Back from Prague and China!!! I guess I can start out saying it was two entirely different trips!!
At least they can speak english in Prague...
Let me start out with Prague - The boys were great. Funny moments, like when I woke up the first morning cause I heard someone whispering around in my room - it was Nick headed towards the window, I followed him with half an eye open and a massive headache from the previous night's drinking. He pulls the curtain aside, turns and looks at me: "Nice amigo, now we're in goddamn Bucharest!". WHAT??? Dude, we're in Prague! Well, my laughing definitely cleared my headache...ha ha. As you can imagine we didn't do much besides drinking in Prague. 4 days of straight fun with the boys. This wont be the last time I will leave to conquer a European capital with the boys!
Two weeks later I left for Beijing with Mary and her parents. I must say this has by far been my greatest culture shock ever! Never ever have I come across a more, withdrawn people than the Chinese. They have no desire getting to know you and they are NASTY!!! However it was a HUGE experience in both good and bad. Walking the Great Wall is something everyone must do at some point in their life. Beijing in general is a very interesting place to visit, however the Chinese do not and I mean they do not speak a single word of English. I am very worried about them hosting the Olympics next year… Shanghai however is not a place I would recommend visiting. It is very dirty and crowded, with very little sights to offer. I guess you can say I was rather disappointed, it is just another western metropolis unlike Beijing which still has some Chinese culture left. It’s a bit sad, cause the Chinese have an old saying that goes like this – “In order for the new stuff to get here, the old stuff must go”. This means that they are tearing down their charming small hutongs (I have included a picture in the link below), so they can build new highrisers.
Like I said the Chinese are Nasty, and I will finish my post off with a true story from the trip.
One morning at our hotel in Shanghai, I felt like getting buzzcut so I went down to the barbershop in the hotel. I arrived 5 min before they opened, so I waited until the barber came 5 min later. He showed me to the chair and I started explaining how I wanted my head buzzed. He didn’t speak a word of English even though he worked at a hotel, so I pointed at the buzzcutter and moved my hand over my head while making a buzzing sound. He smiled as if he understood what I wanted done. Then he opens his cabinet and pulls out a toothbrush and starts brushing his teeth in the sink where he also washes people’s hair before giving them a haircut. He has no clue that he at this point is reaching my limits at a rather fast pace. I just sat there staring at him, then started spitting down in that same sink! And when I say spitting I mean spitting, it sounded as if he was coughing all the intestines he probably had for dinner the night before up all over the sink. I could just imagine all the snot floading around in the sink. So I got up looked at him and said “Nevermind”!, and went out to the elevator. He walked after me, and there he was looking at me as the elevator doors closed between us – with a face expression revealing that he had absolutely no clue why I had left an no longer wanted a haircut…..
I hope you enjoyed my little story as I am laughing typing it.
To see the pics from China click here
At least they can speak english in Prague...
Let me start out with Prague - The boys were great. Funny moments, like when I woke up the first morning cause I heard someone whispering around in my room - it was Nick headed towards the window, I followed him with half an eye open and a massive headache from the previous night's drinking. He pulls the curtain aside, turns and looks at me: "Nice amigo, now we're in goddamn Bucharest!". WHAT??? Dude, we're in Prague! Well, my laughing definitely cleared my headache...ha ha. As you can imagine we didn't do much besides drinking in Prague. 4 days of straight fun with the boys. This wont be the last time I will leave to conquer a European capital with the boys!
Two weeks later I left for Beijing with Mary and her parents. I must say this has by far been my greatest culture shock ever! Never ever have I come across a more, withdrawn people than the Chinese. They have no desire getting to know you and they are NASTY!!! However it was a HUGE experience in both good and bad. Walking the Great Wall is something everyone must do at some point in their life. Beijing in general is a very interesting place to visit, however the Chinese do not and I mean they do not speak a single word of English. I am very worried about them hosting the Olympics next year… Shanghai however is not a place I would recommend visiting. It is very dirty and crowded, with very little sights to offer. I guess you can say I was rather disappointed, it is just another western metropolis unlike Beijing which still has some Chinese culture left. It’s a bit sad, cause the Chinese have an old saying that goes like this – “In order for the new stuff to get here, the old stuff must go”. This means that they are tearing down their charming small hutongs (I have included a picture in the link below), so they can build new highrisers.
Like I said the Chinese are Nasty, and I will finish my post off with a true story from the trip.
One morning at our hotel in Shanghai, I felt like getting buzzcut so I went down to the barbershop in the hotel. I arrived 5 min before they opened, so I waited until the barber came 5 min later. He showed me to the chair and I started explaining how I wanted my head buzzed. He didn’t speak a word of English even though he worked at a hotel, so I pointed at the buzzcutter and moved my hand over my head while making a buzzing sound. He smiled as if he understood what I wanted done. Then he opens his cabinet and pulls out a toothbrush and starts brushing his teeth in the sink where he also washes people’s hair before giving them a haircut. He has no clue that he at this point is reaching my limits at a rather fast pace. I just sat there staring at him, then started spitting down in that same sink! And when I say spitting I mean spitting, it sounded as if he was coughing all the intestines he probably had for dinner the night before up all over the sink. I could just imagine all the snot floading around in the sink. So I got up looked at him and said “Nevermind”!, and went out to the elevator. He walked after me, and there he was looking at me as the elevator doors closed between us – with a face expression revealing that he had absolutely no clue why I had left an no longer wanted a haircut…..
I hope you enjoyed my little story as I am laughing typing it.
To see the pics from China click here
1 comment:
Well written article.
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