4th International foods festival

This story I still cannot believe that this happened. The other day a couple of freinds and I were sitting in a restaurant eating dinner with our teacher. While we where there she got call it was from someone asking if she knew any foreigners who were free on Saturday. We said sure they wanted us to go around and try a few new restaurants and some of there dishes because they where the sichuan style restaurants. So five of us met up at 9 o'clock on Saturday to go test these restaurants out. We first went to the local news paper the Chengdu daily times. There we met some reporters and some other people one of them turned out to be a famous actor and the other a famous food critic. So there we where 5 hungover college students going to 3 of the nicest restaurants in Chengdu with a TV news reporter and 2 famous guys. When we would get to the restaurants the only people that would sit down would be us and the 2 famous guys to try the food. and there would be about 15 people standing around the table watching us and taking pictures. They tried to give us chopstick lessons and everything it was quite comical. Again there was not real reason for us to be there besides the fact that we where foreigners. It turnes out we did make the local news here at 7 O'clock because they filmed all of us saying in Chinese that we loved Chengdu and the food all of which is true but it was still funny. I do not know how this stuff happens but it seems like there is always something weird like this going. I still cannot believe this happened if I had not been there I do not think I would have believed it.

The New York City party

On Friday nigth we went to a party at a club that one of my friends was supposed to be working at. They hired him to work at this bar and serve drinks only he is not a bartender. The only reason they hired him is becaue he is white and he has blonde hair and blue eyes. They payed him 600 Yuan($80) to work for 2 hours. They told all of the Chinese people at the club that they flew him in from Philadelphia just for the party they where having to make it sound more legitimate. It was alright for us because he was able to give us some free drinks. He was not able to give us enough free drinks and it was way to too expensive of a place for us to be drinking in so we where going to leave. Then one of my friends started talking to the same lady that had hired my other friend to do the bartending. They had entertainment on stage all night like some bands and violinists. So my friend said hey if I get up there to dance will you get us some free beers. They told him that if he would dance for 1o miutes then they would give us 12 beers. So we where pretty excited. I was just sitting there talking to him and I said man I would dance for free beer and he said oh that would be great because I cannot dance for 10 minutes by myself. So I got roped into taking turns dancing at a club on stage by myself for free beer. It was a really bizarre experience becaue I cannot dance. Again they only wanted us to do that because we are foreigners. But hey it was fun and we got free beer so I cannot complain. That was not the only thing I got this weekend because I was foreign you really need to read the next story for that one.

Brazillian Bar B cue

I have a bunch of stories that I want to share with everyone today so I will start with one of the shorter ones. I ate at another interesting restaurant on Friday. It is called Brazillian Bar b cue but it has a chinese buffet inside with people dressed like old Germans. I could not make this kind of restaurant up if I wanted. You pay 30 Yuan ($4) with this you get pretty much all the meet you can eat and beer you can drink. The meat is anything from sirloin to pork to squid and the beer is brewed inside the restaurant. It only lasts from 11-230 so it is not like you can sit there all day and just drink beer but we tried. After we where done eating we still wanted to stay and drink beer so instead of just sitting there sipping our beers we decided to play quarters inside the restaurant for about an hour and a half. By the time we left there where about 10 people from wait staff around our table watching us and laughing at the foreigners it was quite an experience. It was only the first of a series of strange things that happened this weekend.

Karaoke

Hello everyone it is me again I had kind of a crazy weekend this weekend and I wanted to share part of it with everyone. I got a chance to do one of the most asain things there is this weekend we went and sang Karaoke last night. We where out celebrating my teachers birthday with her and some of here friends. In America going out and partying with one of your teachers is not something that is common but it China from what I understand it typical and perfectly Ok. With that being said it was again one of the most interesting places that i have been. I am not for sure if it was typical of all Karaoke bars in the states so i really have no frame of reference. It as on the top floor of a huge building and when you walk in there where people there to greet you and there was a huge snack bar there and it smelt like popcorn. It really did remind me of the lobby of movie theater. Then we went to our own room which could possible seat 10 people and we just sat in there and sang Karaoke for about 2 hours. The whole time we where in the room they kept bringing us drinks or whatever we waned and plates of fresh fruit like they seem to do at any Chinese bar. Now for those of you who know me know that I am not much of a singer but I had been drinking for a couple of hours before we got there so it did not matter in the end. They had a wide variety of American music so we where able to sing everything from Billy Joel to Johnny Cash. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I hope I was able to give you all some idea of what this was like because it very popular in China and other Asian countries.

