Peking Duck, Take #2

6/26

Got into Beijing and got the bus to the hostel (the one around the corner from the one I'd stayed at previously) I'd wanted to stay at without too much trouble for 1RMB instead of taking the easy way out and getting at 17 kwai cab. Unfortunately that hostel was full, so I was back at my other one, though I don't mind too much- they're the same price and the other one was only marginally better.  I got breakfast and wrote for quite a while, got cash out, then walked over to the International Hotel where I bought my ticket to Ulan Bator ($172 USD- but it's a LONG distance and a 30 hour train ride).  I'd considered buying it online previously but had heard it was much cheaper to buy in Beijing and it was.  By getting it here (which was surprisingly simple and straightforward and took all of about five minutes,) I saved about $200- and keep in mind that's $200 U.S. dollars.  I walked back, making it a 5km walk for the morning, checked my facebook and Skyped my Mom and Grandma again- all before noon. 

I felt quite smug by the time I got lunch at a place nearby that I knew was at least decent.  Most of the things listed above sound so easy, but in China I've had days where getting cash out and going one place took me hours and was incredibly frustrating, so I have to appreciate the things that do go well, even if they're only simple errands.  And since it's so rare for me to feel self-satisfied and proud, I'm enjoying it immensely.  I even managed to read a few pages of the Motorcycle Diaries (which I'm STILL slugging through), talked to two people in my room,  organized my photos and renewed my medical insurance.  It's 5 p.m. right now and I'm even considering going for a run, taking a shower and a nap before watching the U.S.- Ghana World Cup game at 2:30 a.m.  That, or anything else I could possibly do today, will just be whipped cream on top.

In my room, that night, I met Steffi, a cool German girl, and two very petite girls (one Chinese, one Australian) who lived near Urumqi, in Northwestern China.  They invited us to come to dinner with them at a place that served traditional food from that area so we went.  The kebabs were good, but everything else was average to disappointing. 

6/27

After my super-effective day, I didn't do that much really but I met two girls in my room who I really, really liked and felt like I could actually talk to and really connect with.  It was also exciting because one of them was the solo American female traveler I've been searching for!  She actually isn't traveling in the same way right now (she's a teacher in Korea) but had previously and was planning to again in the future.  The other was a German girl, Steffi, who's also traveling alone and is going on the train the same day I am so I'm going to hang out with her.  It just always feels so refreshing to have real conversations because so often it's little more than "whereareyoufrom, whatareyourplans, blah, blah, same old, same old," and it's like you're spending a lot of time talking to people and saying absolutely nothing.

I went with the American (I can't remember her name now and she never emailed like she said she would) to the Donghuamen market (tourist place with weird food) though the only thing I got was some semi-dried shark (at least that's what they said) that I shared with her that was better than expected.

At night, the three of us went out, drank a lot of cheap beer and played a great game of Kings.  It was a really wonderful, but still somewhat low-key (though late), evening.  It was also nice because the two of them brought out some of the best in me, and I love that person I am at my best- she's fun and interesting and just that girl in the room that everyone adores.  Most of the time I'm not that girl, and I don't even always aspire to be her because the calmer, quieter me has her own merits as well, but when I am that higher me it's fun and I'm happy and I love it/life/her.

6/28

All three of us woke up quite late and went for lunch at the decent place I knew nearby.  None of us felt compelled to do anything adventurous so we wandered for a while, looking through the nearby hutong tourist market until the American girl decided she wanted to dye her hair blue.  So, since I would've otherwise just screwed along online I, and Steffi, went with her.  The search took us all afternoon, to several different stores, and two hair salons, but no one had blue hair dye that you could just buy and do yourself.  We even saw a group of Chinese girls with bright (and incredibly well-done) blue hair and asked them, but they were cosmetology students and had mixed it and done it themselves.  They took a picture with us and we continued our quest, but eventually we gave up and found a place with very cheap peking duck for dinner so they could try it.  It was okay, marginally better than my first try, but still not great or remotely impressive.  Neither of them had ever tried it though and they both liked it so that made me happy.  The American girl left that evening on a train to Xi'an and Steffi and I went to bed early, planning to get up at 5:30.

At 4:20 a.m. I was woken up by feverish whispering from the two petite girls in my room.  Apparently the 35 year old English woman who had just moved in that day had gotten drunk, stripped off all her clothes and climbed, naked, into the Australian girl's bed.  The Australian girl had freaked out and the English girl had managed to get into her own bed, but not before peeing on the floor.  The petite Australian girl and the petite Chinese girl had then decided it was necessary to loudly whisper about it for nearly an hour so I couldn't get back to sleep before it was time to get up for the train anyway.