means make lots of money or something.

And the poop jokes just kept coming!

I didn't think I could get any more dramatic then I did last entry, but come on! I'm Devon freakin' Flynn! I have a flair for the theatrics! And if you don't agree, then quit reading and fuck off! As per the last blog, I find it pointless to lie on this travel blog. I could surely put how amazing things are, how I've made friends for a lifetime, but thats boring. I write reality, through my eyes, as that's what I see. With that in mind, read on...

But none the less, it was one hell of a weekend, I cannot deny that. It was in fact our mid-project camp. It has been under debate for awhile, as we chose a date before the 2 week Spring Festival, during which obviously was not an option, as the Chinese participants all had to work. However, as we soon discovered, although the date may have been inconvienent for them, it was extremely convienent and well placed for us. As usual, the middle time frame is where it gets tough and people get home sick. Except the Chinese participants in this case. As they are home. We needed a break from our host families and the city. It was a bit rough and tumble, getting started, as information was a bit limited and no one truly ever knew what was going on. We woke up early, meeting at a subway station, and from there, catching a 919 bus, one of many. We rode it for about 2 hours out of Beijing city. We caught another bus, and then another. Few of us knew where we were going, but we knew we were going far and away. Mountains and villages full of dry dead fields were everywhere. We got off in one of those towns. Actually, it quite reminded me of Hazelton. Butt-fuck nowhere. I was quite eager to share this with my group. We unpacked our bags at a small bed and breakfast that you would never guess was. The staff was few but friendly, and the place was welcoming but far from warm. In fact, it was freezing. Most of us never took our clothes off that weekend! But the Canadians loved it, and I'm sure the Chinese were quite miserable. They had seen the country sides like this before, and I'm sure most of them could care less. We started up some workshops
, focusing on group dynamics. These were put together by the Canadians and a few Chinese. They were well planned I think and well executed as well. However, the fault in this lay that several counterparts were missing, and would show up later that afternoon, and some had to leave the next day! Mine was one of them. However, before he left, I managed to have a talk with him about our work placement and my deep disatisfaction with it. Although nothing new had changed, it was a little more structured now. However, I would have really liked to have done the counterpart contract review with him. I haven't met some of my goals and I don't think he's met some of his. I was a bit disappointed in this, and in place, did a graph on my own of my up and down times of the program and wrote out the many things I missed back home in Canada. We're all home sick, I told you. Most mid-project camps are about bonding and strengthening those bonds and becoming better counterparts, teachers and even friends. Well oh my, aren't we the exception! Most of the counterparts talked at one point or another, discussing problems and communication. However, it was a lost cause. Keep in mind, some counterpart pairs still get along. We night held its own surprises. We were treated with fireworks by the village chief or mayor or whatever. Our guess is that they used the money we paid the bed and breakfast for was used to pay for them. We shopped for our own as well, but they were too expensive. Upon telling the mayor this, he offered to get us a deal, but we declined as we didn't want to impose and we would see plenty during the Spring Festival. We had a few drinks and played cards in Maxime's room. The next morning, we were a bit shocked to find the Chinese participants (or who was left) left for the bus without us, inciting that the Canadians were always late. Not only was it not true, it was very un-mid-project-like. They didn't even warn us. We were to leave at 8:30, we left at 8:31. WOOOOO! Too bad they walk slow, we caught up fast. It relayed back that nothing had really kicked in that weekend it seemed. We caught the bus and bussed to Badaling. It's a very busy tourist attraction, but for good reason. It's a popular gate to the Great Wall of freakin' China! We climbed the Great Wall! I was mesmerized by the fact that we got to do what millions of people have on their to-do list. It was much cooler then any temple I found, despite having no plaques to read or translators or anything. It was just cool! And very steep might I add. The mountain ranges were beautiful, misty in the distance. I wish I took more pictures. Even so, it was short lived. We were only there for about 2 hours. I'd have loved to walked further. Felix and I raced up and down at one point. One thing they forget to tell you is how many goddamn tourists are there! You don't see them in the photos. I found it to be one big bricked mountain for me to conquer. Even with a heavy back pack, I found no trouble traversing it. There's talk amongst us about going back. I think it would be worth it. I was sad to leave. We took the gondola down because I thought the roller coaster would be too slow. Yes, that's another thing they don't tell you. They have a fucking ROLLERCOASTER down the Great Wall! They look like colorful go-karts. That's deplorable! Using a national monument as a tacky tourist attraction. Did I mention the huge Beijing Olympics 2008 sign on the mountain? Guess not. We had a long bus ride home, but didn't end the weekend there. We went to Xidan shopping center. The girls went shopping while the guys went to the arcade. Figures. We met up with Maxime and his pregnant friend who's travelling around the world and went to Li Qun, a famous roast duck restaurant found in a hutong. It was my first roast duck dinner. People have ranted and raved about it, and I find it a bit dramatic. It tastes like turkey, except for the fatty skin which is delicious. But it's nothing to eat over and over. And they eat it weird. You eat it as a wrap with cucumber, green onion slices and a sauce. But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I'm not sure how excited my host family was to have me back. But I can never tell what they're saying, so whatever. At least I didn't have to sleep in my clothes.

