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Published: October 4th 2005
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Keg Canundrum!
Props to Rebecca for being the trooper who soaked her clothes in all of her efforts to get the keg going! Tuesday. Just past noon.
As some of you may have heard, I have this week off in honour of Chinese National Day (except we get a week), but due to poor planning on my part, and the fact that I left buying a train ticket a little too late, I'm staying in Jinan. I had really hoped to go to Qingdao, it's on the ocean, they have an "underwater world" and a (hold your breath...) Starbucks. But my week in Jinan so far has been great. In the last three days I have had more fun than I have in a long time!
After a long week of work (7 consecutive days), Friday night came and Danny and I went to Rebecca's 80's party. After some frustration and wandering the street looking for a "big silver gate", we smelled our way to Rebecca's place... just followed the smell of the open sewer that is so fondly referred to by Rebecca as "shit creek". After some sweat and an incident of "falling-up-stairs", we managed to get two huge kegs up six flights of stairs and into Rebecca's kitchen. We had some trouble getting the kegs fully operational, but after about
Wesley
And props to Wesley for being the only guy brave enough to dress for the occassion. a dozen tries, a few strong men, a couple articles of soaked clothing, a small lake of beer on the kitchen floor and a few cups of pure head... success! It was a good party, a lot of people showed up and there were some great (and horrible) 80's tunes. Parties and mingling really aren't my scene but it's neat when you get the chance to meet people from all over the world, all in one room.. I met people from Australia, England, Ireland, Philippines, Ivory Coast, Poland, and the States. A couple fellow Canadians as well. There was a dance off competition that was hilarious, and Melissa pulled some killer moves so she won the bottle of.. whatever it was. Booze of some kind. Danny and I left around midnight (early) because he wanted to go check out/figure out the "gay bar"
again, and to my prediction, it was completely empty,
again. So we hopped a cab back to Pyramid and danced/hung out/played congas... I went for a drink (bean curd.. milk?) with Nowie, his Filipino friend, Sabrina and another girl, and Jojo scared me half to death on the way there. Back to Pyramid and took drunk Danny
Dance Queen
Melissa the dance-off queen! back to my house to crash on the couch because his Dad locked him out of the house.
I woke up at 2 on Saturday and spent most of the day on my couch, in my pyjamas, eating banana pancakes and watching Sex and the City. Actually got up and functional around 8:30, in time for more dancing at Pyramid. More bean-curd milk and "no money, no honey"! Danced to some reggae tunes (chosen by none other than Godwyn, Rastaman, himself).. and left sometime into the AM hours.
Sunday I got up at a decent hour and called Snow to see if she wanted to go shopping. We met at the school and took the bus to a market I've passed over and over again and have always wanted to go to. From the outside, it looks like nothing... a doorway with those long plastic drapes to keep the heat or bugs in/out. Usually in, rather than out, which defeats the purpose. I hate them and they are sticky and dirty and everywhere in China (end of rant). But on the inside, it's a huge indoor flea-market of sorts. Rows upon rows upon rows of vendors selling anything
Prune face?
Cutest and ugliest dog I have ever seen. and everything... jewellry, clothes, decorations, purses, shoes, scarves, electronics, flowers, paper, etc. etc. It was so hot inside, and smelled of the WC (bathroom!) but you get used to it after a while... With Snow's help, I bought a few things without getting treated to the standard "oh-look-you're-a-foreigner-how-much-can-i-rip-you-off" rip off.. Snow and I looked at some clothes but honestly, they are either hideously ugly or they are made for an 11 year old body. After the market, we wandered around outside by the canal where there were people selling all kinds of pets.. kittens, birds, fish, turtles, those crazy coloured chicks, chipmunks (yeah!), and all kinds of puppies. We walked down Quan Cheng Lu (Lu = street) which was SO crowded, and stopped in the DVD place where I bought a few more DVDs to keep me entertained (my collection is steadily growing). Cabbed home and was home for not too long before I headed out for (where else but) Pyramid... it was all you can eat/drink for 50 kaui night, so we had pizza and fruit and beer all night, and danced and laughed. I sat in my usual booth... trying to capture every sense perfectly in my memory... the music flowing through me.. the sounds of the bass, the guitar, the keyboards, the drums... the dimly lit room and the floating candle flickering at my table... the rare connection that I feel with those five people... and I think I realized in that moment that this is a good life, and it's the simple things that really make you happiest.
Yesterday I went to Baotu Springs with Yue. Jinan is called the City of Springs because it has 72 natural springs, many of which are in this park. Known as the First Spring Under Heaven, Baotu Spring is the most famous spring in Jinan, one of the four famous springs in China, and one of the three major places of interest in Shandong Province. We spent a few hours there, wandering around and taking pictures. Some of the springs were absolutely beautiful, some were stagnant pools of black water. Because it's National Week, there are a lot of people visiting Jinan from out of town, and the park was very busy. Everywhere in Jinan is busy. Yue and I went for lunch and it took us 15 minutes to find a table, 20 minutes to wait in line to order, and by the time we finished eating, there was an hour and a half. I have never been exposed to so many people in one place at one time. Around 3:30 I went home and took a cab to meet the band at Pyramid around 5 before the first-ever Pyramid lake-side party. John and I hung out for a while, I played foozball with Philip and Jojo (the champion!) and talked with Rachel and Nowie. The bus finally arrived around 7:00 and we all piled in... drove for a long time, got lost, turned around, got lost again. Finally got to the lake around 8:30. No one else arrived until about 9:30 or so but there was a huge crowd of local Chinese people gathered along the gate outside... just to get a glimpse of the foreigners and to see us sing and dance. The "village" people we called them, and they stayed there most of the night, just watching us. The party was a blast. There was beer, a BBQ (nothing for me, but beef, pork and mutton for everyone else), the band (their last performance), fireworks, dancing, and all beneath a starry sky. The first stars I've seen in three months. I lost myself beneath the sky.. and the next thing I know it's 2 AM and we are all pleading with Godwyn for one more Marley song because no one wants to go home. We could have danced all night.
But we did go home. Got to sleep around 4, I figure.
Today is a bit of a rest-up day. Laundry. Clean up. Relaxing.
Glorious, glorious week off.
And still 4 more days left.
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