Feeling Lucky and “Fresh”
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009So after two nights in an overly priced single room I finally moved into the dormitory at Y60 bed ($7). Yep I could hear my bank account thanking me right now:) I roomed in with four gals. (Therese Norway, Joanna & Beth PI and Yumi Japan). Two of the four (Joanna & Beth) are English teachers here in China!! OMG, I couldn’t frickin’ believe it – Just my luck!! And it gets better… they work in Qingdao!! Qingdao is one of the two cities I looked into teaching in. They gave me the 411 on getting a teaching job and offered to help me when I get there. Sweeeet!
Last night was Therese’s 24th bday and we celebrated by going out to dinner. At dinner, the girls and I found out what “Fresh” on the menu really meant. We ordered up some fresh shrimps in soy sauce. The waitress brought out a covered dish, placed it on our table and in quickness revealed the dish. To our dismay, the shrimps were alive and kicking! They were swimming in the soy and a few of them were actually jumping out of the bowl and onto our table. LOL! It was great. The shrimps were quite tasty but after my fifth one I couldn’t eat any more. You should of seen Therese’s reaction though–it was classic! If only we had it on video. This is definitely a birthday celebration she’ll never forget. Happy Birthday sweetie!
My six days in Beijing came and went–here it is in a nutshell:
The Great Wall: Amazing! I recommend not going to the Badaling side of the Wall. Too much tourist….it’s impossible to get a shot without having someone’s head in the photo. And this is low season so I can’t imagine being here during the high.
Summer Palace: Breathtakingly beautiful! I think I enjoyed myself more here than at the Great Wall. I’d love to see this place in the summer!
Forbidden City: It’s a city within a city. It’s huge! Another must see when in Beijing.
My Mandarin is slightly improving and I pretty much mastered the Beijing public transportation system. Yay me! Oh and I had myself some fried baby scorpions – they were a bit spicy but overall very good.
Today is my last day in Beijing. Tonight I catch an overnight train to Xi’an with Therese!
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