Vinh Watch 2012: Day 41 and 42

I know I ruined some trust bonds with that atrocious last round of Vinh Watch updates, but I promise this round is better and definitely worth reading. Albeit shorter, it's still better (like me!).  One other thing, I'm now pretty adept at living on my own so hilarious happenings are fewer and far between. Also, there's only about ten days remaining in my pseudo-adult life since I'm going to Texas August 1st and will be with my parents. I've really settled into a routine this last month and the problems have become more and more everyday: being too lazy to wash the dishes, going to work, trying to cook not-terrible food, sorting mail, writing letters and thank you cards, sending letters and thank you cards. They've become less of something I  can find humor in and something I have to deal with on a consistent basis. That being said maybe some hilarious things will happen to me while I'm in Texas, but to be honest, I see Vinh Watch coming to an end here very soon. There is hope on the horizon however, as I am playing in MUDI, an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in the twin cities, at the end of this month AND I have to find a means to get to the airport on August 1st so keep your fingers crossed that things will not go smoothly for me (it's a little strange to tell other people to hope for misfortune for yourself...).  Now I know the end of Vinh Watch is something to be sad about, but there's really no reason to weep. After all, I'm just some dude who made his life out to be more dramatic and tragic than it really was. I hope you enjoyed "watching" me as much as I have enjoyed writing this.

"Don't be sad that it ended, be happy that it happened." - Me, trying to think of that quote by Dr. Seuss about not being sad, but being happy instead.

That being said, here is possibly the final Vinh Watch update.

July 13, 2012
Day 41:
4:45 P.M. - Vinh meets up with Emily to learn how to drive a stick shift. Emily teaches Vinh on a straight road by a park is town that is isolated from any roads with significant traffic. In retrospect, a wise decision. She explains the technique of driving stick which Vinh is able to understand. Vinh's confidence is high as he gets behind the wheel. What he thought would go as smoothly as a dream soon turns to a nightmare that begins as he immediately stalls the car. Vinh sees it as a minor set back, but subconsciously he knows that this does not forebode well. He struggles to turn the car on despite this process being the same as in any car. His second attempt begins optimistically but is short lived as he stalls once again. A theme that he would become all too familiar. He continues to stall for the next several attempts and with each and every rough and jerky stop-and-start Vinh swears while Emily gives him kind and reassuring words. Patience begins to wear thin, but through divine intervention Vinh is able to get the car rolling, but the start is about as smooth as a teenager's face. Vinh reaches the end of the road and begins to panic as he realizes that he is headed towards real traffic. His prayers are answered as the car stalls. Frustration reaches a new high and Emily finds comfort in peanut butter M&M's. After a number of tries Vinh is able to turn the car around but stalls shifting into the ever elusive second gear. More swearing and M&M's happen. Vinh reaches the end of the road and attempts to turn around with reassurance and borrowed confidence from Emily. This is tricky because he must shift gears multiple times. Something he is able to do with the consistency of love at first sight. He predictably stalls the car as he shifts for the first time into reverse. The car is posistioned so that he is blocking both lanes of traffic. As he attempts to start the car again an older gentleman on a bicycle rides by to witness the comedy of Vinh's personal anguish. Vinh feels the embarrassment of a adolescent who has committed a social faux pas at a popular kids birthday party. Vinh stalls once or twice as the cyclist rides by. Vinh finally starts the car and surrenders, embarrassed and incompetent.
Final counts:
Stalls - 30, possibly more. Definitely more. Witnesses: 2 (include Emily) Deaths: 0 Damages to Emily's car: TBD

5:30 P.M. -7:00 P.M. - Vinh plays pick up Ultimate in steady rain and lightning. Despite this they play on. The lightning and thunder provide a delicate background as the group enjoys their time, but the fun and games could all end with a fateful chance and a single strike of lightning. The group, feeling brave, mocks the storm and tempts fate by making famous last words jokes, mainly consisting of "YOLO". Luckily, no one would have to eat their words.

July 14, 2012 Day 42
1:24 P.M. - Vinh receives a call from his mother and ends up talking to his older sister. She offers praise for his literary genius exhibited on Vinh watch, but reminds him to maintain a professional public profile if he ever hopes to make big money. Vinh understands, but is frustrated that Vinh Watch, with its good natured and entertaining self loathing cannot be left alone to simply exist. Vinh feels like an angsty pre-teen girl crying to be left alone. He regrettably cannot simply say, "Sorry for partying".

4:43 P.M. - Vinh's D-III nationals pint glass meets its maker as it is shattered in a dishwashing accident. The bowl Vinh was washing slipped from his supple grasp and shattered the lip on the glass. Shards flew through the end and Vinh was left as a shaken and shattered (too soon?) shell of himself. They say the good die young. Vinh has never known this to be more true than today.

Vinh Watch 2012: Day 32 - 39

July 4, 2012 Day 32

3:00 P.M. Vinh goes tubing on the Canon River with two friends. About half way down he realizes that he left his car keys in his friend's car. This is notable as Vinh's car is where they plan on ending their tubing time. This realization is followed by some swearing, laughing, and guilt.

