Japan - My Last Foray Into Asia.

I'm back in Hong Kong now though not for long. These past two weeks have gone by in a blur.

I arrived in Tokyo Wednesday afternoon, and explored the area while waiting for the guys from Australia to show up. Forcing ourselves up from our surprisingly comfortable tatami beds at 4:30 AM the following morning, we headed to the Tsukiji fish market. The fish market is massive, with half of all fish consumed in Japan passing through its doors. We watched as auctioneers sold 300 lb frozen tunas, painted the fish with the name of the buyer, and dragged them along the ground using hooks. After exploring the market, we stopped at a nearby restaurant, and enjoyed the freshest sushi of our lives at 7 AM.

With a full day ahead of us, and Shavuot beginning at 6:30, we set about exploring Tokyo. Each district is big enough to be a city on its own, so it was difficult deciding where to go in the limited time we had. We checked out the Sony building, which was cool. Sony turned the lower floors of its building into an Apple store-esque museum of Sony's latest technological advancements, so I got to see what a walkman mp3 player looks like. Amazing how much the brand has fallen from when it completely owned the portable music market. We then went to the famous four way intersection that you always see in movies. Growing crowds awaited each light change, and when indicated, a sea of people crossed the road in every direction (including diagonally). Next we checked out the government city center and the electric district.

We found the chabad house after an hour of wondering in the pouring rain, only to find that we were the last guys needed to make the minyan. Our hotel seemed closer on the map than it was in reality, and the walk was at minimum 45 minutes. We never would have found it ourselves, if not for someone from the community who volunteered to walk us home through the rain. Conveniently, he spoke Japanese, so when we got lost he was actually able to ask for directions. Here was something that surprised me about Japan - unlike in Hong Kong, Japanese locals truly do not know English, which makes getting around often quite complicated. The next day we found the chabad with no problems, though the rain did not let up for a second.

When the holiday was over we rushed out to catch the last train of the day to Nikko. Nikko is a small town north of Hong Kong, near the foot of Mount Fuji. The area hosts a number of beautiful shrines and buildings as well as a massive 97 m waterfall in a large national park. After a short hike to the Nikko Pak Lodge, we were pleasantly surprised with our accommodations.

The following week from Saturday night to Saturday night contains too many sites to describe each in detail, so I'm just gonna give you the gist. Also, a word of advice: if you ever go touring through Japan, buy the Japan Rail Pass. You can only buy it from outside the country, and it seems expensive at $300/week, but it is probably the best deal you can get on anything throughout Japan, giving you unlimited rides on almost every JR train throughout the country, including most bullet trains.

• Sunday: Explored the park and all the touristy sites in the area. Not too much to do, but the area is beautiful, and definitely worth checking out to see the incredible natural scenery of Japan. That night we went to an onsen, a Japanese hot spring. There are pretty strict cultural protocols that come with entering an onsen, but everyone was very friendly, and explained it to us as best they could with absolutely no English.
• Monday: Woke up 5 AM to get to Tokyo DisneySea before opening time. Don't ask why... To my surprise the day ended up being fun. The park was nice, and the fireworks show was actually really cool. I was hesitant when asked to go to Disney, but it turned out alright.
• Tuesday: Woke up early again to get to Disneyland before opening. This time I understood why everyone warned us to be there early. Half an hour before opening the lines were not insignificant, and when the doors parted people started sprinting. Seemed ridiculous to me at the time, but by eleven AM the wait at some rides was as long as four hours. With all due respect to Disney, those rides better be pretty good if I'm gonna wait three or four hours for a three minute ride. We ended up leaving a bit early to see some more of Tokyo, including the Imperial Palace, which was impressive from the outside, though we couldn't actually enter the castle grounds, since the royal family was currently living there. Afterwards we caught a train to Nagoya, where we would spend the night.
• Wednesday: Went to Nagoya Castle, which is really the only thing to do in the city besides for the Toyota museum. Made our way to Kyoto, and checked out Nijo Castle.
• Thursday: We crammed in as much as is humanly possible in one day in Kyoto. The city has seventeen UNESCO World Heritage sites, and in one day we hit eight of them. The Golden pavilion was strikingly beautiful, though the tour of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was probably the most interesting.
• Friday: Out by 6 AM, headed to Hiroshima to see where the a-bomb was dropped. The area where the bomb fell was once the center of a bustling industrial center. Today there is nothing left but one standing frame of a building. Though the rest of the city has been rebuilt, the area where the bomb fell has been kept as a memorial park. A museum on the premise was very well done, refusing to make any political statements or placing blame at one party. The only really political statement was a declaration by the government of Hiroshima demanding that North Korea cease its nuclear weapons tests. We were in Osaka by the afternoon, and visited the very impressive Osaka Castle. We made it to Kobe by 5:30, and were at the JCC before Shabbat began.
• Shabbat: Kobe is a beautiful city that once hosted a thriving Jewish community, when it was the world's pearl trading capital in the late 19th century. A beautiful JCC was built in the seventies, but now the shul has about 15 members, comprising mostly of Israelis who arrived in the last 15 years. Halfway through morning services a bunch of local university students joined us to see what Jewish prayers are like. Everyone was respectful, and it was funny to see the look on their faces in reaction to the Torah reading. Now I know what is must feel like for every Cathedral or Buddhist temple that has to deal with tourists going through their buildings all day as they try to pray.
• The meals were great, and conversation was interesting. I sat next to Hero, a Kobe local who decided to convert after surviving a childhood illness. He spoke about the strong feelings some Japanese have about Jews, many convinced that some of their ancestors were among the lost tribes of Israel. We arrived back in Tokyo after Shabbat and made our way to the airport. Overall our trip to Japan was short, but we definitely made the most of our time and got to see a good portion of the country. Seven cities in seven days isn't bad in my book.