Buying a bike

Even though I already have 2 news posts this week I did something today that I must tell people about. Brian and I have been looking for a good place to buy a bike around here for quite a while. We looked at new bikes and they where too expensive and we looked a old bikes and they where not good either. So we asked around until we finally got someone to tell us where we could buy good used bikes. This afternoon we went there and the bikes we got I cannot for sure say that they where stolen but mine still had some plastic on it from when it came out of the box. There where virtually the same bike as we could find in the new bike store but it was about 150 Yuan($20) cheaper. I am sure we probably still paid too much for them but what the heck we did it ourselves using our own Chinese skills so we figured all in all we came out ahead. We ended up paying about 250 yuan($35). As if buying the bike on the stolen bike street was not enough the street just happened to be about 3 miles from where we live. So we had to bike 3 miles in rush hour traffic all the way back home. Let me tell you, you have not lived until you have ridden your bike down a busy road during rush hour as fast as you can. I saw my life flash before my eyes at least 3 times. You had to dodge cars, people, other bikes, and scooters all at the same time. It was one of the funnest things I have done since I have been in China. Every street has a bike lane so that is relatively safe but the bike lane is even more crowded than the street since there are about 3 times as many bikes here as cars. For example one time while riding home today we came around a corner and there where was a bus stopped where we were supposed to ride so being the geniuss that we are we just road out to the middle of the street and went around them. That might not sound that scary to you but trust me it made me pretty nervous. Anyway the whole way home no one honked at us or yelled so we figured we did prety well. Because if you are anyones way here they will not hesitate to honk at you or let you know they are coming and that you better get out of there way. Anyway I hope I was able to express how fun it was to buy and ride my bike home to you but I have a feeling that I was not too successful I am getting tired and probably and I am basically rambling at this point. thanks for reading. Goodnight.

Interesting story

I just thought of something funny that happened this weekend that I wanted to share with you guys that I forgot to put in my last post. You may not think it is as funny as I do because you where not there but I will try and tell it as best I can. So one of my friends and I decide to check out this old antique market place that we had never been to before. So we get in a cab and head down to there we finall get there and my friend is up front paying for that cab and as he is doing that he is opening the door. I was watching him pay and trying to talk to the cab driver to make sure we had enough and that everything was Ok. Then I hear this loud thud sound. I was like what the hell was that. It turns out that as Brian was opening the door right when get all the way open at its apex a guy road by on his bike. The door knocked the guy over and into a car and an orange cone that happened to be sitting next us. It took about 10 seconds for me to realize all of this I was really concerned the guy was going to be mad but Brian just tried to help him up but he was just ignoring him acting like you did not need. Then we tried to say we where sorry and then the guy who Brian knocked over started having words with the cab driver so we just kind of walked off. We later learned that in China you are not supposed to help people up even if you caused them to fall down because by you helping them up it may cause them to lose face. Which is a whole other topic for an entire post in itself I will write about it and try and explain it if I can ever totally figure out the concept of the Chinese saving face it is very interesting. I thought that story was pretty funny but like I said if you where not there maybe you didn't just wanted to share i.

Small Businesses

There is not much new with me nothing really big has happened with me lately. There are a few things that I would like to share with you about small businesses in China. These can include anything from a small convenience store type place to haircut shop to restaraunts. Unlike in America small businesses are everwhere the streets are lined with all kinds of stores. There are some stores that i have no idea what they do in them others pretty normal but in general you would never find them most of them run the way the are run in the states. For example I had to get my first haircut in China the other day. First of all I had noticed that all of the haircut places where definately not the same as back home. There seemed to be about 5 too many people working in all of them and some of them would be open from 9AM-12AM really odd hours. The one we went was pretty nice but it was strange only the men cut hair and only the women would wash your hair. It was a very clearly defined difference between the work the men did and the women very interesting. It was not too bad though I just took a picture in and showed them what I wanted it turned out really well actually and I got a cut, Shampoo and conditioner for about 6 Yuan (75 cents). Another interesting store is what we call the friendly store it is a small store right next where we live that sells anything from ice cream to batteries to beer. The people in it are really friendly and they always try to teach us Chinese whenever we go in. The strangest thing about it is that the people who own it live there and work there all day. It is open for at least 14 hours a day and they are always there I have never seen anyone but them working there. The live right in the back of the shop just a Father, Mother and daughter. They are always friendly but I do not think they ever get to go anywhere it is really kind of sad. I hope this post was interesting to you not much has gone on lately but I just thought you may find this interesting.

Wuhan trip continued

The next day while in Wuhan we visited a place called yellow crane tower. This was beautiful pagoda tower. It is a design of an ancient tower that was located on the site but over the past 2300 years has burned down and been ravaged. There are many famous artists who have been inspired by the tower and the views that it offers. It is truly a magnificant building. After we visited the yellow crane tower we went to see where my teacher worked and she showed me her office and university. She is very proud of her school because not only is she an english teacher there but her parents where also teachers there and her husband attended the school so she was very excited to shot it too me. It was beautiful campus not that much different than a school in the states. The only difference is they have way more dorms for the students because they are required to live on campus all four years. The last day I was in Wuhan was fun we visited another famous university there and i got a lot of great pictures it was a really neat old campus. Then after that I made my first trip to a Chinese Walmart. It was really cool place it was entirely underground and to my surprise was not as different from a walmart in the states as I thought. The main difference was the type of food they sold there they had huge tanks of live fish and live crabs on display it was really bizarre at first but ther clothes where the same. They had DVD's, electronics and everything you would find in one back home. I really thought that was comforting and good to know. That was my trip in a summation I could have expanded more but I do not have enough. Thanks for reading and I hope something fun happens to me this week so that I can have another post for you.