5:38 P.M. Vinh is luckily able to retrieve his cell phone from his car and is able to call a cab back to town. Laura is especially lucky since she did not have shoes and the walk back to town on gravel would most likely  have spelled death for her.

10:00 P.M. Vinh receives a call from Thomas "Bonewolf" Cullen and confusedly talks to him for about ten minutes about hanging out. Vinh is reluctant to hang out as he must rise early for work the next day. Vinh is confused because the person on the phone does not sound like Tommy and claims to have a surprise for him. Vinh wonders if it will be about as exciting as the prizes found at the bottom of a cereal box.

10:23 P.M.The surprise is none other than Erik Larsen. He was also the person on the phone. They drive to campus to watch the fireworks on the top floor of Regents Hall.

10:30 P.M. They arrive at Regents and run into some friends. They learn that the fireworks they had intended to watched had just ended. So far hanging out has only resulted in failure.

July 5, 2012 Day 33

1:00 P.M. Vinh has a match at Shakopee. Two players arrive and Vinh must face the embarrassment of defaulting a majority of his matches and he wonders who thought a match the day after the fourth of July was a good idea. A possible "no fun zone" alert. 

7:00 P.M. Vinh makes jean cutoffs from an old pair of jeans. Considers it one of his best life choices in recent memory.

July 11, 2012 Day 39

6:00 A.M. Vinh wakes up after only about two hours of sleep. His insomnia chooses the worst possible nights to be exceptional. Vinh struggles with short term memory loss as he prepares for a tournament in Mankato. He makes a lunch and heads to the high school to meet with parents and players at 7:00 A.M.

8:30 A.M. - 4:13 P.M. Vinh battles fatigue, indifference, and general laziness during his matches as he creates line ups, makes errors assigning courts, and forgets to record scores from his matches. Vinh spends much of the day sitting and staring off into space. Despite this his team manages a second place finish and Northfield sweeps the top three spots at the tournament for U-14s. 

4:15 P.M.- 5:15 P.M. Vinh naps the whole way back to Northfield and considers not playing pick up, but goes anyway because the fatigue has made him, pardon the language, "give zero fucks". 

5:30 P.M. Cole "Blue Man" Steigler provides a surprise cameo at pick up.

8:13 P.M. As he waits for his laundry, Vinh realizes he has not done Vinh Watch updates in quite some time and decides he needs to comment on some of his activities. He considers that perhaps his life has become too boring and unable to be dramatized.

10:03 P.M. Vinh finishes doing some Vinh Watch updates and considers them to be his worst ones yet. Feels the need to apologize to any readers for wasting their time. While there may be a gem here and there in this batch of updates Vinh feels that overall this does not live up to par for Vinh Watch. Encourages readers to ream him for his flavorless droll.

10:07 P.M.Looks up the word droll to make sure he used it properly. He did not. 

10:08 P.M. Vinh tries to hide his tears of shame, but once again fatigue has made him "give no fucks".

Vinh Watch 2012: Day 19 - 28

I know it's been a while since the last Vinh Watch updates but I have a few excuses in my defense. 1) I've been busy with trying to volunteer at a garden in town, unsuccessfully. 2) I've been doin' my thang gurl. I've been working, playing ultimate and generally having fun with friends. 3) I felt like the updates were becoming too often and as a result becoming less and less notable so I decided to cut back. 4) I don't have internet in my house so I have to make a trip to the public library or to Goodbye Blue Monday, a place that so graciously lets me use its internet to my heart's delight. 5) I am lazy.

That being said here are the, possibly long awaited, updates from Vinh Watch 2012!

June 20, 2012: Day 19
-5:00 P.M.
Vinh eats two Twinkies and feels a level of disgust usually reserved for pedophiles and date rapists.

-8:45 P.M.
Vinh makes light of his Twinkie eating by tweeting "Ate 2 twinkies today. #YOLO"

June 24, 2012: Day 23
-1:13 P.M.
Vinh is defeated by the single life. The everyday tasks of cooking and washing dishes has mentally worn him down.  The fact that there is almost another month of solitude Vinh thinks perhaps Cole "The Blueman" Steigler will be correct in his prediction of death by the end of summer.

-5:30- 8:30 P.M.
Vinh feels an obscene amount of frustration as he plays terrible during his Sunday night league. It all began with a single missed shot and snowballed until Vinh uncontrollably could only think, "This is horseshit" with every missed shot. I believe there's an old saying, "Some days you poop on the toilet, some days you are the toilet." Vinh was the toilet.

June 27, 2012: Day 26
-12:03 P.M.
Today is offensively hot. Vinh wears a cutoff to work and thinks about how funny it'd be if a tennis tournament gave out cutoffs for t-shirts on his way to work. Enjoys a good chuckle to himself.

-3:40 P.M.
Vinh receives acclaim from one of the players about his blog. The player encourages Vinh to include details of how they played pickup ultimate together and made jokes together today. Vinh wonders why people want him to make Vinh Watch boring.