So now I've got two days in Hong Kong, then back to the States. I can't believe my semester is almost over. These past few months have been among the best and most interesting in my life, and I'm looking forward to my return.

Two Weeks Down Under

I wrote this a few weeks ago, but got so caught up in finals and doing all the things in Hong Kong that I hadn't gotten around to doing that I never sent it out.

Better late than never...

Two Weeks Down Under

I just arrived back in Hong Kong after two weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Stepping into the airport felt like walking in on a quarantined Emergency Room, or maybe a crime scene. As we left the gate, a line of officers in gloves and face masks were doing spot checks for anyone who might look ill. A Labrador retriever stood by the door, smelling for disease (or so they said, at least). A handheld video camera recorded each of our faces as we disembarked, just in case someone turns up sick, so they can confirm our identities and put us in quarantine. High speed heat monitoring cameras checked for fever, still with each guard in uniform. As we left, a box of face masks were offered to each passenger free. It's clear Hong Kong has no interest in repeating its SARS experience, with good reason from what I've heard.

Australia and New Zealand were great. After a week of finals in Chinese language, history and philosophy, I was surprisingly relieved when the signs in Melbourne were in English only. Upon arriving in Melbourne, one can immediately feel that people here are more laid back than in Hong Kong or New York. There are no exit signs. There are signs for the "way out". You buy veges in the market, and no one checks for a ticket when you get on the tram. I took a taxi to Judah and Elie's dorm, where I was greeted with fresh burgers at midnight.

Judah and Elie live in a beautiful part of downtown Melbourne, a five minute walk from the University of Melbourne. The next day was Yom Ha'zikaron followed by Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Memorial day and Independence day respectively), and we met up with Sam and headed into Caufield for an event held by the local Jewish community. The Jewish community in Melbourne is small but very strong, and I really like the people I met. The event was for graduates of B'nei Akivah, and most people were about my age and knew friends from back home. In Melbourne I went to the Victoria Market, the Melbourne Museum, and explored the universities in the area. All very nice, and the Melbourne Museum is highly reccomended. We stayed by a very nice family in Caufield for Shabbat, and I spent much of the rest of my time completing three essays that were due before I returned to Hong Kong. Wonderful that I can email in my papers, and the professors will never know that I am a few thousand miles away on vacation.

Next up was New Zealand. Given the limited time (only four days), we decided to stick to the north island for the entire trip. While I've heard the south island is incredible, the rest of the guys had already been there, so now I just have a reason to return in the future. New Zealand is beautiful. I completely understand why so many movies and TV shows are filmed out here. The landscape is just incredible. We started in Aukland, which was a pretty quiet town. There I celebrated my 21st birthday, which was exciting, though not as big a deal, as the legal age is 18 everywhere else in the world, so there was no practical differences between the day before and the day after. Still, you don't turn 21 everyday...