Wuhan

This post is about my actual trip while I was in Wuhan. As I said before I stayed with my teacher at her home and really got to know how she lived and got to know her family. She was an excellent host I do not think I was ever hungry or wanted for anything the entire time I was there. The food was maginificent. I loved almost everything that we ate and I actually developed a taste for Tofu while I was there which is weird because I never thought I would ever like that stuff. Where do I begin the first day was packed with activities we visited a beautiful area called East Lake which was crowded because of the holiday but also a lot of fun. We took a paddle boat out on the lake and did a little sightseeing that way which was a lot of fun. The next place we went was a famous buddhist temple called Guiyuan temple which is one of the holiest buddhist temples. It was really beautiful I understand that it is kind of rare place for the area because it survived mainly intact through the cultural revolution. The next place that we went I feel really showed me the scope and the personality of Wuhan. We went to there most famous walking street which is basically and outside mall. The amount of people there was staggering I know that I say this alot but it truly is amazing. I have some pictures that almost grasp the number but not quite I have never seen that many people in one area unless it was a music concert or sporting evernt or something of that nature not just mall. The place that we ate at that night was one of the coolest places I have been to in China. It is a street in downtown that basically has huge outside restaurants. These are loud places with people talking and street vendors selling things and musicians going around to different tables asking if they could play a song for someone. The food here was excellent and the atmosphere was one of a kind. I really enjoyed it.

Trip to Wuhan

This week was the Chinese National Holiday. I took this oppurtunity to go and visit one of my old teachers from K-state. She lives in Wuhan and was just a visiting teacher last year at K-state. She was very kind to me and really encouraged me to learn Chinese so I wanted to pay her a visit while I was here. I told you about my actual traveling experience in my previous blog so I do not need to elaborate anymore on why interesting the plane ride as from Chengdu to Wuhan which is probably the same distance from Kansas City to Chicago. First of all Wuhan is a massive city again I cannot tell you quite how big this city was. It is actually a conglomeration of 3 cities the population is well over 1o million. It lies on the Yangtze river and has 3 enormous bridges crossing the river connecting all 3 of the cities. Wuhan is exactly what I pictured China being like before I got here. It is not as beautiful as Chengdu but it is massive and growing quickly. It had almost as many construction cranes as Beijing which is saying something. Wuhan is also and interesting place because it has always been a city that was defined by the river and the commerce that goes up and down it. In one area that is called the riverfront area where people go to be next to river. There are a number of old buildings all built in European style because in the early 1900's There where a lot of European interests in trading on the river. I actually have a picture of neat old building that had "National Bank of New York City" carved into the facade it was really peculiar and also very interesting. Anyway I just wanted to give a little introduction on Wuhan and while I was there before I talked about my trip.

Traveling in China

Hello everyone I am back. I just got back from a trip visiting my old teacher from K-state she lives in Wuhan which is about 600 miles east of here. Because I just spent the last part of the week traveling I thought I would share some stories about traveling alone in China. First off my best piece of advice I can give is do not fly on China eastern airlines. I have flown with them twice and neither of them have been a lot of fun. I flew with them on the way to Wuhan it was the worst flight I have ever had. There was a guy in my row who did not stop coughing the entire time and there where babies crying it was not fun. That was not the worst part though that is when twice while flying we hit turbulence that caused my stomach to have that sinking feeling like you are on roller coaster or on the Haynes lake road on. This was compounded by people on the plane screaming which made it more terrifying because I could hardly understand what anyone on the plane was saying. It was a rather interesting adventure. While traveling in China I have to use a lot of taxis. Which is an adventure in itself these guys can drive with any one that drives on a nascar track on Sunday afternoons. Places where you would never even think of trying to fit in these guys drive through it no problem. I have seen them make a left turn from the far right lane. If that sounds dangerous that is because it is. Trafficd lights are more like suggestions than actually enforcable laws. Even though I see this kind of driving every day I could probably count on one hand the number of accidents I have seen which is amazing. The scariest cab rides are the one where the driver is really getting into and weaving in and out of cars and really moving and then we get to a stoplight and he puts his seatbelt on. Which is fine but then when you are in the back seat you look for your seatbelt and you find that it does not exist that is when I tend to get nervous. Anyway I am sure this is topic a will return to later but I thought I would share some of the fun things that happened to me this weekend.