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Published: January 4th 2007
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Baozu Boy
At Poachers Hostel I was stumbling back down from the club around 9:30am with my shirt off in the pouring rain when I was surprised to find my favourite café was open! So I ate my usual and gave the baozu to the guy who worked the night shift at my hostel again, “Baozu Boy”! Then I stumbled my way into bed and managed to wake everyone when I knocked over a bunch of plastic bottles.
I awoke around 11am and the English father was in the process of leaving. So I said “bye” and then forced myself up. I chatted for a bit with Dave, a Vietnamese-American guy attending Kellogg who worked for NutraSweet and was visiting his sister. Also there was a tall Dutch motorcycle guy that I had helped set up with Dave the day before. Finally I excused myself and did Internet. I was surprised to hear that Dietrich Henne was working in Shanghai and I wrote to him about finding an internship for Sarah.
Around 12pm I walked to the top floor of Ya Show and ate a variety of tofu dishes. Then I stepped down a level and negotiated a trade of my fake Sony MP4 player for an Ipod Shuffle. After cutting a deal for the guy to put my CD’s on the Shuffle I stepped out and gave my leftover lunch to an old nice beggar that I had seen several times. Afterwards I continued on to BookWorm where I was greeted by Wei Ying, Shieva’s journalist friend. We chatted a bit and I continued reading 1421. Then I returned to my hostel to pick up money and met my new roommate, Andrei, a Swiss guy travelling for a year. We chatted about getting cheated and then I returned to Ya Show to pick up my new iPod Shuffle loaded with CD music the guy put on for me. I also bought a few odds & ends and then returned to Bookworm. Wei was gone but I was shortly joined by a tall, blond MIT 21 year old named Natalie. As I downed a crepe we discussed china, sex, open relationships, etc. She was obviously a very bright girl but had a slutty laid back way about her. I returned to my room around 7pm to pack my bag and prepare for my imminent departure. Then I returned to Bookworm and caught the end of a lecture about a British woman’s bike tour from Beijing to London. She seemed a bit boring to me, but then again I was working on 3 hours of sleep and 3 shots of vodka. When things wrapped up I invited her to eat something but she refused and we parted ways coldly. I began walking back to the hostel feeling lonely and decided to buckle in and ring Sarah. I intended to just say bye on the phone but ended up stopping by after grabbing food and a shoulder massage.
When I arrived I was put off by the fact that she was so engaged in a boring conversation with Annie about college study tactics. So I excused myself and napped till they returned. However we once again got in a heated debate, this time about the US’s role in Iraq and the Middle East. I found myself defending our policies against the both of them. Finally Annie went to bed and Sarah and I had some quiet time in her bed to chat and kiss a bit. Then I left abruptly and with a smile and feigned happiness after she told me things had gotten too “psychological” to fool around. I gave her my characteristic 2 finger navy salute as I backed out the door and whispered, “Have a great time in China”. Then I returned for one last kiss before walking down the 20 flights of stairs to the fresh moist air outside.
I caught a cab back to San li Tun bar street and slowly paced my way past the quiet bars one last time with the characteristic hawkers questioning, “Lady Bar?” as I passed. It was very sad to be leaving. Its been a great 3 weeks in this little area with fond memories of friends found and lost at every corner. I made my way past Bar Blu, Poachers, Russia, and Kai Club for the last time feeling nostalgic of all the great experiences I’d had on these same streets. Now it was desolate and sad with only the dependable few fruit and beverage vendors around.
I paced my way up the four flights of stairs to my dorm room 409 and fumbled my way into bed with the cool air of the air conditioner blowing comfortably down on me. I went to bed thinking of Sarah, the distant, cute little girl who managed to crawl into my heart these past 10 days or so. For some reason it just confounded me that I could feel so strong for her while knowing that she was completely wrong for me in every way. For once I finally understood Chubby and his attraction to women that seem to be doomed to frustrate him with their hot and cold behaviour. Oh well, I am my father’s son. Might as well accept these self-destructive tendencies.
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