Best of 2008 - Part 1

This is a reminder about how much more awesome my life was in the last 6 months of 2008 than yours was in the last 6 years. Just kidding, this is the Best of 2008 in photos and words in three parts, and it wouldn't have been so sweet if it wasn't for all my friends and family. I am lucky to have friends in all corners of the globe, and to have made new ones. Anyway I did have a pretty spectacular last 6 months didn't I? I hope this 2008 retrospective will inspire some people to come visit me before I leave China! My parents are coming in april, Debbie and Salih might come in April, Yoon is coming in March, Bob came in June, come on ya'll! I did some calculatin' and I think you need $50 a day to have a really good time here including eating and drinking. 2009 is waitin' for you!

Bob graduated in 2008!! wait, did he? i can't remember but here he is in all his glory anyway. Bob is currently persuing his PHD in Albany in some field of math. my loving family and doggies. rock band was a highlight of 2008 definitely a new laptop a new stainless steal canon Harlem, New York. 136th and broadway was my home. I shared it with 2 roomates and 10,000 "loaches" dodgeball madness with 12 mexican kids that jumped in. the final ultimate Viva La Everything Party at Happy Ending Lounge in NY. so sad its over. we had one every semester. rooftop bbq party at my house in harlem. David Joseph taking his pants off was a highlight in 2008 that happened many many times. one final breakfast at the pink teacup. bacon is legendary there, and so are the grits. my room in harlem before i left. it was like $900 a month i think. Moving from NYC in 2008 was a huge huge event. It could have been a big mistake. I guess we have to wait for 2009 to find out. bob coming to china for the first month was a huge highlight, maybe the best highlight. you know how when you go to a new country and everything is new and fresh and amazing and even the sight of foreign toilets make you squeal with delight? imagine sharing that with your brother and buddy for the whole first month. me made fun of each other and ourselves non-stop for 1 month. and look at us, there is a lot to make fun of. I miss bob and our self deprecating quagmire of doom pity parties while we walk the streets of beijing snapping away with our cameras. the house in the gated expat housing complex in the suburbs of Beijing. We lived with our auntie there. yunnan food, the yummiest i've had in china, except for peking duck. we ate a black chick, mint beef that waas out of this world, and other yumminess the best thing i've eaten in china is by far Peking Duck from Da Dong Roast duck. A very nice restaurant, and the best duck! if you're coming to visit me you will eat this. on the other end of the spectrum. burger king. i had not had burger king in 7 yrs since i swore off fast food in NYC. Burger King is far superior to McCdonalds. bob also had it because he was on a 1 month meat eating stint in china. bob's continuing mesquito problem was a delight! we would be sitting around and there would be swarms of them after him but non after me. Nightly sweeps of the house would be done so that bob might sleep with out being paranoid that they would come and get him in the night. cliche i know but the great wall is a highlight. if you've been there you know! the zip line at the end of this section of the well was amazing. i am afraid of heights so jumping off this ledge into a gorge over the river was horrifying but once i was out there on the line it was magical. recommended highly! bob looking like this and having heat exhaustion or watever for the whole great wall hike was def a highlight. i laughed the whole way for 2 hrs. bob was feverish and was lying around for over a day so i made us go out into the night and we discovered this staple of beijing food, the tomato egg thing. so cheap, it was memorable. bikes in china. life is better when you ride one. this is the guy that turned me into a grandma that collects stuff. the tiger toy. now i have 11. the forbidden city was really amazing and vast. turtle guy from the forbideen city. me and bob both bought a small bronze statue of these guys and they face each other, one in albany, one in beijing, to further our brother bond and how twee we are. hard sleeper train back from shanghai. this tree in shanghai inspired the illustraiton of the tree hair woman. finally saw some real brothels/message parlors/barber shops in shanghai and the most amazing hutong i have ever been down. i was so amazed i forgot to take pictures. finally bob got him money shot after we f'd up the tickets and had to stay an extra day in Shanghai my chinese class
my reminder why i shouldn't drink so much. because one day i will wake up and permanately look like this.

1 comments:

Rob said...

Dude I graduated in 2006. You were not even close.