I might become a broken record this week, but
MIDTERMS ARE COMING!
I'm taking a break from studying my old flashcards to check my email and update all my loving constituents worldwide. Today my JingDu professor started reviewing us on old material from the first several chapters. That was helpful. I've got a script for my HuiHua class's dialogue that I have to do with a Korean girl. I need to internalize the thing by Wednesday. As far as TingLi, I've no real idea how to study for listening other than to actually put the cd into my computer and listen to it. Oh, that prospect is tantalizing.
I wish you couldn't smoke in restaurants here. The people directly behind me are puffing away on something that smells terrible. Maybe just cheap tobacco? It keeps wafting my direction and irritating my already cold-ridden lungs. I'm in Coughsville.
Oh, I learned something today. I now understand why those tiny little candles used in jack-o-lanterns are called tea lights. You put them in the little bowls that go under the teapot. They keep tea warm. Lights go on all over the world! I can sense I just taught you something. (It is only marginally sad to me that that is what I learned today.)
Also, this evening I talked to the taxi driver for a few minutes about where my roommate and I are from and where we wanted to go. He asked how old my roommate is. Then he wanted my roommate to guess his age. He was 50, by the way. I told him that I was very hungry, and that we wanted to go to a coffee restaurant. He asked why we'd go there if I was hungry. I told him that they have "很好吃饭" which translates loosely to "yummy food." He agreed with our decision making, even if he'd never heard of Texas and we'd only been in Beijing 2 1/2 months. He thinks my Chinese is very good. I think he is lying, but I'm vaguely conflicted, because they don't work for tips. So I told him that he's too nice.
T
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A Three-Day Birthday!
Well, I made it through my 21st. Apparently my friends do like me, after all. I went to my usual Saturday morning Starbucks spot and did my normal thing until my American friend called and asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch. This is normal, as well. So I said yes, and we agreed to meet at the same pizza place we went to a couple Fridays ago. So I packed up and took the subway and a bus over to Chaoyang and then walked to the restaurant from there. On the way to the restaurant, I actually caught up with the American and my roommate. So we went in together. They had taken me to Outback Steakhouse the night before for my birthday, so I was kind of expecting not for this to be another birthday celebration, but it was. So we had a good time at lunch. Then my roommate said he had to go meet someone, so the American and I went to a Starbucks in Lido, which was a bit of a jaunt away by taxi.
At Xingbake Kafei we studied and had coffee and sat. Eventually my roommate caught up with us and sat for a while, but he seemed preoccupied and kept going out to talk on his phone. Suspicious. Then we caught a taxi back to the subway station where my bike was parked, and my roommate and I went into the Wu-Mart across the street from the station. Our friend took off to take a shower before we were slated to meet friends for my actual birthday dinner. So we went to the store, didn't find what we wanted, and left. He rode the back of my bike, as per normal. I wanted to go up and put my heavy messenger bag in my room, but he said we were to go to our friend's dorm room. Suspicious, I thought, since we never go over there. As we walked down the hall, I kept thinking, "Ok, there will be a bunch of people in his room." Nope. He was actually getting ready. When he finished, we all went over to our dorm so we could get ready ourselves.
When I opened the door to the dorm, I expected people. Nothing, though. Then I opened my suspiciously closed bedroom door. Surprise! There were 10 people in my hall of a bedroom. I'm pretty sure that's a fire code violation. It was really cool, though. Classmates and friends were there, and we were to go to dinner. I still thought we were going to Lush, which is a pretty decent, normal little place. So we went down to get taxis, and my roommate and Chanelle were asking who all had business cards for the restaurant. I was like, "I know where it is, it's no big deal." Then I was informed that we were indeed not going to Lush at all. Surprise!
We had reservations for our own little room at a nice Korean restaurant. Now, I've never been big on Korean food. This place, however, was really good. At Korean barbecues you order raw meet and there is a grill set into your table, and you cook it yourself. So that's what we did. At the restaurant we were 14 in all. That's people from four different continents for my birthday. We had a really nice time, and I was told happy birthday in 10 languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Indonesian, Tagalog (Filipino), Swedish, French, Spanish, and Korean. There was a special birthday cake that had been procured for this occasion (thus my roommate going to meet someone...), and it was moist chocolate cake with a rich chocolate icing. One of the very few Tex-Mex places in town had made it, and it was very much like home. It was really good cake.