We had planned to rent a car, and I of course volunteered to be the driver. After so many months seeing cars on the wrong side of the road, I was excited to finally try it myself. One little problem, which I hadn't considered. After we paid, and while we were awaiting the car's arrival, the women behind the rental counter nonchalantly asked why we were renting the car for three days, when I could only drive until the end of the day? Confused, I looked over the license she handed back to me. I had neglected to check the expiration date on my driver's license. I forgot that NY state sends you a new license on your 21st birthday, to remove the big red "under 21" that marks top. Unfortunately, that license was at home in NY, far away from New Zealand. Luckily, one of the other guys agreed to drive, and everything worked out for the best. Still--very frustrating. This would become a bigger issue, as my debit card expired on the same day, leaving me with no way to get cash for two weeks.

With a fully packed Subaru station wagon we headed off to explore the north Island. First stop-- the Waitomo glow worm caves. this caves are unique in that lining the ceiling of the caves were little worms (technically fly larvae) that glow in the dark. The forest was beautiful, and after a boat ride through the caves, we went on a short hike to the top of a hill, where we watched the sunset.

After we finished the hike, we headed to Rotorua, to check in to our Hostel. The place was clean, with wireless internet, so I was happy. From time to time you could smell a distinct sulfur scent in the air, coming from the nearby volcanic springs.

The next day was set for adventure. We woke up early, and made our way to Sky Dive. I was very excited. We got there with no trouble, filled out the sheets, got dressed up, briefed on how to tandem skydive and watched the group ahead of us go. Unfortunately, as the plane landed to pick us up, the pilot shook his head and left the plane. It was too windy, and even though the other group went, they were shutting down operations for the day. No sky diving for us. Frustrated and with an open time slot, we asked the guys at the sky diving shop what they recommend. They talked up the rafting, and then called the people. They sent someone over to bring us there, and we decided to go wight water rafting instead. As was becoming abundantly clear, like most things in New Zealand, rafting was somewhat more intense here than in the States. We started with a traditional Maori prayer the guide said to the water spirits, we then proceeded down stream to class 5 rapids. numerous waterfalls dotted the way, including one 21 ft drop. We also tried a cool sport called rapid surfing which basically means paddling upstream the a small waterfall, and catching the undertow, pulling you into the waterfall and soaking the entire boat, but mostly drowning the guy on the front bench, which of course was me.

After a quick and cold swim, we finished rafting and headed over to the Zorbing center. For those of you who don't know, Zorbing is a Kiwi (what New Zealanders call themselves) invention. According to their official definition: a Zorb is a transparent bi-spherical rapid decent device. Basically it is a big inflated plastic ball with a hole in the middle for a person.
Add a little water, push it down a big hill, and you have a zorb. Zorbing turned out to be a lot of fun. Curious if it was possible to direct the movements, I jumped into the turns while going down. While I had no idea where I was or if I succeeded, I later found out that I had managed to roll onto the next track.

That night, we attempted to go to see a traditional Maori village. Unfortunately, the person at our hostel told us the wrong time, and we arrived half an hour late, to a deserted and dark front entrance. Heading off to see if we could find a different route in, we ended up seeing most of the village by ourselves, from a back entrance with a clearly marked "Do not enter" sign. As we did not know we were late, we could not figure out why the entire village was deserted. Eventually, we found the kitchen, and came through the back, where the staff working in the kitchen sent us to the auditorium where the entire maori team besides for the chefs were putting on a presentation about traditional Maori Culture. We found it just in time to catch the last five minutes. The manager was very nice about it afterwards, and sent us home with a note to get a refund from the person at the front desk who sold us the tickets. In the end, we managed to see most of the village in a self-guided tour, caught the tail end of the presentation, which included a Haka war-dance, and didn't have to pay. I'd call that a success.

Early the next morning we headed off to Hobbiton, the sheep farm used for the filming of the Shire in Lord of the Rings. Truly one of the most incredible beautiful sites I have ever seen. Also, we were again treated to New Zealand weather, which basically just means you can never know what to expect. There was a blue sky when the tour guide handed out umbrellas, and sure enough, every five minutes it poured for a few minutes, then suddenly there was not a cloud in the sky. Very inconsistent and prone to abrupt changes, as we learned to our dismay when we attempted to go skydiving.

