Hey everyone! I am now in the comfortable confines of Sanya, Hainan. This morning half of our group left to come back home. The rest of us met up in the hotel lobby to check out. Once we checked out we hired some taxis to take us to the charter bus station. Unfortunately, when we were getting out of the taxi I tried to assist our driver and further ripped the front passenger seat in his cab. This angered the small man and he began to incessantly yell at me. Long story short, he tagged along us into the bus station until I rightfully paid him 100 RMB, ( = $15 USD).
Anyways, once we rid ourselves of the disgruntled taxi driver we jumped onto the bus to start our trip from Haikou to Sanya, Hainan. The ride wan no more than three and a half hours. Once we got to the city my friend Fiona, her mother and I split up from my professor and her assistant, ( they will be staying at the Marriott, 30 minutes away). We got my new resting place Tianfuyuan Resort around three o'clock. I'm all settled in.
Since all the other students are gone I can only access the internet via the hotel's business center so henceforth I will probably only post in the early afternoon "my time." I'm going to go on a hotel and beach adventure right now. I have all the amenitities I need so I won't be leaving the hotel today or tonight. Love you guys!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Day Twenty-Five
We left Lingao this morning and on a surprising note.
Last night after my last blog entry a fight broke out in front of our hotel. We looked outside to see the tail end of it. A group of men waving small trash cans in the air were chasing another man who was defending himself with a lawn chair, he eventually ran away.
Right when we thought it was all over with, about an hour later, a group returned with the man who had been chased away. They came back to the hotel and broke a front window and the two swinging glass doors and somewhere in the thick of it one man got bloodied up! Although it wasn't life threatening, he was still taken to the hospital by the police.
Sorry, I know none of you wanted to hear that story but I figured I'd spice up your viewing for once.
Anyways, like I said, we left the "danger zone," Lingao, this morning and I won't be going back to rural China any time soon.
In the shadow of last night today was pretty boring. We left the hotel at eight in the morning and our driver brought us to our nice hotel in Haikou, Sheraton. When we got here we showered and cleaned up so that we could go into the city. For my fifth time we went to Pizza Hut!
After lunch we went to an area in Haikou called Old Street. It's an alley lined with shops where most locals go to buy small goods. When we got back to our hotel we jumped in the pool and just relaxed for the remainder of the day. I finished my Dale Carnegie book and started on the book Wild Swans.
For dinner we went to our hotels nice restaurant, Fusion. Dinner was excellent/not Chinese. We're going to the lobby to say goodbye to some group members and then sleepy time. Love you guys, and I'm praying for you Auntie!
Last night after my last blog entry a fight broke out in front of our hotel. We looked outside to see the tail end of it. A group of men waving small trash cans in the air were chasing another man who was defending himself with a lawn chair, he eventually ran away.
Right when we thought it was all over with, about an hour later, a group returned with the man who had been chased away. They came back to the hotel and broke a front window and the two swinging glass doors and somewhere in the thick of it one man got bloodied up! Although it wasn't life threatening, he was still taken to the hospital by the police.
Sorry, I know none of you wanted to hear that story but I figured I'd spice up your viewing for once.
Anyways, like I said, we left the "danger zone," Lingao, this morning and I won't be going back to rural China any time soon.
In the shadow of last night today was pretty boring. We left the hotel at eight in the morning and our driver brought us to our nice hotel in Haikou, Sheraton. When we got here we showered and cleaned up so that we could go into the city. For my fifth time we went to Pizza Hut!
After lunch we went to an area in Haikou called Old Street. It's an alley lined with shops where most locals go to buy small goods. When we got back to our hotel we jumped in the pool and just relaxed for the remainder of the day. I finished my Dale Carnegie book and started on the book Wild Swans.
For dinner we went to our hotels nice restaurant, Fusion. Dinner was excellent/not Chinese. We're going to the lobby to say goodbye to some group members and then sleepy time. Love you guys, and I'm praying for you Auntie!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Day Twenty-Four
Our plans for today ended up changing a little. We had originally planned on going to the local CDC office here in Lingao, however, the developer (Andy Chan) called last night to inform us that the provincial news would be sending a crew to interview the USC group leaders and to get video of us working. The news crew's main objective was to put together a report for the Hainan Evening News program. I got some pictures of them interviewing our instructor and I'm pretty sure there will be some footage and pictures of our group working in the provincial news and local newspaper.
