More to See

This morning I woke up really early to run, about 6:30. It wasn't that difficult because my body is still on USA time. The smog did not seem too bad as I ran, but I did notice it in my lungs. I intended on running to the Summer Palace along a riverside-path, but I ended up going the wrong direction to a dead end. I returned to BeiWai's track and finished my run there. By the time I got back to home it was light out.

I ate a quick breakfast at 7:45 (my Baba and Mana and I set up an eating schedule last night). The breakfast was noodles in broth and a really dry sesame bread patty along with the meat to put in it. Mama asked if we could play badminton tonight but I told her my classwork may go late. 

Our class was at 8:30 and it went by quickly. I thing Ito Sensei wanted to get into the city and explore just as we did. So, we got on the bus and went to the Beijing Capital Museum. From the outside, this place was ominous and almost foreboding. China is pretty big on grandeur (again the go big or go home mindset). The exhibits were pretty cool. We started at the top and saw lots of artifacts from Chinas past and present. There was also a photography exhibit on the basement level that seemed to campaign for a greener-Beijing. Good luck with that China. 

From the museum, we bused to another restaurant. This place was pretty good, I've got to imagine that if we got the same food and same amount of it, the price would be through the roof. Thankfully this one was on IES. The best dish at this place was definitely the crunchy pepper and peanut dish. I cannot explain it in words, so you'll have to come have it for yourself. 

The next thing on the agenda was a practice run of our walkthrough tour. My partner and I planned (last semester) a tour on baozi [pronounced b-aoh-dzuh], or steamed buns. The plan was to get people to see the city by going to numerous shops to eat China's regional baozis. We started at BeiWai and took the subway to the first stop we planned. It took a while to find it but we did and they were pretty good. Next, we hit up the stops by Wangfujing, China's Wallstreet. On our way this English speaking artist pulled us into the upstairs of this secondhand electronics shop to show us his art. My partner bartered him down from 300 yuan to 65 yuan for this pair of wooden tiles with characters on them. Pretty good deal I'd say, although they are probably worth half of that. After we got to the next baozi shop we decided to quit the tour and get back because our legs hurt and we felt extremely tired. I almost fell asleep standing on the subway train if that gives you any indication of my fatigue.

In stead of going to get my stuff from BeiWai, I returned home immediately to make it to dinner. Baba and Mama's son and daughter-in-law came over for supper! He spoke fluent English and works for China Telecom. They taught me the animals of the Chinese Zodiac and their names in the language. This next year (begining on Spring festival on January 23) is the year of the dragon or "long2." Dinner consisted of these sweet brain-looking buns, a shrimp dish, the fish I had for supper before, a thick broth, and onion stuff. They complemented me on my chopstick skills and asked if my parents were Chinese-blodded (I still don't know why they'd ask). 

We all sat around the tv again and chatted for a while. The whole night was a grammar session for me. They taught me so much and it is hard to keep together. I kept nodding to sleep on the couch and they finally told me to go to bed. Their son said he'd be coming next weekend so I'll see him again then. It was a good night I'd say.