After Hobbiton we drove to Waimangu, a volcanic region famous for its bubbling springs and great hiking trails. The springs were very interesting, They were hot, though not actually boiling. The bubbling came from chemical reactions taking place as the sulfur reached the surface of the water. The rocks surrounding the springs were, however, very hot. Too hot to touch at places. Of course, even though there was a blue sky when we began the hike, it became cloudy and then rained for all of 15 minutes before the blue sky returned. The hike was great, with some really nice views of the surrounding mountains and volcanic crystal clear lakes.

A late night drive brought us back to the airport and off to Sydney, where would spend the next four days. Having picked a location that google maps informed us was walking distance to all the major sites we wanted to see, we later learned that we had chosen one of the most sketchy parts of town from which to base our travels. It was fine during the day though, and the hostel was nice enough, so we made do. We checked out the Sydney Art Museum, the Museum of Australia, various parks, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We also walked to a zoo and aquarium, and I got my fill of Kangaroos and Wallabies. For shabbat, someone from Melbourne connected us with a very nice family in Bondi, where the Jewish community is located. The family introduced us to a very nice woman, named Lotte Weiss, who volunteers at the Sydney Jewish Museum, in the holocaust exhibit. What was so interesting about Lotte is that she is a holocaust survivor herself, having been among the first people sent to Auschwitz. She spoke with us for over an hour, telling us her story.
It was very moving walking through the exhibit with Lotte right there--a reminder that these aren't just stories we hear, but real events that took place just 65 years ago in a world not so different from our own, and to people just like us. Another exhibit in the museum described the Australian-Jewish History. One humorous display listed the crimes of many of the Jews sent to Australia when it was a penal colony of England. Some of the heinous crimes include horse theft, forging bank notes, pick-pocketing and worst of all -- stealing a large cheese, for which the person received life in Australia. Judicial systems were not always as forgiving as they are today.

After Sydney, we headed back to Melbourne for a few hours, and I continued on to Malaysia (this time only for a few hours) and then back to Hong Kong. I completed my last final nearly two weeks ago, and have been enjoying my last says in Hong Kong. I made two trips over to Shenzhen to have a suit custom made ($140 gets you a hand-made suit and two shirts delivered to my dorm room) and met up with a friend from Brandeis in Guangzhou. Though my chinese is getting better, it took me a few crucial minutes before I realized the taxicab driver started on his way to Guangzhou Rail Station instead of Guangzhou East Rail Station.
By the time I realized and corrected him, the last direct train back to Hong Kong had left, and I got to explore more remote parts of China in a late night adventure that took place by myself, with only a passport and my laptop, with no phone and limited cash.

Eventually I did make it home, and spent the next few days exploring the ins and outs of Hong Kong. I'm writing this on my way to Tokyo, where I will spend Shavuot and some time traveling throughout the country.
In the next eleven days, I will travel to Tokyo, Nikko, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and more, at a rate of nearly a city a day. Should be fun.

Yoni

One day in Kuala Lumpur - Mosques, Malls, Buddhist Temples and Street Brawls

I just spent twenty six hours in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia.

Before I arrived I was a little apprehensive about visiting Malaysia. In case you don't know, Malaysia counts itself among the nations of the world that choose to not recognize that Israel has existed for sixty one years now. This means that a full half of my extended family would be denied entry to the country with their Israeli passport. This means that if I took out the wrong passport, I would be denied entry to the country. Understandably, I wasn't sure I wanted to give this country any money.

In the end, I decided I was curious to see the society, and that it would be a good educational experience. Besides, its not like one night in a hotel will really make a dent in their economy.

I arrived early afternoon, and as in every other place I've been, the first thing I see in the airport is a McDonalds and a KFC. Here however, a big sign informed me that the meat in the restaurants was all Halal. Not quite Kosher, but at least there is no pork in the cheese burgers. There was also a Muslim prayer room, and a big compass pointing towards Mecca.

I took a bus into town, and then a subway ride brought me to the famous Petronas towers. When they were finished in 2004 they were considered by many to be the tallest buildings in the world. I found a place to stay near the towers, and once I was settled in I returned to the towers to explore the area a bit.