I was busy for the next couple of days. I visited the Llama Temple. This time, I found it! I was excited to see the big ass buddha statue carved from a single sandalwood tree. 18 meters does it justice, boy howdy! And one tree?　That's insane! It's Spring Festival time, so there are lots of parties to attend. We went to one at the Government building. We saw dancers and singer and performed "Hey Jude" again. I'm sick of that song now. Although this time wasn't that bad. And yesterday, I went to Gary's office Spring Festival party. He was the MC; it was the accumulation to all his hard work (and absenteeism of mid-project) But it was a very cool party. They dressed me up in a Chinese shirt and made me dance and play a balloon popping game. Of course I won because I rock. I'm sure anywhere else in the world they would recognize me and my balloon popping capabilities as that of a god. :) Today I had quite a different attitude. I was very depressed. It was just one of those days where all the small things add up, and you can smell it coming from the morning. The short volunteering I did was a joke. It was at a volunteer booth for...um...volunteers. I wore a volunteer vest and a silly hat/mask. I was the "foreign translator" My job was to speak to foreigners, ei: those who spoke english, asking questions about the olympics. 1) What the fuck is wrong with them? I suck at translating! In fact, some guy talked to our group briefly. They pointed me out and he talked to me in Mandarin. Gary explained he wanted to know how well my Mandarin was. I told him the fact that I couldn't understand him was testament as to how bad my language skills. 2) I had a box full of bandaides and minor injury aids in case someone ill or hurt came to our booth. Buddy, your arms missing! Don't come to me, go walk to the goddamn hospital! In fact, why the hell are you talking to me! Ask the guy beside me who speaks your language. For that matter, a missing limb screams "TAKE ME TO THE FUCKING HOSPITAL" in any language! All this, and I was only there for 20 minutes. Christ! See? I told you it was a bad day. One worthy of a nice tourette style rant. Oh wait, I just did that. We had a lunch with Director Wang after. Roast duck again. He had no problem with us drinking some bai jiu. It's Chinese New Years! Drink up! I didn't have much. I didn't feel good. Don't give the bitchy guy booze, it won't end well. He might end up typing something he might regret *looks around* Nope, nothing yet!

AND ENOUGH WITH THE GODDAMN FIREWORKS! I'M TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! YOU DON'T NEED AN EXPLOSION EVERY FREAKIN' MINUTE!

See that? That's the fan. See that brown stuff all over the place? That's the SHIT!

Yes, I rather like that analogy. When it rains, it pours, and when shit hits the fan...well, all you can do is grab a scraper and suck it up. Sigh. THIS one's a story! So, we've been busy here and there. A few EAD's, a few field trips, like visiting a pin gallery. I don't know the official name, but they make pins for like, everything, from Disney to tourist attractions around the world, and now, the Olympics. It's a 3 billion yuan company. A little impressive. We also learned that emperors in ancient China had thousands of concubines (women lovers) and had no personal time. Quite amazing.

I was invited to Kassie's school to help her class in a workshop with group dynamics (my specialty) I played some games with her students that were supposed to help them with group functionality, from non-verbal communication, to thinking outside the box to team work. It went very well, and was the first work I had actually done here. Ironically enough, today is when I'm supposed to do work. As far as I know, I'll be meeting-bitch; serving tea, writing peoples names, and then probably start staring into space when they talk. Yay!

I also had a meeting with our work supervisor, regular supervisor, Director Wang, his assistant and Gary. What I thought was supposed to be a check-up turned out to be, what I was told, more of a diplomatic meeting. We met in a meeting room, they would talk in Chinese, usually looking or pointing at me, the assistant would occasionally translate for Maxime, and then they would talk to me. They asked 3 great questions. "Hows the food at home?" "Are you cold at night?" "How are you finding Canada's government in comparison to China's?" Are you fucking kidding me? I was a little shocked. I'm glad I at least told them I wasn't thrilled that I was doing so little, because I wanted to tell them SO much more. Anything to do with counterpart relations or do I get along with my host dad would have opted for a much longer meeting. Same old things though, nothing grand and new. I barely see or talk to Gary, and Li...yeah, well, he still doesn't understand that I don't understand like 95% of what he says, but keeps on talking. I was also a bit pre-occupied, because just prior to the meeting, there was screaming. Turns out, a drunken man came into the office, broke things and I'm guessing touched a woman. Just your average day at the office I guess.

Some other great events include going to a dance class organized by Andy's work placement. We did some "modern" dance. It was utterly hilarious. Our group, in my opinion, can't dance or sing. Thank god we're pretty. We've also went to tea houses, where for a thrifty 18 yuan, you can have unlimited drinks and ice cream! The ice cream sodas were delicious. We pigged out.

And then, the story. It was all innocent. Felix and I went to a small party through Stephane and Heather's workplacement, where they had a small skit to perform. There were dancers and singers and lip-synchers, and some small games that the four of us participated in. We were given soap and toothpaste as prizes. Hey, don't laugh. Perfectly enough, that's exactly what I needed! I was running out. In the afternoon, we planned to go to Sunlitun and get suits, tailored and made, real cheap! I took some money out for it, but later decided I didn't need one. A tailored suit is nice, but I won't need one for like, a LONG time. I'm going a bike trip! So I passed. The plan that night was for the guys to stay the night at Maxime's apartment after a night of drinking. We stopped at the Hidden Tree for a beer and pizza ( I miss pizza) and then went to The Red Rose, a Muslim restaurant that Maxime told us about. The food was awesome, and the bai jiu, cheap. The entertainment, better! There was a singer, and two belly dancers. One was really freaking hot. In fact, we noticed her when she walked in through the front door, before she was dressed up. She seemed to like our group just as much. She sauntered over and brought Stephane up stage! And so did the singer, and so did the other belly dancer. One belly dancer brought a snake on Maxime, and then brought all of us on stage to dance. At this point, the bai jiu is movement-activated. We were dancing up a storm, having a blast. By that point, the restaurant closed. As soon as we went outside, all hell broke loose. I was holding myself and one girl up, another guy puked, and before I knew it, we were sent back to our host homes in cab. I'll spare details. I woke up in my bed, with my host family around me, asking me if I needed to go to the hospital. Of course not, I was just drunk still! But it was still not a proud moment. After phoning my friends and filling in missing information, it didn't seem all was well. After sleeping to recover that afternoon, I discovered my wallet was missing. ID, debit cards, and yes, about 2500 yuan that I took out. Bad Devon, bad! I still shake my head. But what's done is done. I'm assuming it's in the cab still, or, if found by someone else, will be returned soon. My memory's a little fuzzy, and isn't helping the situation. It's sounding half and half that I'll get it back out of human kindness, or not because people are douche bags and steal money. Damn cab companies are no help. I didn't even know they gave receipts when I was sober, let alone drunk. So yes, details, blah. I'm taking the precautionary methods, cancelling debit cards, replacing ID when I get home, preventing identity theft, etc. Hey, if they want my life, they gotta take EVERYTHING that goes with it! I have photocopies of my ID's, so luckily, I think I can still get home. The circle check that day was one for the books. Most of us hung our heads in shame at the course of events. We apologized to our counterparts, to our supervisors, but especially to our host families. Bad Canadians, bad! You know what you did wrong. We talked about it, trying to justify, or more ratify our actions. We were having such a good time, we didn't realize how much we were drinking. Obviously, we hadn't planned on getting that drunk. I'm not too worried about my wallet. Sure, it sucks, but I know for a fact I'm not the first person to get drunk and lose their wallet in Beijing. Shoulda been more careful, but shit happens, you learn, you move on. Actually, I'm surprised this type of maturity is flow so naturally in this occasion. I mean, you can't beat yourself up forever, as most teenagers do stupid shit. A few of us got warnings and are being more careful. And me? I have a looooooooooooot of phone calls to make.

