Baseball caps?

I can't decide how often I want to write in my blog. Last semester, when trying to put off homework, I would love the anticipation of having friends put up new, interesting blog posts. I have to balance that, however, with the possibility of having the reputation of living on the internet. Anyway, it's been more than four days so I think it's okay.

There are a lot of Koreans here studying Chinese. I guess it's a thing now. Anyway, I noticed a couple trends while observing various Korean girls. The first thing I noticed is that they are all about heels. So are Chinese girls here, but not to the same extent, and definitely not around campus. Korean girls, however, are all about wearing heels everywhere. Usually with skinny jeans. Which brings me to my next point. Most of them are really skinny. Or at least pretty skinny. I don't think I've seen even one on the chubby side. Third, they all seem to wear lots of makeup. Like a lot. But the oddest thing of all is their obsession with baseball caps. This, of course, is a generalization, but I've noticed that a ton of Korean girls here (from Korea) wear baseball caps all the time. Especially many wear Yankee's caps, which makes me think they are from New York. Turns out none of them are (since they are all from Korea). It's a really odd image. Looking from the bottom up, you see heels, skinny jeans or leggings, sometimes a skirt, a nice top/jacket, a made-up face and a lot of the time hoop earrings, and then a baseball cap. Really weird.

In other fashion related news, I just read an article on BBC about how fleeces aren't fashionable. I don't really get why they would or would not be fashionable, since I think fleeces are really worn for practicality, but what was more interesting was the fact that there were a ton of comments on the story debating the fashionable uses of fleeces. If you wanted to be fashionable, why would you wear a fleece anyway? It's not like anyone is arguing about it.

I met a cool guy on like Tuesday night. His name is Keisuke (the second one I've met!) and he's from Okinawa. He was a contact I got about cell (small?) group with my church. Anyway, we played some guitar and got to talking about hobbies. I have a lot of them. One of them is bowling, and he happened to like bowling too. We chatted about it for a while, and decided we would go bowling sometime. The next night (Wednesday) at around 11:30 PM, Keisuke showed up outside my door asking if I wanted to go bowling. I've never gone bowling that late. It was really fun though. Here's the thing: bowling alleys in China (or at this one) are really different from the ones in the US, and according to Keisuke, the ones in Japan too. You can't get any spin on the ball in the lanes here. You can like flick it as hard as you can and it will just go straight. If you have ever bowled with me, you know all I can do is spin (Anoop style). I scored the worst I've ever scored in bowling ever, but I started to learn how to throw straight. Anyway, this story wasn't about my poor bowling. It was about this other Japanese guy that Keisuke happened to know. This guy was good. I don't think I've ever seen a turkey before and I saw him get six. SIX TURKEYS. During the three games I watched him, he scored something like 184, 223, 193. This guy was nuts. Amazing bowling. Almost always got a strike or spare.

I was going to mention a couple other interesting things but now I forget what they are. Which is disappointing. But that gives me an excuse to write another time, which I find really exciting. If any of you guys go to the RJD2 concert, let me know how it goes!

Unabated Anger

I'm having a lot of fun making blog entry titles. This one is really accurate. I would say I'm generally not an angry person, and according to close friends, when I am angry, I'm a kind of sulky angry. Anyway, right now I'm a violent kind of angry. I seriously CANNOT believe that the semester I'm in China RJD2 comes to campus. This Friday. And I'm not there. And I know Middlebury has a history of people just going to see a concert because it's a concert, which has previously made performers unhappy. RJD2 is one of my favorite artists ever. UNABATED ANGER. I'm SO pissed. Anyway, I hope it passes quickly. I'm gonna make up for this by seeing him at least four times in the next two years. Anyway, for my Middlebury readers (I hope there are a lot of you), can you do me a favor? 1. Get a ticket to the show, borrow a video camera from the library, get a tape, and record the show. Then show it to me after I get back to school. 2. Ask MCAB to record the concert (if you/they don't know how I can tell you how). Please. Seriously.

Anyway, in my effort to regularly post twice a week, I've been trying to think of interesting thoughts to write here. I want to talk about how often I'm walking. It's a lot. I walk a little less than half an hour each way from and to class, which means its about a mile each way. I also walk to get all my meals. Then, of course, there's all the walking I do from my desk to the bathroom or my bed. Anyway, I walk a lot. I like it. I guess that wasn't as interesting as it seemed in my head.

