Sunday, September 22, 2013

Guilin: most beautiful city in China... never been there.

So all throughout my travels (albeit over a short period of time) when I would tell any inquisitive Chinese individual that I would shortly be leaving Shijiazhuang for Guilin, they would respond as follows: "Ahhh, Guilin. Most beautiful city in China. Never been there." Now while I later learned that the title of "most beautiful city in China" is hotly contested, when I arrived in Guilin I certainly was wiling to agree that it was the most beautiful I had seen. Firstly, there are plants. While this may not seem so terribly impressive, after the industrial nightmare that was Shijiazhuang any plant matter was greatly appreciated. We arrived in the dead of night, exhausted after riding the train for 26 hours non-stop. Here is Devin at the beginning of our trip:




If I showed you Devin by the end I think she would slap me. But I can promise you I looked no better. Two students, Doris and Mandy, greeted us and took us to our school, Guangxi Normal University. At night I hardly noticed the scenery in any great detail, minus the aforementioned plants, but once morning arrived my eyes where greeted by the sight of small, vegetation encrusted karsts. A karst is formed when the land around it basically dissolves. My phone does not do the landscape justice, but here are two pictures down by the river:



I also have pictures of several other things that might be of interest to you. As you can imagine, after getting off the train (it was around 2 or 3 in the morning) I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in my new bed. I was so tired that I almost couldn't work up the energy to feel apprehensive about my new accommodations. We all hear about how everything is smaller in China, including the housing, and I for one was deeply concerned about not having a Western style toilet. Thankfully, all those fears went out the window once I actually unlocked my door and stepped inside. Here is what I saw:



The living room: for starters there weren't clothes hanging in that closet in the far room, but the place was spacious. I mean really big, especially for one person. My two suitcases made the place feel almost empty. After being here almost a month I still don't know how I would ever manage to fill it by myself. Now, as I began to explore my apartment, I came across a multitude of these creepy little stickers and hooks. They wouldn't be so bad, except that they are everywhere. On every wall, door, light-switch, you name it, everything has some chibi animal or child staring at me. This one is on my washing machine:


Can you say what the heck? Why are there children wearing speedos and eating ice cream on my washing machine?! There are lions, and deer, and other small children as well. I'd tear them all down but I get the feeling they are watching me...

Anyways, back to the apartment. Here is the living room from the doorway of the far room in the first picture: 


Yes I have a television, no I don't have any channels. The water jug didn't have any water until just a few days ago, and that was an exciting event all by itself. If you walk through the doorway to in the left of the first photo, you are greeted by my lonely, empty refrigerator:


A few more steps brings you to the "kitchen." I use the term loosely because it also functions as a bathroom, laundry room, and I don't dare cook food in my apartment for fear of summoning the roaches. 


And now the moment for which we've all been waiting. The bathroom. I got my fervent wish for a Western toilet, but I didn't get the separate shower I saw in my dreams. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. 



In addition to all of the above, I have two, yes that's right, TWO bedrooms. The guest room (the one you can see from the entrance) came with a bed, a closet, and a desk. 



Oh, and they threw in a connected balcony. Not sure who the weirdo is in the picture, probably some fanboy student of mine. 



Last but not least we have my very own bedroom. The bed is about as fixed as it ever was back home. Two reasons can be presented as for why I chose this room over the other: 1) the bed is bigger, and 2) it has a massive shelf/closet on one wall.





And with that the virtual tour of my apartment is concluded. I apologize for the long wait, but I discovered that if I write smaller posts they are less daunting. I have resolved to actually blog rather than think about it. You can hold me to that. Stay tuned for my night of karaoke, the joys and challenges of teaching, and the lanterns of Mid-Autumn Festival! 

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