Diary June 24, 2010

Author: Blim Lugo

The long bike ride, Tsinghua tour, Peking University tour, we eat dog food

Today has been a very long day. I woke up at 2:00 am because I could not sleep anymore. I still have a little jet lag. We started the day early and went to have breakfast with Dr. Wang. It was a quick breakfast because he had a meeting, but he filled us in with his plans for the week. After breakfast we went out on a long bicycle ride. We originally went out looking for an ATM from Construction Bank. The bicycle ride lasted four and a half hours, and it helped us get culturally immersed in Beijing.

We started at the university and went straight for miles, and had a few lefts and rights here and there. We tried to keep our path simple so that we could get back easily. We were exploring Beijing, and as we rode down a scary dirt path we came across a pirate ship in a big vacant lot. It was the kind that you place quarters and see outside of a super markets. It was an awesome discovery because we were out exploring, so we took pictures and posed as explorers.

We continued and we ended up in what would appear the wrong side of town, or at least the not so touristy part of town. The people in this area kept staring because we are foreigners. I found it very interesting to see a group of men postpone their domino game to see us come out of a vacant lot. I can imagine them saying "there's something you don't see every day...". We lost our way a bit, but Cody consulted the map and quickly figured out where we where, roughly speaking. He had his gps, but we didn’t consult it since figuring things out is much more exciting. We bought food on the street, it looked like a tortilla wrap with egg and a weenie, it was delicious, and we shared it with each other.

We came to the university and rested for about an hour. Peng came to show us Tsinghua University and we once again rode our bikes. It was only supposed to be a short trip around campus, but we ended up riding to Peking University and two and a half hours of more riding. We came back to the dorm and left the bikes, and finally walked over to the dining area to have dinner, then we went to the market to buy food and snacks for the week.

I bought some rice cakes, banana chips and a pair of shorts. I was amazed to find out that I’m an XL here in china. I was debating between a small and a medium, and the attendant handed me an XL. I pointed at the medium and he laugh and whipped out his measuring tape. I find it hard to believe that I’m an XL when I have a 30 inch waist line. Isaac bought the same set and is XXL!!! He also bought dog food, that is food that is made out of dog, and we all ate some. It was delicious; now we only have to find fried scorpions and grass hoppers to try them.

	Isaac, Blim, and David riding their bikes on a main avenue.
	David, Blim, and Isaac trying out food from a street vendor.
	Cody and David consulting the map in downtown Beijing. It didn't help much...
	Memorial for the fallen souls of the sea, Beijing.
	China Ahoy!
	Even the imperial cookhouse has a memorial.
	Finally, an empty street to just relax and enjoy the ride without worrying about insane Chinese drivers.
	Beijing has many beautiful bridges and buildings.
	Peng showing us the Tsinghua University sundial.
	The bicycle tour of Tsinghua University and Peking University next door. Tsinghua is known for the hard sciences and technology, while Peking is known for it's social sciences.
	A lake at Peking univeristy. The ornamental water tower is in the background on the left.
	The student career center at Peking University.

//Calender