#the last item was a red cabbage I grew myself

[athenasdragon]

I finished the community center in stardew valley for the first time!!!

[thecoleopterawithana]

The Walrus

I Am The Walrus (1967): I am he as you are he as you are me / And we are all together [...] / I am the egg man / They are the egg men / I am the walrus

.

Glass Onion (1968): I told you about the walrus and me, man / You know we're as close as can be, man / Well here's another clue for you all / The walrus was Paul

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God (1970): I don't believe in Beatles / I just believe in me / Yoko and me / And that's reality | The dream is over / What can I say? / The dream is over / Yesterday / I was the Dreamweaver / But now I'm reborn / I was the Walrus / But now I'm John

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(Just Like) Starting Over [Take 2] (1980): Every day we used to make it, love / So why can’t we be making love, it’s easy / The time has come, the Walrus said, / For you and me to stay in bed again / It’ll be just like starting over

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[T]hrowing in the line “the Walrus was Paul” just to confuse everybody a bit more. And because I felt slightly guilty because I’d got Yoko, and he’d got nothing, and I was gonna quit. [laughs; bleak] And so I thought ‘Walrus’ has now become [in] meaning, “I am the one.” It didn’t mean that in the song, originally. It just meant I’m the – it could have been I’m the – “I’m The Fox Terrier,” you know. I mean, it’s just a bit of poetry.

— John Lennon, interviewed by David Sheff for Playboy (August 1980).

-

We saw the movie in LA, and the Walrus was a big capitalist that ate all the fucking oysters. I always had the image of the Walrus in the garden and I loved it, and so I didn't ever check what the Walrus was. He's a fucking bastard - that's what he turns out to be. But the way it's written, everybody presumes that means something. I mean, even I did. We all just presumed that because I said 'I am the Walrus' that it must mean 'I am God' or something. It's just poetry, but it became symbolic of me.

— John Lennon (1970), in The Beatles’ Anthology (2000).

-

The camera work [in Let It Be] was set-up to show Paul and not anybody else. And that’s how I felt about it. On top of that, the people that cut it, did it as if Paul is God and we are just lyin’ around there. And that’s what I felt.

— John Lennon, interviewed by Jann Wenner for The Rolling Stone (December 1970).

-

The Walrus and The Carpenter. Alice in Wonderland. And it was only years later that I went back to check what [it meant] – because I never went into that bit about what Lewis Carroll really meant, you know, like people are doing with The Beatles’ work, or anybody’s work. All that digging into— Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist and socialist system at the time, with the walrus and the carpenter representing, uh, social positions. It had never dawned on me, anything like that. To me, it was just a beautiful poem.

And then I looked back, after ‘I Am The Walrus’, and people had gone into all this depth about what it really means and all that. It just meant nothing, you know. It was just an image. Just like asking – it’s like asking [Federico] Fellini, “What does that image two-thirds of the way through Juliet of the Spirits mean?” It doesn’t mean anything without the rest of it. You can isolate a frame and talk about it forever, but it’s just a game. So then I – but I did look back at ‘Walrus’ and realize – oh. I said, “I am the walrus,” but the carpenter’s the good guy in that story, apparently. I should have said, “I am the carpenter,” but it doesn’t make sense. “I am the carpenter.”

— John Lennon, interviewed by David Sheff for Playboy (August 1980).

-

‘You like poetry?’

‘Ye-es, pretty well—some poetry,’ Alice said doubtfully. ‘Would you tell me which road leads out of the wood?’ ‘What shall I repeat to her?’ said Tweedledee, looking round at Tweedledum with great solemn eyes, and not noticing Alice’s question. ‘“The Walrus and the Carpenter” is the longest,’ Tweedledum replied, giving his brother an affectionate hug. Tweedledee began instantly:       ‘The sun was shining—’ Here Alice ventured to interrupt him. ‘If it’s very long,’ she said, as politely as she could, ‘would you please tell me first which road—’ Tweedledee smiled gently, and began again:     

    ‘The sun was shining on the sea,      Shining with all his might:     He did his very best to make      The billows smooth and bright—     And this was odd, because it was      The middle of the night.

