Obsession

Obsession
9 August 2010
Madrid, Spain

I can't stop thinking about China.

First, good news on the visa: I am the proud holder of a 6-month multiple entry F-visa for China! I picked it up on Friday. So, for anyone who finds themselves in a similar visa situation, I suggest doing as we did --- apply for an F-visa (not a student visa!) and also include a letter that respectfully explains why you need a multiple entry visa.

China is on the brain. I have one week left of my internship here in Madrid, and it's great that I have lots to finish up because otherwise I would get nothing done! This weekend I bought several new books on China. One is Mr. China by Tim Clissold. It is about investing $400,000,000 in China between 1995-2005 --- and painfully so! On the advice of two friends (not to mention it's place on most lists of books about China), I also started Wild Swans by Jung Chang. It already strikes me as amazing, and I'm on page 8. My third capture was Himilaya by Michael Palin. It is the book version of a trip through the Himilayas he did with a camera crew for the BBC. I got this for two main reasons. First, his coverage includes Tibet, and I was hoping to find something on Tibet from a mountaineers perspective - neither that of the mountaineer or the obsessive spiritualist. I am also happy to read about other areas he included, such as Pakistan, which has been high on my list of curiosity ever since Naveed got engaged (and the prospect of visiting for the wedding arose). Second, Michael Palin's tells the story day by day --- using each day as the divisor instead of having chapters. He also includes a reasonable number of pictures. I am attracted to this as a potential format for my own travel writing, so I am interested to get familiar with an example set up in the same way.

I have unfortunately not spent a minute working on Mandarin this summer. I'm not sure how much time, if any, I will have before I leave for China on 2 September. I wish I had a functional Mandarin Rosetta Stone!

In other news, I booked my lodging for my first week in Shanghai. I will be staying at Rayfont Shanghai Hotel & Apartment at 1066 Yan An Road West. This is on the edge of the Jing'an District, where I'm currently hoping to live. During the first week, I hope to find a flat there --- and, if time allows, dig Shanghai and start some Mandarin courses.

Departure is in less than a month! It is going to be here before I know it! The only thing I'm more excited about is getting to go home and see family, friends, and Memphis first.