Recent Wrap-up

Okay, I'm a little late with this post. I planned to put it up two days ago, but got distracted by big important things like dinner. Basically I'm just going to run down the cool things that have been going on in Beijing recently that I haven't posted about before. It's not very literary, but maybe it's fun and informative for those readers who are wondering what I do when I'm not posting my deep thoughts on the internet.

1) Posting Deep Thoughts on the Internet: Okay, maybe my thoughts aren't really so deep, but I have spent a lot of time in the last month whipping InterestingChinese.com into shape. It's not finished yet, but it is starting to look presentable and I finally feel like I've accomplished something at my internship.

2) Visiting the Great Wall: This seems like a no-brainer since I live in Beijing. However, I know some old Beijingers who have been to the Great Wall only ten times in their entire life--some have been less. I went to the Great Wall four times in one month, bringing my total to 7 times in my life. I guess there's a reason that random tourists believe me when I tell them a fact or two about the Wall.

3) Visitors: I've had a bunch of visitors since of been in Beijing. Some were pleasant surprises, and some I knew about. First Michelle dropped in for lunch in June, then Grant Came in July for two weeks. While Grant was here, Thorn came through Beijing for a week on his massive tour of China. Finally Mum stayed for a week at the end of her trip around the world. I fell kind of lonely now--someone should come in August!

4) ART: I have had some great opportunities to check out great contemporary art recently. 798 is still cool. The Borderline Moving Images Festival provided a good excuse to visit some great galleries in the outskirts of the city. The best, though, was the two days Mum and I spent at the Commune at the Great Wall. The architecture and design on display there is really worthwhile and the setting is great. I can't wait to go back home, but New Hampshire is a bit detached from any kind of art scene...

5) Full Moon Party and Great Wall Beach Party: Okay, I think the Full moon party may have been the last weekend of June, but whenever these outdoor all-night blinky-light dance parties happened they were really fun. The beach party was a great weekend. It featured insanely dangerous fireworks, a picturesque stretch of Great Wall and great music. Not to mention the great people at the party and the curious Chinese onlookers who spent the whole night staring over the fence at the Crazy foreigners playing on their beach.

6) Yi Du Gong Du "One Poison Fights Another": The band is playing really well together now. After a week of marathon rehearsal, we are pretty on top of our game and hopefully about ready to book a couple gigs in Beijing. More on that if it actually comes to fruition...

7) Lots of good meals: So many good meals in good restaurants. I have been way lax on writing reviews, but my restaurant tour of Beijing continues and the results are great. There's nothing better than a belly full of delicious food.

8) Baijiu Night: Cody, Grant, Thorn and Old Guy know what I'm talking about. So does the old Belgian Woman who lived with us then.

9) House: Every episode. I'm not exactly proud of this, but it does seem like a bit of an accomplishment.

10) BBQ: After buying a small grill for July Fourth, we have had a bunch of really good BBQ dinners. Apparently my grilled chicken was the best that Jeremie had ever eaten--of course, when you don't eat good Western food so much, anything might seem like the best.

Okay, there's bound to be more things that have happened recently, but these are the salient ones. I'll try to come up with some more deep thoughts this weekend.