    The moon was shining sulkily,      Because she thought the sun     Had got no business to be there      After the day was done—     “It’s very rude of him,” she said,      “To come and spoil the fun!”

    The sea was wet as wet could be,      The sands were dry as dry.     You could not see a cloud, because      No cloud was in the sky:     No birds were flying over head—      There were no birds to fly.

    The Walrus and the Carpenter      Were walking close at hand;     They wept like anything to see      Such quantities of sand:     “If this were only cleared away,”       They said, “it would be grand!”

    “If seven maids with seven mops      Swept it for half a year,     Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,      “That they could get it clear?”      “I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,      And shed a bitter tear.

    “O Oysters, come and walk with us!”       The Walrus did beseech.     “A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,      Along the briny beach:     We cannot do with more than four,      To give a hand to each.”

    The eldest Oyster looked at him.      But never a word he said:     The eldest Oyster winked his eye,      And shook his heavy head—     Meaning to say he did not choose      To leave the oyster-bed.

    But four young oysters hurried up,      All eager for the treat:     Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,      Their shoes were clean and neat—     And this was odd, because, you know,      They hadn’t any feet.

    Four other Oysters followed them,      And yet another four;     And thick and fast they came at last,      And more, and more, and more—     All hopping through the frothy waves,      And scrambling to the shore.

    The Walrus and the Carpenter      Walked on a mile or so,     And then they rested on a rock      Conveniently low:     And all the little Oysters stood      And waited in a row.

    “The time has come,” the Walrus said,      “To talk of many things:     Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—      Of cabbages—and kings—     And why the sea is boiling hot—      And whether pigs have wings.”

    “But wait a bit,” the Oysters cried,      “Before we have our chat;     For some of us are out of breath,      And all of us are fat!”      “No hurry!” said the Carpenter.      They thanked him much for that.

    “A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,      “Is what we chiefly need:     Pepper and vinegar besides      Are very good indeed—     Now if you’re ready Oysters dear,      We can begin to feed.”

     “But not on us!” the Oysters cried,      Turning a little blue,     “After such kindness, that would be      A dismal thing to do!”      “The night is fine,” the Walrus said      “Do you admire the view?

    “It was so kind of you to come!      And you are very nice!”      The Carpenter said nothing but      “Cut us another slice:     I wish you were not quite so deaf—      I’ve had to ask you twice!”

    “It seems a shame,” the Walrus said,      “To play them such a trick,     After we’ve brought them out so far,      And made them trot so quick!”      The Carpenter said nothing but      “The butter’s spread too thick!”

    “I weep for you,” the Walrus said.      “I deeply sympathize.”      With sobs and tears he sorted out      Those of the largest size.     Holding his pocket handkerchief      Before his streaming eyes.

    “O Oysters,” said the Carpenter.      “You’ve had a pleasant run!     Shall we be trotting home again?”       But answer came there none—     And that was scarcely odd, because      They’d eaten every one.’

‘I like the Walrus best,’ said Alice: ‘because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters.’ ‘He ate more than the Carpenter, though,’ said Tweedledee. ‘You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldn’t count how many he took: contrariwise.’ ‘That was mean!’ Alice said indignantly. ‘Then I like the Carpenter best—if he didn’t eat so many as the Walrus.’ ‘But he ate as many as he could get,’ said Tweedledum. This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, ‘Well! They were both very unpleasant characters’

— in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871).

-

Bonus:

He and Yoko came round to Cavendish Avenue and John and I went out into the garden for half an hour, because there were a couple of things he needed me to finish up, but it was his song, his idea, and he worked on the arrangement with George Martin. It was a particularly good arrangement, I think. It was a nice song of John's. We had a fun moment when we were working on the bit, 'I've got news for you all, the walrus was Paul.' Because, although we'd never planned it, people read into our songs and little legends grew up about every item of so-called significance, so on this occasion we decided to plant one.

