Jilin, The City

It's finally time to solidify (in words) the final 2 months of my stay in Asia. I flew up to Jilin City (in Jilin Province...but it's not the capital of the province...???) with very little knowledge about "North China". I heard that they don't eat rice (they replace it with the "bun") and they speak funny; however I found that China is still China and everybody eats rice, and also, everybody speaks funny in "Asia" as a whole, so it didn't matter much =]

But this entry will only give context to the city of Jilin, not the place where I stayed and worked and made awesome friends. This entry is about the "small Chinese city" of 5 million people. I thought I was going to the "countryside", but wow, I was mistaken. This place is a pretty big city, while it's undergoing even more development. It will grow like crazy in the next 5-10 years for sure. But the dynamic of the city is centered with the SongHua River which bends through the metropolis about 4 times, making room for a number of bridges. The bridge pictured above is the most Southern (and the coolest of all the bridges), which was a 5 minute walk from our hospital.

The river brings life to the city. It's a cultural, environmental fusion that really was my favorite aspect of the city. The river is bordered by several series of walking paths that attract all the citizens. So watch out, when 4PM rolls around (works ends), everybody and their mom (literally) comes down to the river and flies kites, skate, play MahJong, or just hang out and eat munchies from all the vendors selling anything from corn on the cob to popcorn to popsicles (even pea flavored ones). The River really does attract everybody for good reason. It's beautiful and the temperature drops a good 10-15 degrees when you're on the walkways, phenomenal natural AirCon, especially when running. Another attraction is the "water show". It's seriously beyond huge. There's this one spout that blasts water up about 100-145 feet! Crazy! But it's hooked up to music and everything, so it's legit (but it's weird, because we speculate that it's on the weekends, but they turn it on just whenever they want...So it's a spontaneous event, like everything else in China) The river itself runs from a dam, so they control the levels; however, recently there has been huge flooding in China so the river has flooded the nearby parks, even up to the road in some cases. [The floods have really taken a tole on China. Many rural people have lost homes, even died, so the amount of relief work is in high demand].

The city also has a Night Market and a couple other main shopping streets, where one could buy anything from phone charms to matching-couple T-shirts (yes, all relationships aren't complete without matching t-shirts). There's even a strip that sells pets (or animals) such as rabbits, turtles, and every type of dog imaginable (the most popular and expensive, Siberian Huskies...However, our favorite are the "mini-lions" that roam the streets =). Furthermore, the food culture is bangin' in Jilin. There's a huge Korean population here (30%) which brings great Korean cuisine, and of course there's awesome Chinese food. I feel like the cuisine needs a new post to do it justice though. =] I'm definitely miss just walking down the road about 10 minutes and finding some of the most awesome joints serving fantastic food. =[

The city lies about and hour away from the airport (or 2 hours, pending who's driving :) but not terrible, so go visit it, but be sure to stop by the Bo Hua Hospital and see the light show. Oh, and don't worry, Wal-Mart's being built as I write this so you'll have a little taste of home there =]

"I Got Seoul"

As much as I would have liked to find a shirt with this post's title, I couldn't locate one in the country's capital. Seriously, I'm going to start a business that simply sells those shirts, cuz who wouldn't want one??? =]

Right now, I'm going to break the "chronological-trend" of this blog and skip to the homecoming trip, a trip that took a very intentional pit-stop in a little city called Seoul. It's among the top 3 most metropolis regions of the world and if you look behind Hanki (pronounces more "Han-gee), you'll see just a sliver of the city. Seriously it's huge, so be sure to spend more than just 2 days and 3 nights ><>

I met Hanki in Hong Kong and he's definitely one of the most positive people I met there (most Koreans have this awesome attitude in life and it makes me want to be happy). Korea definitely is a friendly country, and luckily for us Americans, they know quite a bit of English, at least compared to other parts of Asia. Korea is definitely one of the most American-like countries in all of Asia. It's politics and economics have definitely shaped and formed Korea to be this heavily Western influenced place, yet it's still super Korean. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but Korea has one of the strongest national prides I've ever seen. They love Korean stuff, from cars to celebrities to phones to people to anything. If your Korean, you've got friends....they're just going to be Korean too. Ha, that's a little hyperbole but some of it's true ><>

Finally it was back to the airport for a 11-hour flight back to Chicago, not terrible. Korea's Incheon airport is boss. It's easy, simple, and there's information kiosks that have "cookie-cut" Korean women who can speak better English than I can. =]

Cup Massage

During my semester in Hong Kong, I attended an elective "Traditional Chinese Medicine" class where I not only met some of my very good friends but also learned about some crazy, effective medical procedures performed primarily by the East. It wasn't until I reached Shanghai, when I actually participated in such "procedures".

