DONE!

I can't believe it. 8 weeks flew by so quickly. Before coming to Princeton in Beijing, I knew it was going to be tough, but the work was totally worth it. If I had to go back and decide again, I would totally do PiB again. At yesterday's final chinese table, several teachers were tearing up. The teachers at PiB work as hard, if not harder than the students here. The mutual struggle to teach and learn is what made the relationships with teachers uniquely rewarding.

Notes to future PiBers:
- Learn how to call for 服务员 in restaurants, and by call I mean yell.
- Bottled water pricing is weird in China, the smaller the bottle, the cheaper the per unit price
- Go to office hours as often as possible
- McDonald's is open 24 hours a day
- There are two subway stations near 北师大： one on line 2, one on line 10, both of which can be easily accessed by a short bus ride
- 三里屯 is best reached by starting on line 10, taxi is more convenient though
- 五道口 can be reached by the 331 bus, taxi isn't too bad either
- Properly plan your weekends because you only get 8 of them
- Plan your long weekend a week and a half in advance, otherwise all the tickets will be sold out
- Use the VPN; I've had almost no problems with the internet
- Bargain hard! If the price isn't right, then walk.

So I guess this is goodbye China. I will miss you dearly. But than again it's not really a goodbye, it's a see you later.

Dumpling count: 308

Super Gigantic Post

Yea. I'm behind. Way behind.
So where to start...

Karaoke

I went to sing karaoke probably 5 times while I was here in Beijing. Also referred to as 卡拉OK or KTV by the locals, karaoke is one of the most popular weekend activities for the young as well as the old. From Chinese songs such as 童话 (For more on this song see this post) to Lady Gaga (who's surprisingly very popular here in China, we sang for 3+ hours or until our throats were parched. The best part about karaoke here in China is that it comes with a free buffet! Anytime there is free food involved, I'm there.

KTV

Let's here it for New York

Beijing Opera

In my humble opinion, not all that great. I guess it takes a more refined sense of taste than mine to appreciate, but the high pitched voices blasting through the speaker system were unbearable. Several people even left halfway through the show. Some parts of the show were cool, but all in all, not my cup of 茶 (tea).
Fa Hua Ruins and Yin Shan Pagoda Mountain

PiB took us to see some pagodas just on the outskirts of Beijing, but these pagoda were not the usual brand of pagodas you would imagine (see pictures). After appreciating the towering pagodas of the Fa Hua Ruins, we proceeding to hike up the Yin Shan Mountain. The best part of the hike was the artificially series of canals and waterfalls that ran by the path. Making it to the top of the mountain was quite an achievement as it marked maybe the second time I legit exercised in China.

The pagodas

Mini Waterfall

Standing behind the super large waterfall

Ringing the bell

At the top with 大周老师

798 Art District

A boatload of fun. I also indulged in some American food while there (SO GOOD). Lots of posing with statues. At first I thought the government would be censoring the art, but for the most part the painters/sculptors had artistic freedom.

798 Art District

Hanging skulls. Where are the bones?

Dragons

Win

Fierce

Tiantan

The last weekend in Beijing brought me to the temple of Heaven (Tiantan 天坛). In all honesty, it looked like Gu Gong in many aspects. The temple itself was beautiful, but the surrounding smaller buildings were merely satisfactory. A lot of shopping was done though!

The temple of heaven

Mini

Sacrificing tripod

Clay pots for burning goats

Dumpling count:308

Olympics

"It's gonna look just like the pictures," I thought to myself. "It's not even old, what's so special?" But while walking up the stairs out of the subway, the sight of Bird's Nest, Water Cube, Olympic area in general overwhelmed me; my jaw pretty much hit the floor. The pictures really do not give the nest and cube due justice (still pretty though).

Olympic Tower

After walking out of the subway and through security, the eight of us roamed around the large pavilion soaking in the majestic surroundings. The Bird's Nest, Water Cube, and the Olympic Tower all change colors at night, so we were all mezmerized for a bit. Although our attempts to hop the fence of the bird's nest failed (they didn't let people in at night), we did manage to get into the water cube (legally by buying tickets).

Birthing the bird's nest.

Us @ the Bird's Nest.

Water Cube
(Note: because my arms move faster than the speed of light, they distort the space-time continuum, and therefore are not visible)

Inside the water cube, we roamed around, and spent a lot of time in the olympic arena making letters and faces (pictures will explain). O, and the water cube's bubbles are actually bubbles of air. So cool. All around a good time.

Purty.


Y is for Yale


Smiley Face is for Smiley Face.

Bubbles.

I do my best not to be mistaken for a FOB.

Dumpling Count: 210