The bottom seven floors of the towers form a massive mall. Every luxury brand in the world seemed to be there, though the huge iPhone stand in the middle certainly dominated the scene. In the food court I was greeted with many familiar names; however, everything seemed just a little different. Famous Amos here was basically a souvenir shop that sold cookies as an afterthought. Auntie Anne's selection of specialty pretzels included Seaweed, Green Tea and other equally appealing options. When I made my way to the supermarket to see what I would find, I noticed a bid box of Matzohs lining a shelf. On the box, a notice from the Rabbinate of London explained that while kosher, these were not to be eaten on Passover. Now I know what happens to all the matzos that are accidentally allowed to leaven.

Later, on my way back to the Hotel I witnessed a very weird situation. Everything happened pretty quickly, so I'm not exactly sure what went down. I was slowly walking to my room when I heard someone yell behind me. I look back to see one guy, looked to be a local Malay teenager, attack another group of locals. The group responded in kind, and hit him back. Truth is, they may have started things, I didn't see. Suddenly, twenty people appeared behind the lone guy, and a genuine street brawl ensued. No one in the fight looked older than twenty. I notice to police officers walk right by and not do anything. Realizing that the last thing I needed was to end up hurt and alone in Malaysia, I made the decision that if the cops could ignore the fight, so could I. As I turned around to walk away, a group of Chinese tourists headed in that direction noticed the action as well, and decided it would be best to make a wide detour around the fight. Seeing that I was not Chinese, they somewhat condescendingly pointed to the brawl and said "no good." When I concurred in Chinese, they all giggled with excitement and we had a very nice chat.

I woke up early the next morning and visited the Guan Yin Sagely Monastery. The monastery is in the middle of the city, and with the communal kitchen and shared roles, it felt more like a kibbutz than anything else. The main difference is that in kubbitzim that I've been to, if there is a temple on the premises, it usually doesn't have large golden idols of buddhist gods in the middle of the room.

On the way to the airport, I noticed many large mosques adorning the city. The mosques are all very beautiful and quite larger than any I've seen. At the checkout counter I was informed that I would not be allowed on the plane, as they do not have me registered with a visa. One of my friends currently in Australia told me that I would not need a visa for short the trip. Not true. Luckily, Australia has an instant visa approval system online, and I just opened my laptop and applied for the visa. Twenty minutes later I was able to check in no problem.

I'm now on the plane nearing melbourne. The virtual map on screen shows the direction to two cities, Melbourne and Mecca. All in all, Kuala Lumpur was a fun and interesting city. Everyone was very friendly, and I think most of my apprehension was shown to be unfounded. Granted, they didn't know I am Israeli, but even if they had, I'm pretty sure most wouldn't have cared. Then again, I was only here for one night, and already I witnessed a full on street brawl. It was probably best that I didn't get involved.

Yoni

Some School and Pesach in Israel

Hey everyone,

So I've been out of contact for a while. Didn't have much exciting to report I guess. Eventually I had to settle in for some school, and since I got back from Shanghai through early April when I left for Pesach (Passover for any non-hebrew speakers) I've mostly been focused on passing my classes. All is good on that front. Overall my classes are not quite as interesting as I believe their Brandeis equivalents would be, mostly because students never speak up here, so lectures tend to basically be monotonous extended monologues. I do really like my Chinese philosophy class, as well as learning to write Chinese. I'm getting pretty good, and can write 230 characters, and read even more. I can also speak a fair amount. Surprisingly, another favorite class is American Cinema. I have never taken the time to watch Charlie Chaplin, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and other great classic movies, so the opportunity has been welcome.

I've also spent time playing rugby and Judo, which have both been fun. Since I mostly hang out with fellow exchange students or my roommate, rugby has given me an opportunity to get to know the permanent ex-pat crowd, while Judo has helped me meet local students native to Hong Kong.

As usual, I flew to Israel to celebrate Pesach with the family. It was great to see everyone. Everyone, cousins and grandparents included, went down to Eilat for four days. Joe and Ari took their Advanced Open Water Diver course, which I had done in Thailand, and I tagged along practicing some of the skills I learned in the course. Even though one of the days was the second holiday, we managed to get in seven dives in just three days. The dives included two deep dives (about 100 feet deep), a wreck dive, a cave dive and a dive with dolphins, who all loved Joe. I brought a camera down for most of the dives, and had a lot of fun photographing Joseph and Ari during their course.