Oh yeah another thing. I dress like a slob compared to people here. Based upon my observations in China, Americans (and sort of Canadians by extension?) are the sloppiest dressed people in the world. Or at least the developed world. I've been wearing my foursquare hoodie around everywhere and I seriously look like scruffy. Definitely not up to the standards of Chinese fashion. It was most obvious at church on Sunday. Even in the US, I'm generally the worst dressed person at Memorial Baptist (in Middlebury) and at Good Shepherd (at home). I've been wearing sweaters and button/collar shirts here, but wearing a sweatshirt on top of that was pretty not aesthetically pleasing. The guys there looked good, but the girls looked really good. The young women at my church are really good looking. Like really good looking. I can't really believe it. Anyway, that is to say I really need to put myself together and dress to...impress? Or at least not stick out due to my poor clothing choice.

I am getting back into a soul/neo-soul groove. I want a thick voice. Thick like gravy. A gravy-like voice. I would even settle for like an au jus-like voice. While I've been in China, my Chinese has definitely improved, but I'm surprised about the degree to which my English has degenerated. Sometimes when I think of words, I can't think of it in English or in Chinese. That's just bad.

Oh and,

I forgot to answer to my comments!

My handkerchief (is that spelled right? my spell check caught it) is, sadly, not monogrammed. And yes, I really have one now. I don't plan on hitchhiking because, for one, I think if I gave a thumbs up by any roads here I would just get really odd stares. The toilet paper is fine, I found a stash my roommate bought under the sink. The toilets are also mostly fine. In nicer places (including my dorm) they are just normal, but in most public places they are squat toilets. In those occasions, you have to bring your own toilet paper, which is on the awkward side of things. For some reason though, squat toilets are so satisfying. I don't know why. Indoor ski jumping is possible, but I didn't end up going (yet). Lastly, I have no idea why they thought he was gay. He seemed a little feminine I guess. He also had kind of nasty, wispy facial hair.

A Couple Days Late

So I meant to write an update sometime midweek, but that didn't end up happening, so this is the replacement! Many things have happened in the last week, but I don't think a lot of them are that interesting.

On the mundane side, classes started this week. There are 9 different levels of Chinese here, ranked from A, the easiest, to I, the hardest. I got placed into C and moved up to D. I really like my classmates - they are super cool. Most are older than I am too. I think a lot of people are here post-graduation looking to improve their Chinese. I have, although, met some really young kids - an 18 year old and a 15 year old both from Kazakhstan. Pretty mind-blowing. I got an electronic Chinese dictionary too. The thing is seriously a life saver. You can write the word right onto the touch screen and it will just check it up for you. It also has Sudoku puzzles so if you are bored in class you can sit around and play those. Additionally, you can add in MicroSD cards and play MP3s and MP4s (music and videos)...on your dictionary. Seriously? Speaking of amazing freaking technology, my Japanese friend has this crazy cell phone that is a touch screen when you flip it open and swivel the screen and a flip phone you don't swivel it. It's so crazy. It is an MP3 player, 5.2 megapixel camera, and plays LIVE TV. LIKE LIVE TELEVISION, FULL PROGRAMS. Oh, and of course internet, instant messaging, email, and all that other basic stuff. It's nuts. Oh, and it has a little Goku that flies around the screen. That's like the cherry on top.

This weekend, two of my good friends Kenzie Chin and Vrutika Mody, from Middlebury, came to Shanghai! I successfully snuck them into the foreign dorms five people-nights. 3 nights for Tika and 2 for Kenzie. It was no small feat. I took this opportunity to both speak candidly to people I knew in English, which was awesome, and to finally explore the touristy sites in Shanghai. We went to Nanjing Road, a shopping hotspot (where I bought things from UNIQLO!), the Bund (along the western side of the Huang Pu river), Xintiandi, this really nice upscale kind of foreign place, the French Concession, Old Town, and to see my grandmother. It was cool but also weird since I had seen most of those touristy sites before on previous trips to Shanghai. I felt kind of naked without my parents around me. It was really fun though. I'll try to get pictures from them later.

So I don't remember if I have written about having a roommate before, but if I haven't, the short story is that I'm in a double and when I moved in all my roommate's stuff was here (computer, cell phone, watch, clothes, toothbrush, towel, etc.) and he wasn't here for the first two weeks. Every night I was a little worried that when I woke up there would be another guy in my room, and the longer it took before he got here the more freaked out I got. To the point where I thought he might have just like died. Seriously freaked out. Anyway, in hosting (against the rules) my two friends, I was even more worried, since my two friends were on our respective beds and I was on the floor. Anyway, the night before we had all had dreams about my roommate coming in and like it being really awkward. Last night it happened, at around 6 AM. I guess he was traveling in Hainan. We heard the door open and saw a pretty tall guy just standing in the doorway and I was like oh crap. It was pretty odd. Anyway, he's Polish, and surprisingly tan for a Polish guy. He also has huge feet. They are surprisingly large.