What John meant was that in Magical Mystery Tour, when we came to do the costumes on 'I Am the Walrus', it happened to be me in the walrus costume. It was not significant at all, but it was a nice little twist to the legend that we threw in.

— Paul McCartney, in Barry Miles’ Many Years From Now (1997).

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'Walrus' is just saying a dream - the words don't mean a lot. People draw so many conclusions and it's ridiculous.

— John Lennon (1969), in The Beatles’ Anthology (2000).

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[T]he Red Queen said to Alice. ‘Always speak the truth—think before you speak—and write it down afterwards.’

‘I’m sure I didn’t mean—’ Alice was beginning, but the Red Queen interrupted her impatiently.

‘That’s just what I complain of! You should have meant! What do you suppose is the use of child without any meaning? Even a joke should have some meaning—and a child’s more important than a joke, I hope. You couldn’t deny that, even if you tried with both hands.’

—  in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871).

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[P]eople’s expressions and feelings come out in their work whether they want it to or not. So I always express myself directly, or [in the] language of the streets, and other people don’t.

— John Lennon, interview with DJ Elliot Mintz (16 April 1973).

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I think everything that comes out of the songs – even Paul’s songs now, which are apparently about nothing – the same way as calligraphy shows and your handwriting shows you everything about yourself. Or [Bob] Dylan too. Dylan might try to hide in a subterfuge of clever, Allen Ginsberg-type words, or hippie words, but it was always apparent, if you look below the surface, what is being said. Resentfulness, or love, or hate. And it’s apparent in all work. It’s just harder to see when it’s… written in gobbledy-gook.

— John Lennon, interviewed by David Sheff for Playboy (August 1980).

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For more on the theme of merged identities, broken dreams and fallen idols: I Just Believe In Me | John’s Disillusionment

For more on meaning in songs: The Surrealist

For more Lewis Carroll

[jakegyllenhaalsupportgroup]

Items In A Shoebox

This is day one of the 500 Followers JGCU Write Fest!!!! Thank you all again so much for 500 followers - this is a piece that I’ve been planning for a while and talking about for even longer, Detective Loki’s backstory within the JGCU!!! 

Just to warn you that this piece talks about a lot of hella sensitive topics and so because of that your discretion when reading it is advised, please don’t read if it’s going to trigger you in any way. I’ve attempted to be delicate about the topic but please don’t read if it will upset you more than it ought to

Other than that, though, I hope you guys enjoy reading this!! I’m genuinely quite proud of how this turned out but again I have to state: don’t read this if you feel it will be too much/too intense and will trigger you (murder, domestic abuse and more are mentioned in this piece) and as well as that, please remember that this isn’t Detective Loki’s official background in Prisoners. I worked with what was given in the film and created my own idea of his background from what was given so PLEASE don’t attack me if I maybe don’t go with the canon/what you had in mind as I will cry

Loki’s hands traced over the top of the shoebox. The corners were tattered and worn with age, pieces of the brown cardboard showing in places. A thin layer of dust covered the top as Loki held it in his hands, sat cross legged on the floor of his room.

He hesitated before opening it. To him the shoebox was Pandora’s box. The only thing holding him back from a barrage of painful memories was a thin layer of green cardboard.

His fingers played with the lid of the box before he let out a long sigh and opened it.

///

David turned the purple dinosaur over in his hands. 

His dad brought him back a dinosaur whenever he went away. When he’d come back he’d bring a dinosaur for him. Some flowers for him mum.

The flowers had stopped recently. But the dinosaurs always came.

David ran his little fingers over the top of the dinosaur’s body. He was sat on the sofa, his parents arguing in the room behind him. But he stared down at the dinosaur.

He liked dinosaurs.

Ever since he had learnt about them in school he had been interested in them. His teacher had lent him a book on them and David had first learnt the world ‘palaeontologist’, deciding swiftly that that was what he wanted to be when he grew up.

His father usually tried to find ‘unrealistic’ dinosaurs for him. 

