http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/ Marisa in China Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:00:03 PDT http://www.blogdrive.com Copyright 2007. Travel http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/45.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:58:33 GMT Hello to all of my loyal readers. I can say that, frankly, because you probably are the only people who are still reading this. So thanks for your support. So you might want to ask me, "How are things in Philly?" Well, I really can't tell you. That's because last Saturday I moved to eastern Connecticut, where I've taken a job as education reporter for a daily paper in Norwich. Norwich is known to some as "Connecticut's Chinatown", which is one of the reasons I probably got (and took) the job. After 9/11, many people in New York's Chinatown lost their jobs, so they moved to Norwich. There are... (more) http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=45 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/44.html Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:08:13 GMT http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070807/hl_nm/china_pollution_police_dc I'd imagine part of this reduced life expectancy is also due to the multitude of Chinese drivers who treat two-lane roads like the Indy 500 race track... http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=44 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/43.html Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:44:56 GMT After 25 hours of on-and-off plane rides, I arrived home yesterday. I found that a few things have changed -- my brother has been driving my car since fall break, my family put half my belongings into storage and my mother has stopped food shopping. Fortunately she made an exception on Wednesday, and I found a fridge stocked with my favorites when I walked in. At least they didn't turn my room into a gym. (No, they did that to the family room -- it's actually the equipment of my brother's friend who has been living with us for the last few weeks.) I couldn't have been happier to come home.... (more) http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=43 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/42.html Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:24:29 GMT Here's my schedule over the next few days (and the last few days): Monday, China time: Nine-hour bus ride from Songpan to Chengdu following a rather intense horse trek that involved me getting thrown off a horse after the horse flew out of control and ran into an evergreen tree -- I'm fine, the guide telling me that I was the problem, not the horse, and the guide telling another person in our group "F*** you." Scenery was spectacular, though. Yesterday, China time: Two-hour flight from Chengdu to Beijing Tonight, China time: 12-hour flight from Beijing to LA Late night, Wednesday, PST:... (more) http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=42 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/41.html Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:25:08 GMT I realize my updates have been sketchy at best. And they're not going to get any better. Tomorrow I'm leaving for northern Sichuan -- about eight hours from Chengdu -- where I'll go on a horse trek for four days. Our destination is Ice Mountain, which looks beautiful in the pictures that I've seen. I'm sure it will involve one last terrifying bus ride around mountains and gorges. If I've survived the rest of them, I'm sure I'll survive this one. I'll give you all a nice detailed description of this trip when I get back to America in NINE DAYS!!! http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=41 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/40.html Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:04:04 GMT I arrived in Chengdu safely this morning. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, home of SPICY food and the panda. Tomorrow I'm going to try to see those furry creatures. I also hope that I can go to northern Sichuan to take a horse trek through some alpine forests. And now my time on the Internet is up, so I have to stop here... http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=40 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/39.html Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:22:06 GMT I've had a few (mostly) relaxing days here in Kashgar, and in about two hours I'll take an airplane to Urumqi. That's the capital of Xinjiang, and also the farthest city in the world from an ocean. I'll then go to Turpan (the hottest place in China -- it's gotten as hot as 49 degrees Celsius!) I'll write more later. This post is mostly for those of you who care if I'm still alive. http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=39 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/38.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:12:07 GMT I'm writing this post from my hostel in Kashgar, the westernmost-city in China. It's an oasis of desert, much of which I traveled by train or plane over the last two days. My hostel is in the former Russian Consulate building. It's only about 84 degrees, but the lack of cloud cover and pollution (thankfully) is letting the unchecked rays of sun crush my forehead like a just-emptied wok of noodles. Xinjiang, the province throughtout which I will travel for the next week, is part of China for strategic rather than cultural reasons. The language here, Uyghur, is a Turkic language that is... (more) http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=38 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/37.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:44:29 GMT I'm in Beijing, writing this in an Internet cafe that charges 20 kuai per hour. So I'll keep this short but sweet: -- My family is in Beijing safely, and they love China. -- I had a wonderful last two days with my students. -- One of my classes gave me a shirt that is simultaneously the cutest and ugliest thing I have seen in my life. -- Nevertheless, it is what I will be wearing when I get off the plane in Los Angeles. -- I arrived at the airport in Changsha literally two seconds before the plane started boarding because Mr. Liu insisted on stopping for breakfast and the highway was... (more) http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=37 http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/archive/36.html Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:48:30 GMT That's Chinese for "Why, China, why?" The fine People's Republic of China went ahead yesterday and blocked the entire Yahoo! server. That means I cannot get into my e-mail account until either they unblock the server or Aug. 2, the day I return to the States. I'm actually not surprised. A week or two ago the government blocked Flickr, Yahoo!'s photo-sharing server. Perhaps it's only a techical issue, and I'll be able to get into my e-mail in a few days. I do have a Gmail account set up for occasions like this, and if my e-mail's still blocked by the time I leave Xiangtan, I'll post that... (more) http://marmal305.blogdrive.com/comments?id=36