Homework

So I have to do a "blog post" type essay for a class about things that can only happen in big cities, and I was like, oh, I have great examples of that from my trip! But then there's a requirement that you have to show a picture proving that you were there, and I'm like..... I don't have pictures of me.... The best example of those crazy streets that focus on only one product is moot. :( BUT it reminded me about this blog! So I figured I'd work on the next entry to keep it up. Not sure if anyone will actually read this, but in all honesty, this is really more for my own sake for the purpose of remembering things than anything else. XD So anyway, let's see, I was going to talk about the acrobatic show, right?

Ok, so after exploring the hutongs and doing some last minute shopping, I rushed back to the dorms to meet up with everyone for the acrobatics show.

We split up for dinner and I ended up with this group. Evelyn, Dong laoshi, and..... shit..... I hung out with her a lot too.... Jenny says she her English name was Tina, but I don't remember that. She might have told me her Chinese name, which I *think* was Huaqing Fan, going by the class roster and Jenny's memory. ><

I got this bowl. It was a bit too spicy for me. But good.

It was also really tiny.

At the theater!

This was a really cool act where they spun umbrellas. At this point they're doing all kinds of cool tricks using only their feet, which was really impressive with such light props.

This was really fun. The whole show was designed for during the Beijing Olympics (like almost everything in the city,) so it emphasized the progression from a honorable past to an impressive future. This brought the future to a culmination with motorcycle tricks. Yes, those are motorcycles. Yes, they are doing tricks inside a giant metal ball.

I don't remember how many motorcycles ended up being inside of the ball, but it was ridiculous. It was like a clown car, you'd think they'd never be able to fit another one in, but they just kept going. And going, and going....

And the show ended with a very colorful display.

Yep! So that was fun. I *think* this was the next day. Yes, the next day was Sunday the 28th. It was probably the best day I had in Beijing, and the only day I got to hang out with Angela. Angela was a girl in my Issues Concerning the Rise of China class, and she was in my discussion group. She didn't talk much, but she was great to listen to when she did her presentation on the issues between China and Taiwan, a subject she chose not only because she was from Taiwan, but also because she was clearly passionate about the subject. I strongly hope that I will get to see her again, though it's hard with few methods of contact. After one of the classes I was talking with Angela in her group, and they were thinking about trying to go out somewhere. I was invited and we tried to set it up. Unfortunately it turned out that no one else in the group was able to go, but on my end it turned out really well. I'm not that good with groups anyway, and with only two we got to make a lot of our choices for the day randomly. Our main destination was Beihai Park. Beihai in characters would be 北海, which means North Sea (like the bei in Beijing 北京 which means North Capital.) It's in the center of Beijing right next to Tiananmen. It's called the north sea after the northern most of a system of three lakes.

Beihai park surrounds these lakes. So I'm actually going to describe the day in my next post, because this one will be too long. So you'll just have to wait until then! :D