Introduction - Jarrett Stein

Introduction

Ni-hao! Right there, that’s it, the extent of my Chinese vocabulary, and I’m off to Beijing for a month to eat, travel, and study. Why Beijing? I’ve never been to China, studied abroad, or eaten turtle, snake, and bullfrog, all activities I’m thoroughly looking forward too. I’m a rising senior at Penn, so in my mind, it’s now or never. My hopes are this blog will both educate and amuse, and once I learn how to use my digital camera and transfer photos, it may even captivate and shock. In interest of full disclosure, I’m not sure how often I’ll be able/inclined to grind out quality blog entries whilst chilling in China, but I’ll do my best.

Blog 1: Preperation

Just a little background in my psyche and situation, this is how my last month played out. The last week in April I had 2 finals and 3 final papers (all 15+ pages (with mad footnotes and endnotes (and cited quotes, and clever margin and wordspace modifications so in total equaling about 500 words of original text))). May 7th and 8th meant more finals, made especially sweet since the latter was my 21st birthday. In an unforeseen but welcome twist, my depleted fun expectations were crushed and surpassed by an amazing birthday in which I was awake the full 24 hours of the day, thanks to a 12- 11am all-nighter/exam victory. From 11am till bedtime early May 9th I commemorated the 21st anniversary of my beginning by beginning my career as a wine connoisseur. I dined and imbibed at a stellar Philadelphia restaurant, Ansill. See more at my soon to be created food blog (details later), but here’s an abstract:

Quickly becoming one of Philly’s best places to eat, modern- regionless but refined cuisine highlights the best of both local and exotic ingredients. A dish misses on occasion, but any imperfections are quickly forgiven thanks to a wait staff whose warmth and friendliness made me think I was back in Nashville.

Returning to my month, following my birthday came two more final papers, closely followed by freedom. Well, freedom as defined by a week at home in Nashville with my parents and dog, so some might think otherwise. Luckily for me, home really is freedom, including freedom to use my car, my mom’s credit card, etc etc. Credit cart + legal wine purchasing = initially surprised, quickly angry mother. After 7 days down South, I went back to Philly for a deuce for some final packing, and now I’m on the train to NYC. Tomorrow morning, I have an 11am JFK to Tokyo, a 4-hour layover, culminating with a touchdown in Beijing Sunday at 10pm FTW.

People keep asking me, “You must be so excited, are you ready to go?” Well, I’m flying to Beijing tomorrow with no knowledge of the language, culture, or (possibly important) the laws. All I’ve got is nervous parents and two duffle bags filled with half the pharmacy section at Target.

Blog 2: Travel

Here’s a detailed account of my long and perilous journey from Nashville to Beijing, comprised of stops in Philadelphia, New York, and Tokyo in between.

Nashville to Philly involved a joyous flight on the Cadillac of airlines; of course I refer to the esteemed Southwest. 24-hours in advance, I furiously clicked online in hopes of obtaining a good line placement, and was rewarded with line number A-23, almost guaranteeing me first dibs on seats. But, arriving at the gate, dismayed I saw at least 10 large men ahead of me, knowing only minimal exit row seats are available. My worst hopes were realized as I entered the plane, and begrudgingly chose a seat with my knees firmly against the tray-tables. In conclusion, Southwest is the bane of airlines for us the long-legged community.

From Philly to NYC, Amtrak was my mode of transport. Well, first a cab to the train- station. The cabbies name was Vikram Singh, humorous because of the 20 or so Indian people I know by name, three are named Vikram Singh. Anyway, always eager for taxi conversation, I asked Vikram, “I’m off to Beijing, I don’t know the language, any advice.” I asked because I thought there was a decent chance that Vikram too once traveled to a country in which he wasn’t totally familiar with the language, and could offer some tips on how to get by. He turned angrily shaking his head and uttered muffled grunts, but none I could decipher as words. Off to a bad start, I somehow mistakenly offended the first stranger I met on my trip. Either that, or like the soon-to-be me, perhaps simpy Vikram’s communicative ability was diminished by a lack of knowledge of the accepted language of the place he’s in. Luckly, Vik’s deficient vocabulary was inversely related to his driving ability, and I made it to the station with time to spare.

Armed with a backpack and two enormous duffle bags, I decided to lose my Redcap virginity and make the trip a bit easier. Unfortunately, I was clueless how to pay/tip the guy lugging my bags, and in hindsight, 10 bucks per bag seems a bit excessive. However, as I normally take the Septa/NJT route, the Amtrak with Redcap seriously felt like celebrity status.

Now to the bulk of my expedition, the 13-hour trip from JFK to Narita Airport in Tokyo. Flying on JAL, even in coach, was a pleasure. Again, probably a case of depleted expectations. In hopes of gaining a legroom advantage, I requested bulkheads seats, which I happily received. Upon taking said seats, it quickly became known that on JAL, bulkhead is the section for early families. A young Japanese couple, their 7-month old twins, and myself occupied my four-seat row. To those keeping score, that’s five breathing bodies for four seats. As a braced for 13 hours of hell, the babies quickly fell asleep, cute stewardess’ dispensed warm towels and green tea, followed by plum wine on the rocks, followed by plum wine, then more plum wine. This sweet nectar tasted like delicious juice, and had the beneficial effect of muffling the babies once they awoke, and even made the in-flight movies, Jumper and The Bucket List almost watchable. Good times.

Landing in Tokyo, I was eager to take advantage of my 4-hour layover and explore Japanese culture. Well, the expression of Japanese culture at Narita was bizarrely similar to the materialism of 5th avenue, instead of tea houses and sushi bars I found Louis Vuitton and Hermes. Disenchanted but still famished (the food on JAL paled in comparison to the plum wine) I set out to find some food. Finally, I settled on a delicious bowl of Ramen noodles, and picked a drink with a label only in Japanese, adding a little adventure to my experience. The brew turned out to be cheap sake, tasted beyond appalling, and was quickly disposed of in the nearest water fountain.

Finally, it was time to board the final plane of my journey for the flight from Tokyo to Beijing. No good stories produced by this voyage, as once I took my seat (continuing the theme of cramped coach and crumpled knees) I somehow fell asleep on my tray table. Not exactly comfortable, but it got the job done.

After 24+ straight hours in either a plane or airport, once I arrived at my hotel tracking down a bed became my top priority. The Beijing Unisplendor Happiness Hotel is actually really nice (photos later, I promise), and I managed to fall asleep around midnight (noon in Philadelphia) knowing I’d be awake 8-hours later to attend my first summer class and experience the city.