Multicoloured dinosaurs that would line up on his desk, looking at the child with cartoonish faces that David loved.

His dad thought that his love of dinosaurs was too grown up for a child of five. The way that he could recite every fact from that book his teacher had leant him worried his dad. 

Sure, David was smart. But no kid should be that smart.

No kid should be as mature as David had had to be. 

Five year old David stood from the sofa as he heard another crash from the room next door. He peaked his head around the corner as he always did when it got to this point in his parents fights.

His father was red faced as he stood above David’s mother.

His wonderful, friendly, loving, supportive father. 

David almost couldn’t recognise him. 

To David his father had two sides - the side that he saw and the side that his mother brought out.

He couldn’t understand why his father reacted as he did towards his mother. David’s mother was sweet and caring and so, so concerned with his father. She would do anything to make sure that his father kept happy.

David rushed back to the sofa when he heard his mother begin to scream, he hid himself under the couch cushions willing himself away.

By the time the screaming and smashing had stopped the dinosaur had left deep marks in David’s hands.

///

The purple dinosaur was the only one Loki had left from his childhood collection. It was the last one he ever got from his dad. The last time things were ‘normal’ for his family.

Loki lent over and placed it gently on his bedside table, stood up on the nightstand. It was chipped and dirty with age but still filled Loki’s heart with some sort of longing when he looked at it.

He refused to acknowledge the watery in his eyes and he pulled the next item from the box.

///

“I’m not doing this because I don’t love you - I’m doing this because I have to love myself,” five year old David struggled to make sense of his mothers words.

She took his little hands in hers as he lay under his bed, his mind fogged in confusion from sleep, having been shaken awake by his mum at three in the morning.

“Mummy?” He mumbled, allowing her to pull him back out from under his bed, into the room. His mum picked him up and set him so he was sat on top of the mattress. 

She crouched in front of him and David rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I have to do this,” she told him, her eyes filled with worry and apology. 

“Are you going on an adventure?” David wondered if the bruises on his mothers face hurt when she smiled at him then. 

“Yeah, sweetheart, I’m going on an adventure,” she agreed, squeezing his hands.

“Can I come with you? I’m really good on adventures - Danny always lets me be his second in command,” David’s mothers lips pressed to his forehead.

“You’re always going to be my first in command,” his mum whispered. “But this is an adventure I have to go on alone. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Are you coming back?”  

“Probably not,” her voice was no more than a croak and David felt tears fill his eyes.

“Don’t be sad, Mummy!” He begged when he saw her cry.

“I’m just going to miss my little man,” she whispered, bringing her son in for a tight hug. “But it’ll be better with me gone - Daddy will be less mad all the time,” she promised him.

“What if I go?” David offered. “Maybe Daddy will want you around more if I go?” 

“You sweet boy,” his mum sniffled into his shoulder. “You sweet, lovely boy,” she repeated, shaking her head. “Your daddy and me both love you and neither of us want you to go anywhere, okay?”

“I don’t want you to go,” he pleaded.

“I have to,” his mum released him and her right hand went to her ring finger on her left hand.

She twisted on her engagement ring, prising it off of her hand and pressing it into his small one.

“I have to do something for me.”

///

That was the last time that Loki had seen his mother. 

Now the engagement ring hung from a chain. It was a little rusted but out of all the items in his shoebox of memories it was in the best condition. 

After he had been taken to the boys home, Loki had put the ring on a chain to hang around his neck for fear of it being stolen otherwise. It was the one thing that he couldn’t imaging loosing. The one thing he had never even considered trading whilst her was there.

He hadn’t worn it since coming to university, so desperate to leave his whole past behind but now, in the safety of his home, in the knowledge that he had two people who wouldn’t leave him, he slipped the chain back around his neck.

The ring came to rest next to the thudding of his heart.

///

David waited at least an extra hour before coming out of hiding.

He waited for so long after the commotion and the gun shot before he even considered leaving his safe cave that his legs were beyond numb. He toppled straight back down to the ground when he tried to stand up.