-5:30-7:00 P.M.
Vinh plays pick up in the outrageously humid and hot weather. He forgets what it is like to be dry as sweat quickly soaks through his clothes. This is weather no cutoff can salvage. He cannot throw any meaningful throws as his hands as perpetually slick from sweat. Considers it the WORST.

-7:15 P.M.
Goes swimming in the cannon river with some girls (no big). Mosquitoes feast upon his blood and he wonders what the odds of being infected with the West Nile Virus are. Then he remembers that he is swimming in the Canon River and is lucky to still have bodily function.

June 28, 2012: Day 27
-4:00 P.M.
Vinh accidently pegs a kid in the nuts while feeding volleys during work. The kid was standing in line and, as if drawn up by the hands of fate, he was putting on a vibration dampener that had fallen off his racquet. Another kid was doing the drill and Vinh fed a high backhand volley that the kid in the drill swung for and missed and Vinh watched as the ball arched and ever so gracefully hit the kid adjusting his dampener. Vinh's apologies fell on deaf ears as the kid had to sit down and complained of feeling sick. Vinh felt as if a strange justice had been served today. This kid slandered Michael Abdella's, a coworker, good name by claiming "Michael eats poop for lunch." Secretly Vinh thought the crudeness and obvious truthless nature of the claim was hilarious.

-8:00 P.M.
Vinh enjoys a nice meal with Abi Enockson. They cook a spaghetti with vegetable and chicken medley that is seasoned with olive oil and salt. Despite being a bear, Abi does not ruin the meal.

June 29, 2012: Day 28
-2:30 A.M.
 Vinh is annoyed with a fire alarm in his apartment as he tries to sleep. The alarm seems to be beeping at random. Vinh wonders if it is trying to warn him of carbon monoxide, but doubts the possibility as windows have been open for many hours. Yells in frustration, "What are you trying to tell me?!?" and "What do you want from me?!?" Weeps as he falls asleep.

-11:43 A.M.
Vinh takes a shower and as he washes his face all the warning signs begin to sink in. He tries to ignore them and thinks, "No...this can't be happening to me. There must be some kind of mistake. It's just a little fullness from lunch, that's all." But by the end of his shower he accepts the truth: He has to poop.

-12:10 P.M.
Vinh finishes his post-shower poop and weeps audibly. He exhibits symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as going anywhere near the bathroom leaves him in shambles and he spirals down into a world of uncleanliness, shame, and doubt. This is magnified by the fact that the bathroom is about one fifth of his living space.

-12:18 P.M.
Vinh realizes the random beeping from the fire alarm has stopped and thinks that perhaps there is a chance he can make it in this world. However, he still avoids the bathroom whenever possible.

Vinh Watch 2012 Day 9-15

June 10, 2012 Day 9
Book Count:7

June 11, 2012 Day 10
- 11:08 A.M. Vinh notices his sparse facial hair and makes a mental note that he needs to shave. He realizes that he doesn't really need to, but he should to prevent looking like a pubescent teen...well some things cannot be helped. Wonders what he'd look like with a nice full beard.

- 12:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Vinh is worthless at work as fatigue and soreness from Tennis the night before has left his body reluctant and immobile. Highlights from work include: swinging and missing on a U-12's second serve, being responsbile for creating a line-up for Tuesday's match, and debating between an adult small t-shirt or a youth extra large t-shirt. After much deliberation Vinh decides he would rather have his shirt be wider than run a little long and selects a youth extra large.

- 5:30 P.M. Loses a large portion of his pasta dinner after he drops it in the sink while straining the pasta. Wonders what he did to invoke God's wrath.

June 12, 2012 Day 11
-12:00 P.M. Vinh makes his coaching debut for USTA Team Tennis. Disaster ensues as Vinh is unsure of the match format and he realizes half way through winners are determined by total games won rather than matches won. Despite this Vinh's  team manages to win by one game. Vinh laughs at his good fortune.

June 13, 2012 Day 12
-11:29 A.M Vinh attempts to set a lineup for today's U12 math. He still has no idea what he is doing. Laughs that some U12 boys will have to play girls doubles. Laughs that they may face possible ridicule from other U12 boys. Laughs that this may give him a small advantage over the other team. Wonders if he is sexist.

-11:38 A.M. Vinh realizes it is raining and that he may not have to coach/work today while watering his Mother's plants.

-1:00 P.M. Vinh has to work.

June 14, 2012 Day 13
-10:02 A.M. Vinh wakes up and notices an extremely dark overcast sky. Vinh wonders if he will have to work.

-12:40 P.M. Vinh has to work. His match against Apple Valley is indoors. He arrives feeling confident that he could go 3-0 this first week coaching. Soon after arriving and seeing the opponents Vinh feels all hope vanish and feels as if he has led these innocent kids into a fucking ambush.

-1:15-2:45 P.M. It was a fucking ambush. Vinh watches helplessly as his team gets rocked. He does his best to help and encourage them, but the other team proves to be too skilled. Vinh's team wins a total of 8 games. Apple Valley wins 48. Vinh now knows how Judas felt betraying Jesus to the Romans.

-6:40 P.M. Vinh goes to move his car as the parking lot near his apartment is flooding. The water reaches mid-calf on Vinh.