It's like French: I can't understand, but now can barely speak it.

I still do like surprising people that yes, I'm not totally retarded. I do understand a few words in Mandarin. My ears to prick up when I heard Fang de Wen (my Chinese name) or Jia na da.

On that note, I have been missing home. I really do think that when I go home, I'll still be using phrases like "wei shenma?" or "duei" or my personal favorite "shenma de fuck?" Ah, le melange de langue aus francais et chinois. But yes, I've been very homesick. Quite in tune with these volunteer programs, as I've found half way is the time you get very homesick. We hit our one month mark just the other day. I'm quite proud.

We have been slightly more busy, but it still seems so sluggish in comparison to what we could be doing. But it's all connected as to how things are related. I'll explain that later. Some things we've seen as of late have been minor, but still interesting visits. We've seen two art buildings. One was a jade factory, but more indeed a gift shop. We seen how several chinese-culture art pieces are made, including silk rugs, vases, glass sculptures, clay dolls, jade art, bone, and leather work. Seeing the finished pieces is one thing, but seeing how they're are meticulously made is another. The next place we went to was a cloissone factory, whatever that is. There, we saw the process of how those shiny copper vases were made, with the intricate designs on them. Intricate indeed! They are put on, small piece by small piece, covered in a sort of paint/sand mixture and grinded down to a nice finish. And we can buy them in the market place for so cheap! It's quite neat. In the gift shop (naturally, they have a gift shop) we even found a 1,100,000 yuan vase bigger and wider then a door. Now seriously. How pompous and rich do you have to be to need to buy that beast? We joked you'd have to build your house around it!

We also went to the 200 day count down the Beijing Olympics. We were to perform "Hey Jude" there. Silly Canadians, we can't sing! Especially this one! Liu Meng was actually the MC, along with his girlfriend. There were other performers, including young children, some dancers, older woman doing sambas, and this HORRIBLE teenage girl singing Celine Dion songs. I thought the Peking opera was bad, this was unbearable. I got a movie to share with everyone when I get home, lol. And there was a african man who sang Chinese songs, which was very impressive. Surely, it wasn't best for last. But we tried, and they liked us. No big ovation this time. I guess they prefer Christmas songs.

The weekend was actually a quiet one. Most people were busy with their host families. All of the youth from universities are home for vacation now, so I spent some time with my host sister. She took me to the White Cloud Taoist Temple. It was very similar to every other temple I've been to so far. I think they have a temple-TEMPLATE. They had this large disc with a small bell inside of it. You could buy coins to huck at them. I found it an interesting place to be at none the less, as the taoist principles coincide with mine that I've been pondering for a while; all about balance, the ying and the yang. Alluding to buddhism, positive actions lead to happiness and fullfilment while negative actions lead to unhappiness. May the force be with you.

I was trying very hard to use up some gift certificates we were given for spending so much money at the spicy restaurant awhile back. I managed to get Felix and Stephane to come. We made it a guys night out. Good, meaty, spicy food, followed by some a medium bottle of bai jiu
between the three of us, which juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust did the trick. It was another well needed night out with some friends, as I was feeling very depressed this weekend. We just bullshitted, about the group, things back home and guy stuff. And what's more manly of an after-dinner activity then going to the arcade and playing some shooter games? My aim couldn't have been better. Jamie was absent though. I think he missed out.

And with that positive mind-set in motion, we seem to be having some group problems. As I mentioned, most are connected. "Participation" levels are low, especially with the Chinese participants it seems. Our supervisor isn't happy that we aren't happy with our counterparts. We barely see them, and work seems to be a problem. Because of their hectic schedules, we don't see them and they don't/can't participate in many group activities. There's always someone missing. Shit, half the time during EAD's or whatever, they're on their cell phones taking important calls. And there seems to be plenty of work for them, but none for us. We are getting a bit fed up with this. We understand they are busy, but the work placement is an important 3rd of our relations in CWY, the other two being host families and the counterpart themselves. If we complain about our workplacements, even to another supervisor at work, it reflects on our counterparts, whos responsibility actually IS to find work for us. Same with if we have a problem with our host families, despite the counterparts not living with us. So it's been stressed that we need to work on group dynamics. Mid-project camp is coming up very soon, in the next week or so. We plan to have lots of group dynamic workshops, but want to fashion them into a constructive environment rather then a blaming one, but doing so seems harder than we thought. Although it has nothing to do with group dynamic, I have this idea for a food workshop that I think has promise; it will go in depth as to what exactly is breakfast, lunch and dinner for the two countries, what foods they eat, customs, traditions, and maybe a few recipes. So I hope I can pull this off.

