Okay, it happened again, I just spent an hour writing a blog, and then something happened and now I have nothing.fuck fuck fuck I give up.

School is continuing at a breakneck pace, with no sign of abatement. It is of course fun and interesting, yet we have so much work that we don't get that much time to get out there and speak with actual chinese people, which is a lamentable lacking. The other complaint - and some of you may find this a little crazy - is that we are, in my humble opinion, living far too comfortably. Our rooms are all outfitted with air condtioning units, televisions, running water, a shower, and a host of other smal amenities that nake the experience, well - unauthentic. Don;'t get me wrong, it's great, but the fact of the matter is that if we had to live in the same dorms that the chinese live in, no one would be the wiser. The chinese are snesitive about foreigners, bot on an individual level or even a group level, but on a bueracratic one. The chinese studets are not permitted to share dorms with the foreign students. It matters not from whence you came, all that matters is that you are not chinese. Perhaps the fastidious and self-reliant Chinese youth would be easily corrupted by the decadent, high-flying, free-wheeling spirit of outsiders. Secondly, everything is a big deal, and at the same time no problem at all. Andrew and I have had several discussions about this phenomenon, which is not only present in China, but in all confucian cultures.
For instance, recently me and some friends were hanging out in my room, and somebody's cigarette fall onto a pile of blankets on the floor. We were all standing there and as soon as we smelled the unfamiliar scent of burning cotton, we took care of the problem. Not exactly a crisis. A nusance to me (as it was my blanket that was scorched) but overal, not a whole lot more than spilled milk, and I anticipated having to pay for the damage (one shet, and one low-quality wool blanket - the kind one might be issued in the military) the next day as son as I got to my rom, the housekepers, who had ben anxiously awaiting my arrival stormed into the room with a rather official looking man. They all seemed deply troubled, (the official looking man turned out to be the hotel manager - the f$%king hotel manager for christs sake!) they al seemed very curious and disturbed about the burn. I calmly explained to them what had happened, and assured I would pay the 150 kuai (about $20) to take care of this small, careless mistake (which i was certainly not resonsble for). Still, the official looking man loked disturbed, and before I knew it they alerted my program manager, who proceeded to go to every room and explain to the entire group that an enormous calamity had happened upon our party. Maybe you had to be there, but I am teling you these people are crazy. And to prove it, another story. Every room is issued two tea-cups and two saucers. One night, Andrew carelessly left his tea-cup in the room across the hall, a mistake he would soon come to regret. the next day while we are in class, the housekeepers made their rounds. Upon returning to the dorm, my tired and disshevelled roomate prepared to make himself a cup of tea. He wlked next dor and found only two teacups. Puzzled, he inquired the rooms inhabitants to its whereabouts. Sadly they were as confused as he was, as there were now only two tea-cups in the room. A hurdle had presented itself, one that to this day has not ben overcome - let me explain: andrew inquired at the houskeepers station as to the status of his cup. they grew uncomfortable, and flustered when he mentioned that he had simply forgoten it across the hal, and was wondering if they had seen it when they were cleaning up. They told him that the rooms may only have two cups, not three, and that his third one had ben removed. "OK, whatever, can I get it back then." :Oh no, I am afraid that will not be possible. You see, each room may only have two cups." you can see where this is going, nowhere, eventually they told him that if he had lost his cup, then he would have to buy a new one. As of this writing the cup has yet to be retrieved. Now, with all of the rigidity and offcialdom of daily life difficult to bear, the place where the chinese do get to have their freedom is on the road - which makes sense, right? red lights are optional, stop sings are not even suggustions, basically anything and everything is permissable. I have taken many a cab ride in which the driver, frusturated by the red-light blocking his way, has nonchalantly pulled onto the other side of the road and beaten his own path through the intersection, battling oncoming traffic, pedestrains and cyclists without batting an eye. So, picture a country where no one follows traffic laws, yet an individual (me) who was quietly hiting a tennis ball against a brick wall behind a building, was asked to leave, not because I was trespassing, or causing trouble, or really doing anything except looking for a moment of quiet, because it was not an officially designated tennis-practice wall how could I have ben so careless, I was not hiting against an official tennis-practicing wall - what an idiot I am!
On the lighter side of things, I bought an american fotball yesterday, that's right, a good old fashioned American pigskin. If I could capture the lok on the Chinese's faces when they saw two white guys throwing an oblong pig bladder, I would pack it up and sell it. A couple of them were even brave enough to explore our bizzare ritual, and some even ventured a try at throwing the darn thing! There were some heaves, and some shotputs, a few knuckle-balls, and some weird shit I cannot begin to explain, but eventually one of them managed to throw a wobbly spiral, I promised to return on monday, with a couple of other americans, and show them how to play an actual game, which they semed very excited about. Hopefully 100 people don't show up looking for a good time, but if they Do, anyone interested in exporting football equipment?

