After days of not doing anything much in Madras at all, I just went to the museum. It was really nice, the building is a remnant of the British Raj, gorgeous architecture, lush, green gardens, and really nice bronze sculptures. On the other hand, the Contemporary Art Gallery was rather hit-and-miss - they had plastic airplane models scattered among 10th Century bronze boxes. Reminded me a little of the museum in Bangkok - its interesting to see what the curators consider museum-worthy.
While strolling around the museum grounds, this old man approached me with a Psst. Pot? Bhang? Nope. He was selling postcards. (I bought a few.)
I ate a late breakfast, and ate too much. There's a tiny shop near this internet access place that I'm at that makes the best chaat - but I'm afraid I might be too full to eat - the horrors! I think I'm off now to grab something to drink. Its not as mind-bogglingly hot as it was in China, but still hot enough that I'm always thirsty. And unfortunately, no Pocari Sweat. Pocari Sweat, how I miss you.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
And now I am in India...
Last stop - India.
My last breakfast in China was, coincidentally, at the same place I'd had breakfast the first day in China. We had, literally, come full circle.
People asked me why I wanted to go to China to study Chinese, and my answer was always - When else in my life will I get a chance to do something like this? And it was true, looking into the future, I can't imagine a stretch of time where I'll be able to divorce reality long enough to camp out in China, supposedly studying, mostly just hanging out and eating good food for six weeks. My six weeks in China were good, interesting and fun. I think I want to keep at the studies; I really enjoyed the small victories that came with understanding (a few) conversations, ordering food and buying stuff.
I'll definitely go back to China, but I'll definitely avoid Beijing in summer.
As for my last day in India, its been very low-key and mellow. I've satisfied the craving for Indian food by eating non-stop since I've been here. Tonight, I plan to head to a bookstore to figure out where to go vacation for about a week - Madras is fun for about a week, and then I run out of things to do, and get very bored. I'd originally intended to spend a week beaching in Goa, but the monsoon has struck with a vengence, and being on the beach when its raining doesn't sound that much fun. Tomorrow, I've designated family visiting day.
The plan is also to try to come back a week early, so September 1st, instead of September 7th. However, Thai Airways is not cooperating so far - flights seem to be sold out. The agent adviced persistance - its a virtue that I singularly lack, but I'm giving it my best shot.
My last breakfast in China was, coincidentally, at the same place I'd had breakfast the first day in China. We had, literally, come full circle.
People asked me why I wanted to go to China to study Chinese, and my answer was always - When else in my life will I get a chance to do something like this? And it was true, looking into the future, I can't imagine a stretch of time where I'll be able to divorce reality long enough to camp out in China, supposedly studying, mostly just hanging out and eating good food for six weeks. My six weeks in China were good, interesting and fun. I think I want to keep at the studies; I really enjoyed the small victories that came with understanding (a few) conversations, ordering food and buying stuff.
I'll definitely go back to China, but I'll definitely avoid Beijing in summer.
As for my last day in India, its been very low-key and mellow. I've satisfied the craving for Indian food by eating non-stop since I've been here. Tonight, I plan to head to a bookstore to figure out where to go vacation for about a week - Madras is fun for about a week, and then I run out of things to do, and get very bored. I'd originally intended to spend a week beaching in Goa, but the monsoon has struck with a vengence, and being on the beach when its raining doesn't sound that much fun. Tomorrow, I've designated family visiting day.
The plan is also to try to come back a week early, so September 1st, instead of September 7th. However, Thai Airways is not cooperating so far - flights seem to be sold out. The agent adviced persistance - its a virtue that I singularly lack, but I'm giving it my best shot.
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
And more photos
This time, in Beijing. We caught the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace in one jam-packed day.
Beijing Pics
Beijing Pics
Monday, August 8, 2005
Tales from Tianjin
Its been a ridiculously long time since I posted - I blame this on the fact that I had very little to complain about. I managed, soon after the last post, to solve my food woes, with the following trilogy of questions/statements:
I am vegetarian.
No meat. No fish.
Is this vegetarian? No meat, no fish?
I've therefore been eating well, in fact, I've branched out to ordering specific things, like corn or mushrooms, where I would have formerly been content with just vegetarian.
China has been fun. This country also seems to have a rapidly increasing divide between rich and poor - a cup of coffee in some coffeeshops can cost as much as RMB68. (Yup. That is $8.50. No typo there.) At the same time, I can walk to the neighboring market and eat - bread, dumplings, noodles, more food than I can eat, and pay as little as RMB 2, or RMB 3. I've never thought of Starbucks as the cheap coffee option, but it really seems to be the cheapest large cup of coffee in China.
On weekends, I've roamed not so far and wide - mostly to Beijing, which is fun, expensive and chockful of entertainment options. I've seen mostly everything I wanted to see - the only thing that remains is a trip to the (heavily restored) section of the Great Wall near Beijing.
Other weekend trips have included Xi'an - home to the Terracota Soldiers, and also a smallish Chinese city with a distinctly cool, student vibe. We also went to Shanhaiguan, where the Great Wall meets the sea, encircles the town and forms part of the town wall, before rising into the mountains. I've photos of all these things, I'm just running behind on posting them. I'll fix that soon.
Six weeks of Chinese later, my brain is full, my Chinese, terrible. I can form sentences expressing my wants and needs, but when people reply, I have no idea what they say. I'm still pleased though, mostly because I'm getting, as mentioned above, vegetarian food.
Tianjin doesn't have a lot of entertainment options - it seems like. For a while, I tried frantically to find stuff to do. I'd accost random people on the street, and passionately ask them where they hung out. A few weeks of unsatisfactory answers later (in their dorms, in the library, etc.) I sadly abandoned the quest. On the other hand, homework (when I do it) doesn't leave a lot of time for hanging out. However, all in all, its been a good time.
I am vegetarian.
No meat. No fish.
Is this vegetarian? No meat, no fish?
I've therefore been eating well, in fact, I've branched out to ordering specific things, like corn or mushrooms, where I would have formerly been content with just vegetarian.
China has been fun. This country also seems to have a rapidly increasing divide between rich and poor - a cup of coffee in some coffeeshops can cost as much as RMB68. (Yup. That is $8.50. No typo there.) At the same time, I can walk to the neighboring market and eat - bread, dumplings, noodles, more food than I can eat, and pay as little as RMB 2, or RMB 3. I've never thought of Starbucks as the cheap coffee option, but it really seems to be the cheapest large cup of coffee in China.
On weekends, I've roamed not so far and wide - mostly to Beijing, which is fun, expensive and chockful of entertainment options. I've seen mostly everything I wanted to see - the only thing that remains is a trip to the (heavily restored) section of the Great Wall near Beijing.
Other weekend trips have included Xi'an - home to the Terracota Soldiers, and also a smallish Chinese city with a distinctly cool, student vibe. We also went to Shanhaiguan, where the Great Wall meets the sea, encircles the town and forms part of the town wall, before rising into the mountains. I've photos of all these things, I'm just running behind on posting them. I'll fix that soon.
Six weeks of Chinese later, my brain is full, my Chinese, terrible. I can form sentences expressing my wants and needs, but when people reply, I have no idea what they say. I'm still pleased though, mostly because I'm getting, as mentioned above, vegetarian food.
Tianjin doesn't have a lot of entertainment options - it seems like. For a while, I tried frantically to find stuff to do. I'd accost random people on the street, and passionately ask them where they hung out. A few weeks of unsatisfactory answers later (in their dorms, in the library, etc.) I sadly abandoned the quest. On the other hand, homework (when I do it) doesn't leave a lot of time for hanging out. However, all in all, its been a good time.
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