China Update #1

So I haven't really gotten a chance to get on the blog because the school computer won't let me. The coffee shop would but I haven't been in Suzhou for a few days. Not that any of you understand that.

China is crazy. I am honestly at a loss for words, but I'll try for your sake. I took off at about 9PM on Sunday the 11th and arrived in Shanghai at about 11 PM Tuesday. We arrived at Suzhou shortly after and went for a walk around the city. I was amazed on the bus ride at what now seems normal for me. The smog, the buildings, the people... there is so much of all of that. The bus nearly hit like 200 people on the ride, apparently people getting knocked off bikes and mopeds is not the strange around here. There are far more bikes than cars, and they swarm around the streets constantly.

Suzhou is supposed to be "the Venice of Asia", but only because it has a few canals. I haven't been to Venice, but I can already tell you Suzhou is nothing like it. The city has a few nice gardens around and some old trees, but otherwise it is a bullshit Western-style country like the rest of China. Everywhere you go there are stores full of usless shiney shit that nobody ever needs, and fat white tourists to buy them. There are beggars everywhere (they no longer need a permit) because it is a business to trick Western tourists by carrying your baby around with you. I can tell that China was a great country at one point, and has the industrial capacity to completely own any other country in the world, but has given in to Western capitalism and consumerism. The corporations and businesses here are more aggressive than America. EVERYTHING has an ad on it, I mean everything. Every little nook sells something. If you go in a store to buy a shirt they will say "100 kuai", you say "tai guile" and leave, and they run after you yelling "30!30!30!". There are plenty of sex slaves for any retired, unhappy Australian businessman to satisfy himself with. Our running joke is what the men on the street yell at us, "massage... Massage!.... SEX!!!"

Anyway, from Wednesday to Friday we hung out in Suzhou. The Mexican students arrived and we went out for free drinks for 100 kuai all night (7 kuai: 1 dollar - so a little under $15). The Mexican students are good people. We were talking about bullshit Democracy and bullshit NAFTA the first night. One is English teacher, Juilo, and the other guy, Edwardo, knows real good English. Otherwise, the rest are just kind of chubby girls. Suzhou university is huge, and our student helpers are so funny. They think we are the coolest people in the world. Their names are Brooks, Mandy, and Thomas, better than most English names I've come across, turtle, orange juice, and eleven hahaha.

Shanghai was intense. It is just breathtaking, no pun intended. We went to an ancient garden, which was about the only beautiful thing about Shanghai. Then to a market where you couldn't even turn and every three steps somebody says "watch, bag, rolex?" The Chinese acrobat performance that night was amazing, I honestly had no clue that people could do that with their bodies. The next day we went in a tower and you could just see buildings as far as the smog will let you. It is real hard to describe, you'll just have to see the pictures in a few weeks. For now I am an English teacher in a small (not really) city call Hangzhou, which is right below Shanghai. I would write more, but the other teachers want me to go to my Taichi lesson, so I better bounce. I'll tell you all about the school tomorrow because I have an excessive amount of free time here, which is good. I need time to study, write, and read anyway. Alright folks, be easy.