May 12-14

I hope you guys haven't forgotten about me over the past few days, it has been a very busy time and haven't been near my computer much.

We left Hangzhou on Tuesday at around midnight on a sleeper train. I was in a compartment with Anthony (our guide) Professor Ewest and a random girl. After playing cards with mike and Shawn for a little while, I decided to call it a night. Even though the train ride was 16 hours, I slept for about 12 of them so it wasn't too bad. Then we arrived in Beijing at around 3pm. We went to Tiananmen Square, which was

pretty cool, it is taboo to talk about what happened in 1989 there, but it was still a good experience. After Tiananmen Square, we came back to our hotel and relaxed.

Today we went to the great wall of China! Tim and I went off on our own and we hiked all the way to the summit of one of the peaks. It was absolutely remarkable, in my short life, it was the coolest thing I have ever seen. After lunch at Mcdonalds, most of the group went to the black market. If you ever are in China go to a black market, bartering is one of the best experiences i've had here. Its just really fun to make routine purchases but treat them like buying a car. After a day full of shopping, which I got some Abercrombie shorts, a chinese iphone, and some shoes, we went as a group to OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE. It was amazing as always.

Tomorrow we are hitting up the olympic venues and then leave for Shanghai. I can't believe that our China trip is almost over!

Tuesday May 12th

Hello all

I am currently in the hotel room after our caligraphy class. I went there with a very open mind and was actually excited that I could bring back home that would bring some variety to the art work in the Lutz house. Kiersten kinda has the monopoly, and now it doesn't look like I will still be able to add anything. We went there, and for the second day in a row our art teacher doesn't speak a lick of English, not even hello. As I said yesterday, I am not the artsy type, I have never been good at it, and pair that with the terrible handwriting I have, calligraphy is something that I would not be good at. He painted on his paper, then put it on the board for us to copy, and I thought that I did a pretty good job on the first one. I was like okay, this is going to be alright, and I can bring this stuff home for my parents. Then he comes over and totally butchers my paper by showing me the "correct way" to do it. Seriously it looked about 90% correct, but now I had random characters all over my paper. It was about as frustrating as when, in 9th grade, Mr. Eckenrod told me I was solving algebra equations wrong, even though I was getting the correct answer. I stayed as long as I could, but I left after about an hour of this guy painting over all of my work.

I got back to my room today, and turned on the TV and was instantly feeling better. For the first time, a NBA playoff game that wasn't featuring Yao Ming is being shone live, not tape delay. We have a free day today, so Shawn and I are going to take it easy and walk to a market about a mile up the street to get some supplies we had forgotten.

Here are some other observations I have made in my time in Hangzhou

The totem pole of driving goes:big trucks and busses, little trucks, big cars and taxis, little cars, mopeds, bikes, and then pedestrians. It will be a "good time to walk across the street" sign and you still have to watch for cars doing U-turns, mopeds and bikes. The rule of the road is if you can get the nose of your vehicle in the correct lane, you have earned the spot, so there are some interesting lines at stop lights. Cars also pass on the right a lot more than in the US. Cars will pass in the oncoming traffic lane also.

The college we are staying at has a road running through it. It is similar to if Wartburg would open the black gates and let cars drive through the campus. There are so many students that the sidewalks are always packed, so mostly you walk in the street, and then you get honked at by mopeds, bikes and cars because you are in the way. Mopeds here are also different than in America, they are all electric, so there isn't a high pitched noise to warn you they are coming. Cars here are generally more quiet too so it is hard to prepare from the attack from behind.

Another difference is tipping, it is not allowed in China. We have tried to tip taxi drivers, waitresses and our hotel housekeepers, and no one will take it. They feel that they shouldn't be rewarded extra for doing their jobs. They feel their wages are enough for their job.

We leave for Beijing at 11pm our time (10am Central time)

May 10-11

Hello there

So we're going through a heatwave here in Hangzhou, the past 2 days have been near 100F.

Yesterday, we had a pretty chill day, nothing was planned in the morning so we just relaxed. After lunch, we went to a martial arts class, and did a bunch of pushups and learned how to do some martial arts punches and kicks. I didn't particularly like this class because I am not flexible, so the teacher kept telling me to move in ways that I am not physically able to move in. Afterwards I ran around the track and then back to the hotel, it was very refreshing. At the stadium where the track is, there were actually more students playing soccer yesterday than students playing basketball (the basketball park is adjacent to the feild/track). Last night we kinda took it easy and Jarrett, Angie, Shawn and I played spades until 1 in the morning.