He hadn’t realised he was shaking until he reached his hands out in front of him to try and support himself.

David closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

He crawled towards the door to his bedroom and pushed it open.

He hadn’t known what was going on when his dad had burst into his room, his eyes wide with fear as he pushed David into his wardrobe, piling shirts and jumpers on top of him in an effort to hide him. He had never heard his father so scared as when he implored his son to stay quiet and not come out unless he was sure it was safe.

It was the first time in a while that David had been told that he was loved.

It was also the first time ever that David saw his father cry.

That was how he knew that it was serious, whatever was going on. David’s seven year old mind was so fixed on his fathers tears that he couldn’t even think of making a noise. 

His father was in the living room. 

Him and David were still there fifteen minutes later when the emergency services came, answering David’s phone call faster than normal when they realised how young the child was on the other end.

David was sat cross legged by his fathers dead body, sobbing.

///

The police had allowed Loki to keep the shirt. 

They caught the men who had broken in only a few days after Loki had called the police and, after they had been properly identified and the legal process had been seen through, they had given Loki his fathers shirt.

Loki wasn’t sure why he had wanted to keep it. Perhaps because he had something to remember his mother by and he wanted something to remind him of his father - and of the sacrifice his father had made to keep Loki safe.

If he hadn’t gone and shut Loki into his wardrobe then he could have escaped with his life.

Now, Loki unfolded the shirt out of the shoebox and held it up. Blood stained it and it was almost completely shredded from the bullet wounds that had riddled his fathers body. 

That had been the day he became set on becoming a detective.

///

David hated his grandparents house. 

He hated the smell of cabbage that permeated the air around him.

He wanted his mum.

When the police had told him that they were going to track down a guardian for him that was who he had assumed they meant. He thought the long two years of separation from his mother would be over and that they would be reunited again.

David couldn’t hide his disappointment when it was his grandparents that turned up at the station to pick him up.

He wondered if, perhaps, his mum would be at their house. His grandparents were on his mums side so when she had disappeared that night he had assumed that was where she had gone to.

But his grandparents refused to tell him anything about his mother.

If they knew where she was, they weren’t giving any hints.

His granny ran a bath for him when they got to his grandparents house. 

“Home sweet home,” his granny had declared.

There was nothing sweet or homely about it. He wanted his real home.

David sat in the bath water, thinking of the events of the day.

Was this going to be his life now? Living with his grandparents? Surrounded by the scent of cabbage and bad memories?

He had cried when he first got to his grandparents house and found that his mother was nowhere in sight. His Granddad had told him that it was better than living in a boys home.

David climbed out of the bath and wrapped himself in the towel he had left out for himself and left the bathroom to the room that he had been told would be his for the foreseeable future. 

His tears began again when he saw the soft teddy bear that had been left on his bed for him by his grandparents.

Didn’t they know that nothing could be fixed anymore with a teddy?

///

The bears fur was matted and one of its eyes had fallen out at some point during his time at the boys home in Conyers but Loki didn’t care.

His grandparents had been good guardians and eventually he had gotten used to the smell of cabbage and even now, six years after he had left that place behind, it comforted him in a strange way.

But he still fucking hated cabbage.

His Granny had died first. She had a heart attack when Loki was ten and it had broken his Granddad. Loki had had to start looking after himself much more - he did the cooking and the cleaning and made sure that his Granddad got to his doctors appointments.

Loki wasn’t ashamed to admit that most of the care he took of his Granddad was for purely selfish reasons. He knew that if his Granddad was to die then he would be put in the local boys home. 

Everyone had heard horror stories about what it was like there and there was no way that Loki would be taken there without a fight.

But after his Granddad was diagnosed with terminal cancer when Loki was eleven he became resigned to his fate. About a month before his Granddad died, he was told the truth about his mother.

She had returned briefly to live with his grandparents, as Loki had suspected had happened but had swiftly disappeared again only to be found a few months later dead in a hotel room.

Loki was twelve when his Granddad lost his battle.

