Prelude & Chapter 1: Finding the Wuhan Zoo

Thursday my friends and I went on a big adventure to Wuhan's Zoo. Because of its epic nature, I have 很多很多 pictures to share; however, posting them all in one entry would take too long to make and enjoy so I shall divide it into photo essay chapters. Enjoy.

Chapter One

All of us were unsure of how to get to the zoo. We had one Chinese map of Wuhan and a Belgian who knew that Bus 401 went to a place near our destination.
This is where we were let off:



After being let off at a temple, we continued to walk down the street into what some foreigners would call "real China." We received a lot of strange looks and random hellos; who could blame them? They probably felt like their life was invaded by tourists with cameras. Living conditions seemed to become worse the further we went.

A doctor watching two of her patients play cards:

Spices:

Banana bike:

Cart of something:

Shed market:

Different kinds of rice:

Then a baby fell down and everyone was more concerned with what we were doing:

I wish oranges were always sold in piles in the back of trucks:

Need a washing machine?

Restaurant:

Entering the sketchier part of Hanyang:

Left for looks perhaps:


-To Be Continued-

华中师范大学

It is typical for people in China to show you their campus, so I took a walk around Huazhong Normal University and noted what I see on a daily basis. Here are a collection of pictures for you to get a better idea of what my school life is like:

This is the 国际留学生宿舍 or the International Student dorm or what I've been calling "home" lately. It is said to be the nicest dormitory on campus.


Here's my dorm's backyard. I think they're planning to clean this mess up and make more buildings... at least that's what we're told. I probably won't be around to see it though.


On the way to class:





Here is a standard dormitory:


This is the building where I have most of my classes (aka Building No. 6)


Flower displays in front of the building




Leaving class - people play wooden flutes here at night in the dark (it's kind of creepily awesome):


Pretty pavilion in the middle of campus:


This picture reminded me of my job back in Kansas:


Here's the sketch food hut outside our dorm where I promised myself I would never eat there because of their missing dog, noodles washed in dirty water, and just plain awful sanitation - alas - the longer you live here the lower your standards become:


The shortcut home:


And we end the tour with a fantastic picture of the main entrance to my campus. Fancy, huh?


And some Engrish that was posted right outside of my dorm... hmmm, with that grammar I'm thinking he shouldn't be too picky on hair color.


Tomorrow I will be checking out the local zoo. If it's not too depressing I will make a post about it this weekend (with the Pizza Hut Thanksgiving pictures that I'll be taking on Thursday).

可以...

I guess some of you all have been patiently waiting for an update. I'm sorry it's taken so long. I'll use midterms as my excuse.
I really want to write some interesting thoughts but it's getting late and I know you all only read this blog for the sweet pictures, so here you go!

I mentioned in my last entry about how Chinese people food stack at Pizza Hut and I wasn't sure why. Well my friend and I decided that maybe we could food stack too, so here's our work:

I think next time we could work on height, but I think it turned out well considering we didn't use any salad dressing to keep it in one piece.


The top view... gorgeous!


You all may be thinking that "wow, you're really good at food stacking" but the truth is this is nothing compared to some of the work I've seen. Plus, we only spent 15 minutes on it, as opposed to 45 minutes. Most of the time was spent stacking one cucumber slice at a time. Unfortunately, as we walked our food stack back to our table some Chinese people laughed at us, maybe because ours wasn't impressive, or because we were pretending to be Chinese. We'd probably do it again.

This next set of pictures is from my school's Southeast gate, Dongnan men as it were. In this area you can find many convenient stores, street performers, restaurants, night markets, and tasty Chinese snack stands:

You get used to crowds after some time.


很多中国菜


Sanitary? Probably not but the rule of thumb on dining in China is "the sketchier, the better"


Seems so much cooler when it's made in front of you.


I only buy fruits that peel.


Cart full of duck parts... yum(?)


Tentacles on a stick anyone?


VIP view of snack production


Bakery


I like this one


Here's a special video I made, and by special I mean that I gave the musicians a few kuai to let me video tape them a little. The music is really good, totally worth the kuai. Enjoy!

Sorry

Sorry for lack of posting the past three weeks. I will be making a post after I take my midterms, so sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.
Thank you.