Anyway, I can't seem to remember the answer to my security question for my credit card. My bill is HUGE. When I tried to look at my statement they asked me my security question, which I know the answer to, and I couldn't seem to remember how to type it correctly. I tried a couple times and I can't get in, which is troubling. You guys might know this (and this will show how ridiculous I am) - If I could control my height, how tall would I be? (and for bonus, why?)

I'll holler again later. I'm getting McDonalds for lunch. I don't know why it seems so much more appealing in China.

All-Star Weekend

I missed it. All the festivities of All-Star Weekend. Because I am in China and didn't want to pay for my TV to work. Lame. Instead, I watched this video: Vinsanity. I've seen it over and over again and it just doesn't get old. I'm pretty sure I just saw a cockroach scuttle from my bathroom into my dorm room wall. China.

Anyway, some of you might ask how my last week has been! It's been good. I've branched out from just hanging out with Californians to hanging out with various Mexican, New Zealand, Japanese, Guinean, American, Ukrainian, and other peoples. It's been pretty fun. I've now been to a total of six clubs in Shanghai. All of them reek of tobacco smoke. Like seriously reek. I guess there are no laws about smoking inside here so it's legitimately like second-hand smoking several packs of cigarettes. Also, the smell is like impossible to get out. With my new international friends, I've gotten a chance to practice a ton of ... English. We haven't started Chinese classes yet so I've been speaking English to them as our only form of communication. I have, however, been starting to learn Japanese and Spanish (again) and refreshing some French. Also, I picked up a couple Ukrainian phrases.

While shopping in the underground market (not illegal, just under the ground) by the Shanghai Museum of Science and Technology, I went into a nice store that sold like fake designer button-down shirts and stuff. The point of the story is that I got two shirts, two ties, a hankerchief, and a set of cufflinks for about $30 (US). However, inside the store there was an Asian boy. I mean besides me. My friends that I was shopping with were convinced that 1. he was super cute and 2. he was absolutely gay. The guy that was with us apparently was gay also. Since I was the only one of the four of us who had any Chinese experience, it was apparently up to me to invite him out that night, ask for a picture, get his number, and ask if the gay guy with us could get a kiss. I got no for an answer, got a picture and his number, and there was no gay kissing. Success?

My health is doing fine so far. I had a bowl of ma la tang (spicy soup?), which is kind of like a solo super-cheap hot pot place. Actually I had two bowls, but I'm pretty sure my last four days of straight stomachaches can be attributed to the second bowl. Anyway, the way the ma la tang place works is that you pick everything you want in your soup (I picked tofu skin, bok choy, noodles, mushrooms, and some other crap) and then they just toss it into a huge pot and make it for you with their soup base. I'm pretty sure it gave me extended food poisoning. That or a similar stomach virus that I got last summer while I was here that basically incapacitated me. I hope it's not that though. Speaking of health, I got to see my grandmother four or five days ago, which was nice. Her health is apparently improving quite rapidly, which is good. I would appreciate prayers for both our healths. After I visited my grandmother, my uncle took me out for dinner. I ate some pigeon. It was quite fragrant. That's a word they use a lot in China, particularly in relation to food.

Classes start tomorrow and last night I only got four hours of sleep, so I'm gonna go sleep now. I'm pretty tired. I'll write again really soon with other random thoughts. Comment so I know you are alive! Also it makes my day!

addendum

I just got some noodles for dinner and while eating it in the shop I heard in order Take it Easy by Mika and the intro track for Kanye's Graduation. Ridiculous

Lazier Afternoons

So I got a dorm room in the foreign students dorm on the fifth floor. Apparently I'm legally not allowed to live with a Chinese citizen. That's nuts. Anyway, My dad's best friend and his wife housed me for a couple days and then helped me move in. They are super nice. Also, he looks like a guy in a manga that I read (20th Century Boys) that looks like a frog. Apparently in the dorms here you have to pay for pretty much everything because only the room and furniture are included in the dorm fee. That means I'm getting charged for the internet per hour, have to pay for the TV, and have to buy my own toilet paper. Oh, and water. No drinking tap water here.

Oddly enough, the first meal here I braved alone ended up being across the street from my room at an Indian restaurant (I took Simon's advice) where the lao ban spoke English. Some exciting adventure that was. While in China, I have started to be a bit more observant of the things around me, probably for a couple reasons. The first is that walking around right now I don't really have anyone to talk to, and if I do, it's a pretty big challenge to say interesting things in Chinese. A possible second is that there are just some things that I think are really peculiar here. For instance, pedestrians have like the least precedence, even on sidewalks. Cars go first, then mopeds, then electric bikes, and people on the street (lots of them) try not to die while walking around. There are condom dispensers everywhere along the streets, which I think is a little creepy. But I guess it's for a good cause - they are trying to prevent AIDS and the dispensers say so. There are a lot more sexually-ambiguously dressed people in China. Lots of guys wear really skinny pants and tight low-cut shirts and have really really long hair styled like girls' hair. Some girls also dress like dudes. I guess that's cool.

