Bicycle #2

I "lost" my second bicycle today. I bought this bicycle yesterday. And today, while at my home with friends, it was "lost" from right outside my building. Sadness. And it was so cute! It was definitely a girl bike. Light blue with white flowers and a pretty white basket. On tomorrow's agenda...purchase bicycle #3. As well as a few more locks...

Another blooper

So I realized just last night that I have been making a language blooper. All this time I thought I was asking people if they had "boxes" for things that have been bought. But instead I've been asking people if they have facial hair/mustaches! No wonder I got the weird looks from the women! Whoops!

Hangin' Out in the Park

Hanging out last Sunday in Sunlin GongYuan-Forest Park. Had a good time having a picnic and throwing the frisbee with some locals.

Language Blooper

I went and viewed an apartment for a friend. I was feeling pretty good about my Chinese skills and how I had been communicating with the people that were showing me the apartment. But when leaving the apartment I wanted to say that it looked good. But instead I said..."Wo hao kan" which mean "I'm good looking". As soon as I said I realized what I had done but I didn't know what to say to fix it so I just left it at that!

Argh!

This has taken a while, but here are the pictures from my birthday bash with friends. I wanted to dress up like pirates and do Chinese karaoke-a first! I was so surprised at how far everyone went out to dress up like a pirate. It wasn't too hard finding the clothes at a normal clothing store here. We had such a blast! We were all nervous, but ended up having a ball singing some oldies but goodies. We then headed out for Hot Pot for dinner and then back to their house for apple pie a la mode. It was a great night and a birthday I'll never forget!

USA vs. England

I went to the vegetable market yesterday. One of the guys asked me where I was from. I told him "America". He tells me that I'm not from America but that I'm from England. I tried to tell him that no I'm not from England but really am an American. He wouldn't believe me. He laughed at me. Apparently I now look British.

I'm back online

Yesterday I went and bought internet and a phone line and today it was successfully installed. So...I'm back online! Talk to me...

Another experience

So the same day that my bike was "lost" a friend and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite dishes places. We decided to sit outside since it was such nice weather. We were first greeted by some drunk men shouting "hello" at us, to which we ignored and sat down. The left us alone. But as soon as we sat down another drunk man who was also smoking started telling us how great our Chinese was (it's a common compliment to give to foreigners even if all they say is "hello"). We said thank you and continued talking to each other in English. While we were chatting he kept saying random things to us in Chinese to which we continued to ignore.

At one point he came over to our table and offered us cigarettes and some drinks. Telling him no we didn't want any and we didn't smoke and asked him to go away. He would leave so I yelled "fuwuyuanr" (waitress) and asked her to tell him to leave. She was embarassed but did as I asked. A little while later he came over again to tell us he was leaving. We were trying to remain as polite as possible and not cause a scene so we encouraged him to go but all he did was tell us that he was leaving without actually leaving.

My friend looked at me, apologized for what she was about to do and started yelling at him to leave, yelling "gun" which means "scram, get out of here". I yelled for the owner of the restaurant and the waitress to come over and tell them to make him leave. By this point the entire restaurant is still and quiet because well, the foreigners are mad, they're yelling and the owner is over at their table with a waitress and some drunk man. It was crazy. But I learned two good things from this. One is the word "gun", which actually comes in very handy here. And two, that because this is a "save-face" culture it is sometimes appropriate for them to lose face and be embarassed because what they are doing is wrong. I just need to learn when those moments are appropriate and when they aren't. This was a time when it was very appropriate.

China Day

So not a great China Day today. First, the teacher we don't like too much, we had all day instead of the one we love. Then, my bike was "lost"-it got stolen right outside the school. So now I'm on the hunt to purchase a new one. Mafan! Then we have our last volleyball match today. It's the championship. We play best out of three. We won the first, the other team won the second. Right before we are about to start the third game the other team starts complaining to the ref about how our team has two students playing when it's supposed to be an all teachers team. (Which it's really not supposed to be. It's actually supposed to be all students. And the other team is a mixture of students and teachers as well.) They demand that Julie and I not play anymore. They took our numbers and made us leave. Frustration. But you know, I'm not as frustrated as I thought I would be. TIC-This is China.

Oh, moved into my new apartment over the weekend. Things are coming along...

Earthquake

Just wanted everyone to know that yes there was an earthquake here in China and I'm fine. I was getting my hair done and thought I was going to faint but realized it wasn't me, it was the earth shaking. We all ran outside until it stopped. But we're all fine. Just wanted you to know!

Split Pants

A better shot of "split pants" in China.

Sitings

Julie and I were wondering around Xi'An and went into a grocery store to see if they had an import section. Not really. But we did find some other interesting stuff!

I found a Mr. Magoo car. I loved this car when I was a child. All three of us kids loved it and our parents just kept replacing the wheels on it. I think they still have it in the attic for the grandkids one day. I was so excited to see it in China!

The other thing we saw were these Chinese girls trying to sell something. They definitely win best-dressed for the entire store! I had to hide behind a pole to get this shot. This is a typical way for them to sell things-dressing up crazy to draw attention.

Starbucks

So...some friends wanted me to go to Xi'An with them for May holiday, also my birthday weekend. They helped me to go, which I was so thankful for since I really wanted to get out of Dodge really bad. Plus, yeah, it's Xi'An! They have Starbucks and western food and air-conditioning!

So I went and after changing clothes we went straight to Starbucks from the train station and enjoyed a delicious Caramel Frappuccino. Oh and you have to be healthy so we brought an apple. Didn't eat though :)

(Oh, this is actually May 1-my 26th birthday and my first in China!)

I'm back

I'm back from my birthday weekend in Xi'An and it was a blast! Pictures and stories to come soon! They're good!