Today ended up being a great day. I finally did something exciting and am learning to enjoy my time here more. I think the stresses of the week and classes just got to me, and the fact that I'm sick in a foreign country. But I went out and enjoyed myself and saw some new things and took advantage of this opportunity like everyone told me to do. So where was my grand adventure, you ask?
The Beijing Zoo! I took the bus to the 动物园 (Dongwu Yuan) stop, then walked up the street and across a bridge to the Beijing Zoo. On the way, I had to ask two people for directions, leading to my next encounter with native speakers. I just had to ask them where the zoo was just to make sure I was going in the right direction, which I was not, so it was a good thing I asked someone!
I saw so many animals at the zoo. Elephants, giraffes, wolves, tons of birds, reptiles, and of course the pandas!! There was so much to see, I can't even remember it all, so it's a good thing I took lots of pictures. The most exciting thing I saw was the giraffes, I think, and the elephants and pandas were pretty awesome too. It took me almost 5 hours to walk around the whole zoo because there was so much to see. I bought some ice cream and some chopsticks (kuaizi), too, which was my first purchase other than food!
There were tons of people at the zoo. Beijing really is an extremely crowded and busy city. Like I said in a previous blog post, you are never alone here. The business is sometimes overwhelming. My worse experience so far with the crowds has been today. I was waiting in line to buy my ticket, and the woman behind me was practically standing on top of me and would not move away! It was so irritating and I wanted to yell at her to stop touching me. People are really pushy in Beijing and they are not the least bit phased if you shove or push them back. When they want to go somewhere, they go, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If someone is in the way, they will do whatever it takes to get by them. That is one thing I don't like about Beijing. People here aren't polite, and that is one thing I miss about America. They are very impatient here. While it seems like Americans can be rude and pushy too, they are nothing compared to the people of Beijing.
The people also don't have the same respect for animals as we do in America. Despite the many signs stating not to tap on the glass or feed the animals, I saw so many people throwing food into enclosures and trying to pet the animals. The enclosures at the zoo were also very close to the people, making it really easy for them to poke at the animals and touch them. It made me really sad to see that the animals were treated like this, and that the people don't have respect for them. In America I've never seen anything like this. People occasionally tap on the glass of enclosures or poke their fingers in the cages, but nothing to the extent of what I saw at the Beijing Zoo.
Another thing I discovered about Beijing deals with the buses. I did not know the meaning of a crowded bus in Beijing until today. There was no room to walk or move at all. I was on a bus with two levels, and there was barely room for new people to come on. At the stop I got on at, we pushed and shoved before finally all getting on the bus, and then the lady (who is kind of like a conductor I guess) was herding us like sheep and telling us to go here and there. Hopefully I won't have to go on such a crowded bus again.
Finally I got home and ate some dinner. Tonight it was mantou (buns), some greenbean-like vegetable, cabbage-like vegetable, and cauliflower. Tomorrow Jing Jing and I are supposed to go to Tian'an'men Square and the Forbidden City. Hopefully the trip will be fun. I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to buying some more souvenirs.
Tomorrow I'll post pictures of my adventures this weekend. Everyone have a nice weekend!