///

“You want the book?” The boy’s face was morphed into confusion. His eyes glanced down at the tattered classic in his hands before raising back up to meet Loki’s eyes.

“Yeah.” 

Loki’s jaw was clenched and his eyes were cold and unwavering as he looked at the new kid who had entered into the boys home only a few weeks ago.

“You want the book?” The kid repeated incredulously.

“Need me to fucking write it down for you?”

“No - no, sorry I just...” the younger boy collected himself, trying to hide his fear and Loki almost felt bad for a moment until he remembered what his first few weeks had been like at the boys home. “What’ll you give me?” 

Loki was almost proud of the kid and he allowed a slight smirk to grace his face and he nodded at the boy.

“What’dya want?” 

“Your leather jacket,” he declared and Loki scoffed.

“Piss off,” he rolled his eyes. “You know it’s not worth that,” the boy visibly deflated and Loki sighed, taking pity on him. “You get my desert tonight - and I’ll tell Anthony to lay off,” he offered, knowing that Anthony had been giving the new boy shit ever since he had arrived.

He looked up hopefully and held out the book. Loki took it from him, nodding.

“If he bothers you again, let me know,” Loki told him before turning away and stalking out of the room.

He knew that most of the other boys in the home were scared of him and the ones who weren’t were those who had been around for as long as he had. 

He had been at the boys home for four years. And what was devastating was the knowledge that he would be there for the remaining two years until he turned eighteen and could leave for university and then, hopefully, the police force.

When he had saw the new boy with his book Loki had known he would have traded almost anything to have it. Few people in the home owned anything other than a couple of changes of clothes and their school books. Anything they did own would be traded for something else - extra desert or a particular clothing item usually.

Loki had lost all of his dinosaur collection within the first week of his arrival at the boys home for a pair of shoes after his had been stolen. Well, all of his collection other than the final addition: the purple dinosaur.

Great Expectations was his parents favourite book. When he was much younger, before everything went pear shaped in their relationship, his parents would tell him how it was that classic which brought them together - they had both wanted a copy of it and had gone into a bookstore at the same time and reached for it.

They had ended up reading it together after his father had asked his mother out on a date and that was the start of their relationship.

Loki himself had never actually read it but had always wanted to - but he had no money with which to buy himself a copy after he had been taken into the boys home and had never had the chance to read it.

To have a copy of it in his hands now, nine years after he had last seen either of his parents, it felt so much that, in holding Pip’s story, he was also holding that of his parents.

///

Loki didn’t realise he was crying until his tears began to drop onto the well-loved book.

He wiped it away hastily, worried about it harming the pages that he too had grown to love but he didn’t stop himself from crying.

For what felt like the first time the full weight of what he had been through hit him. It was talking to his roommates about how he had wound up in the boys home that had sparked his need to dive into his little shoebox of memories.

Loki wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to go into details about his past. What his father had been like towards his mother and what his mother could sometimes be like towards him. The details of his fathers death. The facts he had dug up on his mothers suicide when he turned eighteen and was able to find such information out. 

The full truth of his life at the boys home weighed heavy on his mind and he knew it would scar him forever.

“Hey, David,” Loki looked up towards the doorframe. David and Jake were looking at him with eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay?” Jake asked.

Loki dropped his eyes down at the book, the teddy, the shirt, he felt the ring lying on his chest, and finally he looked at the little purple dinosaur.

Loki looked back to his roommates, a watery smile on his face and he nodded, the weight lifting from him.

“Yeah... yeah, I am.”

[amxndz-blog]

South China Normal University Team

Jinan University Team

  I procrastinated for so long before finally getting to this. I have been back from China for 3 days now and editing the pictures brings back great memories but I’m glad to be home! 🙂

Day 1    Our flight was scheduled at 8am which means we had to reach the airport at 6am for our group check-in. I took a GrabHitch at 5.30am, struggling to hold a conversation with the driver as I battle the Z-monster. All I could think about was “STARBUCKS SOY LATTE”. That morning I had also packed oats, bananas and cacao powder in an Adam’s Peanut Butter Jar. Little did I know, it was the last “healthy”/ “(purely) Vegan” meal I was going to have for the next 5 days. The warm oats with a tinge of chocolatey goodness mixed with the gooey leftover peanut butter that sticks to the roof of your mouth when you take a big bite made my morning so much better.