After our meeting with the news crew everyone skurried to their rooms to do some work. I did some reading and then went back down to the conference room for lunch with the other students. After lunch we had about an hour to kill before our rescheduled trip to visit the Lingao CDC office.
The CDC office here in Lingao is quite primitive compared to the office buildings in Chengdu and Beijing. The office here was part of a complex built adjacent to the town hospital ( the other CDCs each had their own newly built office buildings with laboratories, isolation units, and other departments). The main focus of the CDC here is to ensure child immunization. Their secondary priority to be ready to act in the event of an epidemic. Lingao has become relatively healthy over the last twenty years. In the past its biggest problem was tuberculosis and hepatitis. Recently, with the use of anti-TB medications and Hep B vacinations, both of these diseases have been nearly eradicated in the town. At the end of our short discussion we took a picture with the CDC directors and gave them some small gifts.
Tonight will be our last night in the city of Lingao. Tomorrow we wiil leave here to go back to Haikou. From Haikou the rest of the group will leave to come back home. I, on the other hand, just made reservations for a hotel in Sanya, Hainan, located on the south side of the island, and I'll be staying there until July 2nd, ( I'll probably just read, exercise, and do some school work). On July 2nd I'll come back up to Haikou and on the 3rd I'll leave from the Haikou airport to go to Shanghai. Alright, hope everything is good back home!
After our meeting with the news crew everyone skurried to their rooms to do some work. I did some reading and then went back down to the conference room for lunch with the other students. After lunch we had about an hour to kill before our rescheduled trip to visit the Lingao CDC office.
The CDC office here in Lingao is quite primitive compared to the office buildings in Chengdu and Beijing. The office here was part of a complex built adjacent to the town hospital ( the other CDCs each had their own newly built office buildings with laboratories, isolation units, and other departments). The main focus of the CDC here is to ensure child immunization. Their secondary priority to be ready to act in the event of an epidemic. Lingao has become relatively healthy over the last twenty years. In the past its biggest problem was tuberculosis and hepatitis. Recently, with the use of anti-TB medications and Hep B vacinations, both of these diseases have been nearly eradicated in the town. At the end of our short discussion we took a picture with the CDC directors and gave them some small gifts.
Tonight will be our last night in the city of Lingao. Tomorrow we wiil leave here to go back to Haikou. From Haikou the rest of the group will leave to come back home. I, on the other hand, just made reservations for a hotel in Sanya, Hainan, located on the south side of the island, and I'll be staying there until July 2nd, ( I'll probably just read, exercise, and do some school work). On July 2nd I'll come back up to Haikou and on the 3rd I'll leave from the Haikou airport to go to Shanghai. Alright, hope everything is good back home!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Day Twenty-Three
This morning we got picked up at 8:30am to go check out the retirement community construction site. The trip out took about fourty five minutes. Most of the drive was on dirt roads and when we got to the site we walked out to the ocean and strolled around.
Once we got back to the hotel we had lunch and were given some time to relax. After that we had a group meeting with the mastermind and head developer of the retirement community. During the meeting our group did a presentation based on our retired people focus group, Sun City study, and literature review.
The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed in our rooms. We had dinner at 6:30pm and right now we're just hanging out. Anyways, a bunch of people are waiting to use the computer. Love you guys!
Once we got back to the hotel we had lunch and were given some time to relax. After that we had a group meeting with the mastermind and head developer of the retirement community. During the meeting our group did a presentation based on our retired people focus group, Sun City study, and literature review.
The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed in our rooms. We had dinner at 6:30pm and right now we're just hanging out. Anyways, a bunch of people are waiting to use the computer. Love you guys!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Day Twenty-Two
Unfortunately, we had to leave our beautiful resort hotel this morning. We were picked up by our bus at 10:30am to take us to Lingao. Lingao is truly in the middle of nowhere. Once we got to the hotel we were served lunch and then given free time to work and walk around the city.
During the free time I actually finished up my powerpoint slides on retirement community design and key issues to be addressed ( physiological, environmental, community, medical, etc.). For the rest of the afternoon we hung out and watched the Friends show DVDs.
