July 24, 2007

So earlier, I had a lot that I wanted to say, but the freaking RIAA thing came up. So I had to vent about that. Now that that's over, I can now talk about what I really wanted to talk about with what's been happening. So on Sunday, we went on a foray to Tienanmen Square again, since the night before it was closed. On the way there, we tried stopping by at the US embassy, but they were closed. From what I could tell, it was only two floors and not as grand as one would expect it to be. Furthermore, the walls didn't just have just gate things to keep intruders out on top of them, but also had a criss-cross to keep people in. I'm not quite sure if I'm making myself clear, but that is the best I could explain.

Anyways, after that, we kept going and stopped by at Wong Fu Jing. There we stopped by the bookstore, which I say was huge. That took at least a good 30 minutes. We met some people from San Jose there that were quite interesting. After meeting them, I was able to reflect upon myself and my pride. I feel that so many of us are driven by our goals, and always taught that we should believe that we ourselves are the best. But after observing these people from San Jose, I have seen how flawed that thought can be. I feel that we, myself included, have draped a veil upon our eyes and have failed to ignore the many things we can learn from each other. It is actually I think one of my biggest challenges to be humble, for I myself also have pride. It is with humbleness that I believe I can reach my goals the best. With pride I feel I will only make enemies with others around me, and it is imperative that I gain favorable opinions of people so that I would not have to deal with drama and so I could therefore focus on my task. I don't know, maybe I'm just babbling or being weird, but this is my train of thought right now. But I do feel that pride is definitely a vice that I must overcome.

Anyways, after the bookstore we went to McDonald's. Yes I mean McDonald's. I love getting their ice cream cones which is only 2.50 RMB. And this is the closest I can get to good old American ice cream. Also, at McDonald's in China there's no such thing as apple pie. They have Taro pie, Pineapple pie, and something else - Orange pie! They all come in more or less the same kind of cardboard container and look just like a regular apple pie. I got the pineapple pie and it was great! Much better than the apple pies.

But I refrained from getting more since I was concerned that I had my daily helping of calories from 2 ice cream cones and 1 pineapple pie. Can't forget that this is McDonald's. Eh....

After that, we went to Tienanmen Square and finally I got to go on it. I got to say it was great during the night. It's completely different, and I definitely prefer it there. I got to say it was huge, and I learned some things about Chinese history that I probably dismissed earlier in my life. Like the purpose of the People's monument was to symbolize how the Cultural Revolution took pride in the people (hence communism). It was also funny how some merchant was trying to sell water bottles for 2 RMB in Chinese, but when the guy saw Ryan, he said "5". That was hilarious and another example of how dishonest Chinese people could be.

After that we had a good dinner that my cousin took us to. I was surprised how hard it was to get rice in China. I was quite peeved off at the person. And apparently they served us our dessert before our main courses. So even though the food was good, the service was annoying. Like how freaking hard is it to get rice in China! My cousin's explanation, and I agree, is "Hey, it's China. The simplest things are the hardest."

Jumping to the future now, I just finished the new Harry Potter book. I actually thought that the ending was a little disappointing, but it was pretty good. I think Joanne Jo Rowling did a good job writing it. After reading an article some while back on the novel's history, I learned how Joanne Jo Rowling changed her name as the author to J.K. Rowling because of the publisher's beliefs that a feminine name would hold back the amount of books sold. This sad to say I feel is somewhat true, and is a clear example of how we must fight such discriminatory beliefs. I feel that it should not matter what gender or affiliation that any person might have. Every single person can have a large impact on society, and I think this is key. So I would only hope that people Joanne Rowling can take their new found power and wealth and wield to battle the discriminatory notions that run our societies.