Tibet, Panda's, Good Grades, and Saying Goodbye

Wow. Its been forever. Sorry to those avid readers out there (mom and dad) that its been so long since my last post but guess what guys….IM DONE! Im going to brag here for a few minutes if you guys don’t mind. So no, im not going to brag about the number of shots I had last night, or the number of beers I had before I was drunk, or anything like that. Im going to brag and say I did great on my finals and ended up with a 95.7 in the class when it is all said and done. 12 credits worth of A’s sounds like something to brag about. Ok I know that’s getting obnoxious but I had to do that so everyone knew that I was doing A LOT more than just partying. Im going to get right to the point though. 2 weeks ago I went to TIBET and Chengdu which was amazing as well. Let me talk about Tibet first though. Im going to try to make this short, but we will see. We arrived in Lhasa on August 4th Saturday but the way we got there was a little amusing. We left the hotel early to catch our flight out of Beijing (we stayed near the airport), and we couldn’t find a cab. Some random guy we flagged down took us to the airport for a little inflated of a rate but we made it there on time! So we landed in Lhasa and standing there with a sign that read our names (Taylor and I) was our tourguide. She greeted us with white silk scarf which is a Tibetan custom for welcoming guests. I didn’t notice and change from the altitude yet (it is the roof of the world at approx 3500m above sea level), but I knew that eventually I would. If you have seen my pictures, you have seen the gorgeous scenery. Lhasa is nestled into a valley with mountains on every side. Its absolutely gorgeous and seems very secluded from the rest of the world. We went to see the Buddha paintings on the side of a mountain and then continued to our hotel. As we arrived in our hotel, Taylor and I climbed 3 small flights of stairs to our room and as I hit the 3rd floor I had a terrible time breathing. The altitude had hit us both and it hit us both really hard. We lied down on our beds and passed out in a few minutes. We woke up around dinnertime and found an amazing restaurant where I tried Yak Dumplings, a Tibetan delicacy. We then ended up at a very chill Nepalese bar where we had a few drink and then headed back home to rest for our early wake up. The next day our tour guide picked us up early with our private driver and we went to the Drepung Monestary, Norbulinka (sp?) which is the Dalai Lama’s Summer Palace (or used to be), and then to another monestary. They were all absolutely amazing. Lined with prayer wheels and monks everywhere, the city was so foreign to anything I have ever seen! Just by people watching we learned so much about the Tibetan culture as well as Buddhism. All of the monasteries where gorgeous but we weren’t allowed to take pictures in them. We actually had a few cool experiences in them though. At one point, a monk hit us on the back and head with a stick to get the pain out of our bodies, and at another point a monk poured “holy water” into our hands to drink and then rub in our hair. Pretty neat experiences I must say. That afternoon Taylor and I checked out the extremely cheap markets with TONS of people. Bargaining has become such a fun way to spend an afternoon let me tell you that much. That night we went to another Nepalese/Tibetan chill bar and just kind of hung out. The next morning we got up extra early to visit the Potala Palace. We had to go alone (w/o our tourguide) because with her we were only allowed an hour there. Taylor and I went alone and really had a great time. The Potala Palace is the “staple” monestary of China, and possibly of Buddhism in general. We met some nice people there from Hong Kong who we hung out with for a little while. One of the girls names was Shallots, which I thought was interesting. After our time at the Palace our tour guide took us to her small house nestled in the back of a Tibetan ally. She made us Yak Buttermilk Tea, Butter bread, and made us try some of her barley beer that has been stashed away in our cubbard for what she said was 1 year! It was absolutely disgusting. She also went down the street to buy us a tradition yak bread pancake type thing. They were amazing but after she shoved the 5th one in our face we had had enough. After lunch we visited the Sera Monestary where we went to a “Debating Courtyard” and witnessed hundreds of monks debating. Everyday from around 3pm-5pm they meet in this courtyard to talk and debate. It was an amazing sight and really a neat experience. We also visited the Johkang Temple where we saw a high Lama enter the Temple. He was about to give a speech to a huge audience of Tibetans. We didn’t stay but it was a neat experience getting to see him. That night Taylor and I got a few beers and hung out on the roof of our building and watch the storm roll in. Hear I noticed something that I really enjoyed. There are really no tall