Dinner was quick and delicious. After dinner we walked to a local bakery and supermarket to buy some snacks. I got back to the conference room to discover a birthday party going on for one of the USC translators. Tomorrow we will be taken to the actual site that the retirement community in planned to be built on. Night!
P.S. Our hotel is a dump but yet it is one of the nicest hotels in Lingao, about 100 RMB (~ $13 USD a night). We have also been advised to watch out for cohabiting vermin, (mice and rates)! It's times like these that I miss home...
During the free time I actually finished up my powerpoint slides on retirement community design and key issues to be addressed ( physiological, environmental, community, medical, etc.). For the rest of the afternoon we hung out and watched the Friends show DVDs.
Dinner was quick and delicious. After dinner we walked to a local bakery and supermarket to buy some snacks. I got back to the conference room to discover a birthday party going on for one of the USC translators. Tomorrow we will be taken to the actual site that the retirement community in planned to be built on. Night!
P.S. Our hotel is a dump but yet it is one of the nicest hotels in Lingao, about 100 RMB (~ $13 USD a night). We have also been advised to watch out for cohabiting vermin, (mice and rates)! It's times like these that I miss home...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Day Twenty-One
Today was half work and half play. The first part of the day consisted of play. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant and then spent a couple hours poolside. The entire hotel is pretty desolate. Hainan is usually most visited during the winter season, the island's dry season, in order to escape cold snowy weather on the mainland.
When we got back to our room we worked for a few hours on our presentation for the school of architecture. The main focus of our presentation, as I may have discussed in my other entries, is to facilitate discussion and to present major issues regarding building retirement communities in China.
To finish the day we met with our professor to review our powerpoint, ate dinner, and debriefed at the hotel bar & lounge. Tomorrow we leave for Lingao, the future site of the retirement community. Our hotel may not have internet access so I may not post for the next 4 to 5 days. Hope everything is good and well back home!
P.S. Check out my new blog feature on the right margin of my blog. It's a news feed that streamlines up to the minute headline news in Asia!
When we got back to our room we worked for a few hours on our presentation for the school of architecture. The main focus of our presentation, as I may have discussed in my other entries, is to facilitate discussion and to present major issues regarding building retirement communities in China.
To finish the day we met with our professor to review our powerpoint, ate dinner, and debriefed at the hotel bar & lounge. Tomorrow we leave for Lingao, the future site of the retirement community. Our hotel may not have internet access so I may not post for the next 4 to 5 days. Hope everything is good and well back home!
P.S. Check out my new blog feature on the right margin of my blog. It's a news feed that streamlines up to the minute headline news in Asia!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Day Twenty
I can't believe I've been in Asia for twenty days now... only about 40 more left! This morning we got up around 8:30am and got ready for individual interviews. Some students from Sichaun University wanted to ask us questions about our graduate program and future plans in public health.
After our interviews we went to lunch at a restaurant called Swensen's, the same restaurant we've gone to over the last week to get late night dessert. On our way back from the restaurant some of the girls shopped around and I bought a sick t-shirt for Brandon.
When we got back to the hotel we checked out and then laid around in our instructor's assistant's room. The CDC sent transportation around five o'clock and the vans took us to the airport.
Our flight to Haikou, Hainan was about an hour and fifteen minutes (we're staying at the Sheraton Haikou). The temperature here is 85 degrees Fahrenheit and quite humid ( it's midnight). We don't have any plans for tomorrow other than to just relax and finish up a presentation for the school of architecture. Happy Father's Day Pop! Same to you Grandpa Moog and anyone else who may be reading!
After our interviews we went to lunch at a restaurant called Swensen's, the same restaurant we've gone to over the last week to get late night dessert. On our way back from the restaurant some of the girls shopped around and I bought a sick t-shirt for Brandon.
When we got back to the hotel we checked out and then laid around in our instructor's assistant's room. The CDC sent transportation around five o'clock and the vans took us to the airport.
Our flight to Haikou, Hainan was about an hour and fifteen minutes (we're staying at the Sheraton Haikou). The temperature here is 85 degrees Fahrenheit and quite humid ( it's midnight). We don't have any plans for tomorrow other than to just relax and finish up a presentation for the school of architecture. Happy Father's Day Pop! Same to you Grandpa Moog and anyone else who may be reading!
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