Greetings...

I'm here in Lanzhou right now.  We arrived a few days ago after a twenty hour train ride.  The ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty long.  To pass the time, we usually played cards, talked or slept.  Sleeping on the train wasn't to bad, but it wasn't all that restful because I kept gettin up during the night every few hours. At least we had a sleeper car though.

Once we arrived in Lanzhou, we were greeted by our roommates which was awesome.  It was a weird feeling seeing them waiting outside the train.  It felt like you were a rock star because there were people waiting for you. Anyways, I met my roommate and he is awesome.  We talked about many different things on the bus ride to the university that we're staying at.  Over the past couple of days, we've been able to talk about many things and I hope that in the next 3 weeks, a trust will be built and that a lasting friendship will continue.  It's also been good meeting and talking with the other chinese students.  There are things that we have in common and things that we do not have in common, but we have the ability to learn many things from each other. 

Anyways, this is pretty vague, but i'll update w/ more details later.

This is my latest update which also encapulates my past 2 updates:

So right now i find myself in an internet cafe writing this email.  I
can't begin to tell you how much I love this place.  China is amazing
and so awesome.  Everything is so different but great.  Like the
driving.  Here driving is crazy.  The drivers don't tend to speed
necessarily but they weave instead.  The road lines are merely a
suggestion in how to drive but not a rule.  You don't really need to
stay within in the lines and you just honk if you need to go
somewhere.  It's quite interesting to say the least.

The food here is great as well.  Everything is so cheap.  A few nights
ago we got Peking duck and it's so much better than anything you can
get in the states.  It's also unbelievably cheap too.  you can get it
for less than like $5.  Amazing.  Another crazy thing is that you can
also feed 20 ppl on like $30 total.  Food is really cheap compared to
American prices.  Chinese food will never taste the same again.  For
you UW folk, I will never see New China Express in the same way.  I
already decided that I want to come back to China to wander and eat.

So i'm going to be in beijing like till the 12th, then i'm heading to
lanzhou for 4 wks.  I'm excited for this experience and i can't wait
to see what else happens.  I've also already been challenged in the 4
days that I've been here.  But i've been challenged in a good way.  We
went through orientation for 3 days.  It has been good because we're
learning about how to deal with cultural differences and just seeing
things through an open lens.

So right now it's quite humid outside.  i'd say it's like 85% humidity
and like 85 degrees outside.  it's been overcast and smoggy the past
few days so it's been kinda gross.  Actually it just rained a few
minutes ago and that's been the first time it has rained in awhile.

On friday, our activity was to go to one of the local universities and
find a student, invite them to lunch and ask them about university
culture.  Well the one thing i can say, is that my partner Sarah and i
had a bonding experience even though we didn't quite accomplish our
task.  We were not the two ppl who should been paired together because
we don't like talkin to people we don't know just to talk to them.  it
took us like an hr to actually approach somebody and talk to them.  So
in the hour of trying to figure out our course of action, we wandered
around the campus of beijang university.  The university has a very
nice campus.  The library is huge and amazing.  There is a lake in the
middle of campus.  It has a rain forest feel to it because of the
warmth and humidity along with the serenity of it.  You can see pics
later.  The campus is just really amazing.  Anyways, after looking and
observing for over an hr, we finally tried to approach one person and
spoke to him for like 2 min, but it ended after that because he didn't
speak english that well.  After that we were able to explore and
experience a supermarket and that went pretty well.  We were able to
purchase stuff without speaking any chinese so that was a good
experience.

Yesterday, Saturday, our team headed over to the Great Wall.  The
first attempt we made to see the wall was thwarted by the fact that
the portion we were at was closed for reconstruction.  However the
park we went to had a nice hike around a lake so we walked around that
for a few hours.  The scenery was breathtaking and amazing.  This
section was I guess the only part of the wall which went down to a
body of water.  So after walking for a little, we decided to try and
find a part of the wall where we could actually stand upon.  So in our
second attempt, we came to a road where the wall was up on the
hillside on both sides.  Both sides were being reconstructed, but we
were able to get up on one side by paying some people to walk through
their land.  The sight from the upon the wall was amazing.  It's crazy
to think how the wall was built and just the history of the wall.
It's cool though saying that we were able to climb the wall and just
be on it.  The most amazing part though is that the part of the wall
we were able to climb had not been reconstructed yet.  So we were able
to be on the natural part of the wall.

Later saturday night, we went down to the Wangfujian section of town
which is the more ritzy area.  It kind of remind me of like NYC or LA.
 It was a very trendy section and the prices for things were a lot
higher.  However, by going to this area, it allowed me to compare and
contrast the different parts of Beijing.  Beijing has many different
sections and the area we've been staying in isn't anywhere as trendy
or wealthy.  This area that we went to was a big reminder of the
states and the lives that we usually live.

Today (Sunday) we were given another assignment to adventure out
towards Qianmen where we to explore "old beijing".  this area of town
is not kept up as well and there is a stark contrast towards the
development of other parts of town. It was quite an interesting place
to be and it was something that I enjoyed.  I enjoyed seeing a truer
side of China one that hasn't been influenced.  There is a stark
contrast from the old beijing and the touristy section that is a few
blocks away.

Anyways, that's all for now, I'll be heading to Lanzhou in a few days.  leave comment...

So right now i find myself in a cafe writing emails and xanga.  I can't begin to tell you how much I love this place.  China is amazing and so awesome.  Everything is so different but great.  Like the driving.  Here driving is crazy.  The road lines are merely a suggestion in how to drive but not a rule.  You don't really need to stay within in the lines and you just honk if you need to go somewhere.  It's quite interesting to say the least.  The food here is great as well.  Everything is so cheap.  Last night we got Peking duck and it's so much better than anything you can get in the states.  It's also unbelievably cheap too.  you can get it for less than like $5.  amazing.  you can also feed 20 ppl on like $30 total.  it's great stuff.  I already wanna come back.  so i'm goin to be in beijing like till the 12th, then ima head to lanzhou for 4 wks.  i'm excited for this experience and i can't wait to see what else happens.  i've also already been challenged in the 4 days that i've been here.  but it's been good.  we've been going through orientation for the past 2 days, and we have about another full day to go.  it's like 130pm here so we go till like 11am tomorrow.  it hasn't been to bad since we're learning about how to deal with cultural differences and just seeing thing through an open lens.  in a few days, on the 9th, we're going to the great wall so that should be amazing.  there is just so much to see here and it's just incredible stuff. 

spread this around if ya want to...

anyways, take care.