crazy china

I have more I could say about Hong Kong. But I am now in Korea and need to try to write a few blogs before I come home. (Let me just say that time is disturbingly close.) I will impart a little bit of advice for travelers to Hong Kong. Hike every available day, use and love the mtr (the subway station), eat waffle balls and street vegetables, and bring some good friends. Onto China. We arrived in Shanghai a few days before Christmas. The first night coming back from the local joint I ran into my friend Addison. I had completely forgotten that he was in China and felt extremely lucky that I had happened to pass him on the street, a fortunate coincidence. Shanghai itself is an amazing city, with one of the best skylines we have seen. This incredible city is where we spent our Christmas. While there were tears as people reached the realization they wouldn't see their family, we managed to have a good time anyway, secret Santa providing both entertainment and insight into how close we have become. I cant go any farther without talking about my first irreconcilable difference with China. There are no vegetarians in China. Not a single one. I told our tour guide Bruce (who by the way is a legend, best guide so far) I was vegetarian and he frowned and looked at me before saying. "Well I can order vegetables special for you, but they will be cooked in meat sauce." It only took a few rounds of being quite sick before I decided to stick to rice. At another restaurant we told the waiter I was a vegetarian. He showed up with a dish and a smile on his face. He placed it in front of me and exclaimed "no worries. No meat. Only chicken!" And so it went. One morning, at a meat filled breakfast I noticed I was the only one given a plastic cup. Somewhat sourly I commented on this fact. Cianna broke in with her best Chinese accent and said "special vegetarian cup for you! Washed with no meat sauce only chicken!" I almost fell out of my chair laughing. If you can not laugh at your misfortunes, they will certainly control you. After Shanghai, we took the bullet train to Beijing, via the city of Tai 'an, where we stopped and climbed the mountain. It was very cold but the top was well worth it, splendid views and a little villiage clinging to the summit. Due to the cold and the number of old Chinese ladies pointing and excliaming things excitedly in mandarin, the rest of the group convinced me to give up my wool socks and tevas and buy real shoes. Boo. Despite flashbacks to my train ride of death in thailand, we made it to Beijing without incident. In Beijing we found many cool sights, a great fleamarket where Elise bargained like a native, a side little store where I picked up the hobbit for one us dollar (there is no way it works), grocery stores with unconventional food selections (hot and sour fish soup pringles), the olympic stadiums, and a five story bookstore. The best things were of course tiananmen square and the Great Wall. Bruce told us that you're not a real hero until you have climbed the great wall and we are now all heroes. We were invited to a new years eve party that was weird, interesting, and fun. It was put on by the Chinese government, and took place on a frozen lake in front of the famous summer palace. Once I was reassured it was not a Chinese conspiracy I had a great time. So if you can stand the food, big brother restricting google, facebook, and youtube, the rudeness of Chinese people on train stations (the concept of lines has never occurred to them), smog, and a government that restricts basic human rights then go to China. And if you can not handle those things then go anyway, for one simple reason. Chinese children are the most photogenic things in the entire world. You will shamelessly capture every Chinese child you see. We certainly did. Next post I'll explain why I have already decided to return to Korea, and why they are the nicest people ever. Jordan (P.s. one last thing. I've fallen in love with funny English translations. I will provide examples once I get a chance to upload pictures.)

