Today, we got up and ate our usual Chinese breakfast at the hotel. I’m getting used to using chopsticks to eat all of my meals. I’m still not used to the room temperature beverages, though. After eating, I skyped my family and got ready to go to the Beijing Zoo! It was a long bus ride, but once we got there, it was a lot of fun. One of the signs posted at the entrance of the zoo advertised the giraffe, informing everyone that “The Giraffe is the Highest Animal.” I don’t think that any of these translations will get old.
Once we got inside, it was pretty much like any other zoo in America. I thought it was interesting how they had a section in the zoo that held “American” animals, and they were very common animals, such as raccoons, skunks, squirrels, groundhogs, etc that we see a lot of at home, but I realized that in China, it must be very rare to see any of these animals in the wild. Seeing Chinese tourists taking pictures and admiring the squirrels was kind of funny to me because back home, not many people pay much mind to those animals, seeing as how any given road is littered with run-over squirrel carcasses.
After the zoo, a few of us went back and started to explore some of the surrounding area. There was a lot of construction, and there were also some run down houses too. We also visited a convenience store and they had a whole lot of nasty stuff, like squid jerky.
Later on that night, we went to an old hangout place of Di Gao. It was a long the river and it was a series of shops and bars all lit up in beautiful lights. Some Chinese people were trying to get us to go into their bar, and they kept repeating “Lady Gaga” to us over and over again, sort of like a sales pitch to get us into their bar. There were some unique characters there that night. It got kind of chilly, and I was happy to get back to the warm hotel. And yes, the jetlag has finally caught up to me.