Unlike at Brandeis, most of my professors had no idea what Pesach is. Still, they were all really cool about me missing school for two week. Not everyone was so lucky. One person actually had to get a letter signed by a rabbi, and take a temporary leave of absence before the professor agreed not to penalize her for missing two classes and an exam.

When I got back Sunday night, I had to immediately switch into super finals mode. Monday I had an essay due, Tuesday a test, Wednesday two tests, Thursday a make-up test and a presentation, and Friday a make-up session including three quizzes and an exam. That's what I get for disappearing for the two weeks before finals. Somehow, with about fifteen hours sleep total for the week, I managed to survive until Friday. Now, other than a few simple papers, I'm done until May 14th, for my Logic final.

Given the nearly three week break between my first finals and my last one, I decided to head down to Australia to see how my friends are living down under. I'm heading first to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I will explore the city for one day, before continuing to Melbourne. Sam, as well as Judah and Elie (who both visited me in February) agreed to take off school so we could explore the continent for a bit. We'll spend Shabbat in Melbourne, and Sunday we're off to New Zealand, where I will be turning 21. Then Sydney for an extended weekend, and back to Melbourne.

I'll be sure to update with more pictures soon.

Yoni

PS If you remember, when I first arrived in Hong Kong from Beijing, I commented that the air was clean and fresh compared to China's capital. While this is certainly the truth, Beijing is really not much of a measuring stick. Coming back from Israel, I felt almost choked by the air in Hong Kong. Looking back, it is hard to believe I didn't feel it before.

Test, China, Test, Judo, Essay, China, Test

If I went home from China tomorrow. I'd have to say I'd be happy with my time in Asia. I'm still learning new things everyday, but I believe I now have a feel for Chinese culture, and If I come back in the future I will not feel like a total stranger.

I spent all of last week in Guilin with my roommate, Zhao. Zhao, or Ryan, as he chooses to introduce himself to Westerners, is great. He is a finance student from Tingdao (where the only good brand of Chinse beer is brewed) and is extremely friendly and helpful whenever I inevitably miss something in my Chinese homework. Though at first I thought it would suck having a roommate again, having someone around who actually understands Chinese has turned out to be exceedingly useful. We decided two weeks ago, that since I couldn't go to southeast Asia with all the other exchange students and as it has been too long since his last vacation, we would travel together to Guilin, famed as the most beautiful province in China. Guilin is known for those steep thin hills covered in grass, often seen on the cover of Chinese guidebooks.

We both had a Logic exam on Tuesday morning, and headed off as soon as it was over. It was hard, but hopefully I'll do well. What worries me is the forced curve I keep getting warnings about. No more than 20% can get As and 20% will get Ds. Sure, I only need a C- and it is pass-fail, with grades covered, but when the middle line is a C, there isn't much room for error, and I don't know quite know the system. Zhao's father, a senior general in the Chinese Army, toured in the area when he was younger, and he had a few recommendations and contacts for us. We took the MTR to Shenzhen, and from there flew to Guilin.

...

I'm on a plane now, about to take off to Shanghai for Shabbat. We're heading down the runway and the lights and engine just cut out. I'm gonna ignore it, and hope to God I make it to a computer to send this out...

Anyway, we actually only spent one night in Guilin, but this was enough time to get a feel for the city. China has developed greatly in the last few years, and has many many cities packed with people, but except for Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, they all basically look the same.

The next morning we woke at 7:30 and took a bus to Yangshou. Buses here take forever, because operators who don't want to drive a half empty bus will drive around local streets with one passenger screaming out the window for anyone who wants to jump on board. When we finally had a full bus we headed out for an hour, then got off and waited for a local bus. By now we were in a very rural region, and the view was truly amazing. The Guanzi region is considered by many to be the most beautiful region in the country. When the Clintons first came to China, they made a stop here as well. It is also the scene on the back of the 20 RMB bill...

Lights are back on. Smiles of relief all around. Still praying I land safely in Shanghai...

Unbeknownst to me, we weren't heading directly to Yangshou. First, Zhao had a surprise stop his father coordinated for us. We were heading into increasingly rural neighborhoods in a small 10 person bus, if you could call it that. More of a van really, and tickets were 20 cents per person.

