Trip to Hangzhou...

Last week I took my first overnight trip to Hangzhou with my friend Rainbow.  Hangzhou is the capital of the Province I live in.  I finally got to see a Chinese Hotel.  Here is a picture of my room below.  It was pretty typical.

First there was water and snacks in the room to buy.  Then I noticed this in the room.  A basket of condoms and boxed underwear.  It was so weird.

 After we had a great dinner of pork, soup, vegetables, and wine, we came back to our rooms.  Under the door there were some cards...seen below.  Now I understand the condoms and underwear a little better.  I wasn't all that excited to sleep in this bed after seeing all this!!

 

The hotel also had some slippers/sandals in the room.  I tried on the red girl ones first but that didn't work.  I had to wear the man ones.  I guess if small feet are a sign of beauty in China, I am not so good looking.  Sasquatch!!!!

 The next day we went to a beautiful park full of flowers.  There were tons of brides having their photos taken.  We took some pics too.

The funniest part of the trip happened in this park.  As we were taking photos, a group of Chinese tourists surrounded me.  One by one they asked to take their pictures with me.  They were so excited.  There were about 10 of them and each one wanted to be in their own picture with the Foreigner.  The women would put their arms around me screeching our of happiness.  The men seemed a little more shy, but they wanted their pictures as well.  It was too funny.  All in all, it was a great trip.

AND THEN......

 

This is a quick one that I didn't want to forget.  Please note, it is a movie reference, that not all will get.

I was in a new class with only 3 boys.  They watched a short video in English and one of the boys was to re-tell the story.  His English was not great so he would only say one short sentence at a time.  And each time he finished a sentenced the teacher would say "And then...??" One more sentence, "And then...??" and so on.  After about the fourth time, I was laughing so hard to myself, but didn't want them to know.  China's Funny :)


If you want to see the part from "Dude Where's my Car?", The link is below!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7luMp6lb9M

Drinking Games and KTV...3 months in...

I am sorry for not posting sooner, but somehow I have become a part of China and the things that I used to think were so strange are now just normal.  Watching someone drain the blood from a chicken on the sidewalk just doesn't have the shock value it would have had when I first got here.

I've been going out with some Chinese people and they party just a little different.  Since they are a smaller people who do not drink the same way Americans do, they take shots of beer instead of vodka.  One of the drinking games here include rolling dice and the person with the smallest die drinks.  I thought their games would be more challenging, like a game of Chinese Checkers or Majong, but no.

I have now been subject to the Chinese version of Karaoke as well.  These parties occur in private rooms of what looks like a fancy movie theater with mirrored walls and fancy snacks, (which include duck head...I mean the whole grey face, beak and all).  These monstrosities are called KTV.  Here in China they take their Karaoke very seriously.  I now have a new found respect for the owner of Fantasy Island.  Each person sits and seriously sings a slow boring song.  I'm sure they were not too impressed by my Britney Spears version of "I Love Rock N Roll" :)

Today, I had a huge reminder that although I am becoming used to China, it's still not used to me.  I was to teach a class at a public school to gain exposure for the training school I work at.  As we walked towards the school as it was getting out, it looked like a mob ensued.  There were literally thousands of Chinese students leaving at the same time with their parents picking them up.  The three teachers I was with rushed me through the crowd like I was the President.  Everyone oohed and awed like I was some Alien from another planet.  All the children stared and yelled "hello".  I now know what it feels like to be a Rockstar.

Finally, I would like to give China props for solving one of life's great mysteries.  Do you remember the scene in "Clerks" when the man gets his had caught in the Pringles can?  Again, the Chinese are small, so I wouldn't imagine this being much of an issue, but with all their superior intelligence and technology they have found a solution.

There is a stick in the can with hooks on the side so you can slowly bring the Pringles to the top of the can without sticking your entire arm in it.  What will they think of next??