buildings in Lhasa, and the only building that sticks out is the Potala Palace. The nights are just gorgeous with the cool air blowing in, the stars out, and the Potala Palace lit up beautifully in the distance. Anyway, the next morning, Taylor and I had a day without the tour guide so we decided to do something that most people wouldn’t do. We climbed the holiest mountain in Lhasa (I almost died because it was so hard to breathe) and at the top with lit incense and hung prayer flags. Lighting incense and hanging prayer flags is something the Tibetans do on top of (or on the side of) mountains in hope that they will receive good luck on whatever they have coming up in their lives. We then came down the mountain, had a really good western lunch and then took a nap. Later that afternoon we roamed the markets for a few hours and picked up some last minute gifts. The next story is a really long one but to put it short, we almost missed our flight because our tour guide didn’t understand that you have to be at the airport earlier than the time the plane leaves! It was terrible but eventually we got on the plane and made it to Chengdu. Im going to speed through Chengdu because I need to go in a little while (watch a movie). Anyway we arrived in Chengdu and arrived in our hostel where we met lots of foreigners. We met people from Israel, Spain, Chile, New Zealand, Florida, etc. That night we just kind of chilled out and enjoyed the easy breathing and found a chill place to go. We ended up meeting a few guys who were traveling in China and staying at our hostel. A few days later we actually ended up going to a Mexican restaurant with them. Anyway, the next day we went to the Chengdu Panda Breeding Center. I was hoping to hold a panda but im not going to talk about if for long because I get sad. Because we were with a group, I didn’t have time to. BUT…I did see over 20 pandas including two baby twins, and one reallllly new born baby that was still pink. It was still an awesome experience. That night I met my cousin and her friend for dinner (Emily Wolkowitz for those of you who are related to me). She is in Chengdu doing her Peace Corp training and I was lucky enough to catch her when she wasn’t too busy. We went to an authentic HOTPOT restaurant. Because Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan Province (Sichuan being a spicy food, you know from Chinese restaurants) we had to get hotpot! Its basically a huge boiling bowl of hot boiling water that is DEEP RED and just as spicy as can be. You put chicken, vegetables, meat, roots, etc… inside and just eat up. It was absolutely amazing! It was the perfect way to end a vacation! The only problem was, the vacation wasn’t over. Taylor and I still had a 32 hour train ride Chengdu to Tianjin. The next day (Friday) we left at 6pm on our train; we each had hard sleepers which are pretty comfy actually. Im not going to explain the whole train ride but I didn’t sleep much and it was SO boring. I basically just played cards and chatted in Chinese for 32 hours. Everyonce in a while I would go to sleep but that didn’t happen often. Well, we finally arrived in Tianjin on Sunday morning at 3am and were so excited to get back. We had an AMAZING time. Sorry I wrote all of that so fast. I didn’t do it justice at all. And a lot more went out I just had to pull out the main stuff so everyone knew what I did. When I get back PLEASE ask me about Tibet because it was an absolutely amazing place. Before I leave, let me fast forward to today (August 17 Friday). Yesterday we all gave our presentations, in Chinese, and finished our written exam so today we wanted to a little fun. One of my friends, Jed, organized a champagne fight. We ordered a Magnum bottle of champagne for everyone who wanted one. Early this afternoon we all went out in a field, shot out the corks and just went crazy. It was possibly the most fun way to spend 45 seconds. We had a great time and it was really a fun way to end the summer. People are now starting to leave; my roommate is gone and everyday someone else is going home. I leave Monday and I am definitely ready to get home. Today I took one last stop at culture street for a few last minute gifs and now Im just here chillin with everyone. I cant believe its almost over. Im sorry, but this is the end of my blogging. I cant wait to see all of you guys. I may be a little different but only for the better. I have learned so much about China, the culture, the language, and mostly myself. I know that’s a cliché thing to say, but I honestly feel that is the truth. I will never forget this summer and the people I met here have also been amazing. I will really miss it here. So for now, thank you all for reading about my life this past summer. Id love to hear back from all of yall and I cannot wait to see yall. Ill make sure to visit whoever I can while I am home. Hope everyone’s summer has been as good as mine. Love you all and talk to you soon! Thanks for reading!

Daniel