KTV - Beijings hiding place of the Chinese Idol

First off, wow. The food is pretty good here. But it will catch up to one day. Or like once a week. And when it does, make sure your in a private bathroom, with an actual toilet and plenty of toilet paper. Cuz those shitty little flat ones you squat over (even in the guys public rest rooms) will NOT cut it! And if you forget to bring toilet paper, your shit outta luck. Did anyone else notice the two references to shit in there? Quite the clever pun, eh? Anyway, back to whatever it is that I do. I'm still not quite sure yet.

I bought a new camera finally. And I think I chose an ideal time to buy one. I mean, hello! Where have you been? I'm in China! And my other one, god bless it, is about to bite the dust. The screen gets these scratchy digital marks and has very few functions, unlike my new baby. It's got functions out its ying-yang, which no doubtably has its own functions coming out of their ying-yangs! 6x optical zoom, 3x digital, face detection, anti-shake (cuz no one could take straight pictures with my camera but me) As you can tell, I did a lot of research (I told you I had a lot of free time) I did some shopping at Hong Qiao market, which I noted for its aggresive sales people and possibly cheap merchandise. But I looked at the very one I wanted, it came out of a box, had all the right stuff, including a salesman who spoke english. The thing at that market, is that almost guaranteed, if you walk away, they drop the price. I just didn't have enough money for the 1800 yuan, so "Dian" dropped it to 1520. The next day, I came back and bought the camera, a 2gig memory card (come the great wall, that puppies getting filled up!) and a case and lens cover that good ol Dian threw in last minute. All for 1650 yuna, or about $220 canadian, which I think is decent. The camera is fairly cheap, but that price would have only covered the camera, not the memory card. Gary thinks I could have got it cheaper, but I wanted it now and wouldn't know where to shop for a cheaper, possibly knock off version. So Devon wins! Because I said so! Yay!

I put it to a good use the day after, where we went to Stephane and Andy's EAD. Now, if you haven't read my first couple of entries on entering Beijng, do so now.

Okay. I promised myself I wouldn't do it. I told everyone I wouldn't do it. I'm still AMAZED that I did it. I don't think I want to do it again. Sigh. I rode a bike. Here! Amidst the crazy Beijingers. I'm sure that it qualifies as the Chinese version of screeching. You're now one of them. Gary unliked a bike to get to the EAD and said "okay Devon, get on." I'm like, "WHAT?" "Your riding the bike this time." At that point, I thought I was riding on the back of Gary's like ?I usually do. No. This time, I was riding his colleagues. I was not aware of this. Oh, and you want to know what the EAD's topic was?　TRAFFIC! Irony's funny. It wasn't that bad. Considering that when I go like 45kph in Kelowna traffic where I thought the drivers were bad, I was on full alert here. It wasn't that bad. Just had to keep a sharp eye out. I think my group was a little surprised that I met them at the traffic control center on a bike. But I don't think I'll do it again. Not because it's scary or dangerous, but because it made me miss biking at home, where I could go fast. This was faster then walking, but I'd rather take the bus. So we went into the traffic control center, which I kept getting confused for a police station. It was a bit blurred. We met in this board room where we were photographed and filmed (I'm not sure what for, news?) A speaker was translated for, who welcomed us. We were explained to a bit of the traffic control in the Chongwenmen District. They pulled back a curtain and showed us this hi-tech control room full of computers and on the wall, many monitors showing traffic, roadways and different systems. It was pretty fancy. Like a war room or something...on traffic! We left soon after that and went for lunch. Upon returning to the office, we were surprised to see Director Wang there. Maxime wanted to talk with the Canadians. I'm sure enough, many of us were thinking "oh shit, what did we do now?" Actually, no. I was surprised to hear Maxime tell us Director Wang was giving the Chinse a speech on their lack of participation with the group. No one had really said anything about this, as I guess most of us were used to it, and just thought the Chinese participants were busy with their job and families, a viable excuse. But it upset Director Wang, and he had a talk with them. This was actually good news, because lately, it has been the Canadians going out with the Canadians. So we continued on with the EAD, learning about Beijing's bus system and brief history on it. It was a very quick EAD, but we were cut for time and didn't learn about the subway or even the bikes, and where the hell the millions of them come from! I'm gonna have to ask Stephane and Andy out of my own self interest, because I really want to know! That night, the Canadians went out to the well talked about bar street, Sanlitun. Except a sick Sadie, we went out to the bar street intent on a "mandarin lesson"　Basically, ordering food and alcohol in chinese. But oh, I must work on my spanish, because we went to a tiny Mexican restaurant. Oh good lord, nachoes never seemed so appealing and never tasted SO delicious in my life. And the burritoes! The marguitas and daquiries and other drinks were good too. It really made me miss the variety of food back home in Canada. [Little excerpt here. Gary was asking me about the food at my host families house, if it was good, did I like it, etc. I began to talk to him about food. He, obviously, likes Chinese food and mentioned how it has such a deep history in different areas of China. Bluntly, but respectfully, I told him most people in Canada don't care about the history of their food, they just eat it because it tastes good. I was a bit saddened by the fact that Canada doesn't really have a signature food. I will disclude all things maple that come from Quebec, because that hardly represents Canada. We create other cultures food, they don't make ours. We make mexican food, we make french food, we make greek, indian, chinese, italian. When's the last time a Greek woman make Canadian food? Never!] So back to the night out. We decided to look for "The hidden tree" another well talked about visit. We found it, ironically, hidden in a quiet, turning alleyway, through a small unexpecting door. It was filled with ex-patriates, foreign people living in the country, if that is the correct term (FIX) Jammed pack. I guess it could have been a family establishment as well, because I saw children seated. However, we actually felt out of place and that we should be with Chinese people. Funny how that works. We found a less crowded bar, had a few cheap drinks and then most of us went home.

