AmsterDAYUM son!

Oh Amsterdam.

Do I even need to write a blog post for Amsterdam?

Or can I just spam you with photos of this gorgeous, picturesque city?

Amsterdam is ridiculously pretty. So much so that I don't even care that there wasn't much to do in this city. Just walking around taking photos of bridges, flowers, boats and those quaint little canal houses was enough to keep me amused. Throw in a bit of cheese tasting here and there and Cynthia is one happy traveler.

Here are some fun facts I picked up during my time here:

• Dutch people are the tallest people on the planet. We did a Sandeman's 'free' walking tour and the guide joked that it was a process of natural selection. As global warming increases, sea levels rise and thus it becomes more difficult for short humans to survive in canal-based environments such a Amsterdam. Heh.  
• 15 people die each year from pissing into Amsterdam canals and subsequently falling in. Hence why public urinals aka 'de crul' are a thing in this city
• The narrowest house in Amsterdam is 2.02 metres across
• Contrary to popular belief, marijuana has never technically been made legal in this city, it's only been decriminalised. What this means is that the selling of drug is actually not legal. It is just widely tolerated as long as it is done in a limited, controlled way. The coffeeshops are constantly under surveillance by authorities and large scale production is still forbidden

The Rijks Museum I'd recommend if you had an afternoon to spare. Go for The Night's Watch..The museum also does a good job of taking you through a logical timeline of Dutch history, starting from 1200 right up to the present. If you follow the signs, you don't need to do too much doubling back to go see something you've missed - which is nice if you're slightly OCD like me. 

Woah mate, getting a bit grabby there aren't you? 

We originally weren't planning to go to the Anne Frank house because of how hard it was to get tickets (you need to either book very early in advance or be willing to queue up for a million years). But during our Sandeman's tour, we heard that the official website was now doing this thing where they would release a set number of tickets at a specific time of day (might've been 11am) and if you were lucky enough to be online at that time, you could potentially snag a ticket or two. We got tickets by doing this and I'm so glad I got to avoid this MASSIVE MASSIVE QUEUE like wtf you'll be 90 by the time you reach the end??

You can't even see the end of the line

On a totally different note, we also went to check out the Red Light District during our time in Amsterdam to see what all the fuss about. I found it more interesting to observe how the male tourists were acting towards the female sex workers than the actual sex workers themselves. Felt like the men should've been the ones behind the glass instead, considering how...animal-like they were acting.

You do you Amsterdam, you do you.

Final Thoughts

I really like Amsterdam. I like how liberal their attitudes are towards issues like sex work, drugs and sexuality. They're very much about regulating through decriminalization and normalising practices and I think if they've managed to make it work, then the world really should learn from their example. Of course, their society's open-mindedness is largely responsible for the success and perhaps it wouldn't be as easy implementing the same models in say Australia or somewhere else where society is still largely conservative (despite outwardly protesting not to be).

Stay cool Amsterdam xx

London

I suppose one good thing that's come out of this G20 city-wide lockdown in Hangzhou is the fact that I now have time to catch up on my blogs, seeing as there is literally NOTHING ELSE TO DO WITH MY TIME HERE. I've cleaned my room three times in the past week. Three times. You know things are desperate when Cynthia actually starts doing chores for fun.

What it's like to be in Hangzhou, China during the G20

Hangzhou during the G20 is not a fun place to be. Granted, any place during the G20 is not somewhere you'd want to be hanging around, what with the tightened security and closure of public infrastructure that comes along with hosting an event of such importance, but Hangzhou definitely takes it one step further.

I came back last week from my grand world tour (which, by the way, is going to see me living off instant noodles for the rest of my time on exchange - NO RAGRETS) to find that quite a lot has changed. In the past, the campus has always been relatively empty at this time of year as students go back home for the holidays but this year, thanks to the G20, has turned it into practically a ghost town.

There are four people living on my floor in the dorms right now, as opposed to the 25-ish that were there in June. Four out of the six cafeterias on campus have shut down and the remaining two are only open for a couple of hours every day. That would be fine if it wasn't also for the fact that most of the restaurants and cafes outside campus weren't also closed 'due to the G20'. What bearing could small independent cafes located miles away from the actual meeting location have on the G20? I don't know but clearly the government has deemed them a threat to national security so y'all should just order your cappuccinos and make your plans of sabotage elsewhere.