One person came on with a live chicken in one hand and her baby in the other. After about twenty five minutes passing rice paddies and free-ranging ox(en?), we arrived at what seemed to be the central market of the region -- ten or so stalls selling various wheres from home-sewed clothing to fruits, vegetables and all sorts of animals I didn't know could be eaten, plus your usual assortment of chicken, beef, seafoods and rice noodles. I didn't notice any refrigeration or flowing water, but I guess that's just not how it's done here. We didn't stop to eat. As we passed, a woman spotted us (I kind of stand out in rural China, so we weren't hard to spot) and jumped on the bus. Approaching us, the smiling older woman told us she was there to take us the rest of the way to Yangshou. Her husband was sick, so she would be our guide. Zhao spoke with her a bit, and once comfortable that she was who she said she was, we got off the bus and walked down to the shore of the nearby Li river.

She pointed to her boat and indicated for us to get on. This boat was actually a 3 person raft made of bamboo, with a bench in the middle for two people, and a bamboo oar on the back. There was also a small engine on the back for going upstream.

Preferring the peace and quiet of the open water, as well as the pristine beauty of our surroundings, we didn't use the engine, and flowed down river for about four hours. We stopped two or three times along the way, once so our guide could run home and drop off the groceries she had picked up when she met us. She let us come up with her, and she show

ed off her small orange and pomelo grove as well as her rice patty and mini ox she recently purchased to plow it. She let us pick a few oranges ourselves, and they were excellent.

We knew they were organic and pesticide free, as there is no way she could have afforded pesticides, though she did seem to be pretty well off as far as the town went. Somehow the tiny village had a population of five hundred. We stopped another time to take pictures from the same angle of the scene on the back of the 20 RMB, and one last time to see if we could

find all nine horses on the Nine Horses mountain.

Apparently only one person has ever seen all nine, but as he was a respected Chairman of China, people understood this to mean that only the most elite of society could spot all nine horses. Any less, and you just weren't meant to be prosperous. I managed to see seven with very flexible creative license, and supposedly this means I should be pretty successful at life. No Chairmanship of the People's Party for me though.

After we said goodbye to our guide we headed off by foot on a mud path to find a path to a small old town where we would be able to find another small bus to get to Yangshou...

Battery is about to die. I'll continue to write next chance I get, again, assuming we make it in one piece...

...We made it, as you probably inferred from the fact that you are reading this. Just spent four days in Shanghai, and now back on the same plane as last time. Hopefully no flickering lights this time, though we are already 40 minutes delayed and just sitting on the runway. You get what you pay four with Chinese airlines I guess, but it is hard to argue with $40 for a two hour flight...

The town was truly beautiful and exactly the kind of traditional China I had yet to experience. Just about the only English in the town was on a small sign on a stone bridge claiming

the bridge was constructed over 800 years ago. Hard to find that kind of history in the US. Of course, we passed one other couple of backpackers, and we hear them arguing about something. If you've been reading my posts to date, you can probably guess what is about to follow. Zhao asked if I recognized the language, and sure enough, as I moved closer, I could hear that it was two Israelis arguing in Hebrew about whether or not they could wash their cloths in the river. They shouldn't, I told them.

By the end of the trip Zhao was convinced there were as many Israelis as Chinese in the world, as we met more Israeli backpackers than anyone else. He also couldn't understand how we always knew each other. We just know, I unsatisfactorily explained to him. It was funny at times -- he'd ask someone for directions, I'd take on look at the person, and repeat the question in Hebrew. It never failed.

Yangshuo is a little town with a prosperous tourist community. One main boulevard, called Xi Jie (West street), is lined with hostels and little shops meant to lure backpackers. We spent one night in Yangshou, and enjoyed the internet cafes and meeting locals and other tourists in the area. Zhao explained that Yangshou is famous throughout China as a spot for students if they want to practice their English and see more of China.

Thursday night we headed back to Guilin (this time by direct bus) to catch the 12 hour train back to Shenzhen, our entry point to the Mainland from Hong Kong.

