Leaving My Mark, Pt. 2

I did a horrible, terrible thing today.  It's unspeakable really; it betrays the deepest bonds of humanity and would offend even the most hardened malfeasant.

But let's keep 

that for later.

Atrocities aside, the past two weeks have been a fitting finale to my stint as a student abroad.  Filled with outdoor exploration, hostels, shifty vans, and even shiftier fried rice salesman, I can now rest easy knowing that my time in China has been well spent.

Our whirlwind adventure began on a trip to the stereotypically-Chinese-sounding town of Xingping, a small, out of the way locale that specializes in nothing in particular, which was, in this case, exactly what we were looking for.  Of course, no plane actually flies to Xingping; that would be far too easy for a decent backpacking adventure.  Instead, we took a flight to nearby city Guilin, where we approached a group of cab drivers and asked for a ride to Xingping.

"Xingping?  Are you sure?" They asked.  

"Yep, one cab to Xingping, please" We answered.

"You know that Xingping is three hours away?  Also...its really small."

"...uh, one second".

At this point, we proceeded to heatedly discuss the pros and cons of choosing to fly into a city three hours away from our destination at 9pm at night.

"We are aware, and would still like a cab".

The cab drivers talked amongst themselves, and eventually one cabbie reluctantly emerged as our guide to the great beyond.  Three painfully-slow hours later, we emerged in the village of Xingping.  The cabbie spent a decent portion of our trip on his phone; my chinese isn't great, but I have the suspicion that the wife of a Guilin cab driver was not terribly pleased that night.

We later decided that getting a cab to Xingping would be like arriving in Seattle at 9pm on a Thursday and asking for a ride to Yakima.  To our dear cab driver: wherever you are, I'm sorry.  We're college students; we know not what we do.

The city itself was barren when we arrived.  Lit only by small, ornamented street lamps, the stalls and buildings dimly glowed in the twilight.  Beyond the street lamps, the world that extended around us was obscured in blackness; we definitely weren't in the city anymore.  Our hostel was warm and inviting, staffed by a miniature but fun-loving girl and an old woman with a burning passion for making pizzas.

The next morning, we made our way to the roof to take a look at the city around us.  Sunshine beamed down through the fog, illuminating hundreds of mountains dotting the landscape around us.  Singular and gigantic, the mountains seemed to explode out of flat ground, arching high into the sky and then immediately falling back into flatness.  "Sweeeeet", we all mused in unison.

The following days were filled with topographical exploration, off-road biking, slightly-shifty rock climbing, and a neon-light-filled spelunking expedition.  I would describe them all in detail here but, alas, I don't really feel like it right now.  Ask me for a recounting of these experiences sometime...I promise it'll be worth it.

And now that I have kept you enraptured, hanging on my every word, I shall tell you the horrible, terrible, despicable thing that I managed to do while abroad.

Brace yourself.

I...

...ate dog.

I understand you might be slightly perturbed at this.  A Chinese guy, in response to my saying that I'd like to try it, told me he hated me.  Apparently it is more of a polarizing issue than I realized.

But I would also like to point out that it was, with a few notable exceptions, some of the most delicious meat I've ever tasted.  Hate me if you must, but really, don't knock it until you try it.

Unfortunately, Robb was unable to determine the breed or name of the particular dog we enjoyed.

Ok, now you can hate me.

Even as I sat, enjoying my canine culinary masterpiece, I began to wonder what sort of impression -- if any -- I was going to leave on the people I have met since my trip began.  Waffle girl, random noodle stand girls, train dudes, random English Corner people; as you might gather, I didn't develop many close relationships while abroad.

Really, though, how close can people get when divided by language barriers?  A shared love of "Prison Break" and KFC can only go so far.  I take solace in the fact that the relationships with my fellow classmates will, with luck, make up for my lack of sociability with the local Chinese students.  And though I may not leave any lasting effect on those I met while abroad, I am confident that my words and actions will influence a whole new group of students who will go to China next year, and they affect people in a wholly different way than I.

At least that is how I will justify it to myself. 

Regardless, I am confident that I did -- and possibly still will -- leave my mark.

-McG

p.s. -- After many hours in transit, I am home!  A final entry is in the works....check back soon.