NEW DELHI:

Day Two

It was an incredibly frantic morning today, doing what they called a 'City Hunt.' It involved running around several parts of Central Delhi, visiting some of the top sights and more intimate streets. It kind of isn't the way to do Delhi though, as every part is so unique that it takes time to fully absorb your surroundings, was good fun though nonetheless and I look forward to revisiting the centre. One real treat was that as part of the Hunt we took loads of different modes of transport including Rickshaws, the metro, taxis, walking and bikes (pictures to come). The highlight of today was definitely managing to convince the taxi driver I speak Hindi: the words thank you and yes (jii haa) are all you need in this place.

It was also the first time I experienced the magnitude of poverty here. Kids trying to prevent you from closing the car door as well as 5 year old boys begging for money whilst carrying an even younger child. Whether or not they are working for gangs or being sent by their parents it irrelevant: a country that for a while has experienced double digits growth in GDP year on year should be getting a grip on kids entering nursery and primary level education. I would personally rather give food and drink then cash.

Tomorrow, we will be doing a heritage walk and learning more Hindi - I promise pictures will be uploading shortly.

All the best,

Alex

Well had an spontaneous visit to old delhi today. The metro was certainly amazing very busyy today as we went on rush hour. we often felt like sardines. some of the men were pervy towards the women. In a land where women have to cover up this is major contradiction. We visited the market the hustle and bustle was very good. The gurdwara that we visited was very spritual! The welcome that we got on the culture centre was awesome, i got it all on video coming to a screen to you soon. The centre makes sure that traditional indian art and culture does not die by giving scholarships to talented students in order to keep these amazing art forms alive!

I need to get my haircut! I am yet to find a barber shop in Delhi despite having been given directions by about seven locals. I think I might just buy some scissors and a comb and do this -->

Day 1,2,3 in Delhi n I'm loving it....Its hot, well not really hot but humid is F**k...Lob=vin da auto  rickshaw might take one back to London(Imagine dat)...no road tax..MOT but Lord knows dat insurance is going to be crazzeeee...Hol tyt to ma fellow Fellows;)...especially ma room mate Sarah and ma codizzle Keryn and Lady RaRa....practising ma bargainin in da great markets of Delhi...Missin ma oda half n family....Goin to  bed soon...Gud Nyt....

~Quote of the Day~

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you.  Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure.  ~Murphy's Law

So far we have spent 3 days in New delhi and we are curently enjoying it we both agreed that its very diffrent to what were both used to as we are both situated in the west midlands (Wolverhampton & Birmingham).

We found the people really lovley and always ALTHOUGH!. we need to avoid people who say there foreign language students and say that they are going to take us to a nice market. but REALLY they take us to back of the alley job.

the food is amazing its very diffrent to the curries we have back at home we noticed there are added flavours and spices and they take great deal in making the curry to perfection.

so far we have been running round New delhi in the heat. even though the site were amazing we both agreed that it was difficult to adapt to the heat and concentrate on the diffrent buildings and historical places.

weve also  been to the CCRT (centre for culture relations and training) we was given a warm welcome by dancers and indian drummers plus much more. lots of guests were watching us from diffrent parts of the buildings and made us feel very much at home with there entertainment.

we then got performances from other fantastic performers who gave us a sense of traditional indian. In the night time we decided to go to chandna chouk erm not the best of days to be honest for some of the female members of the team you needed to be rather physical to get on the train and some of the people were quite aggressive and rude to even the girls which made them feel scared. all in all its been a good trip so far looking forward to giving you more blogs on a regular basis.

Day 1,2,3 in Delhi n I'm loving it....Its hot, well not really hot but humid is F**k...Lob=vin da auto  rickshaw might take one back to London(Imagine dat)...no road tax..MOT but Lord knows dat insurance is going to be crazzeeee...Hol tyt to ma fellow Fellows;)...especially ma room mate Sarah and ma codizzle Keryn and Lady RaRa....practising ma bargainin in da great markets of Delhi...Missin ma oda half n family....Goin to  bed soon...Gud Nyt....

