Hehz, I'll be leaving on 5am this Saturday for my ASB trip. Finally. The confirmed number of people going on the trip is 5 - Laura (our site facilitator), Ryan, Katie, Farhan and I.
During our last meeting, I found out that the movie by Eminem, 8 Mile, is about one of metro Detroit's longest, busiest, funkiest, most infamous streets. Some reviews I found on the net regarding this street:
"There are boarded-up eyesores on both sides of the road but also the bright new facade of the busy Belmont Shopping Center and the distinctive octagon-shaped building that houses Hagopian carpets and cleaning. There are several churches, nine topless joints, the usual single-sex gay bars and the Rainbow Room, where male performers impersonate women and female performers impersonate men and the crowd is gay, lesbian, transgendered, black and white. There are prostitutes by night and schoolkids in uniforms by day.
The signs that whiz by your car windows say it all:
Engine transplants . . . Tattoos . . . Love toys . . . Stackin' 'Em Deep and Selling 'Em Cheap . . . Big Daddy's Mattress . . . Bottom's Up Party Store . . . Rims . . . MEGA PAWN . . . Hot Tamales rocks topless . . . Rear End Specialist . . . Joint, clutch and gear . . . Need cash? . . . Lathe turning . . . Fencing . . . Soul food/Coney island . . . Happy Food . . . Heavenly Donut . . . Buddha. "
"Wortman moved to East 8 Mile after his landlord and another man were shot and killed in a 1985 robbery near his record store on a downward-spiraling part of Gratiot Avenue.
"Now I'm back in the same type of neighborhood," he said. "Sometimes when I open the back door, I see people laying in the alley." "
I'll be going to somewhere between 6 and 7 Mile Road during my trip though. Honestly I'm must admit I'm a little fearful of what lies ahead. Sounds a bit dramatic, heez... But cannot blame me for it la... I mean the pictures Hollywood painted - the racism, the violence, the guns... They do have some impact.
Had a nightmare last night, dreamt that I went to the ghettos (but was in a Singapore setting, haha~) and somehow I was walking through the market, surrounded by homeless blacks who had nowhere to stay and were sleeping by the streets.
But I guess it's really going to be an eye opener. Heez, just trying to recognize the fear I have in me. But obviously, if it was really that dangerous, they wouldn't have allowed us to go. =P
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Been wanting to talk about my weekend trip to Madison-Wisconsin to find Elly, but haven't really gone into it. It was really fun; I enjoyed myself tremendously. The trip to Madison was 4 hours by car, and I went together with my senior, Shanqing. Wanted to go down myself initially when I couldn't get anyone else to go with me; but luckily I managed to get him. Upon reaching the borders of Wisconsin, there was a heavy snowstorm; even SQ said he'd never seen such a heavy snowstorm in a car before. Visibility reduced to almost 2 metres and couldn't even make out where the lines and kerbs were. Winds were quite strong too, I could feel the car sway at times. Thanks to SQ, who prides himself as a psychology and english double major with a pilot licence (that means he could see really well), he took over the steering wheel and we got to our destination safely. =P
Was welcomed by the sight of the city of Madison, Wisconsin's capital, with the frozen Lake Medona (did I get it right?). The citylights were something that I've missed seeing (Haha~ Sounds like I'm really living in a kampung) Elly brought us to eat sushi, which was really good - there was the soft shell sushi and fresh salmon california sushi which were 100X better than what we have in UIUC. Though it cost $9 per roll, once in a while is alright I feel =)
At night we played mahjong, and Elly actually got me a mattress to sleep on the next two nights, which I really really appreciate (otherwise I'd have to sleep in a sleeping bag...) Had pig liver porridge with you tiao for brunch the next day and had my first experience in snow skiing. Too bad I forgot to take pictures. A pity that it was really freezing and I wasn't insulated enough for the weather, that I felt like my hands had frost bite beneath the gloves. Though I fell down quite a few times, and the getting up part was really quite pathetic (pity the guys who had to help, 'cos I'm so heavy!!!) as I continued, the frequency of falling dropped. Didn't really go through proper training to learn how to manoeuvre myself, hopefully I'll get to go on a ski trip on the French Alps during Easter or something!! Was aching the next few days from the falls *sob*
Did I mention the duck and pineapple horfun I had that night after the ski trip? *slurp*
Anyway, think the greatest 收获 from the trip was to get in touch with Elly again. Guess MSN wasn't enough to tell each other how our lives have really been, especially with the mid terms and projects under the US system. To talk about the differences in the 2 systems, to talk about certain issues here, to talk about our life in the UK, that kind of familiarity is really uplifting =)
~ Looking forward to meeting up again during the Mid-western games held in UIUC the weekend after spring break~
During our last meeting, I found out that the movie by Eminem, 8 Mile, is about one of metro Detroit's longest, busiest, funkiest, most infamous streets. Some reviews I found on the net regarding this street:
"There are boarded-up eyesores on both sides of the road but also the bright new facade of the busy Belmont Shopping Center and the distinctive octagon-shaped building that houses Hagopian carpets and cleaning. There are several churches, nine topless joints, the usual single-sex gay bars and the Rainbow Room, where male performers impersonate women and female performers impersonate men and the crowd is gay, lesbian, transgendered, black and white. There are prostitutes by night and schoolkids in uniforms by day.