Today we had a day full of class which was an adventure as always. We were told the wrong room, and then the elevator doesn't stop on the third, fourth, fifth floor, so we had to walk up the stairs to the 7th floor. Then our art teacher didn't speak english, so that was frustrating, but she got a little more comfortable and could speak a little English. I really don't like doing art, this is not to say I don't appreciate art, which I do, but what I did was not art. It was more like a finger painting that your mom says is beautiful but is really just a blob on a piece of paper. We had some really artistic people in our class that actually made some quality artwork. After lunch we had language class, Shawn and I were running a little late so we couldn't wait for the elevator line so we had to hike up the 12 flights of stairs. Language class was pretty cool actually, learned how to introduce people, and then sang some sappy love song that is very popular in China. We then received our diploma and were ready to brave the heat to play basketball.

Chinese students must be fairweather fans because there were only about 20 of them out there today. Prof Ewest played with us again, and was the Shaq diesel of our team. We were undefeated, which brought our record this week to about 50-5. Pretty nice last full day in Hangzhou. Tomorrow we leave for Beijing which I am very excited for. I have really enjoyed my time in Hangzhou, but I'm ready for some new experiences and some cooler weather. I am especially excited to see the olympic venues.

Adiós

May 8-9

Nî Hâo,

Where to begin...On Friday we had a day full of tourist activities. First we went to a Buddhist temple and learned some things about Buddhism. Across the street was a very large pagoda that we climbed all the way to the top of. Some people took the elevator, but I was determined to climb all the way to the top (about 500 steps). Once at the top, the view was breathtaking. The observatory went around the building so you could see West Lake and downtown Hangzhou, pretty unreal. After lunch, we went to a museum that had artifacts from over 6000 years ago that had been found in the

Hangzhou area. By this point in the day, everyone was pretty worn out, and not even I, someone who likes history had the energy or the focus to go around the museum. I wish our days weren't so packed sometimes because its hard to get the full experience when you are go go going for 8 straight hours. After supper, we ate PIZZA HUT as a group. The pizza didn't taste 100% the same, but it was PIZZA!!!!! I think everyone who had lost weight on this trip due to being sick from the food difference, put it right back on (including me). We then got back and decided to go out for a night on the town.

*Pricing sidenote*

I had the wrong perception about prices in China coming over here. Sure there are cheap things here, mostly small trinkets, drinks, food, but most of the shopping the prices are even higher than in the US. For example, there is a place across the street that sells Snow beer for 2.5RNB (36 cents US) and you can eat a full meal for less than 2 US dollars (Rice, noodles, drink, rotisserie chicken). But, at the same time, there are NIKE stores all over, and they have Air Force 1s (popular nike shoe) for over 100 US where you can get it for about 65-85 in America, depending on the quality. I even saw a fake pair (sowing wasn't correct) for the same price. I talked to Professor Ewest and he said that the middle class hasn't emerged yet, so that is the reason that there is stuff priced very high, and stuff priced very low, but no middle ground yet.

*PDA sidenote*

In Hangzhou, I had not seen hardly any Public Displays of Affection, not even holding hands. We went to a very large, over crowded dance club, and the first time I had seen two Chinese people kiss, it was two males while there was a lap dance going on next to the guys kissing. I am not sure why there isn't more hand holding and kissing in public, its probably a cultural thing.

Saturday

We had a free day all to ourselves, I planned on sleeping in until about noon, but because of our cycle of waking up at 7 every day, I made it until 830. Mike and I had planned to go golfing, but the weekend rate, and the ability to get a tee time, made it pretty much impossible to play. It was 1350RNB (200 US) for 18 which isn't totally outrageous considering you get a caddie and club rental, but it is a little steep. Instead I watched the Rockets vs. Lakers live on CCTV5. For the first time this whole trip, I was able to watch a full NBA playoff game. Another short sidenote, during commercials in the US, in China they show highlights of other games, its pretty cool. We then walked to KFC, which was an experience, I decided to get crazy and order a Crunchwrap Supreme. I know you are thinking to yourself, wait, that is a Taco Bell dish. They served it at KFC but the meat tasted Chinese so it wasn't too tasty. Jarrett's fried chicken was actually really good. After KFC we went to the Black Market, but most of the stuff there was very overpriced or stolen, hah. Mike found an Iphone for 100 us, I wish I would have been with him because that would be a good investment for the future.

After the black market, we went to play basketball again. Shawn Jarrett and I won a lot of games, but to handicap the games, they called a foul on everything. It was the weakest basketball I had ever played. Also, when it was game point, they would foul as hard as possible to make sure we didn't make it, we wouldn't call a foul because we had the rebound for an easy putback but they wouldn't allow that. Also, a big contrast in the pick up games in America and here is they don't check the ball, as soon as the guy gets it on top the balls in, which makes it really tough to get defense set up.