-8:43 P.M.Vinh returns after driving around town. Many of the roads are flooded and he cannot get to a friend's house despite trying three different routes. While he is driving he does not notice a high water area until he has already entered it. He proceeds through slowly praying his car makes it through. Vinh counts his lucky charms that he made it through. Realizes he is not Irish and probably should not count lucky charms. As he is washing dishes Vinh reflects on the near incident and nearly drops his pint glass from Division 3 nationals. No one will believe him, but he swears he felt a guardian angel help him hold onto that pint glass.

June 15, 2012 Day 14
- 1:59 A.M. While trying to go to sleep Vinh begins thinking of bad instances to have a +1. After much internal debate Vinh decides the idea is funny enough and he gets up to write down some of them so that he will not forget them after going to sleep.After many attempts of recollection, Vinh cannot remember the funniest one he had thought of, the one that he had decided it was worth it to turn the light on for. Feels a significant hollowness. The bad instances he thought of include: your own wedding, your child's birth, a court appearance, an execution, a surgery, going to the bathroom, a Cheaters confrontation (both sides), and meeting Chris Hanson.

-4:54 P.M. Vinh sees his life flash before his eyes as he is attacked by a wasp in his car. The wasp flew in through an open window and Vinh was instantly paralyzed with fear. He cowers in his seat as he watches the wasp fly back and forth through his car. The wasp seems to be growing frustrated with its inability to escape the car despite the fact that there are two wide open windows. Vinh fears the wasp will sting him out of frustration. At long last the terror subsides and Vinh takes a moment to regroup. He has stared into the eyes of Death today. Vinh is relieved he was attacked by a wasp, the insect, and not a White Anglo Saxon Protestant for he knows that that is a WASP attack he surely would not have survived.

June 16, 2012 Day 15
-4:29 P.M. Vinh catches up on updating Vinh Watch 2012. He knows there is something funny here...

Vinh Watch 2012 Update Day 1 - 6

At long last an update from Vinh Watch 2012 (mostly because I've forgotten to bring my notebook that contains the, in my opinion, hilarious updates about my pseudo grown-up life). These blurbs are just highlights from my struggles living on my own for the next two months. All events are true however I hope the additional commentary is visibly sarcastic.

Vinh Watch 2012


Day 1: June 2, 2012
- 2:30 P.M. After a successful Cub run followed by a tragic over-cooking of broccoli, Vinh laments his fortune and begins to question the existence of God.

- 5:10 P.M. Vinh returns home after Tennis and reluctantly washes: 1 bowl, 1 plate, 1 fork, 1 glass; considers not making dinner despite being hungry

- 5:30 P.M. Avoids tragedy as a near slip of the hand leads to a close call with the only bowl in the apartment brings Vinh new perspective on life.

- 5:36 P.M. With no adults around to tell him he will spoil his dinner, Vinh sneaks in dessert before dinner.

-5:37 P.M. Spoils his dinner, signs of guilt apparent
Book Count: 3

Day 2: June 3, 2012
- 1:05 P.M. Almost places a cold britta pitcher onto a still-hot stove top; wonders how he scored a 32? 31? 30? on the ACT; does not remember his score
Book Count: 4
Day 3: June 4, 2012
- 7:26 P.M. Vinh eats a hodge podge dinner: 1 whole green bell pepper, a plate of nachos and salsa

Day 4: June 5, 2012
- 6:33 P.M. Vinh wins $25,000 according to an advertisement in the mail. Entertains the idea of its legitimacy.

-7: 43 P.M. Repeat of the broccoli fiasco from Day 1. Considers the legitimacy of the $25,000 competition.
Book Count: 5

Day 6: June 6, 2012
-3:16 A.M. Vinh stays up all night reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Scares himself in his solitude and hides in a sleeping bag until he falls asleep.

-6:58 P.M. Begins The Girl who Played with Fire


-10:00 P.M. Vinh chokes on his root beer after significantly underestimating the volume remaining in his bottle. He chokes loudly in Blue Monday for what he perceives to be an eternity.
Book count : 6

Vinh Watch 2012!

I just wanted to announce that over the course of the next two weeks I will be writing a satire of my next two months. This is only notable because I am living by myself without the security of parents or older siblings for the first time ever. Stay tuned as Vinh Watch 2012 continues!

Re-return

The end. On Monday January 30 I will return to the United States. I'll land in Dallas, TX and then fly to Minneapolis. It's really hard to believe that my time in Asia has come to end. This last week in Tokyo has gone outrageously fast. I have enjoyed it, but it's amazing how much of the moment is ruined when money gets involved. The cost of living in Tokyo is higher than the U.S. and even higher than in Beijing and it really just discouraged from traveling or going out at all. The month has flown by and I've had experiences that are really irreplaceable and in reality, probably once-in-a-lifetime. While I can always come back to China or Japan again, the feeling will never be the same. It will be more of something like a homecoming rather than an adventure.