The train was great. 6 beds per cabin, head hitting one wall, feet flat on the

other, no English is sight. I spent about 5 hours memorizing the 100 or so Chinese words and 90 Characters that I now know. Only 2410 more Characters to go till I will be able to read the paper. In the morning I practiced all the words I knew with my Chinese bunkmates. Besides myself and Zhao were four women who from a small town outside of Guilin heading to Macau for a weekend of gambling.

I got back just in time for my first Judo Competition Sunday. Though I knew next to nothing about judo, practicing only for one month, it seems that my old wrestling skills came in handy.
Between my opponents expecting me to be terrible due to my white belt and the wrestling past, I managed to sneak in a few wins for a 3rd place trophy. Though I can't read a word on the trophy, I'm proud of it, and I know it'll make a nice souvenir.Also, last week I played in the the Hong Kong division 4 Rugby semi-finals, Hong Kong University vs. Hong Kong Police Force. Division 4 is actually pretty tough, and is the best of 3 university teams. Though the game was a really fun and a cool experience, we lost a tough fight, playing a man down, as one of us got red carded pretty early on (not me).

Monday was Taanit Esther and then Purim. For the Megillah I went to Chabad with Danielle and a few friends from HKUST. We continued to a "Young Professionals Purim Party," which was fun as well. Basically all the Israeli finance and manufacturing 25 to 35 year olds in costume, with a few Americans, Australians, Brits and South Africans thrown in the bunch. Good, but no match to the Brandeis Greek/Chabad Purim party. The next day as I while delivering my Shalach Manot (Purim gift baskets) I walked past a man dressed as a Chasid.

Recognizing me from a meal we were both at, he invited me over for the Purim meal. Of course I agreed, and enjoyed a great, huge meal at four in the afternoon. Unfortunately I couldn't be out too late, as I had both an essay and test on Wednesday. Purim isn't as good an excuse here as it is in Brandeis. Lucky I had planned ahead and studied on the train, as the essay took me forever to write. It was fine though; I put skype on in the background at 4 and 5 AM, and joined the family for their Purim party as well.

Both the test and the essay went well, and Wednesday night I collapsed in bed from exhaustion. Thursday I got up, picked up my dry cleaning and repacked my backpack for Shanghai to join Michael Kann who was in on business. Friday, while he worked I toured Shanghai for myself. Shabbat we went to Chabad and sat with a bunch of Jews from Uruguay. Shabbat morning at lunch we met a bunch of Israelis who work at El Al, who invited us to belated Purim Party in the Shanghai Art Museum Saturday night. Without much time to prepare costumes we just showed up, at the door we were given fancy masks. I wore my rugby jersey and with Michael's running outfit, we fit in fine. The party was a lot of fun. Since we were exhausted from walking about 10 miles touring Shangai Shabbat afternoon and as we had to be up at 6:45 AM to meet the tour guide for a trip out of Shanghai, we didn't stay up too late.

The next morning we left at 8 AM with a business associate of Michael's to Zhou Zhuang, famed as the Venice of China, with canals instead of most streets. Though it was fun and interesting, there were plenty of streets, an

d the canals were thinner than I imagine the canals of Venice are. We watched as one restauranteur washed her lettuce in the dirty river as boats full of tourists passed by. As traditional as this may be, we decided not to stay for lunch. We also passed by the Buddhist Temple which was midway through a service. That was really cool to see.

There was a huge leaning Buddha right by the entrance, and people were bowing at praying at its feet. It still hits me very strongly whenever I see someone praying to those huge idols. It reminds me just how far away from home I really am. We continued to Suzhou and explored beautiful rockery (which it turns out is a real word) and an 8 story pagoda that was over 700 years old. That was actually pretty cool, and we got a great view of the city once we climbed to the top. We realized that though the city is basically just a suburb of Shanghai, it is still one of numerous cities of 'just' 6 million people. Michael then took us on a tour of his factory which was interesting. Pat, the manager of the operation, aside from giving us a thorough tour of the plant also gave me some advice on Italian cooking, which I will have to try at some point.

All in all Shanghai was fun and it was great seeing Michael. It was also important that I visit Shanghai at some point, and without this excuse, there is a good chance I would have missed out on this city of an estimate 20 million people.

Next up, class for a while. I may try and sneak off to Tawain for a few days if I can swing it, we'll see. Happy Purim everyone, and please email me about your lives and get back in touch if I've fallen behind in my contact.

Yoni