The following afternoon was also Canadian oriented. We decided it would be a good day to go to the Forbidden City. Ooooh! Revere in awe! Even with only half the group, it was still tough organizing everyone to be on time and meet at a place. Good thing we started "early" The Chinese participants had already been there before, as I'm sure most of us have been to the tourist attractions in our own home towns. We played it smart and split the cost of a tour-guide ear piece, having one person at a time play tour guide and telling the rest what was being said. It worked, but not as well as I had hoped, although Jamie and Heather had a blast. I was a bit preoccupied as my cameras batteries were dying and I was desperatly seeking a geocache. I never did find the geocache, instead being lost from my group (my decision though) It wasn't that great of a attraction, as many of the places were under construction. We were told we need several days to fully explore it. It's not just a temple, it's a city. Although we did explore a good 3/4 of it, I think we were rushed and didn't really get to take in a lot of things. I might go back again, with Felix and Sadie who were MIA. And go at my own pace. And bring fucking batteries! But it made me realize how I prefer natural attractions, that more specifically appeal to my adventurous side, like climbing mountains, unspoiled by people (mostly) Or hiking trails, national parks, lakes. That sort of thing.

I did a bit of bonding time with my host brother and sister. I taught them crazy eights; simple, yet fun. I also read my host brother the English off of his text books. I've accepted that I may not learn as much Mandarin as I like, despite how much I try. So the next best thing, if you can't learn, is to teach, right? Although I will admit, he's as impetious as his father when it comes to teaching. Almost shouting the chinese word does nothing! I don't know why they can't understand this. If I have a blank look on my face, I don't know what the hell you are trying to say. I can fill in the blanks sometimes, but not always. I'm not HOPELESS.

After reading a second book, entitled Cradle 2 Cradle, I've done a bit of reflecting. Actually I did even more reading Why I Hate Canadians. That's right, I've read TWO books! Look what boredom has reduced me to! Anyway, it's just gotten me thinking about Katimavik and CWY and even just everything after that. I read the second book of the author of Why I Hate Canadians, Will Ferguson. It was I Was a Teenage Katima-victim. Perfectly set, the author was in both, Katimavik AND Canada World Youth. I think I read the books at appropriate times. I really think that Katimavik made me appreciate my community and home, where as CWY is making me appreciate my culture and identity. Who knows what my bike trip will do for me. [It's this kind of reflecting that is prevalent in these volunteer programs]

I had no one interested or able to go in search of another geocache, so I did what I do in Hazelton a lot. I went by myself. I miss out on so many things just because of a lack of other enthusiasm, can I? I cranked my mp3 player and took the subway up north towards the Llama temple and Temple of Confucius. Walking along a strange street, I actually found the Temple of Confucius quite quickly. I paid a small fee to get in and explored at my own pace this time. It couldn't have been a better setting if it was planned. It was so quiet and peaceful there, barely a sound of the outside world seeping in. I walked around, took pictures and enjoyed myself, learning the history of Confucius and his teachings. A great place to reflect if there ever was one. And I found the geocache! Unfortunately, the other one nearby was closed for construction.

I can't remember what we did Monday. It get back to this.

But YESTERDAY! I'll be brief about my day at work. I played my DS, for almost the entire morning and afternoon. There. After, I met the Canadians at the library. We were to go to a government building and teach english apparently. We went there and met a group of executive directors, managers or something. I was completely out of the loop as to who these people were. They managed...stuff. And coordinated...things. But they were very nice and extremely pleasant about how good looking we were and being friends. I kid you not. We played a game where we had to see who could remember the most about other people, including family, name, and major in school. It was a mix of feelings, telling people I don't really have a major. They always take a bit of surprise to this. But after the game, that was it. We didn't teach anything or do any more activities. It may have been because of our time restriction. We had to go for supper before we went to a Chinese war movie, called Assembly. Damn Korean restaurants take forever! We were 15 minutes late for the movie. Luckily, I was told, there were no previews. It was a good war movie. Typical, but good. I swear though, the "American" soldier they had was TOTALLY a canadian! We laughed. Was a good night

Damn blog. I'm expecting a few emails or comlaints that "Devon, your blog is too damn long, blah blah blah." Haha, I gotta learn how to say, "Go to hell" in Mandarin!

"I'm gonna make Beijing my bitch!" - Devon

It was another quaint weekend, closely knit with the group. It is indeed a cultural experience, but weekend time just feels like it should be reserved for the group. Mostly because we never seen anyone outside of weekdays, because our routine seems to be; go to work, go home, eat, maybe some small activity with family, and go to sleep. Very little in between time. Unless of course you're doing so little at work you can afford to go visit Maxime who craves our attention like a 7 year old wants candy. It's quite funny sometimes.

