china 'n' things
i am majorly jet lagged. it finally hit me late last night. other than that, i got maybe 5 hours of sleep from friday morning to sunday night. not good.i can't really say that i enjoyed china. a lot of it had to do with the weather. it was hot and humid. everywhere we went on our tour was crowded. i did, however, enjoy seeing the great wall and climbing part of it. i also enjoyed meeting my parents friends who are my age. the culture is very different there. seeing areas that a tour wouldn't show you was eye opening. people live in conditions much worse than here in the states. they make very little money despite the chinese industry growing like crazy. the common people do not benefit from the growth in china. the average income for a "middle class" family is 1500 yuan a month (about $186 USD). it's eye opening.
i did learn a lot about my parents and how they travel. we are definitely very different. i found out my dad is a GREAT bargainer. it's amazing. i always feel bad about bargaining so i can't do it very well. my mum is a ruthless bargainer. my dad will at least settle on a price he thinks is good for both him and the vendor. my mum just wants to get things for the bare minimum. my dad got my mum two pairs of socks for 4 yuan ($0.50 USD) but she only wanted to pay 2 yuan ($0.25 USD). crazy mum!
why i'm grateful to live in the U.S., particularly California:
~pedestrians have the right of way
~toilets with seats
~toilet seat covers
~toilet paper in the stalls
~good coffee
~salad
~food in general
~english
~awesome weather
~"clean" sidewalks
~for the most part, people follow traffic lights
~diversity of cultures
(there's more and i'm sure i'll think of things later.)
weekend was awesome. great retreat. congratulations cicely!
oh, and the best part about china was finding out while i was there that i am now a part of the 2008 graduating class of UCI's Paul Merage Graduate School of Management. :) :) :) :)
posted by Dana @ 10:23 AM
8 Comments:
congratulations on your acceptance to UCI's grad school of management! awesome! :)
congratulations dana!!! totally cool dude. totally.
congratulations!!!!
'twas fun hanging out (sort of) with jetlagged-you over the weekend.
Congrats yo...
Pretty humbling experience to be in a less fortunate country huh?
Aw, I wish you had a better time in China... but congrats on getting into UCI!
hey dana! i found your blog!!!
thanks for taking care of me this weekend.
i don't know if kay has a blog. if so i can't find it...can you tell her thanks for me too!
you guys are the best caregivers ever!!!
more importantly, CONGRATULATIONS!!! yaaaayyyyy!!!!!
congratulations joyce! i am extremely proud of you and happy that you're part of the Days family.
Thanks for the congrats everyone!
yay for you dana! nice seeing you this weekend!
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