Ai River Adventure

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This week went by pretty fast. Things accomplished outside of work: 3 day dry-cleaning, hand-washed everything in my itty-bitty sink, and um....that's it. Every night, someone from work wanted to go out and sometimes I didn't even get to workout.

Monday night, Mr. Huang invited me to dine with him, the restaurant manager, one of his chief architects, and several Korean friends. We ate on the rooftop of Xinandongge where I always seem to chill at for dinner and had our baijiu fix. 1st of all, that stuff is putrid and should never be imbibed, but I was successful and left home with just a slight feeling of disgust whilst everyone else was too inebriated to come to work the next day.

Tuesday was chill with some working out in the evening and catching a pic of this ridiculously large spider that was about as big as my fist.

Wednesday was KTV night. I went out with a bunch of the college kids that work at the health club and we had a good night of singing away Chinese love songs. Proof that I live in a part of China with little contact with the West: they all pulled out their camera phones and recorded me singing at the top of my lungs the most atrocious Chinese song I could think of. Of course, the thought it was amazing---they should get out more. I was also coerced into singing Michael Jackson's "Beat It" which I surprisingly had never sung before then, but they loved it nonetheless.

Thursday was fun because I finally got to meet the international trade boss, Mr. Ding. He was very kind in showing me the ropes and invited me out for dinner on Friday. Thursday afternoon was spent at a tea house with Mr. Huang that he said I could frequent whenever I want free of charge since that too, is owned by the company. Did I mention he covers the KTV too?

Friday night was spent eating blowfish and other delicacies including grilled silkworms that I saw wriggling in a bowl not 5 minutes before I ate them. The blowfish was especially delicious but I was worried that they can be fatal. Apparently a specific license is required to prepare it and ensure safety and quality. Long story short, it was a little expensive but they don't seem to care. Tonight was one of the more fun nights because we hung out with a bunch of South Korean guys, one being the cousin of my buddy Sunha, who more or less got me the job. One of the guys even attended elementary school for 3 years in Columbus because his parents are doctors and were teaching at Ohio State on exchange. SOOOO cool!

Saturday was a blast. We set out for the Ai River north of town in a caravan of 3 cars of all our colleagues and a few of their kids. After playing in the water for a while and starting a splashing war, I was coerced into taking my shirt off regardless of the fact that I didn't have sunscreen. What a bad time to forget that word in Chinese!!! It was a little overcast, but they couldn't understand how I could still burn through the clouds. Long story short I got totally sunburnt and was in pain the whole night. The day wasn't bad at all though. We had the traditional barbecue which is done by cooking raw beef, clams, shrimp and various veggies (including my favorite: eggplant :P) over a small charcoal box and then dipping it in various spices once cooked. It was quite delicious and I definitely ate my fill. Ms. Fan and Ms. Zheng's kids were so adorable and we had a blast all day. Plus, I totally love being called big brother in Chinese but sweet, little Chinese girls. 😊

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Photos

Lillie might cry....
Didn't wanna get too close.