After basketball, we decided to go out as a group for supper and then out on the town. We went to a place called Panchos, it was a mexican place and it was amazing. Our waitress was very good and spoke english, even though she was from the Ukraine, in China. The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was good, and the Margaritas actually had slush in them, which we didn't have on Cinco De Mayo, we might go back there on monday for salsa dancing.

All for now

Erik

May 7

Today was a pretty typical May Term day, except for the fact that we are in China. We got to sleep in until 9am today. We then went to a lecture lead by the Dean of Business college. He presented a presentation titled "The Patterns of China Economic Development." Some interesting facts and statistics that he mentioned in his presentation.

(GDP, for you non business people can be defined as "the value of all goods and services produced ins a country. It is a broad measure of economic activity and performance.")

China's 2008 GDP is $4.421Trillion (2nd highest in the world, just passed Japan)

To compare the US's gdp was $8.110Trillion

China's GDP rose exponentially from 1990-1996 because the government opened to foreign countries (outsourcing)

Manufacturing is over 50% of the Chinese Economy

The economy has gotten better due to the fact that there are less government owned businesses.

The average income in china was 24046 yuan, roughly 3536US Dollars (2007)

In 1998 the average income was 7405 yuan, roughly 925 US Dollars.

Hangzhou's province, Zhejiang, information

100 square KM 51.2Million people

20 years ago it was a very small economy, mostly agriculture.

After our lecture about economics we had a bit of free time and I went to the market and got a Coke Zero, which I have grown very fond of and a bowl of noodles for 4RNB (50 cents). Then, after my first nap of the trip, we had chinese language class where we learned how to introduce ourselves.

After class, we had to get outside to enjoy the weather. It was 86 and sunny today in Hangzhou. We went to our favorite hotspot, the basketball pavilion. We started playing 3 on 3 (Mike, Shawn and I vs. Jarrett Angie and Professor Ewest). We then started playing with the locals, Tim was a big hit. Some observations that I have made from playing a few days with the chinese students is that they are more pass oriented while us Americans are focussed on dribbling. They are very quick without the ball and have very quick hands, they love when Jarrett dunks or makes any play for that matter, and they play very traditionally, jumpshots, hook shots,

passing, but they will also throw the ball up at the hoop without looking at it, and it will even go in some times.

Here are some pictures of us playing today

Tonight Megan, Lacy, Jarrett, Mike and Shingshing are speaking with Professors Clarkson, Campbell and Meyerann's classes about observations we have made. Shawn and I are just watching the NBA highlights on the Chinese sports channel. Today the Rockets were playing during our free time but instead they were showing the international badminton tournament. I know the Lakers won, but for my research I really wanted to watch the game in a public place to ask Chinese people what they thought during the game. They have shown replays of Game 2 of the Trailblazers' game and Game 1 of the Lakers' series. Also, I have gotten my first mosquito bites of the year today, they're no fun in China either.

Adios

Erik

May 5-6

Wowza we have seen some cool stuff over the last 2 days

First we went to West Lake yesterday (May 5th). West Lake is a very popular tourist place in Hangzhou. In the 1980s it was named the 3rd most beautiful place in China. We went on a boat tour of the lake. It is similar in size to Lake Okaboji in Iowa. We rode on a dragon boat which was pretty neat. It just felt good to go somplace that wasnt over crowded (on the water, the path was very crowded) and get some fresh air. After we were done at West Lake, we went to a 5* hotel that had the best buffet I have ever had. I ate potatoes with bacon and some food that felt like American Chinese food.

*Sidebar*

For those of you who don't know, Chinese food restaurants in America are not actual Chinese food.

My favorite food from American Chinese restaurants that I havent had in China yet include...General Tso's chicken, egg rolls, crabmeat ragoons, fried rice, those biscuits at Great Dragon in Waverly that are covered in sugar.

Foods I have had

Jelly fish, crushed tortois shell, spaghetti with sweet and sour sauce, tomatos with sugar on them.

For the most part I have enjoyed the food, but I just thought that you guys back in Iowa should know the difference between food in China and Chinese food in America. I have had some food here that I had never had but were amazing.

After lunch, we went to the equivalent to Adventure Land in China. We went to a Chinese Acrobatic show that was absolutely incredible, the show had cannons, live horses, belly dancers, fire, lazers projectors, drums, it was the craziest show I have ever been to, and caught myself saying "Oh WOW," a lot. After that, Mike and I walked around the shops and didnt find anything apealing, so we decided to watch people try to walk across a water obstacle. Basically it consisted of people falling off stuff into water.