The signs that whiz by your car windows say it all:
Engine transplants . . . Tattoos . . . Love toys . . . Stackin' 'Em Deep and Selling 'Em Cheap . . . Big Daddy's Mattress . . . Bottom's Up Party Store . . . Rims . . . MEGA PAWN . . . Hot Tamales rocks topless . . . Rear End Specialist . . . Joint, clutch and gear . . . Need cash? . . . Lathe turning . . . Fencing . . . Soul food/Coney island . . . Happy Food . . . Heavenly Donut . . . Buddha. "
"Wortman moved to East 8 Mile after his landlord and another man were shot and killed in a 1985 robbery near his record store on a downward-spiraling part of Gratiot Avenue.
"Now I'm back in the same type of neighborhood," he said. "Sometimes when I open the back door, I see people laying in the alley." "
I'll be going to somewhere between 6 and 7 Mile Road during my trip though. Honestly I'm must admit I'm a little fearful of what lies ahead. Sounds a bit dramatic, heez... But cannot blame me for it la... I mean the pictures Hollywood painted - the racism, the violence, the guns... They do have some impact.
Had a nightmare last night, dreamt that I went to the ghettos (but was in a Singapore setting, haha~) and somehow I was walking through the market, surrounded by homeless blacks who had nowhere to stay and were sleeping by the streets.
But I guess it's really going to be an eye opener. Heez, just trying to recognize the fear I have in me. But obviously, if it was really that dangerous, they wouldn't have allowed us to go. =P
-----------------------------------------------
Been wanting to talk about my weekend trip to Madison-Wisconsin to find Elly, but haven't really gone into it. It was really fun; I enjoyed myself tremendously. The trip to Madison was 4 hours by car, and I went together with my senior, Shanqing. Wanted to go down myself initially when I couldn't get anyone else to go with me; but luckily I managed to get him. Upon reaching the borders of Wisconsin, there was a heavy snowstorm; even SQ said he'd never seen such a heavy snowstorm in a car before. Visibility reduced to almost 2 metres and couldn't even make out where the lines and kerbs were. Winds were quite strong too, I could feel the car sway at times. Thanks to SQ, who prides himself as a psychology and english double major with a pilot licence (that means he could see really well), he took over the steering wheel and we got to our destination safely. =P
Was welcomed by the sight of the city of Madison, Wisconsin's capital, with the frozen Lake Medona (did I get it right?). The citylights were something that I've missed seeing (Haha~ Sounds like I'm really living in a kampung) Elly brought us to eat sushi, which was really good - there was the soft shell sushi and fresh salmon california sushi which were 100X better than what we have in UIUC. Though it cost $9 per roll, once in a while is alright I feel =)
At night we played mahjong, and Elly actually got me a mattress to sleep on the next two nights, which I really really appreciate (otherwise I'd have to sleep in a sleeping bag...) Had pig liver porridge with you tiao for brunch the next day and had my first experience in snow skiing. Too bad I forgot to take pictures. A pity that it was really freezing and I wasn't insulated enough for the weather, that I felt like my hands had frost bite beneath the gloves. Though I fell down quite a few times, and the getting up part was really quite pathetic (pity the guys who had to help, 'cos I'm so heavy!!!) as I continued, the frequency of falling dropped. Didn't really go through proper training to learn how to manoeuvre myself, hopefully I'll get to go on a ski trip on the French Alps during Easter or something!! Was aching the next few days from the falls *sob*
Did I mention the duck and pineapple horfun I had that night after the ski trip? *slurp*
Anyway, think the greatest 收获 from the trip was to get in touch with Elly again. Guess MSN wasn't enough to tell each other how our lives have really been, especially with the mid terms and projects under the US system. To talk about the differences in the 2 systems, to talk about certain issues here, to talk about our life in the UK, that kind of familiarity is really uplifting =)
~ Looking forward to meeting up again during the Mid-western games held in UIUC the weekend after spring break~
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