Hong Kong

We are incredibly spoiled by Hong Kong. It is a fact I am reminded of everytime I return to our hotel room. I say hotel room, I mean executive suite in the Hyatt. What is an executive suite? Well it is where all five of us guys live. Two rooms each with their own bathroom complete with large bath and rain shower. The rooms have comfy beds, a large desk, and a large television. The two rooms are connected by a common room with a couch, another Tv, and a kitchen. The best part is the view, from our window seats (where I eat my meals and drink tea) I can see the city,the mountains, and the harbour. The hotel also has a heated pool and a hot tub. I have been using the kitchen a lot. Not that there isn't good street food, I've found green peppers, eggplant, and tofu fried in batter as well as waffle balls (exactly like it sounds, balls of cooked waffle dough). But most the rest of the food is meat based. Luckily the markets sell tons of vegetables so I have been able to do stir fry, eggplant parmesion, avacado Mac and cheese, quiche, and even apple crisp. (It pales in comparison to my moms and grandmothers, but I like to try). Hong Kong itself is a special city. The train system is excellent. The people are nice, and many speak English. Everything is quick and efficient. As we are several hours ahead of everyone we constantly joke that Hong Kong is the city from the future. During the week we have been busy with class, which is the most difficult part (I'm afraid I have no talent and little interest in Chinese art). But on the weekends we take advantage of the location going on hikes all day. Last weekend I took some of the group to see Hong Kong play Guam in the opening stages of the eastern Asian cup. It was a pretty small venue, but a decent game. I was just happy to watch some football again. Its been a long time. This last weekend was possibly the best yet. On Saturday we took the ferry to Lamma island. It was first sunny day since we arrived and we took advantage of the weather. We roamed around the island, stopping to take in the views at regular intervals. Once we reached the top of the mountain we could see the whole city of Hong Kong accross the bay, settled in the mountain. Once we got back we decided to go out to celebrate the 100th day of Global. We left late with a somewhat silly plan, the last train runs at 1, so we would stay out until the first morning train ran at 6. It was fun, the night scene downtown is crazy. We got nachos at a hard rock cate. Then we went to some clubs (with me and Doug in our suits we had no issues getting in). We quite literally danced the night away. Then, tired out we found an overnight diner and I ordered a full English breakfast; eggs, toast, tea, baked beans, fried tomato, mushrooms, even veggie sausage. We returned and slept till 2. Our instructors had prepared some ice-skating at 3, so we rallied and headed to the mall. I forgot how much I liked skating. It put me in an uncharacteristically Christmas mood. I'm thankful now for all the time I spent on our frozen pond with my family. I guess years of messing around on the ice qualified me as a pretty decent skater within the group. Sudip (who was skating for the first time) and I skated the full two hours, running loops with the mountains rising in the background. When we were finally escorted off the ice my feet were killing me but I was grinning from ear to ear. I can not wait to ski in south Korea. Its been great so far and I cant wait to see what else the city has to offer. We are going to see the hobbit in three days so that makes me happy as well. Till next post. -Jordan

Thailand

Thailand was really a mixed bag. For me it unfortunately represents one of the low points for our trip. Luckily with a little help from my friends I was able to turn it around and have several great memories. Thailand was our vacation time. Some people met their parents while the rest either went to the beaches or to Chaing Mai. I, figuring I would get the most out of Thailand, went to chaing Mai. My companions flew, but I (being both cheap and harboring a distrust for small planes) made the fateful decision to take the train. The train ride stretched to be 16 hours. The beauty was lost on me as my body was racked by lack of sleep and food poisoning from the pad Thai I had consumed in the train station (one of my dumbist decisions on the trip). I had only been seperated from my global friends for 24 hours but I felt alone and wanted nothing more than to find them. I stumbled through the streets of Thailand, getting lost twice on my way to the hotel, before a kind Thai man, no doubt seeing my heavy mental and physical baggage, pointed me in the right direction. I finally found my hotel, and saw my friends sitting outside the pool. I don't know if I've ever been happier to see them. I collapsed in someones arms (Katie? Doesn't matter) while the others surrounded me, concern evident on their faces. I was sick for the next two days, rarely leaving the hotel room. After the second day I had recovered remarkably. I met my friends Drew and Emily who are on Term in Asia and were able to show me around, bringing me to the night market and showing me some of the cool parts of the city. My last full day I was finally able to take advantage of Chaing Mai. My friends and I went ziplining in the jungle with the Gibbons (my new favorite primate). It was an exhilarating time, adreneline pumping through us as we were flying through the jungles on just a thin wire. Our guides were entertaining as well and made sure we got the most out of our experience. Afterwards we had a delicious lunch and saw the nearby waterfall. When we returned I met up with my term in Asia friends again. After they left (they are living with host families and thus confined to a schedule) I met up with my global group and we went to a karaoke bar and thouroughly embarrassed ourselves singing on stage. (Note to self find and destroy those videos). Thankfully the girls had convinced me to take the plane back to Bangkok, which gave us a leisurely last morning, enjoying banana pancakes and fruit smoothies. My diet for Thailand pretty much consisted of four fruit smotthies a day as I couldn't keep down food. Not complaining at all, those fresh fruit smoothies were incredible. Once we returned to Bangkok we met up with everyone else, swapping hugs and stories like it had been five months, not five days. I had some great experiences in Thailand but was not to sad to leave for Hong Kong the next day. If nothing else being sick and alone in thailand helped me realize the value I placed on the people I am on this trip with. Jordan