It was great seeing everyone again at Maxime's office. It's always great. I will admit, not like Katimavik, because we ARE away from eachother for so long (or what seems so long) The circle check was another, well, the word emotional is getting worn out. There was a bit of almost-crying, bit of laughing, and a bit of yelling. However, I really must disagree with one participants notion that we don't need circle check. We joked how we shouldn't say anything about anything and just let it blow up at the end. It's funny, cause that exactly what would happen! It's not just about expressing how you feel and WHY you feel that way (as we described it should be) its about sharing, your feelings and your experience, letting others know about issues you may have similar problems with or have never thought of. It enriches the culture and eases the shock I think. And apparently, segregates some particular people when we all think shes a BITCH. *cough, but I won't say who. We went for a little field trip to Tiannanmen Square that cold day. I was a bit sad, because my camera was full. Although I had already taken pictures of the square, I wanted to take pictures of the very large theatre and all the other random places we were. Not to mention the bad parking some cars did! Oh wow! I don't know how some of them do it. We went shopping at some electronic store and we had Lilly help Lyndsay and I look at USB keys. I got a 2Gb stick for 100 yuan. So about 15$. Not bad. Gotta store all my pictures somewhere. I'm still in the market for a camera and shoes. But here, you have to be careful of getting knock offs. And you can't really tell until you use the product, although some have a sticker to show its good. We went to a very, VERY spicy restaurant that night. It was more nice then spicy I think. The bathrooms had pole dancer silhouettes and the hand washers were spouts of out trees! Classy. The food was good. We had fun with a certain pepper corn that made your lips and tongue all tingly. We did the pub thing again, which was a big hassle getting people home again. And it's so freakin expensive at pubs. Like seriously, 5 yuan for a beer at a restaurant, like 45 at a pub. Go get plastered at the restaurants! Then go get the casual beer with lounge. That's the Chinese-Canadian way.

I went out with Yuchan the whole day after. We were planning on getting lost and just finding our way around, exploring, whatever. I didn't care. We did a bit of shopping, and took the subway. I was a bit surprised when Yuchan, the chinese-Canadian participant, wanted to take the LONG way to her aunts house. It would have been like 16 stops! I told her we could turn around, take the transfer and be there in like 4. She was a bit mad and stammered "Do you want to get off and go back then?" Usually, I'd fold and just be like, "sigh, FINE!" No, this time I said "Yes! I do! Let's go back" We went back, and taking the transfer, Yuchan looked at a map, and hung her head. I looked at the map and bugged her "Yuchan, does this mean I was right? Does it!!! I know China better than you!!??!" She was pissed, but also, WRONG! It was funny and made me feel a little better knowing that a small-town boy can adapt to the big city well. We went to her aunts house, visited for a short bit. They had a medium says puppy husky. It was fun, being all friendly with it, as most of the Chinese are afraid of dogs. I was rubbing its face, being all "YOUR SUCH A GOOD BOY, ARENTCHA! ARENTCHA!" They were a bit surprised I wasn't afraid, as I was a bit surprised they were surprised. It's a dog! A cute fluffy dog with one of those smiles they give! Sure, some bite, but come on! ITS CUTE! It made me feel relaxed though, almost like a bit at home. Where a pet is a pet, or to a larger extent, a member of the family. Not a novelty, like so many small dogs in clothing I see walked around. I was told large dogs are illegal. I have this theory that they are chopped up into Chinese meat. I kid you not, one restaurant had dog meat. I won't go home til I try it once! Anyway, I took Yuchan home after a long day and lots of walking.

More walking ensured the next day (FUCK, I need better shoes!) I met Leah and Heather for coffee and RBT, (real brewed tea) and has a rabbit as a symbol. Jokes of the name are easy. They also have swings in there at some tables! But we also have this theory (lots of theories) that there's a waiting list to get on there, as they are always filled. So, back to lunch. We had some interesting conversations over various mocha/coffee/tea drinks and potatoe snacks. (I miss potatoes) The topics included the regular group stuff, sex, cars, and missing home. I think in that order. So now you see why I love hanging out with my group. Jamie joined us in a walk to a very commericial business center, like Times Square almost. We checked out a book store, flipped through some pages. I bought a better mandarin translation. Before I went home, I visited Maxime shortly to drop off his belated house warming gift. I had planned to buy him a carpet, but his floor is ass-nasty, and everyone wears slippers, so that seemed pointless. So I bought him some action figures at the market place, so he can re-enact little battles when he's all lonely and not with the participants. He loved them.

We had our first CAD yesterday. As Gary and I walked to the north gate of the Temple of Heaven, I asked Gary if we should be walking across the road at that point. Rushing traffic answered my question. Like the metaphor I used to describe my culture shock, it had become real. I was like a cat in the middle of Beijing traffic! Gary gripped my coat tight and told me not to walk. Well, no shit!!! We waited until a break between the cars and ran. Geez Gary! Pay attention next time!!! So we carried on. The Temple of Heaven is like right dab smack in the middle of the Chongwen district. It was quite pretty. Lots of gates, and trees, and buildings, and okay, it was AMAZING. I takes a lot to really amaze me. This was just nice. The architecture was cool though. I almost cried when camera dilemma wasn't a full memory card this time, but dead batteries! Luckily, Sadie loaned me some. So I carried on, taking group pictures, those of me in front of these monuments, and some artistic ones. There was this cool "echo wall" where if you stand at opposite sides of this circled area with bricks close together, you can hear the other person quite clearly. I was assured that it probably wouldn't work, with too many people doing it. But there were few. It was a highlight. Although you were only like 60 metres away. Some cool pictures later, and we were out for lunch. We went to a nice jiaozi place (fried dumplings) We went to a Peking Opera after! I was excited. Sure, it was opera, but I like theatre and the arts no less. Fuck, was I surprised. I thought we were going into an apartment building to take a piss, but no, it was in the basement! The stage was decent though. We had this theory (see!) that this opera, being in the basement of an apartment building, was put on by the employees (land lord, janitors, etc) the audience was the tenants. And a few bored as hell CWY participants. As you could imagine, it wasn't that great. It totally wasn't what I was expecting. While I was expecting a large auditorium, bellowing singing, amazing costumes, and the sense of a grand opera, what we got was pretty cool costumes, a talking, coughing audience (especially one guy!) annoying repetitive music, shrilling annoying "singing" and of course, the good ol' language barrier. I am quite sure, that even if I did understand what they were saying, I wouldn't have enjoyed it much more. Even the Chinese participants didn't understand everything! So we learned something that day: stay the hell away from peking opera! A few of us went to Maxime's for dinner. One girl had a real tough time, having not getting ahold of her host dad and letting him know where she was. She came from a controlled family, and had little freedom, because they were so worried about her. But she's a very independant girl, who loathes that kind of restriction. She was quite worried, but I offered to take her home. I knew abouts where she lived, so I promised her I'd get her home; it might take awhile, but I wouldn't leave her until she was in her house. So we went for a dinner in a real "hole in the wall" as Maxime called it. His dish was this seriously messed up chicken dish. It was like the chef chopped up a cooked, yet FROZEN chicken, bones and all, mashed up some nuts, through random spicy spices on it, and served it. Not well enjoyed. I took the girl home after. It was quite the adventure. I knew where we were going, but we just kept getting detoured, roads not going quite where we thought they were. But I kept on insisting it was an adventure, and we were exploring along the way. Plus, I promised I'd get her home. Also, I'm stubborn and hate to turn around. We ventured through the subway, new foreign streets, hutongs (poor, close-knit alley ways) speeding traffic ways and even walked along this dark, dirt road beside the train tracks. Surely an adventure. I think it was about 2 hours later that we arrived at her apartment building. There was a bit of phone tag between our counterparts, so to communicate to our host families what happened. My mission completed, my chivilaric self boastful, (yet modest) I bussed my own way back home. I was hen lai le (tired) and dropped into bed after getting home. And now, back at work, relaying this story to the fans.