Screenshot of Baidu maps showing a section of the lake which has been blocked off

For fun, here's a whole bunch of other changes that have taken place. Some of these are actually reasonable whilst others are laughably ridiculous:

1. Areas around the West Lake have been cordoned off so if you're thinking of doing some sightseeing of Hangzhou's most famous attraction, don't. 
2. Many gyms and swimming pools have been closed so if you're thinking of exercising off all that fried chicken and sushi you ate on holidays, you can't. 
3. The guard at the north gate of campus will no longer let you come in after 6pm. You've got to the take the long way round (about a 15 minute walk). But that's totally fine because:
4. Most clubs and bars, in they aren't closed for the G20, are only open until 12am anyway. Party? What party? You're better off having a Netflix party in your room by yourself. Oh, but living on campus isn't exactly easy now because:
5. They're renovating the kitchens on campus so you can no longer access drinking water in the international dorm. Want to make tea, oats or instant noodles? You should probably invest in a kettle and just leave it in your room. 
6. But like, make sure shops are open for you to actually buy the kettle because chances are, they've been closed for the G20. 
7. Even if you want to live off campus for the time being, a weird new rule that they've introduced only allows foreigners to stay in 4 or 5 star accommodation during the G20. So if you're broke af (like me), it's clearly not an option
8. Carry your passport with you at all times because random checks (especially for foreigners) are now a thing

On the upside, internet has never been faster since you don't have to compete with other students for torrenting speed. I may or may not have binge watched Stranger Things in two days because of this. Sidenote: The night that I finished episode 2 was the night my bathroom light started acting up. Flickering lights + episode 2 of Stranger Things + an irrational fear of the dark that I've never gotten over = lol sleep, what sleep?

Notice at the gym stating that due to the G20, y'all gotta take your fat arses somewhere else to exercise. 

My theory is that the government is closing down all these services and facilities, not because they are a disturbance to the G20 preparations per se, but that they want to make it as inconvenient as possible for people to be in Hangzhou during the summit. The more people they can get out, the better it is for the city's image, cleanliness, traffic, air quality, etc.

I recently got an email from the Chinese university stating that they're giving away free trips to students to areas outside of Hangzhou. They didn't outright say 'get out of here during the summit' but the condition was that you had to take the trips during specific dates...dates which coincide with the G20 duration.

Even though it seems like a lot of these measures are specifically targeted at foreigners (try getting into a club nowadays without a Chinese ID card - not gonna happen unless you know a promoter inside), in actual fact, everyone is being inconvenienced in one way or another.

We've heard stories of specially employed G20 policemen wandering the streets asking locals where the places to eat are now, since the usual restaurants are closed. The guard who refused the let me into the campus through the north gate last night (despite my persistent wheedling) wasn't an ass about it and said that yes, he understood that it was inconvenient but we just had to bear with it until after the G20.

I've asked my Chinese friends what they and other Chinese people think about the G20 and she said that even though it is a big inconvenience for the locals, they understand that it is only temporary so they are happy to put up with it. Furthermore, the G20 has seen a massive increase in public spending on cleaning up the city and restoring certain parts of it to its former glory. This is definitely something that I can't argue with, especially since the rivers and roads have never looked more clean.

It's amazing actually how united everyone has been about this. The general consensus among the citizens is that if it affects the government, it will inevitably affect the people so everyone has to pull their weight and make the necessary sacrifices.

Personally, I don't feel like the changes have really made my time here that much worse. Yes they're inconvenient and at first I was bored brainless but since my friends have come back from their travels, days here haven't been too bad. Plus I'm making plans with people to get out of here during the actual summit so maybe that way we can dodge the worst of the G20 bullet. 

Water Towns

One cannot truly understand the meaning of fickle until they've experienced spring and summer in this part of the world. Although today might reach tops of 30, tomorrow could be 15 degrees and pouring buckets. There's also a saying in Hangzhou that "Spring only lasts for two weeks", meaning that within this short timeframe, you get to experience overall comfortable conditions but once the two weeks are up, y'all gotta brace yourself for constant scorching, face-melting heatwaves.

