Galleries!

I'll say it right now to allay any worries: I'm feeling pretty great right now. I had a great day. It started out with a text message saying that I don't have to work today! So that was a good start. But what to do with my spare time? Well - says my roomate Adam - why don't you go check out this incredible modern art place?

So I did.

HEY YOU GUYS I HAVE A RIDDLE. WHY WAS EIGHT AFRAID OF NINE?


...okay, so the syntax doesn't quite work? What did I say about rolling your eyes? Jeeze, guys, just imagine it's Yoda saying it. Anyhow, yes, the Beijing 798 Art Zone used to be an electronics factory and surrounding complex, but it's been refurbished and in the past few decades has been turned into artists' studios and galleries and cafes. The whole place is ridiculously awesome, like a mix between the Tate Modern, a Parisian street and a college campus. And the art there is incredible, just a huge melting-pot of ideas and modern art. The installations ranged from the beautiful...


...to the thought-provoking...


...to the just plain bizzare:


The place was enormous, and even though I spent four hours there I could easily have stayed for much longer. But I was footsore and sweating buckets (it's my Diary, and I'll TMI if I want to!), so I headed back to the hostel. I swung by the Sanlitun bar district on my way back, and it's a very cool place that I will have to explore in more depth later on.

The Chinese Box is awesome, because it is filled with friendly student types who hang out and chat and invite me to dinner. I ended up going with a bunch of them to a place nearby, and it turned out that I was the only guy who spoke Chinese. I knew enough to order, but not enough to know what we were ordering. We literally pointed at random stuff, and ended up having a chicken dish, spicy calamari, beef hotpot and - we couldn't stop laughing when they brought them out - oysters. But it was all delicious, and good times were had by all:


Tonight we're heading to Hohai, which is actually quite close to here. It'll be nice, I was hoping to go back there! And tomorrow? Well, let's just say that I've got plans for tomorrow. You guys will have to wait and see what happens. If all goes well, it'll be worth the wait.

I've figured out something about myself: I kind of need people. Like... part of what was getting me so down before was the fact that I was all alone out here. I'm not sure exactly when this happened, because I always used to be perfectly happy with my own company. But now that I've met a bunch of friendly people, I feel a lot better about being here.