"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone!" Seriously, I got new glasses!

Wow! Whoa! Ho! .....Slow!.....Now I remember why I quit writing poetry.

The last week has been quite....something. I was so excited to finally see my group. Like, REALLY excited. I was so jittery. Really. I couldn't stop shaking because my nerves were shot! Like, nervous break down shot! First, it snowed! And driving in the snow was worse then normal, and if you've read the last few excerpts, you'll know that normal is bad! Then Gary gave me a ride on his bike to our meeting place. It all just added up you know? I was so happy to see Anthony smoking outside, just a familiar face. Then the others, just asking how it's been, what have they done, how are their host families, etc. Most of the experiences seemed similar, a bit scary, not knowing what our host families are saying most of the time. Everyone gatherered in Maxime's office, where some of us just began to hug eachother. Sadie, known in Kelowna to bike everywhere, I just hugged and told her "Never, EVER touch a bike here!" We all shared in excitement and nervousness our stories. We had a well needed circle check, ever since the olympic talk fiasco. I was last, listening to everyone talk about their miscommunication, or lack thereof, sharing things with their host families, and just the experience. When it got to me, I was very jittery. I told my group, well, practically everything I've past written. I described it as being a small kitten in the middle of a Beijing highway, me being the cat. It just hit me hard is all. It felt very comforting to tell everyone this. Just hearing some people having the same problems helped. That afternoon, we opened up letters we had written to ourselves at the beginning of the program. It was like talking to yourself, a different self who had different expectations and aspirations. I laughed and chuckled a bit, cuz I wrote some silly things to myself. What do you expect? So we wrote new letters, and I just shared the same experiences I did at circle check and how I expect to overcome them, that I will, and when I'm done, I'll be a better person and stronger one at that. It'll be good to read after the next 3 months. We went for a small walking tour and went to a mall for lunch. Fast food restaurants are similar I guess. The one we were at gave out large stone bowls with our food in them. But even the food all looks like the food everywhere else. Doesn't really look "greasy" or anything. Ironic I say that, because they add oil to EVERYTHING. I calmed down a lot by the afternoon. I went home, excited to see my host sister who was coming home from university as well, but she wasn't there until Saturday.

The next day, I went out with some of the group to go meet some of Kassie's friends for dinner. It was nice to go out to another dinner. We've been doing that a fair bit lately, but it seems expected. We just discussed everything, had a few beers (15 tall ones between like 8 of us) and Maxime shared some great stories with us from his Benign program, like the one about the kid bleeding out the ass and the retarded doctors who let someone die next to him. Glad we have an experienced person in our group. We went our Lotus Lake, a frozen lake with lots of pubs around it. People beg you to come into their pub, and sometimes drag you I've been told. We chose one, but it was a bit hectic as it was late and we were still deciding and figuring out rides. I came home around 10pm. Just in time to meet my host sister and fall asleep.

The next morning, we were meeting at the Red Theatre to watch an arts performance. Dancers, singers, and even a short demonstration of kung fu. I liked it rather much, as a supporter for the arts. We were planned to be part of it! As the Canadian guests, we were to perform a Christmas song. What song did we choose? That damn annoying one! 12 days of Christmas. But we shortened it to the 8 Days of Christmas instead. We were all nervous, but I just enjoyed the idea, that we were performing (albeit a very minor) at a Chinese arts performance! The song was alright, but our counterparts in the audience said it was grand. At the end, they brought us out with some higher officials (the judges maybe?) and they blew confetti guns and cheered. Oh, to be a foreigner in front of an applauding crowd. We rock! I went out with some girls for lunch at a noodle place, with a stop at the Chinese 7/11. It was a bit different. God I miss taquitoes! Then we walked around, Canadians only. It was the most cold and windiest day ever. What I thought was the sweet munchies for Yuchan was actually a stop for a slice of birthday cake for me! Although it was a day early, my friends remembered my birthday! I was so happy. We walked around a bit more, stopping at a book store. The rest of the group seemed to appear. I guess they were called. They had some drinks and snacks and we went into a building close by. I thought it was another activity that was supposedly planned for later, but as we walked into a karaoke room, they all yelled "SURPRISE!" It was! It really was! I had no clue the entire day (which isn't hard if you know me well) I really appreciated it, especially considering I ruined my surprise party last year by, ahem, showing up. Don't ask. We laughed, we sang. But take note. Even the english songs aren't the same versions we all know and love. The energy by our well known singers just isn't there. And the singer themselves are different. Even Ivy, the vice director of foreign affairs (second to Director Wang) was there. I was thrilled, however, the party ran short, as it was in the afternoon, but people ran out of steam quickly. We retired for the night.

