While Wednesday felt like the weekend, when the real weekend arrived, I was happier than Michael Jackson in an elementary school (okay, that's stepping over the line). Anyway, Friday night brought an outing to The Box, a trendy, foreigner-friendly club on the main drag. "Trendy, foreigner-friendly" in Chinese translates to "expensive" in English. All the drinks were 5x as expensive as what you'd find at a regular Chinese restaurant--but still about 1/3 of the prices in the US (There's some math for you). Anyhow, me and my roommate ended up playing some foosball. As he had never played before, and with the two opponents seeming to be novices, I carried our team to two wins in which we downright embarrassed the other players. (note: my roommate took over for the girl in this pic)
(I must mention that this was at about 11:30pm on Friday night. Because my roommate agreed to do this program where he lives with me and helps me, he gets a lot of perks, one of which is staying out past 10:00pm, the curfew for all HIT college students every night.)
(I must mention that this was at about 11:30pm on Friday night. Because my roommate agreed to do this program where he lives with me and helps me, he gets a lot of perks, one of which is staying out past 10:00pm, the curfew for all HIT college students every night.)
The next morning just before noon we took a group trip to Sun Island (太阳岛). This is the most famous park in Harbin and one of the most famous in NE China. It seems that if you live in the NE, you've been to this park. 
It's like the St. Augustine Fort for Floridan students: everyone's been there. You couldn't see this entire park in one day--it has a small amusement park for kids, a man-made waterfall, and the most vegetation I'd seen since I arrived in China. In the pic my roommate is on the left, with my two of my other new friends. After our western-style picnic (which was awesome) and walking around, we got to Squirrel Island. This was probably the most interesting part. The squirrels were one thing--some of them were almost black in color. But probably more intriguing was just how fascinated all the Chinese were about seeing squirrels. When I told my Chinese friend that at my college we have 3 squirrels for every student, he was pretty shocked.
It's like the St. Augustine Fort for Floridan students: everyone's been there. You couldn't see this entire park in one day--it has a small amusement park for kids, a man-made waterfall, and the most vegetation I'd seen since I arrived in China. In the pic my roommate is on the left, with my two of my other new friends. After our western-style picnic (which was awesome) and walking around, we got to Squirrel Island. This was probably the most interesting part. The squirrels were one thing--some of them were almost black in color. But probably more intriguing was just how fascinated all the Chinese were about seeing squirrels. When I told my Chinese friend that at my college we have 3 squirrels for every student, he was pretty shocked. On the way back from that little expedition in the bus, I saw the country's national bird, the crane. Actually, there were 18 visible at one time. Development is happening extremely fast, with an annual growth rate of over 10% (compared to 3% in the US). This growth is fueled by investment--in buildings, real estate, etc.--and some think, me included, 
that it's not good investment (think Tech Bubble of 2001). If China's economy drops like a rock when all these bad investments are realized, it could be real trouble for the rest of the world--especially countries like the US, which relies on China to buy many of its goods. This picture is the east side of Shanghai's Huangpu River. Just over 10 years ago this was farming land and small housing. (I've been up in that ball-shaped thing called The Oriental Pearl) The vast expanse of the city is actually on the west bank. Anyway, that's my quick two cents on what I think about China's economy--hope it didn't hurt your head too badly.
that it's not good investment (think Tech Bubble of 2001). If China's economy drops like a rock when all these bad investments are realized, it could be real trouble for the rest of the world--especially countries like the US, which relies on China to buy many of its goods. This picture is the east side of Shanghai's Huangpu River. Just over 10 years ago this was farming land and small housing. (I've been up in that ball-shaped thing called The Oriental Pearl) The vast expanse of the city is actually on the west bank. Anyway, that's my quick two cents on what I think about China's economy--hope it didn't hurt your head too badly.
2 comments:
That's the park I've been reading about online! Looks beautiful. Nice to meet your friends! Next I want you to go to Harbin in January and February so we can go to the snow and ice festivals. I've been looking at some incredible pictures of them. Played any ping pong yet? Been having trouble getting my posts to stick...has anyone else?
so you and matt have something else in common...almost dying multiple times on a single trip...congrats you almost beat me to jumping off the parking garage. anyway I don't know any chinease besides shi ling quay la, which I am positive that I spelt horribly wrong...anyway I'm glad you were able to celebrate the 4th semi american style...you need a far superior pic to sarahs, by the way. We are counting on you!!! Don't get run over by any bikes!
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