Mystery Beijing

So today was the second day of scavenger hunts through the city of Beijing. Jayson and I got to explore a very Western, very modern mall in search of stores that take foreign credit cards, avocado (a difficult fruit? vegetable? to find in China! and sadly one of my favorites), a massage parlor (a legitimate and hopefully legal establishment...), and a place that sells Peking duck or Beijing kaoya. We ended up finding a pseudo Apple store called DragonStar (it looked EXACTLY like an Apple store in the states but is technically a "premium retailer"), a McDonalds that looks like a Buca Di Beppo, and a Pizza Hut that looked like a Kirby's Steakhouse. We ate at McDonalds for lunch, who could pass up that spicy chicken fillet with a side of misunderstanding and a cool beverage of choice like Lost in Translation? I guess needless to say I messed up the order and ended up with two small Cokes. Later in the evening we attended convocation. The guest speaker was Chinese rocker with long hippie hair and an attitude that Dane Cook would be proud of, but the best part of his talk was the revelation that I have probably never heard more wise (and crude) advice in my life. You could tell by the way he talked about politics (both Chinese and American) and societal trends (both Chinese and American) and the environment (both Chinese and American) that he was just a truly intelligent human being. Really interesting, really informing. Glad I enjoyed it because the language pledge starts tomorrow and from here on out I don't expect to be understanding any meaningful conversations for a while. Peace out. Madi