On my actual birthday, my host sister took me to the market place, close by our house. It's insane there. So many people, even foreigners, walking up and down like a hundred aisles and alleyways, lots of small counters and shops and stores. It was more antique oriented. But it was very cool, and I had a tough time saying no to so many shop keeps, telling them I was just looking. Next, she took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone, that I was borrowing off of her cousin. I was a little surprised to be buying a SIM card off of a random lady on the street almost, picking my phone number out of a coloring book it seemed! But lo and behold, it did work. It was charged that afternoon, while Gary took Mavis, my host sister, his girlfriend and I bowling. But the bowling alley was closed, and Gary tried hard to find things for us to do. It was difficult though, as he kept asking me what I wanted to do. It's Beijing! How the hell do I know what I want to do, or know what there is TO do? We went to the Hong Qiao market, another market place, but more uptodate and sold new things. In other words, a lot of stuff that was either fake, or they sold expensive. It was another thrilling place for me, bustling with people from all over the world, haggling with the clerks, this time a little more refined, dressed up, and THEN trying to rip you off. I wanted to look for a new memory card for my camera. But when Gary found a cheap one, they found out my camera was out of date and couldn't handle a 2 Gb memory card. I sighed and decided I needed a new camera. Mine had lasted long enough, for the last two years. I bought it in Katimavik, when my last one burned out. But I was not sad, as it had been far and wide, from mountain tops to underground, to yonder rivers and above the air. I kid you not. So now, I'm shopping for a new one. What better place to though, eh? Gary took me to see Tiannanmen Square too. It was so crowded with tourists, even Chinese alike, against the rails to see the guards. They come out of Mao Zidong's building and lower the flag with the sun. It was good timing. Gary took us out for birthday noodles after, as is the tradition in China. I was more excited to eat sweet and sour pork, TRUE sweet and sour pork. It was so delicious, moist, yet crunchy, just like my old love affair of meat, ginger beef! I returned home to find my cell phone now charged and ready for phone calls. It was a great birthday.

New Year's, sorry to say, wasn't as exciting. We planned to hang out with people, but being still fresh with our host families, it's hard to stray away as lots of participants were being shown off to other family members or just busy. I went exploring for the first time by myself. I walked towards the Longtan (Dragon) park. It was a shame it was winter, as I expect it will be beautiful in the spring or summer. I met Lyndsay and Lilly and we went to a restaurant for a hot pot. Only about 10 of us showed up, but it was still a celebration. The restaurant was very hospitable, with hot towels, plates of fruit, and a small demonstration of noodle making! This lady practically skipped with noodle dough, almost whipping it in your face. And through casual conversation, we found out that a "hairdresser" is slang for prostitute. Needless to say, that sparked some vulgar jokes. After, I decided to try to stay out fairly late, as in, home by 10pm. I went out with Jamie in attempts to visit Maxime, but he wasn't home and was hard to get ahold of. So there we were, in front of a mall with a big New Years stage, in Beijing, at 9:20pm. Happy New Years! I left, not wanting to be late, especially because my host dad trusted me with the house key. That was big, considering I don't think any other participants have keys. We couldn't stay out late, as most of the host families didn't want us to. They we scared for us, especially the girls, and refused to give most of us keys. We tried to express the importance of New Year's but they didn't understand. It's quite disappointing for us, because we like to go out, experience the night life. This does not necessarily mean go partying or drinking, but we have fun late at night. I think it's part of the cultural experience. But I've been told me may have to wait like a month or two before they soften up on this.

Yesterday was a nice, cold, windy day, as the past couple days have been. I guess that the dark smog we saw the first couple of days actually was due to the stranger weather.

Yes. I am admitting the pollution problem doesn't look as bad as I made it out to be. I'm not saying it's not a problem, but it's not as bad as it seemed the first day.

So I went out in the afternoon with Leah and Kassie to go get my glasses fixed. Lucky I am to be in a place where a lot of these kind of things are cheap. And plentiful it seems! We went into a 4 story building, one floor consisting entirely of glass crafters, contact lens stores and the such. I repaired my old glasses for 60 yuan and got a whole new sexy pair for 100 yuan. Typically, for pricing, we divide by 7 to get the approximate value of how much were spending. So 160 for a repair and new pair comes to a little more then $20. Yay China! And Leah got purple contact lenses for fun, which make her look like an anime character. We visited Maxime to show them off and just chilled with him. I haven't even mentioned his apartment, which is hiliarious in itself! His bathroom is like 1 meter by 1 meter (yes, metric sytem!) He has to turn sideways to use the toilet, and has to stand over the toilet to shower! The whole apartment just makes you laugh. And laughing, at this point, as how we stay sane.

I got to laugh some more when I finally phoned home, the first time since I got here. Just hearing comforting words from family and friends really helped. And even when I checked my email, lots of people remembered I'm over here and wished me Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday and even a happy new year! Glad to know I'm missed.

The hurricane has passed, and things have slowed down a bit. After getting to know the city and it's people a bit better, the stress level has quickly dropped. It was just the intensity of being thrown in it all so fast with no group members and little counterpart contact. I've thought about it though. To me, Beijing is the scariest place I've ever been. From going to one of the smallest places in Canada to one of the biggest in the world, where the traffic still scares the hell out of me, and the obvious language barrier. The biggest city ever, the worst traffic I've experienced and I can't understand almost anyone. This is the scariest place I've ever been. And I'm not afraid of it no more. Except when I'm standing in the middle of a cross walk on a green light, then its like "AUGH HOLY SHIT! STUPID BEIJING!"