India

Hello everyone, its been a long time. I wrote a blog post for Bangalore but quickly discovered it would not be published. To much transpired over that amount of time. I would need 100 posts to do it justice. It will have to be enough for me to say I owe much to the people at the ecumenical Christian center and a special thanks goes out to the kids for rekindling a enjoyment of cricket. (Which I now kind of understand.) Instead I will start in Delhi and try to catch up. In Delhi we had quite the adventure. To set the scene, it's Diwali the festival of lights where Indians celebrate the triumph of good over evil. This means the streets are crowded and the air is full of smoke from the fireworks that go off every five minutes. Lanterns fill the street. Susie and Lauren needed to fill up their phone cards to call their moms, and me (as a guy) went with. Our first attempts failed until we met an Indian man on the street. He took us to a shop that was open. It was there that Susie, who had the wrong carrier, was thinking of buying a new Sim card. Our new Indian friend advised me against it, claiming that I was being way overcharged be because of the festival. We hurriedly left the store and our hero set to work. He called his friends and sent them on their motorbike's on a journey accross the city to put money on Susie's card. It took about 45 minutes but they succeeded. In the meantime we talked to our new friend, who first claimed to work at a hotel, then a hospital, then to have just gotten his degree in accounting. It was a bit sketchy but he was getting us the money we needed. At the end of the night he offered me his motorcycle to drive, insisting my friends could ride with his friends. I had to good sense to decline but let him flag down a rickshaw (the Indian equivalent of a taxi) for us. Not only did he make sure we weren't cheated he and his two friends gave us a loud and flashy motorcycle escort all the way back to the ymca. At this point we were practically falling down with laughter. We thanked him and he road off into the night. Turned out he was alright after all. Of course the fallowing day we took a train to the Taj Mahal and Aggar fort. It is a clichéd place, but people visit for a reason. Its one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I'm afraid our instructors words feel on deaf ears as we stared with mouths with open. The tour (and more importantly pictures) took the best part of two hours. We were again reminded of how blessed we are to be on this trip. The following day we left for Thailand, very sad to be saying goodbye to India. Oh also I will never go to another mcdonalds. Call out to the McVeggie.

Jor

India

I've successfully made it to India. Everyone so far has been amazingly nice to us, a refreshing change from Egypt. We live in a very rural area and have to pay for internet so I'm going to make this brief. I'll post about both the end of Egypt and India when I have time but it might not be until Hong Kong. Oh well it will give everyone a break from my long-winded post.

I'd like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes, I had a really special time in Mumbai. Imagine my surprise when, at the club we were at, I was served a giant chocolate cake with my name (and Sarah and Yelena's names too, how likely is it that three people have birthdays over two days on this trip?) on it. The Indian students who we had met and had taken us out with them had gone to a local bakery they knew and gotten us the cake! It was pretty awesome.

Unfortunately that's all I have time for. Bye for a while.
-JT

An engagement and Alexandria

We returned from our excursions and resumed class. We had only two days before leaving for an mini excursion to Alexandria and El Alamein . Yet those two days proved to have their own share of excitement. Katie and Sarah has become good friends with two of the students at the AUC. These two Egyptian students invited Sarah and Katie to an engagement party (the lucky lady thought it was a birthday get together) and they wanted a guy to come with. The opportunity (or responsibility depending on your perspective) fell to me. So I found myself in a taxi cab with three AUC girls I did not know while the other girls went with their friends in another car.

Somewhere in the course of events we arrived early and the other car got a bit lost, or at least side-tracked. So I arrived with three strangers to a bit of Cairo I had not explored. We found the place and I at once realized that Katie had been a bit liberal with her use of the word "club" when inviting me. It was not a club in the traditional sense, instead it was a salsa-dancing bar and restaurant. What's more is our 50 LE (less then 10 dollar) cover charge included a free salsa dancing lesson. Well those of you who know me well understand that dancing would not be my number one choice of activity. So I was content to stand well in the back and watch.

The instructor went over the first step while I listened somewhat halfheartedly. He finished his example and asked for a male volunteer for an example. My eyes wandered over the crowd of 20 people in front of me and my brain suddenly registered that they were all women. The instructor caught my eye and before I could say "oh crap!" his assistant darted through the crowd pulled me forward with and iron grasp. All I could do now is try not to embarrass myself. A task that would be difficult as I was the only white person in the club and I had on my ridiculous sandels. I tried my best, and perhaps was evening starting to get a handle on the basic 8 beat set (mostly due to the skill of my dancing partner) when Katie and Sarah showed up. Now I won't say they fell over laughing, but they did need something to lean on.

