Birthday Weekend

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On Friday night, Clare and Audrey brought an entourage of boys home from English corner, along with Snow White. Strangely, all the boys were from English majors from the Chengdu University of Science and Technology. We went down bar street to the Purple Apple Club, which looks good from the outside (sparkly), but is actually terrible. It is too loud. There is no dancing. The music is ridiculous. We left and went to Soho to sit outside on the comfy couches. The comfiest couches in China.

Our night out turned into an extension of English corner. This means that the boys asked us questions like, "What are your impressions of Chengdu?" and "What do you think of the food in China?" Probably from a textbook dialogue, as it reminds me of the dialogues we have in our Chinese textbooks.

This is all fine and good. I think it is great that so many people here are interested in learning English and studying in America, but I can't practice English with everyone! I want to learn Chinese. And I want to have fun!

Clare and Maria took a cab home, but I walked with Snow White and Audrey. Snow White's boyfriend picked her up on his bike. It started pouring as soon as we got into the dorm gate.

On Saturday I decided to take a walk in the morning. I wanted to sit and sketch, but it was drizzly and I couldn't find any covered seating, so I walked out South Gate and turned left where I usually turn right. Best idea ever! So much is down there.

I walked past a tailoring shop and hesitated for a moment. I could have waited, told my friends, come back later with a group. But I decided to go in. Why not? Two old ladies were working in the back and I started looking at the fabrics hanging on the wall. I pulled out my sketchbook, with the drawing of the dress I had hoped to have made at some point, and asked if they could make it for me. The answer was yes, so I picked out my fabric. She measured me, wrote out a receipt, and handed me a copy. It will be ready in one week, for 150 RMB. I love China!

A few doors down I found a jewelry shop and bought most of the rest of the gifts for people at home. The lady working at the shop was very helpful, telling me about certain pieces and helping me find what I was looking for. I liked that she continued to speak to me in Chinese even after she knew I couldn't understand everything she said.

On this street, there was also a blind man massage parlor. This is one of China's solutions for people with disabilities. They educate them in certain areas so that they can support themselves. It is difficult to say whether this is a good solution or not.

For lunch, bread that looks like a pizza crust and tastes kind of like a bagel, and ice cream. Calligraphy class in the afternoon to make up for the class the teacher skipped on Monday. We received our supplies and practiced various strokes. The teacher had us stand around each other and watch each other paint the strokes.

Later in the afternoon, Clare, Maria and I went to "the cinema." We wanted to see a Chinese movie, but the only two playing were Inception and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Although we had all seen Inception, we chose to see that one again, paid our 25 kuai each (student discount), and chose our seats. (Seats are assigned here, but you get to pick from a chart). We bought refreshments in the first lobby. I got a bubble tea. (They do have popcorn! Also beer and pack of crackers and dried fruit. Pretty much everything that can be found at a wowo-- a sort of Chinese 7-11). Then we hiked up the stairs (there are so many stairs in China) to the second or third floor, which had a lounge and another refreshment counter. We sat down about 30 minutes early.

A little boy was seated next to Maria, who had pulled her Gameboy out to pass the time. He watched her play Pokemon until the movie began. I went out and got a peach milk drink. If I ever have babies they will be all messed up from the growth hormones in those flavored milks.

There were no previews before the movie. Only commercials. One was for Volkswagen, and was in Chinese, but at the end it said "Das Auto" in this really manly German voice. We cracked up. There was also a google.cn commercial. Super interesting.

The movie was in English, but it had Chinese subtitles, and I was surprised by how much I could read. It was fun to listen for the reactions of the rest of the audience: when they laughed, when they started murmuring among themselves, when the guy behind us picked up his phone and had a full conversation.

I ate dinner at the Shamrock with Sara(h), Maria, Clare, and Audrey. I had a veggie sandwich. The cheese was obviously soy, but the avocado was so good. And it came with a mini salad and fries.

Then we went to the Jellyfish for lady's night. I played pool with Audrey and Clare. It was laughable how terrible we were. Some tall guys were obviously getting annoyed with how long we were taking, but they were tall so I forgave them.

The next day was my real birthday, and Sunday, but we had class at 8:30! We have to make up classes on the weekends for the classes we will miss during the Mid-Autumn Festival later this week.

After class Maria and I visited the bamboo forest next to the school. It was beautiful and full of tea houses and restaurants where retired people sit at bamboo tables and chat. Maria and I drank tea and did homework at one place, and ate lunch at another. I think it was the spiciest meal I have had so far.

Class from 4 to 9 after that. Culture and Society was about Chinese Education. Our Rural Minority Experience Seminar was all over the place. All I know is that Adam rapped in four different languages and pretended to be a football team prepping to go to Tibet.

I shared the cake that Sara(h) bought for me for my birthday. It also came with a paper crown, tiny plates, and the strangest plastic forks.

At the end of class a man from a high school that preps students to study abroad in America came with a group of nine students. They introduced themselves. The boys were outgoing and talkative. The girls were really quiet and shy.

Today (Monday) we met more students who are in the Business school here are Sichuan University. We were each assigned to a group who we will tutor/ converse with throughout the rest of the semester. My group has three students, all freshmen. Delilah named herself after the song "Hey There Delilah," Forrest is named after Forrest Gump, and Diva adapted her Chinese name.

I went to dinner with Clare and Joanna's group. I was happy to find out today that Chinese people also have difficulty picking things up with chopsticks sometimes, have difficulty with spicy dishes, and aren't accustomed to the heat and humidity.


This is a really long post. Sorry for that! Also, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I really appreciate it! I read all of the wall posts on facebook through my email notifications, but I can't get onto facebook to reply to them. Thank you for those. I had a wonderful birthday weekend, despite the classes. Maybe the classes even helped.

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Photos

Rompers!
Audrey and Clare

Chinese Fast food
best ever

Comments

[Mommy]

: )
Glad you had a nice birthday. Have a great time in Tibet . . . . remember PICTURES! I sent Daniel the picture and the article and he got it now. He said they were great. I will let you know if they end up in the paper. Love you lots and lots.

[Katherine]

Ha, Forrest! Tell him that I like his name choice :D