~Quote of the Day~

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you.  Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure.  ~Murphy's Law

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is an usual word, and can have both good and bad connotations. Tomorrow can be a fresh start, a new hope, the dawn of something knew. But tomorrow can also be denying the truth, putting something off and waiting for something which may never come. In this case, tomorrow means going to China!

Our GF adventure is ever approaching and at the same feels like a world away. I've (nearly) finished packing, bought my yuan, activated my cash card and yet I still can't quite believe that in a couple of days I'll be in one of the greatest cities in the world. I have always been interested by China and fascinated by its culture and progress; it was a life long goal to one day visit there. But now it's a reality, and it's almost here, and I guess I just can't believe that little old me from Norfolk is soon going to be in cities of over 20 million people. But I better soon start believing it because it's about to be thrust upon me in all of its Chinese magnificence.

Since November I've been fantasising about this trip, and so I ought to have many preconceptions, expectations and goals.

I think what I'm expecting is a country of contrasts, of the old and the new. Where the generations of Mao Zedong mix with the youth of today; those who once saw extreme famine and economic collapse now see progression, and growth, and a prosperous young era of Chinese yuppies. I want to see how these two contrasts live side by side, and how China's growth has impacted on those who witnessed the past. I'm expecting to see ornate and stunning architecture, left over from China's dynastic years, including lots of bridges and roof guardians. And next to these I think they'll be brand new buildings, innovatively designed and carefully constructed. I believe Shanghai will be more modern than Beijing, but Beijing will be steeped in history and heritage and places of significance.

I think I will witness a hungry nation - hungry for success, for money and for economic growth. Our generation will be motivated and proficient in the areas of maths and science. All in all there will be a feeling of optimism among Chinese people; that times are changing and if they work hard for it they can achieve anything they wish.

I am looking forward to the trip immensely, especially the work placement at HSBC in Shanghai, but also to the cultural visits, the stay with the host family and exploring these two global cities. But what I really want is to sample the real China - the authentic, individual things that make China what it is. To see what life is like for everyday people and to see how the Chinese economic growth has drastically changed not just the world scene, but individual citizens living in 2010, under the cloud of this development, marketisation and internationalisation. My goal is to enjoy and savour every minute, to value this experience and to grab all opportunities as fervently as I can. I want to be open and free in my perceptions and my reactions, and to listen and understand this amazing story which China has to tell. I want to learn as much as possible so that when I return I can fulfill my duty as a Global Fellow admirably; to take my knowledge and experiences into the UK and try and show people why it is so important to begin to understand and work with the raging red dragon.

Thank you to all those who helped get me here, to my parents, teachers, friends and the GF staff. I will miss you and think of you often.

May China be everything we hope it will be.

Xièxie, zàijiàn.

Ollie :)

Namaste - Hi or Hello, the gesture of namste is a simple act made by bringing together both palm before the heart, and lightly bowing the head. In the simplest of ters it is accepted as a humble greeting straight forn theheart ad reciprocated accordingly.

This was the first thing we learned in our Hindi lesson this morning followed by the Traditional Indian Welcome, according to Indian custom, a guest is to be treated like God. Guests are usually welcomed into an Indian household with an 'aarti' ceremony. Then the auspicious 'tikka' or 'tilak' is applied on the guest's forehead. Tilak may be applied with sandal paste, sacred ashes or kumkum. The traditional Indian hospitality and warmth is reflected in the way in which guests are accorded welcome.

This afternoon we went to CCRT (Centre for Cultural Relations and Training) a governement funded organistation that is trying to make sure that traditional Indian cultures, dance, music, art etc do not vanish. We were greeted with the traditional Indian greeting and by a group of the scolarship winners dancing and playing instruments. We were shown examples of some of the traditional art forms including traditional singing, music and dance. All of them were totally different but all amazing and showing just a small amount of the culture that the country has, it was not something that you ever really think about until you see it. We also saw some of their traditional art work which again allowed us to see just a small amount of the extensive culture that the country has.

Due to coming back to from CCRT late we were taken to a small market in Old Delhi. Throughout this trip we were able to see that a large group of English tourists draw a lot of attention, especially the girls, we were also able to see that the boys we are travelling with are quite protective, when we were OK if people bumped into us and keeping us apart from the men on the metro.

Achcha (Goodbye)