Lion's Grove Garden (Suzhou)

I went to Suzhou and Zhouzhuang for a long weekend about 6 weeks back and although this was about midway through spring (which in Australia means pleasantly warm weather) east China obviously didn't get the memo. It rained almost the entire time we were there, as if the universe was saying, "These waiguoren (foreigners) wanted to see water? Alright, let's give them some water".






But even through the rain, it was easy to see why Suzhou attracts so many tourists all year round. The gardens are stunning and diverse and there are some really impressive bridges throughout the city. At times it felt like I'd stepped into a scene of a Chinese historical drama. There is actually a Chinese proverb which captures the sentiment perfectly:

"上有天堂,下有蘇杭"Translation: "Paradise in Heaven; Suzhou and Hangzhou on Earth"

Candid

I could have done without the constant barrage of umbrellas in my face though. The streets of Zhouzhuang are cramped enough. Add about a bijillion tourists from the long weekend, half as many umbrellas, unceasing downpours, a couple of overzealous tour guides and the constant pervasive stench of stinky tofu (why China why??) and you can see why our enjoyment of Zhouzhuang might have been dampened.

Give me EVERYTHING

You've gotta admit - when China sets out to do something, it does it well...and also on an unnecessarily large scale

I mean, did you really need to build a bridge that high?

Nonetheless, I still had a good time. I loved the heritage and elegance that Suzhou had to offer and Zhouzhuang was quaint (if a bit over-commercialized). You can tell that it's a place which thrives off tourism, not that there's anything wrong with that. Company was great as well and that was the most important thing. It's amazing how much bonding time you can get when you spend long periods of time huddled under the one small umbrella. I'll probably come back one day anyway and have another wander through the streets

So this is what freedom feels like

I'm not sure when it happened but at some point, my life here in Hangzhou became my "real" life and all my memories of Sydney were just that - memories. I've become so comfortable here that most days I don't even think of what's going on at home. And on the occasions that I do, my thoughts don't linger because I am then reminded that there is an end date to this break-from-life and that 10 months from now, reality will come crashing down on me. And it will come crashing down hard.

Downtown

I went to the moped store, said, "Ni hao!"
Salesman's like "What up, what's your budget?"
And I'm like "Honestly, if my Mandarin was better I would tell you..."
He said "Oh goody, these foreigners make me so much money"
Oh it's too real
Useless mirrors, I don't need a windshield
Black plastic seats, are those yellow wheels??
Two-thousand, two hundred kuai, here's to not getting killed...

I'm headed downtown, cruising in my lane 

Zig-zagging through the streets like a jet plane 

No longer need to walk to get some chow mein

Might need a bike umbrella, just in case it rains

Dope, my crew is ill, and all we need is two good wheels

Got electricity in the tank, no more cash in the bank

And a bad little bike in a matte black colour

I'mma ride that, drive that, no more walking, gonna get fat

Parked him in front of the dorms, hope no one steals my batteries

Dope

In all seriousness though, I know how dangerous it can be to ride one of these things, especially in China where traffic rules are more like traffic 'suggestions'. It helps that in Hangzhou, bikes mostly have their own lanes that are separate from the car ones. However, you do still need to be extra careful, especially when turning, as the bike lanes disappear and indicating is a non-existent practice.

The first time I rode this thing was when I had to get it back from the shop/garage to my dorms. It was a 15 minute ride and perhaps simultaneously the most exhilarating and terrifying thing I've ever done. After that, I spent an entire week building up the courage to take it out again. I spent a couple of nights driving it around the campus (when my chances of running into a pedestrian or another bike were significantly lower) to build up my confidence. I've since taken it out on a Walmart run and a couple of other small errands. Sometime in the next couple of days, I'm going to attempt to drive to the West Lake. Wish me luck! 

FAQs

1. How do you charge that thing?

The eBike (or moped as I've been calling it in my head) runs on electricity. You can use charging stations around the city to give it power but since there isn't one located near my dorms, I've been taking the batteries out and charging them in my room. When we bought our bikes, the people at the garage spent a bit of time creating handles out of sticky tape to make it easier to carry the batteries. Even so, those things are a bitch to carry in and out of the dorms. It's not a one person job so I've been enlisting the help of my fellow dorm-mates to help me out, haha.

