DuJiangYan

Before leaving Hangzhou we went out with all the EPs (Exchange Participants) and all the Chinese volunteers to a club called Coco Bananas. Painful as it was, they were replaying the Holland - Germany match and all the waiters were wearing football outfits. One of them was particularly nice amd he gave us a free bottle of whisky and plenty of ice tea to mix it with. At the club you could really see the one child-policy at work as all the girls were outnumbered 8 to 1.

The next day I woke up after having slept a wonderful 12 hours, which is great because it meant I had no jetlag on my first longhaul flight. We went to an amazing restaurant where I tried a lot of new dishes and it cost us only 32 yuan each, which is less than what I paid for the burger at the airport. We then went on yet another dangerous taxi trip to the trainstation, ready to embark on a 33-hour long trainride. The trainride was surprisingly fun and time went by quite fast. A major advantage was that it would span two nights, so we could sleep for about 14 to 20 hours. Could...Unfortunately, in my case the girl next to me was snoring like a lumberjack and I barely slept. I played a cool cardgame with the Chinese volunteers, of which I forgot the name but it was quite similar to ˝klootzakken˝ and I got to know my fellow EPs a lot better. I even learned a few new Spanish sayings from Dave: ˝El que en pan pienso, hambre tiene˝ and ˝En tiempos de guerra, evalquier hoyo es trinchera˝. I will leave it up to you to translate and understand it.

A very good thing to bond over was the fact that we were all suffering from the lack of a normal toilet. The only available toilet was a squatting toilet, or basically a hole in the floor. None of us planning to use it in its intended position, we were determined to last it out, the entire 33 hours. I gave up, starting to feel sick, but the others lasted only to find out that the restaurant we were having lunch at, the famous local Sichuan dish called Hot Pot, did not grace us with porcelain to sit on either. Thus, it came as a pleasant surprise that our dorm at GuangYa school does have a regular toilet that us Westerners so often take for granted (no longer).

Anyways, let´s return to more tasty matters before this goes out of hand. Hot Pot can best be described as a spicy version of cheese fondue, the cheese being replaced with soup filled entirely with different kinds of peppers and chili. I have no idea about what it was I put in half of the time, and the other half consisted of a pig´s brain, lotus root, duck stomach and blood. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the brain or the blood, but it was a very tasty experience in general.

Afterwards we continued to the school in DuJiangYan and with our final dangerous trip, for now, on the crazy Chinese roads. I suspect that they attain their drivers license by buying an extra large pack of rice, because it seems that they allow anyone on those roads. Having arrived we finally completed the trip that we started 40 hours ago. The principal welcomed us and told uss about the region. Sichuan, home of the Panda, has manz beautiful mountains and the city, that has completely been rebuild after an earthquake five years ago, is quite stunning as well. We will explore this soon, after we have prepared our classes for the coming week. I am definitely looking forward to it.

Hangzhou

It's tropically warm when I arrive at the airport. The sweaty, moist air reminds me of gym class at primary school. I suspect there might be funghi growing above the ceiling panes. This being my first longhaul flight, I'm not quite sure how to detect signals of a jetlag. However, after having once again confirmed I cannot sleep in any sort of seated position, I'm leaving the plane with surprisingly much energy. This is not because of the food on the plane, by the way. The smell of the microwave food contaminated the entire cabin and the smell was a pretty good indicator for the taste of the mushy pasta, and later of what was supposed to be scrambled eggs. The city seemed to share an odd smell caused by a melange of food everywhere and, quite possibly, feases.

At the airport the first difficulties arise when I can find no one who can speak English (I expected a bit more at an international airport), no ATM that works and no cash to call my contact person, who was supposed to pick me up in the first place. It turned out she e-mailed me, but I was already at Schiphol at that moment. The last problems could've been prevented if I brought some cash money, but the guy at schiphol adviced me to just use the ATM in Hangzhou.

In any case, after nearly two hours I managed to withdraw some cash, call my contactperson and find a cabdriver who speaks two words of English so he can take me to the university campus where I would stay the first night (I thought we would stay there till June 30th but the revised plan means we're already taking the 33-hour train ride tomorrow). It became clear quite quickly that traffic, or any rules for that matter, were merely considered rough guidelines. Thus, I decided instead to focus on the city around me. I notied that literally the entire city was in the process of being build. Never before have I seen so many highrises in scaffolds. The city alters rapidly between these construction sites, poor areas and beautiful places.

My fellow EP's acknowledged me that the city has quite some amazing parts. It's a shame I don't have more time to discover this place myself. However, there is plenty of opportunity for new experiences. Starting tomorrow with the train ride tomorrow, and technically the day after as well. Apparently it's something you must experience. I'm just curious how broken I'll exit the train...

Qi Qǐng Píjiǔ

Might revive this old, first attempt at a blog to report updates from China, which is where I am heading tomorrow morning. I will fly to Hangzhou where I'll meet up with 10 to 15 people from AIESEC. Together with them, I'll be busy organizing and running a summercamp, in both Bazhong and Kunming, for Chinese students between the age of 12 and 17. If I can find the desire and time to write a blog in the meantime, I'll use this to post updates.

In any case, I'm very excited to take off for my first big trip. Ready to work hard, but definitely have a lot of fun on the side as well. Thanks to Jules I can even order a beer in the native language, although I can only do it in the quantity of seven at a time. Let's hope I'll meet a lot of amazing people during my time there. Qi Qǐng Píjiǔ!