The rest of the night was thoroughly enjoyable. Once the class ended and the music started the regulars showed up. And they were good. It fun to watch. What's more our cover charge allowed us.to buy anything on the menu. It's the best chocolate cake and cheesecake I've had here. The engagement went smoothly too, the music stopped and the girl was called forward. She was completely surprised, but after congratulating the happy couple we snuck out and left them to their celebration since we had to get up early to go to Alexandria the next day.

Alexandria was a trip of two sides for me. When we first arrived we tried to go to the beach. We were kicked out by a gaurd. Our only crime? Having girls with us. As it turned out the girls had a seperate beach, a much smaller and more crowded beach. Unused to such discrimination we went to the peer instead. It was no better there. We received so much verbal abuse for being American we soon retreated to a nearby mall.

Yes, you heard me correctly. A mall. Right next to where we were staying was a giant hotel called the four seasons. It took up a whole city block (maybe more like 2-3) and had a whole mall contained within it. We walked past posters of American girls modeling clothing from inside this suspiciously clean building. The westernization made me feel almost physically sick, no wonder we had received so much abuse on the street.

The next day we saw the other side of Alexandria. Alexandria has some extremely significant historical sites. We toured the fort, saw the place where the lighthouse (once on of the seven wonders of the world) stood, and visited the library which is probably one of the most impressive academic institution I've seen in a while. It was strange to comprehend both the historical and modern elements.

On our way back to Cairo we stopped in El Alamein , a famous site of the second World War. We visited the graveyard honoring the British troops who had fallen in North Africa. It was pretty sobering and had quite an impact on me, realizing I could have ancestors buried there. One inscription read under the name "some corner of a foreign land, that is forever England." Here was Churchill's offering of blood, sweat, toil, and tears. I just didn't expect to find it in Egypt.

-JT

Luxor and Hurghada

This past week we left for an excursion outside of Cairo. We flew first to historic Luxor for two days then spent three nights in a beach resort in the new tourist hot spot of Egypt; Hurghada. In Luxor we were led by a capable tour guide through ancient tombs and temples, as well as the luxor museum and even a place where they still make real papyrus. We rose early in the morning to beat the heat (my watch was reading 38°C by noon) then would spend the rest of the day chilling by the pool or in the shade of our balcony. We lunched at the local Egyptian falafel place.

Let's take a moment to talk about food. Our daily falafel cost us 5 Egyptians pound, which is just short of one American dollar in Zamelak, our home in Cairo, we can get it for 2. And its the best thing I've ever eaten. Why we wasted our time in the other restaurants for pizza, pasta, or rice is a mystery to me. (With the exceptions of crepes and bagels, my other main food groups). I also found McVities chocolate digestives in the store, the England crowd will appreciate my excitement over that find. But back to falafel. I would put up with the heat, the garbage, and even the occasional harassment just to eat that stuff everyday.

Anyway, after luxor we got back on a plane for Hurghada. Dear reader I will not lie to you. This second visit had not an ounce of educational value. We spent three days on the beach, swimming, playing frisbee, sunbathing (or for me reading and writing in the shade), snorkeling, eating at the hotel buffet, and more besides. Personally my favorite time was after dark when the other tourists had finally left the beach and the moon and stars (hidden from us in Cairo and Istanbul) shone accross the expanse of deep blue water. This is when I did most of my swimming too, despite the many jokes i recieved about eels and sharks in the night (Jakob, Ted, and Will it was much like our time at unistar... just... you know... in Egypt).

It was a great break for most of our group. I must admit I am not a huge beach person and began to grow restless by the third day. After all one can only apply spf 50 sunscreen so many times in a day before starting to resent the sun. Not that I will complain, I must admit we had a little chuckle to ourselves when we realized most of our friends would be in class during our afternoon swim. Alas such things can not last and we have returned to Cairo and our hectic schedule once again.

More to follow soon. Pictures too. Also heads up to those who use my st. Olaf email address. I can receive emails and reply to threads but can not generate emails since Olaf is blocking my contacts from being downloaded to my kindle (go figure). I'm trying to get some addresses through stalkernet so I can email my friends. Until I figure it out just assume I'm ok and am not neglecting you!

- JT