2 days!!!
PostPosted:Thu Dec 18, 2003 9:55 pm
<div style='font: bold 10pt ; text-align: left; '>And I'll be back in Canada, wooo.
cool things about China:
1. People say Canadians are friendly. I find Canadians in big cities a lot like Americans in big cities. In a rush, no time, no time to be overly polite. In China, even the people in big cities are very polite. It's made being here a lot easier, because people are willing to tollerate my ignorance :D
2. So many god damn people. This could be seen as good and bad, but it's made the place pretty safe. Always someone around, always some type of law enforcement near. You can walk around at pretty much any time of the night. I like that (tho I'm sure there are places that you WOULDN'T want to walk around in, I just haven't found them yet).
3. Tourist spots like WHOA. Now for a country with thousands and thousands of years of history, it's to be expected, but it's still friggin cool. Temples, tombs, walls, palaces, etc, etc. I really like the architecture from the old/ancient buildings. Also, you'd think that everyone and their dog in China has been to the great wall, or the summer palace, or whatever. The places really close to the Beijing area. But damn, no matter what time of year, no matter what day, these places are PACKED. I like that, since I hate going to "tourist" spots in North America to find you are the only person there since it's not high season.
4. You can get clothes, trinkets, whatever, for friggin CHEAP. I bought 2 jackets that would have normally costed me around $100 Canadia for like.... $16 each, hehe. Food is cheap too, even at really nice restaraunts (compared to what I would pay at home anyways). Plate of spaghetti, a steak, soup, salad, beer for under $20 CND, booya.
5. I have Return of the King on DvD, need I say more? (I REFUSE TO WATCH IT BEFORE I GO TO THE THEATRE!)
not-so-cool things about China:
1. The city I live in is big and dirty. The pollution sucks. Lot of cities are like this, save coastal cities.(cept Beijing. It's massive, but it's really really clean since it's the capital, all the money is there so they keep it shiney. Pollution still isn't so hot tho).
2. Just the fact that I can't understand what the hell everyone is saying. I know that's not China's fault, it's my fault for being ignorant of their language. It'll just be nice to be able to speak with everyone when I get home.
3. Sanitation laws here for restaurants aren't quite as stringent as they are in North America (and by "not quite", I mean I have yet to hear of such laws). You learn to go to the nicer places to eat, or to get an iron stomach. I've only had food poisoning once, but it sucks so much it's not really worth risking again.
4. The government seems to be really counterproductive in some ways. Like they say they want to help very poor people, but then they set up laws that make it illegal to sell food out of the back of a cart in market areas. Everyone still does it, but if the police feel so inclined, they bust the chain on a guy's bike or confiscate the goods or something. The guy is trying to make a living in a legitimate way, not like he is stealing or hurting anyone. They have a long way to go, but this "we're communist, but going capitalistic, but not going democratic, so the government is staying the same always" government they have going is basically just a polite dictatorship. They are moving in the right direction, but in my opinion they either need to stick to communism or toss that idea out of the hat :p
5. People here drive like rules don't exist, like people walking on a side walk. People will split two lanes of oncoming traffic to get to the other side of the street if need be, and the oncoming traffic acts like it's nothing out of the ordinary, because it ISN'T. I will never, ever miss the mess of a traffic system they have here (it's not the traffic system's fault, but the fault of people not being educated enough to the point that EVERYONE is a bad driver here).
Overall, I've had a great experience here, but I can't wait to go home. You've probably heard this before, but being here has made me appreciate Canada 100 fold. I KNEW I lived in an amazing part of the world before I came to China, but this just solidifies my opinion. I can't WAIT for Christmas dinner, and it'll be nice to be back in school in the new year, although I will think quite the opposite around midterms!</div>
cool things about China:
1. People say Canadians are friendly. I find Canadians in big cities a lot like Americans in big cities. In a rush, no time, no time to be overly polite. In China, even the people in big cities are very polite. It's made being here a lot easier, because people are willing to tollerate my ignorance :D
2. So many god damn people. This could be seen as good and bad, but it's made the place pretty safe. Always someone around, always some type of law enforcement near. You can walk around at pretty much any time of the night. I like that (tho I'm sure there are places that you WOULDN'T want to walk around in, I just haven't found them yet).
3. Tourist spots like WHOA. Now for a country with thousands and thousands of years of history, it's to be expected, but it's still friggin cool. Temples, tombs, walls, palaces, etc, etc. I really like the architecture from the old/ancient buildings. Also, you'd think that everyone and their dog in China has been to the great wall, or the summer palace, or whatever. The places really close to the Beijing area. But damn, no matter what time of year, no matter what day, these places are PACKED. I like that, since I hate going to "tourist" spots in North America to find you are the only person there since it's not high season.
4. You can get clothes, trinkets, whatever, for friggin CHEAP. I bought 2 jackets that would have normally costed me around $100 Canadia for like.... $16 each, hehe. Food is cheap too, even at really nice restaraunts (compared to what I would pay at home anyways). Plate of spaghetti, a steak, soup, salad, beer for under $20 CND, booya.
5. I have Return of the King on DvD, need I say more? (I REFUSE TO WATCH IT BEFORE I GO TO THE THEATRE!)
not-so-cool things about China:
1. The city I live in is big and dirty. The pollution sucks. Lot of cities are like this, save coastal cities.(cept Beijing. It's massive, but it's really really clean since it's the capital, all the money is there so they keep it shiney. Pollution still isn't so hot tho).
2. Just the fact that I can't understand what the hell everyone is saying. I know that's not China's fault, it's my fault for being ignorant of their language. It'll just be nice to be able to speak with everyone when I get home.
3. Sanitation laws here for restaurants aren't quite as stringent as they are in North America (and by "not quite", I mean I have yet to hear of such laws). You learn to go to the nicer places to eat, or to get an iron stomach. I've only had food poisoning once, but it sucks so much it's not really worth risking again.
4. The government seems to be really counterproductive in some ways. Like they say they want to help very poor people, but then they set up laws that make it illegal to sell food out of the back of a cart in market areas. Everyone still does it, but if the police feel so inclined, they bust the chain on a guy's bike or confiscate the goods or something. The guy is trying to make a living in a legitimate way, not like he is stealing or hurting anyone. They have a long way to go, but this "we're communist, but going capitalistic, but not going democratic, so the government is staying the same always" government they have going is basically just a polite dictatorship. They are moving in the right direction, but in my opinion they either need to stick to communism or toss that idea out of the hat :p
5. People here drive like rules don't exist, like people walking on a side walk. People will split two lanes of oncoming traffic to get to the other side of the street if need be, and the oncoming traffic acts like it's nothing out of the ordinary, because it ISN'T. I will never, ever miss the mess of a traffic system they have here (it's not the traffic system's fault, but the fault of people not being educated enough to the point that EVERYONE is a bad driver here).
Overall, I've had a great experience here, but I can't wait to go home. You've probably heard this before, but being here has made me appreciate Canada 100 fold. I KNEW I lived in an amazing part of the world before I came to China, but this just solidifies my opinion. I can't WAIT for Christmas dinner, and it'll be nice to be back in school in the new year, although I will think quite the opposite around midterms!</div>