2. What was your mum's reaction?

Actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't tell her until after I bought it because I thought she was going to try to talk me out of it. I actually didn't even end up telling her directly - she found out through Facebook and then messaged me telling me to be careful. I think her relatively understated reaction was due to 1) the fact that she'd ridden scooters in Vietnam while growing up and 2) an understanding that in China, eBikes are not a sign of rebellion (as motorbikes are in Western countries) but rather vehicles of efficiency and maybe even necessity.

3. Does it have a name?

Yes. And it is super embarrassing so I'm not going to reveal it here.

4. Are you going to sell it when you leave?

Yes. Because I will need all the $$$ I can save.

5. Is it hard riding on the right side of the road?

Not really. As long as you're fully aware of your senses while you're riding it, it's actually not that hard to stick to the right lane. Or should I say wrong lane?

In saying that, traffic in China tends to be a "free for all" so I've seen people riding in both directions down the lanes. Not exactly the safest practice but I've kind of just filed this into "Things That No Longer Surprise or Faze Me About China".

Life at Zhejiang University

It's surprising how much free time you actually have when class is only four hours a day and your daily "commute" involves rolling out of bed and shuffling into the building next door. On some days, class goes from 8-12 which means you've got to amuse yourself somehow for the rest of the afternoon and night. 

I've been spending my time exploring my campus - and by exploring I mean eating my way through every corner of it. 

This is a HUGE campus and there are at least four large dining halls / cafeterias scattered throughout.

But like seriously though. This university is bigger than your average suburb in Sydney. 

When we first got here, we were restricted to the dining hall located on the ground floor of our international dormitory building because we didn't have our student cards yet. (Meals at the other cafeterias can only be paid for by student cards, which have pre-loaded funds on them.)

As much as I like the dining hall located in our building, having oily fried cabbage two times a day for seven days a week is a tad excessive. 

So when we finally got our cards yesterday, it was like our entire world had opened up. 

This, my friends, is your golden ticket to the magical world of the "Zhejiang University Cafeteria-verse"

Dumplings for 6 kuai at one of the main cafeterias (less than $1.50 AUD). Hells to the yes. 

There seem to be a huge selection of food at each cafeteria: noodles, dumplings, rice, soups, etc. All you have to do is grab a tray, line up for whatever it is that you want, tap your card and then when you're done, place your tray onto a conveyor belt for cleaning.




When I'm not embarking on my own version of "Cynthia's Zheda Food Safari", I'm either taking a walk around the campus or hanging out at one of the cafes situated on or nearby Zhejiang University (Zheda for short).

The cafes are super cute and usually come equipped with wifi that is ten times faster than that of the dorm. As a stingy university student, I usually bring all my electronics to the cafe to charge so that I don't have to use up my monthly electricity allowance. #cheapasian #whosgonnastopme

Cafe 1897 - named after the year this university opened. How's that for history?

I've still yet to figure out how exercise is going to fit into my routine, seeing as the university gym appears to be permanently closed. For the time being, I am doing pilates and cardio circuits in my room (probably much to the annoyance of the student living below me on level 3).  

Random fact that I probably should've known before I came: Zhejiang University has constantly placed among the top 3 of China's universities. If that is not prestigious enough for you, I don't know what is.

As I've mentioned, class is for four hours a day. There are two subjects per day and these are either: Speaking, Listening, Reading or Grammar. Here is a more thorough breakdown:

• Speaking: Why Are All the White People More Fluent Than Me
• Grammar: This Teacher's Enthusiasm is Really Not Normal
• Reading: Google Translate and Pleco Are My Best Friends
• Listening: No. 

So yeah. One week down, 51 more to go! 

Things That Surprised Me About China

China has really surprised me. Having lived in a western society for the last 21 years, I've only ever been exposed to one perspective of the country and it wasn't until coming here that I've seen another side to it. It doesn't help that despite being ethnically Chinese, my parents have literally never set foot inside the country. I remember asking them if they had any advice for me this year and my mum's amazingly helpful reply was "Don't eat strange meat". When it comes to our great motherland, my parents are not exactly wells of knowledge.

On that note, let's introduce the topic of today's blog post:

The China Diaries: So What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

So there's this word in Chinese that's pronounced "zao gao" (糟糕) and although its translation is something along the lines of "too bad" or "how terrible", most people use it as the Chinese equivalent of "shit" - as in "shit, how did I end up committing to a year-long stay in a foreign country?"