As a team, we checked-in our luggages and had time to kill. We settled at BurgerKing where some had their breakfast while Tin and I tried our luck on the Starbucks Goodie Grab. Tin, Bu and I shared a 2 for 1 promotion! We absentmindedly went for the Venti sized drinks which was a bad idea knowing that we had to board the plane in less than 15 minutes.. Our morning brain has not registered the fact till we arrived at the boarding gate with a Venti drink in hand, gulping down as much caffeine as we can. (Not a good idea, my stomach felt funny for the whole plane ride)

My very first (vegetarian) airplane meal was BeeHoon with Tofu and some vegetables. It was really delicious but the venti coffee was still sitting uncomfortably in my stomach. I also soon realised that I forgot to pack a book to entertain myself during the flight (3 hour 50 minutes) and I did not pre-download my Spotify playlist which meant I had ZERO songs to listen to. I alternated between sneakily playing iPhone games (they did not allow mobile phones to be switched on) and sleeping. I also played a few rounds of Big Two with Tin, Shan and Jing. My plane buddies, Bu and Yingjie (which will soon become my roomies for the next 4 nights) entertained me from time to time but we mostly slept.

Arriving at GuangZhou airport, we had to take a bus for an hour to reach Jinan University where we were greeted at the on-campus hotel by our exchange friends and teacher-in-charge(s).

Our hotel – the room with the blue shirt was ours

They blessed us with packet lunches which caught us by surprise because we each had 2 boxes (1 box of rice and 1 box of dishes). I on the other hand had 1 box of white rice topped with tomato and cabbage). The mountain of rice they provided was definitely a shocker to fellow Singaporeans.

Within an hour of resting and having lunch in our room, Yingjie wanted to leave the room to dispose of our lunch boxes but instead broke the door which left us in fits of laughter which echoed down the corridors. We tried to fix the door but to no avail. (We even thought of buying superglue/duct tape)

We then had a tour around their campus where we first visited the library which was huge and very spacious! The library was very technologically advance and the lady (I suppose she was a teacher) introduced us to the different rooms in the library but my command of mandarin left my interest in the hotel room. Next, we visited an on-campus history exhibit of Jinan University and surprisingly they were once located in Shanghai! (Semi Shanghainese pride because of Feng) It was only after 3 relocation that Jinan University is where it is today which I find so amazing!

They allowed us time to go back to our rooms to put our bags down but we decided that since our door broke, we would just wait on the rest. We then left for the Welcome Dinner. I cannot describe in words how generous the Chinese are! We had an almost 20 course dinner which consisted of prawns, chicken, mutton, coconut-chicken soup, and an abalone EACH. Obviously I had little to eat there but I was so filled with the delicious long grain brown rice with pumpkin, sweet potato and yam dish.

After dinner, we were able to visit the on-campus supermarket which sold SO MANY THINGS. Fruits were so cheap and there were so many interesting food items but I settled for a bunch of bananas and a 4.5 litre bottle of water.

Day 2   This day started early because we had training from 9am-11am. It was definitely too early to function.. They provided us with an indoor court which they painstakingly measured and stuck red tape on the floor to demarcate the court lines which they would then remove after our trainings. I am immensely grateful for their hospitality!!!

After training, with the lack of time, we had lunch in their campus canteen. I honestly, should be more grateful in the aspect of food, in no way am I complaining because some people do not even have the choice/opportunity to eat. BUT, well.. to the best of my ability I have tried so hard to stay Vegan. In China, it’s pretty much crazy to socialise and eat. They tell me the dish is fully-vegetarian BUT heck I ate minced meat and dried prawns which I then tried so hard to separate from the dish but probably failed… :’-( O WELL.

