April 23- 1-2-3-4 Songs Posted by Happy Blogger , 10.5.11 at Tuesday, May 10, 2011, in

April 23/11


So we woke up at 3:15 am, and checked out, grabbed our "breakfast boxes" and headed out for the airport. My hair (bangs especially) developed this crazy finger curl type style that was commented on several times. The airport was chaotic, but it was swell. Once on the plane, I decided to close my eyes until we took off. 45 mins later, I wake up, and I didn't even know we had taken off yet, I had completely passed out. Airplane food was gross, but I ate the bread off a sandwhich. There was mush. Twas gross. Anyways, we landed in Xi'an, and it was beautiful, it was much less westernized than Beijing. We were so tired because we had been up so long, and we hadn't even eaten lunch yet. Our tour guide explained that Xi'an is better known for its noodles and dumplings (YES!) so lunch was pretty awesome. Then we went to this wall in Xi'an (and no it was not the great wall), however it had a total length of 9 miles. We got the options of biking on the wall, so Rachel and I got a tandum bike. It was hard to get used to at first, but a couple minutes in we got the rhythm (1,2,3,4)! We sang the entire time. BEATLES! JAMES BROWN! ABBA! At one point, we almost went down this flight of stairs because there was no ramp. Thank God we noticed! Our last song we sang was "Thank you for the music!" by ABBA which about summed up the experience here in China. The wall was soooo beautiful, and it was very hot, but with a nice breeze so it was perfect temperature. It was a perfecet experience, and it was a really memorable moment for Rachel and I. At the end, we were attacked by several chinese by-standers, and we stoof there for about 5 minutes getting our pictures taken with so many different people. Rachel poured her H2O on her head and mine too. We went to go back to our new Hotel (it had cool purple stairs that changed yellow when you stepped on them). After being supremely sweaty froma 9 mile bike ride, a shower was well deserved! I felt so fresh after! So Rachel and I put on our pretty dresses and went to a show. The show was various types of traditional chinese dances, and cultural demonstrations. I was at the front which was amazing. GOAL: I'm going to learn to do a back flip when I get home! Supper was a large buffet that was crazy packed. Oh well! I've given up on eating meat here. I just can't do it. But food was much tastier, but still fairly greasy and makes me sick. Tum Tum Tum Tums (sounding like Beethoven). Went and visited Madison and Rhianons room-super sketch- they seriously have the worst lulck ever! Madison saved me in my time of need. (Once again, mother nature can go die in a hole). Went down to our room 516, and vegged with Rach. We talked for a while and talked through emotions.


-xxxooo





You think airplane food is bad in Canada? Just imagine China's.... For me, everything was mystery meat- because you could never really tell what was what anymore. They gave us Kongi(?) which is sort of like tapioca porrige. Gross. Anyways. Being at the wall was amazing. Because we had been traveling that morning, we were all wearing heavier clothing because it would cold on the airplane, however it was about 35 in Xi'An so we just had to deal with the heat. At first Rachel wanted to do her own thing as per bike, but I asked her if we could try a tandum bike together. I had never been on one before and it was freakin' hard the first couple of minutes. One of you loose your balance and you're going down! It was great for Rachel and I, because we got a chance to work together to keep in balance and harmony with one another. We started saying aloud "1-2-3-4" and then we would find songs that would keep us in a rhythm so we wouldn't fall over on our bike. We were in complete harmony with one another and it was just an exhilirating experience. It took us about an hour and a half to get around. We were just doing our own thing. I can bet that chinese people aren't used to having people sing for an hour and a half at the top of their lungs- because we got a lot of strange looks- but we didn't care. Our hotel was amazing, and ofcourse I was naturally drawn to the purple stairs (Madison and I both!). We stood waiting to get our keys for our room for forever. I kind of wished that our school would be a little more organized when it comes to this kind of stuff- oh well, what can you do? My luggage showed up in a later group, so I had to sit around in my stinky clothes an extra hour than most people. Yummy. Rachel and I got all dressed up. For the most part, I don't usually dress up all nice and what not- but sometimes it is the best feeling to take a shower after 9 mile bike ride and to put on a nice dress! We felt pretty:) After the show, it was ridiculous. They should have organized it so that only 1 or 2 tables go at a time for the buffet- but instead it was a free for all. So I tried to get some dessert first, so I could have a "Marie Antoinette", but even that had a huge line up. Our table gave up on trying to go and stand in line for food. So I went and got a plate so that we could all share at our table. P.S. mashed potatoes in China are called "Soiled Bean Mud". What? Anyways, they were pretty good. We got back to the hotel, and I went up to Madison and Rhianon's room. I swear, they were the only students on that floor, and their view was the back of several sketchy buildings and what not. At one point when they were in this hotel room, and they came in and it smelt like smoke... I figured it was an underpaid staff in need of a quick smoke. Went back to my room, which was less sketchy thank god, and just hung out for a bit, eating cookies and chocolate- because I promise you, my friend, there are none of that in China!

-Happy Blogger