After dinner, we changed venues for something that I actually quite adore now, and I know it's because I'm asian in my soul. Karaoke. Some of my friends had to go on home, but 10 of us went to a karaoke place and got a room. We proceeded to sing horribly for an hour and a half or so. Songs including (but not limited to) "Stayin' Alive," "My Girl," "Like a Virgin," "Back in the USSR," "Surfin' USA," "Lemon Tree (?)," "I'm So Excited," "Wild Thing," and a few Korean hiphop songs made our wee hours of the morning amusing to say the least. It ended with my very special version of "The Macarena," which, it turns out, is mostly in Spanish. As luck would have it, I'm actually quite talented at pseudo-rapping Spanish lyrics to a song that spawned the bane of dance's existence for years.
"¡Dale a tu cuerpo alegia, Macarena!"
I got to bed at 2. It was a really fun birthday with neither strippers nor booze. However, I did eat a fish-shaped waffle thing that had a sweet bean paste inside. It was bought on the street under a bridge. It was delicious, by the way. Also, a Korean bought me a figurine of a bull covered entirely in tiny seashells. I also got a piggybank that is a little boy cowboy. An Indonesian classmate gave that to me. It's adorable. Asians give the best nonsequitir gifts.
Today I hung out for a while with Butterbean's family. We had lunch after International. I went alone, but I saw them there. Speaking of, during the collection, a woman sang "O Happy Day," and my day actually became extraordinarily happy. She was incredible. I'm glad I had shaken her hand eariler in the morning. On the way out I want to tell her how much I loved the song, but she was talking to a Canadian about a record producer friend-of-a. I'm glad. I'd buy it.
So I went with the family to retrieve a very important stuffed lion from a restaurant, and then we were off to McDonald's Store, as the elder blonde kid calls it. He fell asleep, though, so we went to Sizzler instead. It was really good, and it was considered day three of my birthday extravaganza. You know what I love about Sizzler? It has the best salad bar I've seen in Beijing. It's really a very good salad bar. The food was great, too.
After the Sizzler lunch wound down, I decided to part ways with the family and cross the street to a different Starbucks! I know. I'm a walking urban college cliche. I studied a good bit, though, and before I got online. I also eavesdropped as some people talked about international adoption. A woman who was in here works with an orphanage about an hour away, and she was talking to two gentlemen who do work in developing countries. It was such a cool conversation, but I had to pretend to be reading or something, because I didn't want to butt in. It makes me glad to see that there are people out there working to protect the widows and orphans. That's something that gives me hope.
I'm out of battery and story and coffee. I guess it's time to go home.
T
p.s. I know how I talk about places in this city as though anyone reading this knows where they are. One day, I'm going to draw a map of it and scan it in just so you'll have an idea of Beijing geography. It'll be excellent. But I haven't a scanner right now. All my geography is known in relation to the subway. Funny, no?
At Xingbake Kafei we studied and had coffee and sat. Eventually my roommate caught up with us and sat for a while, but he seemed preoccupied and kept going out to talk on his phone. Suspicious. Then we caught a taxi back to the subway station where my bike was parked, and my roommate and I went into the Wu-Mart across the street from the station. Our friend took off to take a shower before we were slated to meet friends for my actual birthday dinner. So we went to the store, didn't find what we wanted, and left. He rode the back of my bike, as per normal. I wanted to go up and put my heavy messenger bag in my room, but he said we were to go to our friend's dorm room. Suspicious, I thought, since we never go over there. As we walked down the hall, I kept thinking, "Ok, there will be a bunch of people in his room." Nope. He was actually getting ready. When he finished, we all went over to our dorm so we could get ready ourselves.
When I opened the door to the dorm, I expected people. Nothing, though. Then I opened my suspiciously closed bedroom door. Surprise! There were 10 people in my hall of a bedroom. I'm pretty sure that's a fire code violation. It was really cool, though. Classmates and friends were there, and we were to go to dinner. I still thought we were going to Lush, which is a pretty decent, normal little place. So we went down to get taxis, and my roommate and Chanelle were asking who all had business cards for the restaurant. I was like, "I know where it is, it's no big deal." Then I was informed that we were indeed not going to Lush at all. Surprise!