Folks, It's the new me. Tianjin is quite hot and humid during the summer and so i decided to shed some extra weight. By far the best style move I have made yet in China, and what makes it especially badass is the Chelsea Fotball Club (CFC) Jersey that I have been wearing around all day. I think it's high time I experimented with English Football Hoolganism, and I coudl start down at the local ex-pat bar, Ali-Baba's! All I need are a crew of thuggy-looking Britons and a few more t-shirts and we are on our way! Americans will do, yet are a mite fussy abuot the whole ass-kicking element of it, which makes them poor members of any gang. Especially a badass Chinese Chelsea Football Gang!
OK I'm bored, I came to the lab with high-hopes for an epic blpg entry, and this paltry bit of nonsense is all I have to offer. Here some more pictures:
The New Me

My Trusty Steed

Me and Andrew on Huashan

Terracotta Army outside Xi'an

OK, So I've been in tianjin for about a week now, and finally have a chance to sit down and write something, actually the truth is that I sat down to wrtie something yesterday, and for the first time in a while was really hitting my stride, getting the good stuff down and keeping it readable. But, as with most things in this world, or my world at least, fate had a different plan for me. I was about 80 percent done with the entry when, as misfortune would have it, my hour on the computer ended abruptly, and the machine shut-down, effectively erasing the masterpiece I was about to put forth. Alas, it was probably crap anyways. I kept a relatively detailed journal of Andrew and myselfs journey to Xi'an, and so the good stories from that trip will have to wait until I have more time as they would only be interesting if I went in-depth. So, I guess I should begin with a couple of thoughts on China etc. I am beginning to get settled into the Chinese way of life, although us Americans in the program live far better than do the actual Chinese people that live all around us. All thirty-nine of us are living no the sixth floor of the campus hotel, so aside from daily room-service, air-conditioning in every room, and a carafe of hot water (for our tea) brought three times daily, we are really roughing it. Apparently last year a group of students complained about the "horrible" conditions they were forced to endure in the regular dorms. Apparently adjectives used to describe them included: "old," "Dirty," and "too hot" among others. (Personally, and anyone who has seen the squalor in which I live in my apartment in Madison would understand this), it sounds like i'd have been right at home. So in any case we cannot even pretend that we are not the spoiled, bourgeois westerners that all of the common folk know we are. Which leads me to my next observation: the Chinese have a very different idea of what constitutes a clean and sanitary environment than we do. This really only bothered me for about a day or so until I realized that most of the world probably lives like this and I needed to not be a wimp about it. Here are some observations about China that I think most of you would find interesting. First, their sanitation standards are not exactly what we would call western. Even in nicer restaurants, the most you can expect is a porcelain truogh, flanked by ribbed foot-resting spots for traction control purposes. The floor is always covered with urine and there is a small waste-paper basket in the corner as you are not permitted to throw your TP into the toilet (which I hear is not all that different from some European countries.) On the subject of toiet-paper, one learns very quickly that the presence of a bathroom, in no way assures the availability of toilet paper. You need leave only one pair of undies in the waste-paper basket to learn to always carry some napkins in your back-pocket. Secondly, there is trash everywhere. It has a tendancy to congeal into a mystery-blob around storm-drains. The endless supply of labor in China has found a number of interesting ways to deal with this phenomenon. Teams of men and women armed with brooms patrol the streets in search of puddles and garbage. Armed with straw brooms they form a line (in the same manner our snowplows do with each sucessive member staggered closer to the sidewalk. Upon reaching the storm-drain this crack team of specialists struggle to force the waste through the grill. Their dedication to the cause evidenced by the ferocity of their thrusts. I will try to get a picture of this phenomenon next time I see it. Anyways, class begins tommorow morning, and my time on the computer is running short, thus I leave you with a few pictures (which are in kind of a reverse order so scrol;l to the bottom first for the semi-correct chronology). BTW, Huashan is onhe of the five sacred daoist mountains in China, and Andrew and intrepid travellers can climb it at night (8 Km.) to se the sun-rise in the morning. The trip deserves a blog entry or three, but it was a great experience, made more profound as I found out that morning (before we climed it) that my grandfather, William Walker Marden Jr., had passed away the day before. It was with his spirit in my heart that I made it to the summit in one piece. He was a great man, a wonder to know, and is remembered by a loving family, and a particularly greatful grandson who probably drove him crazy on more than one occasion. Love you grampop.
A Couple of american Braggadoccio Huashan Summit, 6. am