We then took went back to the sports hall for a friendly match between us and Jinan University Girls Team. I was still pretty disappointed with my performance.. it’s something about volleyball that I can no longer get. I just don’t know.

BUT HECK, DINNER WAS AWESOME. Since I was on a roll and had to “close-one-eye” for every meal.. we had Mala Xiang Guo. One picks ingredients and it gets weighed then stir-fried with Chinese spices according to the spice level. Tin and I shared a bowl and it was THE BEST THING EVER.

Our Mala Pot

That’s us being smelly in our jerseys!

Day 3  Training on this day was cancelled and we went for Dimsum instead. Another round of crazy eating and battling with sneaky meat. After which, Tin, Van and I spent quite a while in the arcade shop next to the Dimsum place. We raced cars, shot hoops and spent a fair bit of our time in the Mini K cubicle where 2 people put on earphones and can sing along karaoke style to the song of their choice.

We then had to walk 1.1km to a nearby mall which we found only when we “gave up” and wanted to cab back and settle for Starbucks but the Starbucks was connected to the mall we were looking for. It was not a mistake. We found our teammates in Miniso and…..

HAUL

HAUL

the rest was history.

Miniso was our go-to. We bought probably 90% of all their We Bare Bears merchandises and they were so worth it! We shopped till we forgot about the time and had to cab back to the sports hall where we collected our shoebags and boarded the chartered bus to another University for a friendly match.

For dinner this day, we had it at a restaurant called “Grandma’s Place”. Another meat battle which was lost. Initially, some of us intended to have Mala for supper but soon scraped the idea because every meal in China left us feeling SO FULL. We slowly made our way back to Jinan University and called it a night.

Day 4   REST AND RECREATION DAY. Van, Tin, Bu, Yingjie and I had breakfast at the same Dimsum place which was amazeballlls. (I grew numb to the sneaky meat..) We had so much to eat!

We then left to look for the rest. At the mall that they were in, there was Abercombie & Fitch but I stupidly forgot my associate card :’-( SOBBBS.

Taking the public train down to BeiJing Lu was a feat. If you ever think boarding the train in Singapore is difficult, think again. If you ever think that Bishan Platform is crowded during peak hours, THINK AGAIN. It was crazyyyyy and people were literally RUNNING to grab the next train so that they could board. Nonetheless, we managed and with no regrets because I had the best drink ever. I ordered a coconut milk with red bean after checking with the lady that no dairy was used.

We travelled by train to a massage parlour where Jia Le and I shared a room. it was her first time getting a massage. She was asking me how it was going to be like and I told her that usually the same gendered masseuse would be available but at that moment… 2 males came in. Shrugging it off thinking that every other pair had male masseuses as well, we laid down and had our massages amidst awkward conversations held in bad mandarin. it was only after did we realised that we were the only pair with males…. LUL

Dinner was across the road, the Mala restaurant we had on the second night. AMAZEBALLS.

fwens

walking the 1km

we tried on crazy dark lipsticks

Day 5   This day was mainly travelling and bidding our China friends goodbye :’-(.

Ah Jing

Ah Song

Their hospitality and generosity has definitely overcame all language barriers. They were amazing throughout that 5 days, trying their hardest to accommodate my diet (I was a burden, yes, whoops). I’m super grateful and I hope I’ll get to see y’all soon!!

MA ROOMIES

A picture with the roomies to commemorate our success in not having to pay for damages that we have caused on our short stay. We blessed the entire hotel (yes, block 1 & block 2) with our laughter and screams when we encounter gross friendly buggies.

8 of us wew

HongBin Coach!

And the eight of us that ate so much our stomachs ached, thank you for the trip because the 5 days were amazingly filled with so much goodness and love from everyone of you. We bonded and possibly will continue fighting in upcoming competitions together? 😉

This trip has been nothing short of amazing! Miniso was amazing :-p

Jinan Volleyball Exchange Trip I procrastinated for so long before finally getting to this. I have been back from China for 3 days now and editing the pictures brings back great memories but I'm glad to be home!