We had reservations for our own little room at a nice Korean restaurant. Now, I've never been big on Korean food. This place, however, was really good. At Korean barbecues you order raw meet and there is a grill set into your table, and you cook it yourself. So that's what we did. At the restaurant we were 14 in all. That's people from four different continents for my birthday. We had a really nice time, and I was told happy birthday in 10 languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Indonesian, Tagalog (Filipino), Swedish, French, Spanish, and Korean. There was a special birthday cake that had been procured for this occasion (thus my roommate going to meet someone...), and it was moist chocolate cake with a rich chocolate icing. One of the very few Tex-Mex places in town had made it, and it was very much like home. It was really good cake.
After dinner, we changed venues for something that I actually quite adore now, and I know it's because I'm asian in my soul. Karaoke. Some of my friends had to go on home, but 10 of us went to a karaoke place and got a room. We proceeded to sing horribly for an hour and a half or so. Songs including (but not limited to) "Stayin' Alive," "My Girl," "Like a Virgin," "Back in the USSR," "Surfin' USA," "Lemon Tree (?)," "I'm So Excited," "Wild Thing," and a few Korean hiphop songs made our wee hours of the morning amusing to say the least. It ended with my very special version of "The Macarena," which, it turns out, is mostly in Spanish. As luck would have it, I'm actually quite talented at pseudo-rapping Spanish lyrics to a song that spawned the bane of dance's existence for years.
"¡Dale a tu cuerpo alegia, Macarena!"
I got to bed at 2. It was a really fun birthday with neither strippers nor booze. However, I did eat a fish-shaped waffle thing that had a sweet bean paste inside. It was bought on the street under a bridge. It was delicious, by the way. Also, a Korean bought me a figurine of a bull covered entirely in tiny seashells. I also got a piggybank that is a little boy cowboy. An Indonesian classmate gave that to me. It's adorable. Asians give the best nonsequitir gifts.
Today I hung out for a while with Butterbean's family. We had lunch after International. I went alone, but I saw them there. Speaking of, during the collection, a woman sang "O Happy Day," and my day actually became extraordinarily happy. She was incredible. I'm glad I had shaken her hand eariler in the morning. On the way out I want to tell her how much I loved the song, but she was talking to a Canadian about a record producer friend-of-a. I'm glad. I'd buy it.
So I went with the family to retrieve a very important stuffed lion from a restaurant, and then we were off to McDonald's Store, as the elder blonde kid calls it. He fell asleep, though, so we went to Sizzler instead. It was really good, and it was considered day three of my birthday extravaganza. You know what I love about Sizzler? It has the best salad bar I've seen in Beijing. It's really a very good salad bar. The food was great, too.
After the Sizzler lunch wound down, I decided to part ways with the family and cross the street to a different Starbucks! I know. I'm a walking urban college cliche. I studied a good bit, though, and before I got online. I also eavesdropped as some people talked about international adoption. A woman who was in here works with an orphanage about an hour away, and she was talking to two gentlemen who do work in developing countries. It was such a cool conversation, but I had to pretend to be reading or something, because I didn't want to butt in. It makes me glad to see that there are people out there working to protect the widows and orphans. That's something that gives me hope.
I'm out of battery and story and coffee. I guess it's time to go home.
T
p.s. I know how I talk about places in this city as though anyone reading this knows where they are. One day, I'm going to draw a map of it and scan it in just so you'll have an idea of Beijing geography. It'll be excellent. But I haven't a scanner right now. All my geography is known in relation to the subway. Funny, no?
Friday, November 9, 2007
Today is kind of my birthday. I say kind of because I crossed the International Dateline and so I think I won't actually have been born until sometime tomorrow morning. That said, I think it doesn't really matter. It's 'Vember Ten! where I am. (That's something that only my parents and Karol Guthrie will understand.)
