cartography

be like the sun at midday

January 7, 2009 at 20:21 (China) (Nanjing)

I am sick, I am sick, but it’s nothing serious, just a runny nose, sore throat, and an inability to hold down food.

Actually, strike that last one, because last night I managed to not overturn my stomach. What a feat! I ate well yesterday, had ramen for lunch (it was 28 RMB which is about 4$, and compared to the 11$ bowls of ramen we get in NYC—THAT’S REALLY CHEAP) and hot pot for dinner (which also came out to be about 28 RMB/person). Hot damn. The hot pot restaurant was pretty cool, with huge mushrooms, overgrown tree roots, and sakura trees as the décor.

Randomly, since I’ve gotten to China, a number of people have asked if I was Korean, first a street vendor in Xi’an, then my Nanjing partner Sabrina, and then the waitress at the tea house we went a few days ago. I don’t think I look Korean. I have asked them, 為什麼, why? But I have yet to get a substantial answer.

There’s this street near our hotel called Hunan Road, and it is completely lined with restaurants. Like heaven. It’s like a linear Times Square. With only restaurants. And shorter, but still bright with lots of lights, kind of touristy, but. Like heaven. I have pictures, I wish I could post them now. (Actually, Grace’s laptop has a slot for my XD card, but her adapter is broken and she can’t charge her laptop, and mine is incompatible, so…)

Actually, one of the first times we went out to eat, we went to this place that looked like really effing awesome, outside and in, but I guess we didn’t know how to order, because the stuff that came was really—strange. They also recommended this red bean… mixture. I will be generous and call it a “drink.” So it came in a pitcher and it looked like a mushy, purple apocalypse. I took one sip and called for tea. Grace and Roger finished most of it, as I looked on in awe. And the food looked good, but it… really wasn’t. Not suited to our tastes, I suppose. The whole dinner was about 158 RMB. Really expensive, and we only ate like 1/3 of the food (I only ate a spoonful of tofu and a dumpling and was done with it). Hot pot for four people was only like, 120 RMB. Jeez.

So that was one misadventure. We have vowed never to go back there again. That night, I had another one-night stand with my toilet bowl, as did Roger (but Roger did get pretty drunk). No surprise.

But yesterday was better, discounting the brief (read: ongoing) episode where I was a silent raging mass, and today is even better because there is no class today! The past two days, my class (Revolutionary China) met at the coffee house across from the hotel. Professor Lu is so great. I’m glad I took this class instead of Intercultural Communications.

It’s almost 11 am right now, and we are going out to eat soon. The Vietnamese place finally opened up, and I really am craving some pho right now. Maybe I can convince everyone to go.

[+]

It is 7:54 pm right now. We did end up eating Vietnamese. So very good. I had actually been craving it since we’ve arrived in China. Afterwards, we waited for an hour at the bank to exchange currency, then another hour for Angela and Gary to get back from the Laundromat so that we could go out on the lake! So we rented a boat and spent an hour on the lake, where it was all foggy and misty and like crossing the Great Lake to Hogwarts. Really awesome. It was fun. The boat went at like two miles an hour and no one could really steer it, but… Oh, and we tried to go under one of the bridges. Didn’t work out. And there was a restaurant across the lake, right on the shore, and we went up to it and waved to the people inside and they waved back. Good times.

Also, on the way back from the supermarket (a whole duffle bag of food? 140 RMB = ~20 USD WHOO BABY), I got run over by a bike. No joke. It even left a tire mark on my jeans. (Yes, I took a picture.) I mean, I’m not hurt or anything, and you can’t leave China without getting run over by a bike at least once, so. There’s that. The thing is, I was walking in front of a car, so if the guy hadn’t hit me, he would have hit the car. What the hell, man. Whatever, I didn’t drop my bottle of milk tea, or my strawberry bread, or my bag of chips, so all’s gravy.

I just finished doing laundry. In the sink. I am that hardcore. I will take a picture of all my clothes hanging in the bathroom. Now Grace is holed up in there, and I am sitting on her bed typing this, and Roger is sitting on my bed watching Invader Zim.

And the best thing, guys? I don’t feel like throwing up at all.

I’m still worried/upset/pissed off about some things back home, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I don’t know, I had a bad feeling when I started that application anyway, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it didn’t work out—THOUGH THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN… whatever. There’s still some hope. A narrow window of opportunity. I WILL SQUEEZE THROUGH… let’s not talk about this.

After writing an entry, I always feel like there’s so much I’ve forgotten, but I can never remember any of it.