This month I gained an appreciation for home, but also for China and Japan. While it's easy to look down on China for it's various social, economic, and political problems, the country is really a diamond in the rough. While the health standards are skeptical, in general the food and area is clean. The people are also kind, helpful, and welcoming. Having an American income is amazing as Beijing becomes a nighttime playground. Anything and everything is possible. In contrast, in Japan it's nearly impossible to let loose and be reckless and young. Traveling is expensive, nightlife entertainment is expensive and it's incredible how quickly the cost piles up. But in general, I was able to have an amazing month for $400-$500 U.S.

Regrets from the month? Not many. I only regret not letting loose more. I regret not falling asleep in class every day. I regret not having a camera. I regret not getting a suit. I regret not having more money at the silk market or sanlitun as well as not having more suitcase space.

Successes from the month? Many. Addison's birthday week. Sunset on the Great Wall. Ultimate with Chinese kids. Getting lost in Beijing. Knock off Rayban's for 20 kuai (<$5 U.S.). Riding a sled down a mountain. Site seeing. Chun'Jie (Chinese New Year). Helen's. 去难( very poor translation of "Go Hard")。D. Rose jersey.

I could go on for hours, but I don't have the time. I'm excited to be back in the U.S. but China will always have a special familiarity for me. Will I return? Who knows?

Best wishes,
Vinh

Chinese New Year and Japan

So I have been in Japan now for one whole day. So far so good. Japan has been excellent so far but I, as well as many others, find ourselves missing China. Japan is awesome in it's own way, but China just had something that we all eventually grew fond of. China allowed us to live like royalty, there was a somewhat familiarity with the language, and there was something about the bars we had come to know and love. While one of our old favorites closed down for Chinese New Year (which really ruined a few things for us) we found a new favorite in Helen's, another bar nearby. The workers were friendly and just genuinely happy to see us every time and we had all grown to adore them. Now that I am in Japan, I feel so hopeless. Everything I see has no meaning and I have no understanding even when I consider context. I cannot communicate with any of the people to tell them what kind of food I want or what I am looking for.

Back to China for a second though, our last night was New Year's eve and it was incredible. Any dream you have ever had with being with friends and celebrating in the middle of the street pales in comparison to what happened. First off, I started the night going with a few other students to a homestay. We helped make some dumplings, not without disaster unfortunately, and then we had a huge feast. Once we had eaten beyond our fill, we walked to chilly streets of Beijing to watch some fireworks. People didn't only have the weak fireworks that were all bang and no flash, there were some serious fireworks going off. The hilarious thing is that people didn't clean up after themselves at all. They just kind of left whatever was left in the street or wherever they happened to set of their fireworks. At about ten o'clock we headed to Helen's for unlimited beers for 10 kuai (about $1.60). We were merry, played some games, and then at midnight the real fireworks began. Even though fireworks had been going off all day, the entirety of Helen's headed out into the street where it sounded like we were in the middle of a war zone. The workers at Helen's set off some massive fireworks and being right underneath them was awe-inspiring. Ashes were falling from the sky and there was trash and stopped cars all over the streets. After about an hour, we all made our way back in and stayed until close, hanging onto Helen's until the end. We said tearful goodbyes to the staff and Beijing all in one go. Thinking back now on the previous 3 weeks I am in disbelief with what has happened. The things I have done, the things I have seen, the people I have come to know. It feels like I've lived another life. I've met people from the US, staying at the same dorm, and realistically I will never ever see these people again. They were great people, but I will never ever know what will happen to them. That idea and feeling is really unsettling to me.

The transition from China to Japan has not been very smooth. I find myself instinctively trying to speak Chinese to people I don't know and I find myself constantly counting pennies when it comes to prices. The upgrade in luxury has been nice, but at the same time I feel like touching/using/doing anything with anything that I don't know how to use properly will ruin it. Using a spraying toilet/bidet for the first time was hilarious. The whole time I was laughing and I honestly don't think I enjoyed it. We went to a hot spring today which was simply ridiculous. We soaked in hot water for about 3 hours and by the end my skin felt so new and it felt like time had stopped all together.

Overall, it has been an incredible month, but I am more than ready to be back at St. Olaf, being in the company of friends and playing Ultimate. While I've enjoyed my time with the people on this trip. There is a side of me that I feel like they don't understand or appreciate like the Ultimate community at St. Olaf. Maybe I'm just weird.

Best wishes,
Vinh

Safety regulations = No fun

I woke up today at about 8:50 am. Recently that hasn't been much of a challenge, but this morning was especially difficult considering I had stayed out until 3 club/bar hopping with some friends and the RAs here. I got up so early because a group of us had decided we were going to attempt to make a day trip to the edge of town and hike a small mountain in order to ride a toboggan down. We rode line 1 west to the last stop, then took a bus to it's last stop. We entered our park and found a really nice gradual descent. We clambered up, saw a lot of natural scenery, but also got an amazing view of Beijing. The sky was also clear and blue, so we were able, for once, to actually see and realize the size of Beijing. As we climbed we also stopped and visited various prayer sites where people were lighting incense, praying, and generally celebrating the New Year.