A twenty-first birthday is something odd in Western culture. It's considered the age of actually becoming an adult in society. I know that 21 is still young, but at this age I feel that I should be accepting some responsibility. My country says that I can drink and vote and fight in wars and rent carpet shampooers. I must be pretty responsible. I must be pretty cool. All that said, though, I have never voted, I would despise being in the armed services, and I rarely vacuum. As far as drinking, I'm not wild about that, either. So what does this birthday really mean? I get the sense that it means that I need to be a real person. I don't need to be as relient on people holding my hand in every grown-up situation. I will still ask for advice and guidance, no doubt, but in reality the decisions and their consequences are mine. If I want to rent an apartment, buy a car, move to Seattle, it's all me. If I want to bungee jump, go to culinary school or adopt an orphan, I can. These are none of my actual plans (except the apartment), but it's interesting to think that they are actual options in my life.
If 21 is adulthood, responsibility, and general grown-ness, then why was I in China before I got this old and sagely? It is curious that children are allowed to move around the world alone. I'm certainly glad I am as old as I am at this juncture in my life, that is, I'm glad I've gotten this far and here. That sounds more melancholic than I intended. I just mean, I regret actions in my life, but I don't regret the lessons I learned subsequently.
So I'm a grown person, I guess. I feel like I'm standing with my hands in my pockets and shrugging in the face of some person in a business suit and power tie.
I got a very nice cake with my class yesterday. I'll post pictures when I get them from Chanelle.
T
A twenty-first birthday is something odd in Western culture. It's considered the age of actually becoming an adult in society. I know that 21 is still young, but at this age I feel that I should be accepting some responsibility. My country says that I can drink and vote and fight in wars and rent carpet shampooers. I must be pretty responsible. I must be pretty cool. All that said, though, I have never voted, I would despise being in the armed services, and I rarely vacuum. As far as drinking, I'm not wild about that, either. So what does this birthday really mean? I get the sense that it means that I need to be a real person. I don't need to be as relient on people holding my hand in every grown-up situation. I will still ask for advice and guidance, no doubt, but in reality the decisions and their consequences are mine. If I want to rent an apartment, buy a car, move to Seattle, it's all me. If I want to bungee jump, go to culinary school or adopt an orphan, I can. These are none of my actual plans (except the apartment), but it's interesting to think that they are actual options in my life.
If 21 is adulthood, responsibility, and general grown-ness, then why was I in China before I got this old and sagely? It is curious that children are allowed to move around the world alone. I'm certainly glad I am as old as I am at this juncture in my life, that is, I'm glad I've gotten this far and here. That sounds more melancholic than I intended. I just mean, I regret actions in my life, but I don't regret the lessons I learned subsequently.
So I'm a grown person, I guess. I feel like I'm standing with my hands in my pockets and shrugging in the face of some person in a business suit and power tie.
I got a very nice cake with my class yesterday. I'll post pictures when I get them from Chanelle.
T
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
It isn't terribly often in life that one can quote Loverboy and feel justified. This is one such time, though, and I feel I can get away with it. So, everybody's workin' for the weekend. No lie. I can't wait for the weekend. It's going to be studious, I'm sure, but I just don't want to be in classes anymore. There ought to be a break after midterms, not at the one month mark!
Today was normal as far as classes go. I just didn't really want to be in the classroom today. After class I ran an errand and then went to lunch with some classmates. I think there were more Indonesians than anyone else at the table. Just a Korean, Filipino, Swede, and me along with three Indonesians.
Oh, by the by, super-big thanks shout-out goes to the crew back at home. Thanks for the birthday cards! Admittedly I opened them earlier than my birthday, but I think you'll permit me. And I don't know how you could change the fact now, honestly. Anyway, they were a total surprise, and they made my day! I promise I'll read them all again on Saturday and make surprised faces. The one marked do not open until Dec. 25 is in my safe, and I have not opened it.
On birthday notes, I don't know what has been planned to celebrate my arrival at the legal drinking age in the U.S. (which is utterly meaningless everywhere else). I think my classmates have something up their sleeves--probably a cake--and I'm marginally nervous because the prof said something about it almost being my birthday today. What kind of set-up is class tomorrow? Also, my friends, I guess, are doing some planning. I've no idea what it will be, though. I offered very little suggestion other than "No strippers, no booze, and I don't want to sit at home."
I need to do some laundry.
