Hanging out in Hangzhou

Second to last day studying Chinese - Shanghai + Chengdu + Tibet + Chicago

So, my time has almost come to an end in China. I have been quite busy
lately. Let's start:

Shanghai last weekend. I have some photos, but I had a horrific weekend,
yet entertaining. Bob told me once that you can have bad China days and
good China days. On good China days, anything is possible. I headed out to
the bus station around 11 AM, chatted with the taxi driver and got my
tickets. After the two hour trip and researching some places in Shanghai, I
got off the bus and headed out to get lunch. After finding my way through
the subway system, I got off at my stop and went to a place called the
"Kommune". I had an expensive lunch, but it tasted so good. Ciabatta with
chicken, cheese, and sundried tomatoes. Good stuff. Afterwards, I headed
out to my hostel: the Captain's Hostel -- I had a bad feeling about it. I
was right. My passport was with the Chinese government and I had a
receipt. Well, the Captain's Hostel said it was the wrong receipt and that
nowhere in town would accept it. So, I was homeless.

At that point, I decided to take some pictures and catch the last ride out
of town. I headed down to the tourist hell called "The Bund". It was
nice, except there were too many tourists. Like way too many. I was fed
up and had some food -- got stuff I didn't order and got overcharged. After
fighting for a bit, I got it reduced, but still too much. *shrug*
whatever. I was really fed up by that time. I got myself a taxi back to
the bus station and took the last bus home. So, no staying overnight, not
much of anything. I'll be back though (more on that later).

I really like Hangzhou and China, in general. A lot of good things and some
bad, but overall, a good time.

This week has been less taxing than normal. I didn't go to morning class
once. I've been working on my spoken language quite heavily. I feel more
and more confident by the day. As I realized a few weeks ago, I need to
take a break from learning and let the stuff I've learned sink in. Wow. I
would never have believed this 15 years ago - I can speak Chinese.

Tomorrow night my classmates and I are going out for a going away party and
then Saturday, my instructor and I are going shopping one last time in
Hangzhou.

Then, my trip:

Sunday, I leave for Chengdu at 3:30 PM. I arrive there about 6 PM. On
Monday morning, I leave for Lhasa and then head out for the whole week in
Lhasa. I return to Hangzhou on Saturday night. After that I will be
staying 2 nights in Hangzhou and 2 nights in Shanghai. Then, Chicago!
Scary -- to be coming home that is.

I hope to have my Shanghai pictures up before I leave. If I don't, then I
apologize. I won't be able to update from Lhasa, so please check back
around Labor Day.

posted by Mike @ 7:12 PM