Josh’s SCI/China Blog

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September 21st, 2008

 Today we went on our long trip from the hospital to all over Qing Dao! I have all sorts of pictures and I will try and send you some when I get some time as you know I have been slacking on my posts, I blame the techies!  6 days without internet makes Joshie grumpy  and you would think that a hospital would need internet well apperently it does not apply in China ” In China the internet eats you !” sorry I my witty-funnyness is on ‘E’ today the coffee really sucks here and the coffee you can get out of the machine costs 1 RnB ( its like 1 dollar) but it only accepts coins and apperently the coins are a dying thing here and the paper bills are the ‘in’ thing , go figure eh ?

 Where was I …..? Right field trip! lalala here we come!  so we got up early and left in 4 vans they are not very accecible and you have to litearlly lift yourself into the seat by A: physical injury by ones self. or B: Injury of the lifter/s  once that was out of way we were on our way to happy Polar world! Dolphins I say ! but before Polar world we had 40 mins of driving in China!  and like I mentioned in previous posts they have no road rules, on our way we almost got hit by a black car, almost ran over a biker and almost had a fender bender with a sudden stopping car needless to say that Vodka back at the room was looking preeeety tempting right about now , but once we saw the signs for Polar World  all was well in life.

 Polar World(tm). Home to one Big pool for the Dolphins to dance in like the monkey who dances for his master playing the music to the amusment of others, along with the Dolphins ( who were taken care of decent enough) there was Polar Bears and Penguins, who deperatly needed a good washing, The Animal behavoralist in me wanted to set them free but that would lead to a cruel twist of irony in me behind bars  I guess they had a ok home, they just looked so unhappy and they should of been taken care of better, there was also a Beluga Whale who would swim around and talk to us which I thought was cool, oh and no tourist attaction would be complete without a KFC next to it! and for those of you going along with the running joke of the dogs and cats being served as food in restraunts you can put that myth to rest as it was real chicken and I DID see a cat! we almost ran over it. Dad got the puppies back home some toys, now here is the thing, when you think toys for the doggies you think squeaky cheap toys right ? Of course with  my Father being the Morbid person that he is, gets 3 little sea lion plushies , cute as can be un beknownst to their fate of a slobberymouth and teeth in a month or so. Save the Sea Lions!

 Next stop, Jusco. Qing dao’s biggest mall  nothing to special for any of us just a glorified shopping mall  It has pretty much everything you can get elsewhere except for one thing…. Mc Donalds! I never thought I would be so happy to see those golden arches we were so freakin’ happy to eat food from there and it tastes just like it did back home! ok, enough nostalgia after we ate we decided not to wait in line for starbucks coffee, though I miss those little frapachinos /cry I wonder if they sell them there… anyways it was so fricken’ busy in that mall the only other things we grabbed were heinz ketchup ( REAL ketchup, the tomato’s grown over in China are way too sweet it tastes like sugar) and paper towels, there was a road block in the way of the isle and as soon as dad moved it this rude man brushed past me and dad, not sparing a second glance, I wanted to hit him over the head with my ketchup bottle but I decided I should pay for it first

 After Jusco we headed for the beach ( getting in and out of that hellish van everytime and having to deal with the headaches and fluid level difference from the spinal injection didnt help much either ) once we got to the beach like 20/23 people wanted to leave and just go back to the hospital we were so tired, so while we gathered people around to go back we watched the people fly these giant kites , it was really cool,and the sea breeze felt great. Once we got people gathered we left to go back to the hospital, we almost hit a group of kids this time and it made me think of the funny youtube video “Dr. Tran and the Toy Cack” then we almost hit a guy on a bicycle and the Irish lady who was sitting in the front seat said in her lovely accent ” Ooooo you just about lost your sweet ass!”  I  instantly bursted out in laughter and in tears because it was so funny , that made the ride back so much more enjoyable!

 Once we got back we all just went to our rooms and slept because we were all exausted and worn out and kinda depressed we didnt get to see any of the Chinese History or Culture ( besides the way of driving and pushy rude men ) I know that their culture is much better than that and I will learn more about it before I leave, ok well I am super tired so I am gonna stop here for now I will see you in the next Blog!

Entry Filed under: Blog,sci