T
Today was normal as far as classes go. I just didn't really want to be in the classroom today. After class I ran an errand and then went to lunch with some classmates. I think there were more Indonesians than anyone else at the table. Just a Korean, Filipino, Swede, and me along with three Indonesians.
Oh, by the by, super-big thanks shout-out goes to the crew back at home. Thanks for the birthday cards! Admittedly I opened them earlier than my birthday, but I think you'll permit me. And I don't know how you could change the fact now, honestly. Anyway, they were a total surprise, and they made my day! I promise I'll read them all again on Saturday and make surprised faces. The one marked do not open until Dec. 25 is in my safe, and I have not opened it.
On birthday notes, I don't know what has been planned to celebrate my arrival at the legal drinking age in the U.S. (which is utterly meaningless everywhere else). I think my classmates have something up their sleeves--probably a cake--and I'm marginally nervous because the prof said something about it almost being my birthday today. What kind of set-up is class tomorrow? Also, my friends, I guess, are doing some planning. I've no idea what it will be, though. I offered very little suggestion other than "No strippers, no booze, and I don't want to sit at home."
I need to do some laundry.
T
I'm sick with some nasty cold stuff. My nose is runny/congested, and my throat is all scratchy/coughy/mucusy. It's swell being me.
I've been studying tonight. Now it's time to cycle home and go to bed.
Midterms in 8 days.
My friend down south is out of the hospital, which is a relief for him and his family.
My roommate is lecturing me about investing in stocks and buying real estate. I'm positive he doesn't know what he's talking about. This is not abnormal. At least this time it isn't theology or dating strategies.
T
I've been studying tonight. Now it's time to cycle home and go to bed.
Midterms in 8 days.
My friend down south is out of the hospital, which is a relief for him and his family.
My roommate is lecturing me about investing in stocks and buying real estate. I'm positive he doesn't know what he's talking about. This is not abnormal. At least this time it isn't theology or dating strategies.
T
Monday, November 5, 2007
It's a world of laughter, a world of joy...
Today was Derick's birthday. Zhu ta shengri kuai le! (Because he doesn't know this blog exists, so I just said "Happy birthday to him.")
Today, Austin had his appointment with the DVD shop guy. Turned out that DVD shop guy wanted Austin to teach him to play guitar. Haha. That's so mean of me to accidentally set up. On the bright side, though, I think it's a good link to someone. I watched Austin try to teach someone how to play the guitar--across a language barrier. He doesn't read music or know chords or anything. It's fun!
I tried to buy some minutes for my cell phone today. I went to the convenience store and told the cashier that I wanted to buy a China Mobile card. She said they don't have any. I was like, "What?" Because they are just printed slips like a receipt. It's not as if there is a stock of them lying around or not. I left in a bit of a tiff, because I know how ask for those and they didn't comply. However, I'm learning that this whole play isn't starring me. So I finally decided to believe that maybe they are out of the paper to print them. (I'm choosing not to think things like, "She hates me because I'm white" or whatever, because it's probably not true. And that's called being a paranoid racist, neither of which I aspire to.)
Chanelle got moved across the room today and her place has been taken by an Indonesian guy named Johan Sebastian. I wouldn't put his whole name on here, except that it's Johan Sebastian. That's the best thing ever. He is named after Bach, for Pete's sake! His Chinese name is not nearly as exciting, just a transliteration of Johan. Anyway, he's really nice, and he helps me read, and he won't talk to me in English. That's pretty much why Chanelle and I got split. We speak too much English. Now she's sandwiched between a Japanese girl and a Vietnamese guy. I swear, for Halloween I wanted everyone to wear the folk costumes of their countries and so we could sing "It's a Small World, After All," but I'm fairly sure that suggestion would have been vetoed. And no one wants to see me in buckskins, so, there's always that.
I guess that's all the story-telling I can do today. I need to claw and kick my way back onto the subway. God bless Beijing's rush hours. They remind me that I'm still alive. And tall. And white. And generally not Asian or small or in a bubble.
T
Today, Austin had his appointment with the DVD shop guy. Turned out that DVD shop guy wanted Austin to teach him to play guitar. Haha. That's so mean of me to accidentally set up. On the bright side, though, I think it's a good link to someone. I watched Austin try to teach someone how to play the guitar--across a language barrier. He doesn't read music or know chords or anything. It's fun!