We then went to a restaurant that was similar to an American Diner. Everyone pretty much ordered steaks which was like a tenderloin without the breading. Mac and Cheese was a side dish that everyone was excited for, and was extremely let down. It was served with wine, which was pretty much Koolaid. I ordered a milk shake and some seafood pasta. The spaghetti was amazing, but the sauce was similar to sweet and sour sauce so that was kinda weird. During the meal, Lacy and Prof Ewest stole the show though. Lacy started choking on her milkshake and Tim had to do the heimlich maneuver to dislodge it! Tim Ewest for professor of the year. After supper, Shawn ShingShing Jarrett and Angie and I went to the place that was similar to the Goat on Bars Street that we had been to a few nights ago. We lightly celebrated Cinco De Mayo with Margaritas that had no ice in them and were about 95% Jose Cuervo, but it was nice to be in a relaxing place in Hangzhou.

Wednesday

Today we woke up and headed all the way across town to the satellite campus of the ZUT. We learned about Chinese culture and holidays. We then learned how to make dumplings at the Chinese equivalent of the Mensa. The dumplings were more like potstickers, but they tasted amazing. Then we had some free time and we got to watch the nuggets game on CCTV5 (the sports channel here).

After lunch we went to another satellite campus to meet with some english language students. As I mentioned earlier, I am studying basketball in China and how its popularity has increased since Yao Ming traveled to the US. Here were some observations that I had when talking to the students

"I dont watch Ping Pong, but I always watch basketball."

Table tennis is number one for older generation but most people under 40 basketball is the most popular sport.

It was smart of the US to allow Yao to come to the NBA.

Out of about 10 students I polled all said their favorite team was the Rockets or the Lakers.

One girl said basketball was always popular, but since Yao came to the NBA it has become extremely popular

The Chinese Basketball Association is starting to lose popularity to the NBA, so it has tried to become like the NBA and has started to lure NBA role players to be stars (Smush Parker formerly of the Lakers, won a CBA championship on Monday, I watched the last quarter.).

China's national team finished 8th in the olympic games.

Shaq and Michael Jordan still very popular

6 people said that Kobe was their favorite player, 4 said Yao.

After talking to the students I asked our class and Lebron and MJ were the only answers between the few I asked

Girls don't generally play basketball in China

Overall I feel very satisfied with my research today. Most students in our class had troubles with their topic, but I got some good data, and some new insights that I didnt know.

After meeting with the students we ate supper with them and came back to the hotel. Jarrett and I then went down to the park to play basketball again, we lost our first game, but after that we won 6 in a row (Michael Jordan anyone?). We were paired with 2 guys who were very nervous to play with us, and were not as talented as Shawn and Angie ( our usual teammates) but we had a good time. During our last game, we had about 50 people standing and watching our game because Jarrett was putting on a show. We then went out to a bar and we met a guy named Luke from Switzerland and we got to talking about what he did and how he got to China, and had a good time.

Goodnight

May 3rd May 4th

Anthony >

Nî Hâo (Chinese for Hello, pronounced Knee How)

Wow, Anthony, our guide for these 3 weeks has planned a busy schedule full of fun and exciting stuff for us to do.

Yesterday, we woke up at 8 to go to a River Town called Wuzhen. It was an ancient town where some people still lived with a river running in between. I have never been to venice, but I imagine this is what Venice is like. There were boats running up and down between the buildings. We also learned a lot about some Chinese traditions like weddings, furniture, decoration etc. After we got back from our tour at Wuzhen, we got back to the hotel, and a few of us went down the same alley as yesterday and got some food. I have become very fond of the pineapple on a stick for 1RNB ($0.13). It reminds me of the Iowa State Fair. We were all a little tired last night so we just stayed in and played cards.

Today we had a typical mayterm day of 3.5 hours of class, except we are in China! We went to the University at 9am and had a lecture about the 5000 years of the history of China in 2 hours, a pretty good feat. We then had lunch and at 2pm we had our second day of Chinese spoken language class. At our history lesson we were minus one student who was feeling sick. At spoken language we were down to 6 of us. Not to worry, it is a food problem not a flu problem.

After class, we played basketball with Chinese students again, Shawn, Angie, Jarrett and I were 6-0 against our Chinese counterparts. There was a hoop that had a broken rim, and Jarrett put it out of its misery. We used the language that we learned to get a pick up game going with the students. After we were done playing basketball, we came back and ate and now I am here. Tonight we might check out KFC down the street.

Goodnight Ya'll, well good morning in Iowa :)

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!