Phone Blogging

Recently I have come to the following two conclusions:

1. I am quite busy now and don't really make the time for insightful blog posts.
2. My new phone has a good enough camera that I feel I can take decent pictures of random everyday things here in China (realizing that most people that read this blog are not in China and therefore things are not everyday for them).

With this in mind I have decided I am going to start posting more but probably have more pictures and perhaps less insight.

This is probably a good thing for everyone involved though. Less time with me writing (less reading you have to endure) and more photos of what China is like.

I think I took this picture just to test out my camera. The pollution you may (or may not) notice is basically what I see every day. The traffic looks pretty light right now. 

This is a park I walk through on the way home to my house.

Bad picture, but you should be able to notice a few people playing the erhu. In the morning in all the parks here, people basically do whatever they want; tai chi, play with swords, play instruments, "exercise," etc. Can be quite interesting.

Saw a white dude while I was riding my bike. I was waiting for someone so I went up to talk to him. Turns out they are from Springville, UT. Fancy that.

I ate here and can testify that it is definitely the best aood humbrger I have ever had!

Bonquet of flowers I put together and card I made for Loida when she finally came back to China. (Few days old... I really didn't put it together with dying flowers).

First dinner with Loida upon her return to China. It was ok.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

(First of all... I should mention that I am ironically listening to the song Bicycle by Queen right now with my music player being on random)

When I first got to China (and before I even got here) I debated whether or not I should purchase a nice bike. I could not decide if it would be worth my money to have a bike for only one year even though I might just ride it a handful of times. The traffic here is pretty crazy and I thought buying a bike might be the same as buying cancer. I was able to borrow a bicycle though and after riding it once, I decided that it was liberating enough to be a good investment.

The bike you see above I bought the day after my first paycheck. It cost me almost my entire paycheck. It was 1460 RMB ($230 USD). It is a 21 speed with disc brakes and SRAM gear shifters. I really don't know if it is all that great of a deal (maybe someone who knows anything about bikes can post a comment) but I have liked the bike so far.

This blog post will be a virtual ride in China with me and my bike.

Shopping in China is fun!

National Day in China is a pretty big deal. It is an entire week that people get off of work or school to celebrate. By...  um... not going to work or school. Unless of course you are not a teacher then you still go to work. The only other way I saw that people celebrated was by massing together into one gigantic clump to go shopping!

Notice how the traffic is only going one way. I am pretty sure there is only one place people wanted to shop.

The Joys of Traveling in China

I am in China! I made it! Lifelong goal checked off. In the first few days here, I have experienced nearly every method of travel possible. One thing is for certain. Traveling in China is different than in America. VERY different.

(Warning; this is a LONG post. I suggest only reading it while eating ice cream)