Pre-Beijing

August 26, 2008
Disclaimer:
As requested by a fellow Smithie...and my parents...I shall document my experiences in China for the public AMERICAN eye. Not only do I have to state that in my doing so, I am risking my life under the eye of the Chinese government, I must keep this blog on a hush-hush basis in case I say anything offensive about the Middle Kingdom. If you don't get what I mean...read the news about the "Chinese bloggers" on Google. With that being said...I will not be providing any information about protests, government matters, etc...but rather the boring, overly-normal occurrences of my day- to- day life. Exciting! Perhaps if there are things you wish to know about my lifestyle abroad in the ever-so-rapidly- changing Beijing, please feel free to ask. I don't bite. (Don't get me started on vampires :D).

Enjoy!

The real post:

So I have about two and a half more days until I jet-set to Beijing.
I am not completely packed, but after all the trips back and forth from Smith, I am quite used to packing quickly and semi-lightly. At least I am not the kid with three over-sized, 80 pound suitcases, as stated by someone in my program already in Beijing. Today, I actually just purchased another hockey bag for my luggage, bright yellow too so I can finally distinguish my own luggage at the carousel. From personal experience, hockey bags are the BEST usage for traveling. Not only does it weigh less than 5 pounds on its own (rather than 20)...you have the option of purchasing ones with wheels! Although I choose the first option just to make myself look macho as I carry my 50 pound luggage (with clothes and things in it of course) away from the airport. Anyways, that's besides the point. Hockey bags= great for traveling.

I also bought a lock for my laptop, FINALLY! After living at Smith for two years, I ask myself "what's the point, no one will steal a little laptop from my room", but after living at UCSC for the summer where my roommate's things were all on lock down, I thought to myself, "if she has such little trust in me, I should probably invest in a lock of some sort against the people of the country whose greatest crime is theft and robbery". So...with thanks to Will, I purchased the heavy- "dutiest" lock-cord combination available at Fry's. Really, my best buys are ALWAYS at Fry's. This little baby of a lock has a 105 decibel alarm system if the cord is cut, or the lock itself is moved even slightly. For those of you who don't know how loud that is, standing next to a motorcycle is 100 decibels. So pretty much my laptop will not get stolen, or the idiot who ends up taking the laptop with the alarm still intact will eventually become deaf. Seriously though, why buy something if you aren't willing to go all out? (I'll give this credit to Will's shopping mentality)

I'm not sure if I am mentally prepared for China...I know I'm definitely not gastronomically prepared...that's a fact. I am not looking forward to the days of overdosing on Pepto Bismal... Never have I thrown up in the entirety of my life. Everyone says that this China trip will be an adventure. I guess the fun doesn't end when I throw up...not really an experience I look forward to. Other than that, I got an e-mail from my mother earlier today saying why I "should not drink from a soda can". The possibility of putting your lips to infected ran urine is highly likely. Um, ew. I guess thanks mom for a) causing me distress for the mere fact that I MUST drink bottled/canned drinks in China, and b) giving me a heads up about Leptospirosis. Look it up.

Well, I must continue packing...see me in a few days, perhaps?