The Sun Rises above the haze at Huashan summit

Andrew at the end of a particularly long ascent

Huashan at Sunrise
An exhausted self-portrait of William on our descent from Huashan

Hushan dawn

Delirious, freezing, and pumped at four AM. Summit of Huashan

The Dragon Trail (aprox 4800 ft.) at night

The Dragon trail at daytime. This was, in a word, awesome

Huashan pre-dawn. 6500 ft. (summit)
The story abuot this guy deserves a blog entry of its own. I will get to it later
Base of Huashan, 7:30 P.M.
Huashan (town) with a Chinese guy I have a story about


On The train uot to Huashan.
Random pic from big wild-goose Pagoda (Not at Huashan!)

ere are a few pictures from Xi'an, in the first is taken from the ancient bell-tower loking west towards the ancient drum-tower. Both had civic and military applications during the Ming? (I think) dynasty when Xi'an was the capital. The second picture is inside the bell-tower, and the third is from the courtyard in Xi'an's Great Mosque, located in the Muslim quarter.
I will have more pictures up soon, and these three do not represent either the quality nor the sheer volume of photo's I have taken.

This blog is basically going to start as a collection of rambling notes and narrative from my trip. The material has generally not been proof-read.

3/17/2006
Sitting here in the LuDao hotel lobby, I finally have a chance to reflect on the past few days occurances. First, I should mention that I have a certain prider in not being able to see my own blog from here. I wish I knew how it looked, but alas, my pathetic attempt at political commentary is apparently too sensitive for the easily-subverted Chinese mind.
Let's see... my arrival in Beijing, at 2:00 PM on the fiufteenth already seems like it could have been last month. Recounting the mundane details since then... I got off the plane and made it through customs without much difficulty, getting to downtown Beijing, and the rendesvous point however, was a different story. I, like so many others before me got fleeced on the cab ride to the downtown. I was approached by a rather anonymous looking Chinese man who offered toi give me a ride into town. I phoned Sebastian (Andrew's frined in Beijing) and he gave me the address. The Chinese man who had approached me pulled out a shady-looking green plastic card which listed cab-fares from the Airport to the downtown. 350-475 Yuan for the tripo. I had just withdrawn 500, yet I talked him down to 250, thinking I was scoring a real bargain. Once a price was agreed upon, he took me to one of those fancy "unmarked" taxis, and we proceeded undaunted. Shortly into the ride, I began to wonder why my driver was all smiles. One may have mistaken him for a gifted comedian given the amount of jokes he was trying to convey to me. We tried to converse in what little Chinese I had, but the conversations were short, and difficult. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the specified location, and I handed over the 250 Kuai to a very enthused driver who wasted no time in helping me ut of the car and on my way. As I found out later, the trip usually runs about 80-120 Kuai, So I paid anywhere in the range of double or triple the regular price. It turned out that Andrew, who was by now ill due to some food-related ailment got it worse, although he wouldn't say exactly how much. There is a old Chinese saying that "you can always fool a foreigner" and indeed this was only the first of many duypes that would inevitably be pulled on me.
That evening, as Andrew began to feel better, Sebastian, Andrew, James (friend of Sebastian) and I made our way down to Tianamen square and the Forbidden City. Walking around the square I couldn't help but thnk back to what my East-Asian Civ Professor, Professor Colucci, had said about the Chinese. The architecture of a civic-center often says a great deal about the government that operates within its walls. Looking around Tianamen Square, and the entrance to the forbidden city, I couldn't help but feel humbled by the structres; everything about the place says: Power. Our American Capitols - mostly done in the Greco-Roman style, also exude a presence (WC) of power, but there is something open and accessible abou them; they are aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to lok at, which gives them a certain inviting quality. Here, the municipal buildings are more like imposing fortresses. I have no pictures of the buildings as of yet, but if the chinese can get out of the stone-age, maybe I will be able to upload some of the ones that I have. That's all for now, as I have run out of time here on the internet, but here are a couple of pictures that I was able to get up so far.

I will be leaving for China on Sunday, and thus I would like to announce my triumphant return to Doc Billbonic's Amalgamated Polymer, Yes folks, it's the new me! My kind mother has sent me er digital camera, and so many pictures should be forthcoming. As I type this, I am succumbing to a carb coma, brought on by too much pasta tonight, However, I will sooon be writing from beijing China, here's a picture of myself entilted "Stoic Photo #2005z"