The toboggan ride was a lot of fun. There wasn't a lot of safety involved (no helmets, no guard rails a majority of the way down, no seat belts), but there was a guide and warning signs. The 5 of us went down the 5 minute long track and it was really a blast. The turns could be taken as fast or as slow as you wanted and it was exhilarating to really let the descent of the mountain to dictate your speed. By the end we were all smiles.

When we were leaving the area, we saw a man renting our these chair-sleds to ride on a frozen pond. We all hoped on and laughed at the rusted metal poles intended to be used as ski poles. We had a lot of fun sliding around on the ice, racing, bumping into each other and generally being rowdy. We created quite the buzz and soon the ice had several people following our lead. There were a few accidental stabbings that luckily did not break skin. There were some spills onto the ice and there was also collateral damage with some parents with children. Luckily, no one was harmed or seriously stabbed with these poles.

It's funny because today I paid 70 yuan (about 12 or 13 US) to do two activities that would either a)never be allowed in the U.S. or b) so heavily safety regulated that the thrill of it would have been diminished. Not that safety isn't fun, but sometimes there's more fun to be had when caution's thrown to the wind. Tomorrow I am celebrating the Chinese New Year at a home stay near the dorms. Then Monday brings Tokyo.

Best wishes,
Vinh

Ultimate in Beijing

Chet and I did the coolest thing today. After class we were kind of just bumming around the dorm. We decided to get outside and throw a frisbee around. We headed to a nearby park and there were some very young children (about seven years old). It didn't take long for the frisbee to peak their curiosity. Soon we were surrounded by a few kids wanting to play along. Luckily, Chet and I have the vocabulary of a seven year old and we were able to talk with them a little bit and even teach them how to throw. After a while, Chet and I were barely even playing. The kids were having a good time even though their throws were more like chucking rocks haphazardly off a cliff. The crowd kept coming as some oldsters came to use some nearby exercise equipment. They were also intrigued by the novelty of the frisbee, but there were a few who were not amused. Nevertheless, Chet and I played with these kids for a good hour or so and it was honestly one of the coolest and cutest things I've seen since I've been in Beijing. Towards the end there were three girls left and they were throwing with one another and it was amazing really how the kids interacted with one another. Chet was impressed with the fact that they were all so friendly with one another despite not knowing each other. There was definitely something refreshing about the youthful exuberance and joy the children had that is really missing from an adult world filled with skeptics, malice, and deception. I'm not at a bar right now, but if I was, I'd toast:

"To Children. May their youthful naivety and innocence always provide a source of hope and reason."

Then I'd rage like it's my job.

Best wishes,
Vinh

Last week, mistakes, and shopping

It's hard to believe, but my time is Beijing is drawing to a close. As of today I have one week before I leave for Tokyo and then before I know it, I'll be landing in Dallas back in the United States. It really evokes a bittersweet feeling. My Chinese roommate moved out today and I think a home stay student is moving in with me, but it's a bummer to leave people. My roommate and I got along well, we weren't best friends but we talked about some things and I got good practice with my Chinese. Before he left he got me a Bass Guitar lighter. I'm excited to be back in the States because I really miss my friends at St. Olaf and I miss playing Ultimate, but at the same time Beijing has been an incredible adventure. Between trying to find a place to eat, trying to figure out what we are eating, and overall trying to get around in a country where communication doesn't come easy creates an appreciation for the simplest of things. Last week we really got into a routine of just having class and then doing as we pleased. We explored Beijing, went to markets, alleys, and overall engulfed ourselves in the city.

This last week a group of students got stranded in a bar area because public transportation had closed down for the evening and taxis refused to give them rides. This did not deter us from bar hopping on Addison's birthday. We celebrated it Thursday night and it was a great time. There was dancing, laughing, singing, and general cheer. Class Friday morning went a lot better considering the circumstances and we were back at it Friday night. I personally, didn't partake in all of Friday night, but from what I've heard it was very much the same as Thursday night. On a different topic, we had our interviews this last week. They went relatively well? A lot shorter than I was expecting, but still very interesting. I struggled to understand a lot of what was being said to me, but the parts I did catch surprised me. Chet's home stay father told me about his childhood, his family, his dreams, and his thoughts on the world today.

We had our first free days this weekend and a lot of us used to the opportunity to get some school work done. Chet and I completed a walking tour, a set of ethnographic observations and some language notes. I also took the opportunity to go to some of the markets and do a little of bargaining. It's really interesting to bargain with these shop owners as they will start with a price that is grossly high. I usually responded with a price that was grossly low in comparison. They would usually say that it's unacceptable and offer a slightly lower price. I'd stick to my original offer, they would lower their price again, and then I would pretend to walk away, they would continue to lower their price, I would continue to walk away, and they would either chase after me still lowering their price or finally accept my offer. At first it was really uncomfortable offering such small amounts of money for these impressive knock offs of signature brands like nike, polo, northface, etc. but then I remembered that these things were fake. I really like the idea of bargaining because it makes you pay a price you are comfortable with. I picked up a pair of knock off ray bans for 20 yuan which is less than 5 US dollars. This is great because I always wanted to get sunglasses for 5-10 US dollars, but I could never find a pair that I liked for that amount. The markets are great because in terms of style you can get anything you want for very little money. Although the quality is relatively poor, things like clothing will still last plenty long. I don't think things like electronics or watches is worthwhile though since you never know how long those will actually last. Addison actually purchased a 3 piece suit for 1100 yuan which is about 172 US. Pretty sweet. I'm planning on getting one made tonight. The suit shops also have ridiculous turn around times, Addison was measured and they told him to come back the next day to have it fitted/pick it up.