I tried to buy some minutes for my cell phone today. I went to the convenience store and told the cashier that I wanted to buy a China Mobile card. She said they don't have any. I was like, "What?" Because they are just printed slips like a receipt. It's not as if there is a stock of them lying around or not. I left in a bit of a tiff, because I know how ask for those and they didn't comply. However, I'm learning that this whole play isn't starring me. So I finally decided to believe that maybe they are out of the paper to print them. (I'm choosing not to think things like, "She hates me because I'm white" or whatever, because it's probably not true. And that's called being a paranoid racist, neither of which I aspire to.)
Chanelle got moved across the room today and her place has been taken by an Indonesian guy named Johan Sebastian. I wouldn't put his whole name on here, except that it's Johan Sebastian. That's the best thing ever. He is named after Bach, for Pete's sake! His Chinese name is not nearly as exciting, just a transliteration of Johan. Anyway, he's really nice, and he helps me read, and he won't talk to me in English. That's pretty much why Chanelle and I got split. We speak too much English. Now she's sandwiched between a Japanese girl and a Vietnamese guy. I swear, for Halloween I wanted everyone to wear the folk costumes of their countries and so we could sing "It's a Small World, After All," but I'm fairly sure that suggestion would have been vetoed. And no one wants to see me in buckskins, so, there's always that.
I guess that's all the story-telling I can do today. I need to claw and kick my way back onto the subway. God bless Beijing's rush hours. They remind me that I'm still alive. And tall. And white. And generally not Asian or small or in a bubble.
T
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Lucky
I'm in the new coffee place. I know, I know. Too much coffeeshopping, too little real life. It's not that, though. It's just a nice respite from the pink walls and fluorescent overhead lighting. Probably these lights are fluorescent, too, but at least they are warm-toned, not cool.
Friday night a bunch of friends and I went out to Kro's Nest, which is a pizza joint managed by some French guy. This French guy wasn't being particularly nice to us, but it's cool. I had brought my secret, French manager-thwarting weapon: my Chinese language partner. She bypassed the French completely and went to the waitresses. They seated us in like 5 minutes. Frenchy was asking why we didn't have reservations about the time I came back to the group and said, "Hey, we got a couple booths over here." In case you're keeping score back home, that would put us at American/Chinese/Filipino/Singaporean kids: 1. French: 0. I'm awfully smug for a person who, regardless, still paid a decent piece of change for that New York style pizza. As though the French manager doesn't get paid there?
Anyway, it was a great adventure. My conversation partner had (there will be two opportunities to gasp... be ready) 1.) never eaten pizza and 2.) never eaten with a fork and knife. I know that the American contingent out there is probably going "Why would she need a fork and knife for pizza?" It's the super-big pizzeria-style pie that one has to eat that way until a few inches before the crust. Otherwise, it would flop all over the place. She was a trooper, and she later emailed me about how glad she was that we had gone, and how much fun she'd had. If I can do one thing, it's probably to introduce you to something bizarre or otherwise. I'm amassing a collection.
That said, today has been interesting (though yesterday was a dud). This afternoon, I asked Austin (who is the second-semester roommate-to-be) if he'd like to join us other American men to lunch. He agreed, and we went to the Tube Station, which is a restaurant that does sandwiches and pizza and things in that vein. Afterwards, some of us went to the dvd shop where my friend works. He was in there this time. We had a good chat (well, I mean, as good as can be expected since we don't really speak each others' languages well) about why one of my friends was not wearing enough clothes for the weather, and if he was cold. I said, "他很冷" which basically means, "He's very cold." Then we talked about whether or not I play guitar. (Why I know how to say, "I can't play guitar" and, yet I cannot say "I am lost" I will never know.) I told my dvd-store-friend that Austin actually does play guitar. Then we rolled it into an event slated for tomorrow. We're going back around 5 tomorrow so Austin can play guitar in the dvd shop in the back of a clothes shop. I have to go because I got him into this mess. It's going to be a hoot.
