Sir Nick,
Thanks for the email update! Many happies that your trip is going well
and that you have found friends and something good to eat in lieu of
your terrorist toothpaste that is now feeding the airport gnomes.
Just read up a bit on Chongqing. Apparently a bit hilly, so is the only
big City in China without lots of bikes. Quoting the Wiki source of
all knowledge:
---
Located at the head of the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam,
Chongqing is planned to be the beachhead for the development of the
western part of the country. With the completion of the Three Gorges
project, its reservoir will bring ocean going ships to the quays of
Chongqing. The hope is that this gritty fogbound megalopolis can do for
China what Chicago did for the United States in the 19th century: open
up the interior, shift the country's center of gravity west, and
kick-start an economic superpower.
---
Hopefully they can skip the Al Capone part of Chicago's development.
Chess nerd moment: I joined the IBM chess team again yesterday and
traveled to Minneapolis for a chess tournament. I lost, but learned a
few things. I had an easy win, up 3 points, but got forked in the
classic moment of arrogance and lost a rook. Then struggled back to
what should have been a draw, my bishop -vs- his rook, but the silly guy
would not give up, and I didn't see the repeated 3 position stalemate
that the tournament director saw. Nor did I count the moves that would
have given me a 50 move statement. Instead, I played his silly repeated
moves till he finally wore me out and I made a mistake and lost the
bishop.
Meanwhile, Helen, who joined our little chess caravan, skated in the
worlds largest oval, next to the room we were playing chess in. She is
the blurred one in the middle of the photo.
Helen and I leave or our week in Saint Tomas next Saturday. Current
plan is we will have a laptop, and they have an Internet cable strung
over the ocean, so we will have email. We get back the night before you
do, so unless I hear otherwise, will plan on picking you up at the MSP
airport on Monday Jan 29 at 11:05AM. In theory, our cell phones might
work. We can also can be contacted via our hotel: 340-775-6550 room 422
B
----------
Nicholas Winter wrote:
> Good morning!
>
> I'm in Chongqing now. Chongqing rocks! I was worried about being alone
> in a place where I can't speak well, but when I got there, many kind
> Chongqing girls greeted me and showed me around and took care of me!
> They speak English very well, most being English majors, and I haven't
> had to try my little Chinese skills very much, thankfully.
>
> The food in Chongqing is amazing. Like, whoa. I am going to be sad to
> be back eating in the States. Zaogao. And everywhere is very beautiful
> here. They think it's terribly cold, coldest days of the year and all,
> and it's like 55 degrees. And foggy, a little rainy (you know how I
> feel about rain). Trees everywhere, little dogs wearing sweaters,
> Christmas lights and other Chinese light things in all the trees.
> Everyone says I look very handsome, like Orlando Bloom. Hah. I think
> it's the hair.
>
> My living conditions are great, right on campus and everything. I'm at
> the smallest University in Chongqing right now, which is about 8000
> students large. I tell them I think it's huge, and they say, "no no
> no, it's very small!" Chongqing has 33 million people, so it's the
> biggest city, like, ever. Definitely not used to it, but I am thinking
> it's pretty nice.
>
> The organization I'm learning about that is hosting me is really
> great. They are committed to raising awareness about the rights of
> Chinese people with AIDS/HIV, and about HIV prevention. I've gotten a
> lot of videos and photos of events they've organized, which looked
> very well done. I am learning a lot about them, and about Chinese
> culture, and about holding chopsticks. Well, I may have hit my skill
> limit on the chopsticks. I think they may have given up on me, because
> sometimes they just put the food in my bowl for me. Which is just fine
> by me. I think there were some times when I unknowingly did something
> really unsuitable for the Chinese dinner table, and they all laughed
> but wouldn't tell me what it was. That's cool. They are all very nice.
>
> I'm writing this e-mail in a Chinese student computer center. Xie Wen,
> the Chinese girl who has showed me around the most, is reading this
> over my shoulder as I type it, so of course I am about to say terrible
> things about her to make her giggle. She is very giggly. It's great.
> And when she laughs, she holds her mouth and waves her hand in front
> of her face and tries not to make any sound. She's doing it right now.
> Hehehe.
>
> I don't know when I will leave for Kunming. I might not leave, because
> Chongqing is so great. I'm supposed to go there and help this other
> organization write scholarship applications to attend conferences, and
> learn about their activities, but I don't see how it could be as nice
> as here with Ai Zhi Xing Volunteer Organization. I have eaten many
> interesting meals with them. I also sat in on some classes with some
> of their members. We watched Finding Nemo, in English, as part of the
> Listening class. It is very funny to listen to a big classroom full of
> Chinese girls react to sharks. "Waaah!" "Yi?" 75% of SISU (Sichuan
> International Studies University) are girls. I am not sure why. Xie
> Wen says, "Because many girls are, are... [ I started typing her words
> and she's incapacitated ] ... people think girls have the instinct to
> learn language well." It's pretty cute. They all wear their winter
> coats all the time, thinking it's so terribly cold. None of the
> buildings are heated that
> I've been in. I think. They might have been, but whenever they go in
> a room, they open the windows, so it's hard to tell. "The air is so
> stale in here! Let's open a window. Brr, it's so cold!" Hehe. I'm fine
> with that.
>
> I'm typing a lot because it's fun to make Xie Wen laugh. I should go,
> though, because she has final exams soon and she hasn't been studying
> at all, because she's been showing me around. I hope she doesn't fail
> out!
>
> Peace all,
> --Nick
>
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