I may call them procedures; however, they are part of every day life. Herbal nutrition, moxibustion (take a stick of herbs and burn one end near your body), acupuncture (infamous needle piercing), and, as the picture shows above, cupping. All the practices are based off a few theories ranging from Yin and Yang to the belief that the body holds a separate channel which allows the flow of "Qi" (Chee), which really influences the body as much as blood vessels or nerves. If your flow of Qi is messed up, whereever it's blocked is the point of damage. Following?

So massage therapy really helps get the Qi flowing properly again. It may take awhile, but it is quite affective (I mean, who doesn't like getting massages). But also paired with the massage is cupping, a process where they quickly insert and remove a flame into a glass bowl and then push/twist the bowl onto ones back. It's actually quite fun and I recommend trying it if you're in the position. It hurts, tickles, and makes you feel almost paralyzed while the skin is sucked into the bowl (it goes in about a good 1-2 inches, leaving hefty sized welts after the 20-30 minutes of "relaxation").

Needless to say, my back definitely experienced some removal of bad blood and my Qi should hopefully be flowing properly once again. Somehow I doubt it, but I'll still respect the people who get cup massages (in their own homes) on a regular "twice-a-month" schedule.

Philippines.

So here's the Philippines video that failed a couple months ago. Sorry for the delay.

Babies, Butts, and Bathrooms

If you come to China, you'll see, taste, smell, and feel things you've never imagined existed. Seriously. The topic we'll dive into (hopefully not literally) today: babies, butts, and bathrooms.

I'm not a huge sanitary snob; however, I have to admit that Chinese toilets, bathrooms, and waste sanitation in general has some serious room for improvement. From the country outhouses to the city's public restrooms, there needs to be some serious public health movements. First of all the infastructure could use a serious makeover, replacing the holes in the floor (which you can see straight into the piles of "you know what") with toilets and installing some soap and sinks into public facilities. Secondly, people, and men in particular, have no problem just turning their back and letting loose in the middle of the street. There's just no restraint, as though, if the urge comes, no matter where you are, just do it! An absolute mindset of "why wouldn't I just go?" So I'm not sure if I'm struggling with a personal preference of human cleanliness or if this is an actual public health problem, from education and all that jazz (don't get my sister talking ><), but I'm just recording observations.

However, all of us over here have a theory as to why this trend exists, and the answer is simple: development. Babies. Everybody loves babies, and if you asked anybody, Asian babies are pretty cute (you can't deny that). But take a closer look and every child is equipped and armed with a pair of pants or shorts with a healthy sized slit near and around the crotch area. This hole is a very functional part of the clothing and has entirely replaced the need for diapers. Children, when they need to "go", just walk down to the curb, squat (which I'll describe in a second), and let it flow or fall, seriously! In public, no privacy, and no one drops any J's (judges). It's a phenomenal thing, and this squatting takes "pop a squat" to a whole new level. First of all, Heels are on the ground, butt is literally inches off the ground, hands are free to do whatever needs to be done. And the troubling matter is that they think it's comfortable! I challenge you to squat (keep you clothes on) and just see what happens. Later in life, this position serves to not only relieve oneself in the "squatty podies" but also to comfortably sit whether it's waiting for the bus or just hanging out in a park. It's seriously a skill and can be a workout for those unfamiliar with its deceptive nature.

In the end, I've accepted and appreciated the trend of babies' butts and bathrooms, but personally, if I had a child with slit pants, I would not put them on my neck....just saying.