Walking around now since I can't talk as much, I end up thinking about things I would write in my blog, but then realize no one wants to read super long diatribes anyway. I went to a Wal-Mart to buy all my dorm stuff. How lame and American. I ran into some interesting people here at Fudan U too, including a girl I went to middle school with, another Warriors fan, and one of Stephanie and Teresa's freshman year suitemates. Who I creepily recognized. Lots of kids here are from the UCs on that EAP thing.

Paul Hildebrand (hi!) wrote me a fantastic email saying that I write like I talk. That's pretty cool. Anyway, for regularity, there are trade rumors going around (reputable ones) about either a Monta Randolph/Stoudemire or Beidrins Randolph/Stoudemire (or C. Bosh, but apparently the Raptors aren't interested) trade possibly going down. I feel so torn! I love Bosh and Stoudemire is sick, but I also love Monta and Beins. What to do as a Warriors fan! Can't we just drop Jamal and Magette for either! Also, would it be too ridiculous to blow $900 (American) to fly to Harbin and ski for five days and skip class? My parents read this now so I wonder what they think. I'm seriously already going through ski withdrawl though. I might go ski sometime this week or next week at the indoor place in Shanghai.

Most of the cool abroad blogs I got to read last semester had exciting adventure stories about climbing places or hitch hiking places or jumping into things. I don't think I'll have to many of those since I'm in a big city, but I really want to. I'll try to mire myself in something.

Day 2.5

I'm going to update again soon. My internet just started working. I got a dorm room. Also, green on orange is a great color combination. I'll also change the title since it's no longer true.

I was on the plane.

I'm not on the plane anymore but I was when I wrote this.

I'm on the plane to China right now. I'll be back in the US somewhere around mid-July and back at Midd probably next fall. Anyway, I'm sorry for not updating this thing in near two months.
A lot of people ask me if I'm excited for China. Up to about an hour ago I definitely would have carefully said no, but it's starting to happen. I ended up meeting a fifth-year at UCSD who will be studying at the same university as I will and we chatted about it a little, which really helped put my mind at ease. The food should be awesome too. As of now, however, I still have no arrangements for living because I missed the dormitory application date (there was only a two day window!), so hopefully I can still get a room on campus.

The saddest thing about going to China, however, is that my ski season was abruptly curtailed. I had a dream last night that it was all a joke and instead of studying abroad in China I was going to take the rest of the semester in Colorado. That would have been sweet. It seems almost evil for a season to end for such a reason before even February arrived. Evil. It wasn't too bad though, since I had quite a fun and productive season when I was on the snow. I guess pre-season starts now for me though. I found out there are great flatland exercises to get prepped for better skiing, so I'm going try that out with the free time I have on campus. Also, China has like an indoor 1-run "mountain" that rents out snow clothes along with its 1960 era skis, so hopefully they haven't closed down yet and I'll get to check that place out a couple times. They have some small kickers and rails and a random kids' playhouse that you can tap and jib on. Ghetto ice-snow though.

Skiing, along with the rest of life, has presented me with an odd dilemma though. I am sort of directionless as far as a career goes, although most the adults around me that I know and respect tell me I don't have too much to worry about. I figured the easiest way to decide what to do is to figure out what I like doing, but when I thought about it, what I really like doing is skiing. I realized over this break that I actually like skiing more than I like eating, and that is scary. However, I don't think I can ski professionally, and it seems most the jobs that enable people to ski the most aren't particularly career-suited unless I work some business job for either a ski resort, equipment manufacturer, or service provider (any of which would be an awesome job). Should I pursue that in hopes of having a life where skiing is constantly at my fingertips or a job that makes hella bank so I can pay to go skiing frequently and do other things too? Man that's such a hard question.

Someone pointed out recently (and correctly) that my blog is pretty much about three things: math, skiing, and the Warriors. Math will probably be on hold for a little while and be replaced by escapades in China, skiing will probably stay, and I definitely can't stop liking the Warriors, as bad as they might be (although they routed the Suns recently). Teresa Wu says, however, that a good blog is about more than just a person's life and hobbies. So what else should I write about to make this professional and interesting? Holler back. Also, I'll be on Skype since China is a hassle to call to. Look for my name. It'll be there. I'll write again when I'm no longer airborne.