This last week in China I'm planning on finishing up my school work, checking out some final places, and buying some final keepsakes before Japan.

Best wishes,
Vinh

The Great Wall and Rural China

I just got back today from our Great Wall trip and it was easily one of the greatest experiences of my life. We traveled with another group from Austin College. Starting out, many of us prepared for an extra cold trip under advisement from various guides and instructors. I wore 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, and 2 jackets. At the beginning of the day, all of these clothes were unnecessary, but by the end more wouldn't have been unreasonable. We started out traveling up the Great Wall where we trekked for about 2 hours. The view and feelings present are indescribable. I found myself laughing in disbelief constantly at the idea of where and I was and what my eyes were taking in. The wall was beautiful and so were the hills despite the winter time. Photos can't really do justice as to how hard it is to climb the wall, but by the time the group got up there we were all sweating from the effort. After our hike, we then hiked through a valley for about another hour or so to a village where we were staying. Going into this trip, I didn't have high expectations for the village. I wasn't expecting any modern amenities, which I was okay with. After all, a majority of the Chinese live in poverty. In actuality when we arrived, the village had relatively modern facilities and lighting and I was a little upset. I felt robbed of an opportunity to essentially camp in the Chinese country side. 

Getting into the village, we all ate delicious food provided by the villagers and hung around a camp fire. I found myself again laughing in disbelief. After all, who imagines that they would  ever be in the Chinese country side growing up? Unfortunately a full moon robbed us of a brilliant night sky, but the company was lively. We sat around a fire and talked, the Austin kids were interesting, but also forgettable. Most of them retired to their room early. The girls didn't seem to have much depth to their personality and the guys were your pretty typical frat boys. Anyway, seven of us piled into a freezing cold room wearing all of our layers and slept. We awoke at 5:50 to the call of roosters and prepared to hike up to the Great Wall to watch the sunrise. We hiked for about 2 hours in the dark and reached the top as it was getting light. The hike was difficult because of snow and ice as well as low visibility, but the view on the mountain better and better as our altitude increased. The view from the highest point on the wall was outrageous, awe-inspiring, and surreal. I couldn't keep myself from smiling and laughing. We gazed across the clouds and saw the wall running along the mountains for miles. It was hard to realize how high up we were until we moved across the top and saw the steep drop off near the side. Despite being extremely cold, I felt perfectly fine as I gazed towards the horizon. The serenity of the moment was like something I've never felt. It was nice to realize the fog I saw was probably clouds rather than fog like in the city. As the sun rose over another peak, the world lit up beautifully and for a moment I saw the world how it was meant to be seen, simply beautiful. Naturally, this moment was too brief as the sun eventually rose too high and became blinding.

The descent was difficult. We hiked down for two hours, I soon realized the steep inclines that were difficult to climb had become dangerous declines where falling, sliding, and slipping were very likely. There was a lot of falling, sliding, and slipping and luckily no one was hurt on the descent. When we finally reached the village, I was extremely content. When I woke up that morning I was considering not leaving the slightly warm bed for the bitter cold, but I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We ate a delicious breakfast, thanked our generous hosts, and hiked out of the valley to our buses. The hike out was more memorable than the days before as we could see the natural scenery better in the day time. The great thing about these hikes is it allows a lot of conversation. It's amazing how much you can talk about with someone over the course of an hour or two and how much you can learn about them.

I know I've been updating a lot, but it's because we have done so many things since arriving and it'd be a shame to let these experiences be kept secret. This week will start to become routine as we are getting into a regular class schedule. Chet and I will have to finish up our walking tours this week, I will interview his home stay parents and he will interview my roommate, and I believe we are going to attempt to have suits made this week. A group of us are also attempting a weekend trip to another city because why not?

Best wishes,
Vinh

Failure and Transcendence

After an incredible visit to the Capital Museum on Friday, Chet and I embarked on our walking tour. We decided to adapt an "adventurer" mindset and took a risk. We attempted to go through the walking tour without our directions. We made it to the first location and discovered it was quite a walk from the subway station to the actual entrance. We paid the entrance fee and proceeded to be floored by the size of the Temple of Heaven Park. Inside there was an outrageous number of trees creating a very beautiful, natural (read: artificial) scene. Once we reached the inner area of the park I was amazed by the size, detail, and overall view of the Temple as well as the surrounding area. Chet and I ended up spending about 2 hours wandering around the location seeing the different parts of the park, but we had to move on without seeing the entire park for the sake of brevity. We also ended up having to walk around the entire perimeter of the park trying to find our next location. We failed miserably, settled in a nearby McDonald's for a quick snack. We then went to a Nike next door just to look around. I felt pretty miserable about not being able to complete our tour, but we gave it the old college try. 