Vietnambodia

Rewind with me about 2 months ago and see where we were. School was finished, exams were questionable (my immunology exam was worth 80% of my grade....snap), and itineraries were up for grabs. I had options inlcuding trips to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Through a series of events, primarily airplane fares, Vietnam and Cambodia were the destination. I accompanied two girls, Vy and Rebecca, Vy being a Vietnamese American while Becca is a Chinese American, so here we are a jumbled American-Asian mess (if I even count ><). Fortunately (and what I enjoyed most about the trip) was that Vy has tons of family in Viet from Ho Chi Minh, where we landed, to central Vietnam, where we stayed in her aunt's hotel....ballin'! However, once we landed, Becca and I took off for Cambodia which was hilarious. Imagine sitting in the back of a bus for 15 hours, sitting Indian Style catching air off the bumpy roads. It was quite a trip, and we practiced genocide on the family of flies that decided to take refuge in the slightly Air-Con bus. Needless to say, Cambodia is the most tourist friendly place on earth, at least Siem Reap. Seriously we got off the bus and met "Ruin" who drove us around the whole 4 days for a minimal price. It was legit, he had a chariot rigged up to his freakin' motor bike and though we had no "plan" except see the world-renown temple ruins, Ruin showed us the city including his home and a school he worked at. Although we enjoyed sweating through every pair of our clothes seeing temples from Ankor Waat to temples with gigantic trees blasting through the temple's foundations (hands down the hottest place on earth I've ever been), we rode the bumps back to Phnom Penh and saw some genocide grounds which will bring a heavy day to anyone. Basically the genocide that occurred all over Asia (thanks to the Japanese) is very underground and masked by the Holocaust but millions of people were murdered in every way imaginable. Read it up, but it's heavy stuff. So once back in Viet, we feasted on some "Bang me nows" (inside joke but hilarious), their these French baguettes stuffed with awesome sauce and meat and veggies. Hands down fantastic for a dollar. Then spring rolls, pho (pronounced "fu" as in "fun" or another word), and we even had some dog meat (tastes pretty normal...oh well). Vietnam houses the best skies I've ever seen in my life (perhaps Colorado competes) but seriously, the country is gorgeous.

We visited Dalat (where the picture is), a very touristy place, but it was a mountain get away from the heat where we did everything from seeing the Vietnam-renown "Valley-of-Love" to repel down waterfalls to dress up like traditional Viet. Kings and Queens. Hilarious, thanks to Vy.

We finished the trip with a handful of days in Central Viet where Vy's aunt lives and we enjoyed just local life. There's an old town portiona with a river running through it where they hold a traditional night. Everybody goes out and the city shuts electricity off so we could only see fire lit lanterns floating on the river as we slid through the water on our personal wooden longboat. It was surreal and quite membrable. We wrapped the trip up with a 12-hour train down to Ho Chi Minh but laying down was quite more enjoyable than a seat, though still in my opinion, a little janky (I have had to teach that word to quite a number of people here, very enjoyable.)

Conclusion: Vietnam is quite a nature get away and get ready for some ballin' food, it's up there with Thai food and, for me, that's something. Hope you like that shout out Vy. Peace!

It's "Time"

If there ever was an epic fail of a blog, this is it, so please accept my humble apologies. I've only recently downloaded some software to bybass the Chinese-censoring-creeps out here. However, with only 2 weeks left on this crazy continent, I'll try to fill you in on the past summer events, process some ideas for melding back into American culture (yikes), and hopefully make you smile in the process. And of course, I'll try to put as much eye-candy as possibe on this so called blog.
So here's to entry one: It's time to come home! Seriously. I've enjoyed my 7 months here, but on July 30th, I'll gladly walk on that 15 hour flight home! The kid in the picture was on our Vietnamese tour (which was ballin') but the kid was definitely the definition of cute and was quite a poser for our cameras. He's got some great expressions that sum up my travels over here:

Absolutely bangin', crazy delicious, extremely fun, gorgeous, hot, incredibly janky, kickin' lil' munchies, nasty observations, pretty queezy restrooms, stupendous trips, unreal vacations, wicked xylophones, and yappy zoos.

Seriously 2010 has been filled with everything from beginning to end and all that good stuff in the middle. But if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put "u" and "i" together. So look out for some posting sprees here in the near future!