Now I'm in my new favorite (right after Starbucks in Xidan) coffeeshop. It's Spinelli Coffee Co., San Francisco, and it's in a mall. What's ridiculous right now is that there are mobs (MOBS!) of people in the middle of the mall crowded around a stage. I asked a worker here who is there (in Chinese) and she answered me in English, "A superstar."
"Is he a singer?"
"No."
"Is he an actor?"
"No."
Oh, no, I thought. This is going to be weird.
"He is from Happy Boys."
"Is that tv?"
"Yes."
Apparently I am less than 100 yards from the Chinese American Idol. And I think I'm sitting in the sindow that is along his escape corridor. I'm waiting this sucker out. I might get to see China's American Idol! How can I not wait?
Fame is so stupid. Honestly. He probably doesn't even sing in English!
T
p.s. One of our friends down pretty far south of me, and nearer the sea, is sick with a mosquito-borne fever. Be thinking about him and his family as he's in the hospital.
p.p.s. Yep, I saw him. He's very thin and has big hair. I think he looks very talented. Just don't ask me his name.
Friday night a bunch of friends and I went out to Kro's Nest, which is a pizza joint managed by some French guy. This French guy wasn't being particularly nice to us, but it's cool. I had brought my secret, French manager-thwarting weapon: my Chinese language partner. She bypassed the French completely and went to the waitresses. They seated us in like 5 minutes. Frenchy was asking why we didn't have reservations about the time I came back to the group and said, "Hey, we got a couple booths over here." In case you're keeping score back home, that would put us at American/Chinese/Filipino/Singaporean kids: 1. French: 0. I'm awfully smug for a person who, regardless, still paid a decent piece of change for that New York style pizza. As though the French manager doesn't get paid there?
Anyway, it was a great adventure. My conversation partner had (there will be two opportunities to gasp... be ready) 1.) never eaten pizza and 2.) never eaten with a fork and knife. I know that the American contingent out there is probably going "Why would she need a fork and knife for pizza?" It's the super-big pizzeria-style pie that one has to eat that way until a few inches before the crust. Otherwise, it would flop all over the place. She was a trooper, and she later emailed me about how glad she was that we had gone, and how much fun she'd had. If I can do one thing, it's probably to introduce you to something bizarre or otherwise. I'm amassing a collection.
That said, today has been interesting (though yesterday was a dud). This afternoon, I asked Austin (who is the second-semester roommate-to-be) if he'd like to join us other American men to lunch. He agreed, and we went to the Tube Station, which is a restaurant that does sandwiches and pizza and things in that vein. Afterwards, some of us went to the dvd shop where my friend works. He was in there this time. We had a good chat (well, I mean, as good as can be expected since we don't really speak each others' languages well) about why one of my friends was not wearing enough clothes for the weather, and if he was cold. I said, "他很冷" which basically means, "He's very cold." Then we talked about whether or not I play guitar. (Why I know how to say, "I can't play guitar" and, yet I cannot say "I am lost" I will never know.) I told my dvd-store-friend that Austin actually does play guitar. Then we rolled it into an event slated for tomorrow. We're going back around 5 tomorrow so Austin can play guitar in the dvd shop in the back of a clothes shop. I have to go because I got him into this mess. It's going to be a hoot.
Now I'm in my new favorite (right after Starbucks in Xidan) coffeeshop. It's Spinelli Coffee Co., San Francisco, and it's in a mall. What's ridiculous right now is that there are mobs (MOBS!) of people in the middle of the mall crowded around a stage. I asked a worker here who is there (in Chinese) and she answered me in English, "A superstar."
"Is he a singer?"
"No."
"Is he an actor?"
"No."
Oh, no, I thought. This is going to be weird.
"He is from Happy Boys."
"Is that tv?"
"Yes."
Apparently I am less than 100 yards from the Chinese American Idol. And I think I'm sitting in the sindow that is along his escape corridor. I'm waiting this sucker out. I might get to see China's American Idol! How can I not wait?
Fame is so stupid. Honestly. He probably doesn't even sing in English!
T
p.s. One of our friends down pretty far south of me, and nearer the sea, is sick with a mosquito-borne fever. Be thinking about him and his family as he's in the hospital.
p.p.s. Yep, I saw him. He's very thin and has big hair. I think he looks very talented. Just don't ask me his name.
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