I finally met my roommate later the same night. I hadn't met him previously because he was finishing finals and was staying at another location on campus so he would not have to disturb me while he stayed up to study all night. His name is Tony and he speaks good English. He seems very curious about American culture, but also doesn't have a strong desire to travel to the United States. Instead he has a strong infatuation with Japan. We talked about some things like what we studied, where we live, and he told me a little about his previous American roommate. I gave him a slinky as a small present and I watched as he showed genuine confusion. I thought that a slinky would make a good gift as the novelty and familiarity of it would bring a small amount of happiness, but Tony had never seen a slinky before and I honestly can't tell if Tony likes his slinky. He seems extremely flexible, understanding, and reasonable which is great since that makes living in a foreign country that much easier. 

Saturday I woke up to snow. Which was really beautiful and added a special element to the Beijing scene, distracting momentarily from the smog. There wasn't a lot of accumulation, but it was nice for the morning. Our weekend excursion to the Great Wall was postponed to tomorrow as the roads leading up the mountains had become dangerous, especially for a bus. Rather than allow the day to waste a group of us headed to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City brought on more of the same feelings of awe that the Temple of Heaven brought. The Forbidden City was large and the amount of detail within the buildings was unreal. There was a certain mysticism present within the palace walls. After exiting the city we climbed a nearby hill that was the highest point surrounding the city. The view was surreal and unbelievable. We were able to see the entire area of the Forbidden City, but the surrounding Beijing area was hidden unfortunately by fog. Beijing has some spectacular and surreal views that evoke a very welcomed transcendent feeling. Tonight a group of us are planning on heading to a karaoke bar or a pub for some fun. There's something special about being in good company and enjoying the world. 

Best wishes,

Vinh 

Making it in China

So I officially landed in China at 11:21 PM January 3, 2012 local time. As soon as I came out of the runaway, it was an open mouthed experience. Everything I saw had a novelty that made it incredible. The airport was amazing in both size and architecture. Security was surprising lax as immigration made the process fairly simple and customs was nonexistent. We honestly walked through a room with some officials and that was it. We then left the airport and drove through the city, which was impressive, but also disappointing in the darkness. I was anticipating a sensory overload, but the morning fog/smog/grogginess made it difficult to see and appreciate the city. There were some trees that had lights to give off an Avatar-esque effect. When we arrived at the University we were all very excited.  The buildings didn’t look beautiful in presentation, but it also looked like there was quite a bit of construction. We reached the dorms with Signee (our class TA for the semester who is actually a recent St. Olaf grad and an alum of this program) and we were greeted by a petite Chinese woman. We exchanged passports for room keys, under the advisement of Signee and headed up to our rooms. The rooms were barren, but suitable. They could have more aesthetic appeal, but provided everything that I really needed. My roommate was supposed to already be living in the room, but when I opened the door but nobody was present, but evidence of his existence was. I unpacked a little and then some friends and I decided we wanted to head out a little. We asked Signee how to get back into the building and began our fiasco. Our first stop: a KTV karaoke café and bar right next door. We left at 2:00 AM and that was exactly when the bar closed, so we left defeated. Next stop: The corner of the block. At this point we decided to call it a night and returned to the dorms. I went to sleep expecting my roommate to return, but when I woke up in the morning there was no evidence that he had ever come back.

This morning we had orientation which really bummed me out. I was really excited for this trip to see the city, but it felt like they were asking us to do quite a few planned activities and reading. While I don’t mind this, I was really hoping we’d have a lot more freedom to travel as we liked. After orientation we headed to a impressive vegetarian restaurant which was skilled as imitation meat. We then had a small tour seeing some old litigation builds and ended up Tiananmen Square. Here our group attracted quite a bit of tourists which was but also slight uncomfortable. After Tiananmen, we split into some groups and were thrown into the city to find a location and bring back evidence that we had visited. My group stumbled out of the gates as we searched first for an ATM for currency. After struggling to communicate with some bankers we found an ATM and then began our actual quest. I was the only Chinese student in my group so it was up to me to find directions. Everyone I talked to was willing to help, but I had difficult either understanding them or I only understood enough to get a general direction. After spending some time walking in the general direction we hopped on a bus after further inquiry. The bus took us right up to our location which turned out to be a Market/shopping center. It was impressive, but also lacked finish at the same time. While we finished this relative quickly, returning to the University took a lot longer than we would’ve liked. We stumbled around for an hour and a half searching for a subway, then took the subway for about forty minutes and then finally walked another hour or so back to our University. The walk back was taxing, but also rewarding. We talked about how humbling the city of Beijing was and although I felt my Chinese was inadequate, it was just enough to get us back.

Tomorrow we have class and a visit to the Capital Museum followed by another group lunch. The afternoon Chet and I will be conducting a trial run of our walking tour, which means more or less the same as today. Good grief.

Best wishes,

Vinh

P.S. I just tried to get some pictures from my camera onto my camera to attach to this post, but it was a no go. Camera troubles led to a loss of pictures from today, which is unfortunate, but it could also lead to photoless-trip which is really disappointing. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be?