Thursday night Kara's Chinese friend Cabby took us out to dinner in the citywith some of his friends. We were given a private banquet room on the second floor of the restaurant. (This has been pretty standard. Many restaurants do this.) Cabby is president of the English Club at the university. He's
HILARIOUS. He's got a lot of energy and is very outspoken. His friend Tom is much more subdued and very sweet. I tried a few new dishes that I liked, especially the niu nai mai pian zhou, which is a cold milk soup that has what I think is oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit and huge chunks of sugar. The tang zha nan gua tiao (fried pumpkin) was also good. We were there probably about three hours and drank too much beer. After dinner, KTV! (kareoke television). The place was really fancy. It's about four stories, with a very big lobby where you can buy drinks and snacks to bring upstairs. They give each group a private room with couches, a TV and a kareoke machine. Apparently at some KTV places you can hire girls to come keep you company and poor your drinks while you sing kareoke. We passed. Maybe next time. We alternated between Chinese and English songs. The "music videos" that played along with the songs were some of the cheesiest I've ever seen. Every once in a while an actual music video would play instead of the Kareoke adap
ted song, and we went crazy when we found Michael Jackson "Thriller." Seriously, "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal" are two of the best ever made. (Some would argue that "Billie Jean" easily takes the cake over "Smooth Criminal," but I thought it was kind of boring.) ANYWAY, it was a lot of fun, everyone made a fool of themselves, as per usual with kareoke. Yesterday (friday) Kara and Zack took us to meet their Chinese friend JJ and see his new bar which is opening next weekend. It's still under renovation right now. JJ is Zack's best friend and roommate, and he loves foreigners, and so his bar is geared specifically to them, especially Americans. (Someone already drew a picture of Stewie on the wall.) It's located on the main prostitution street in Dongying. Hmm. Not sure if that will help or hinder. Probably help. There is a huge sign on the outside
of the bar that you can't miss and will definitely attract English speaking foreigners. I took a picture. Take a look. JJ's lingo is very Americanized (yo, girl, put yo f*#&$ing number in ma phone.) and it's clear he wrote the sign. After JJ's we went to a hot pot place for dinner. Hot pot is noodles and broth with yummy meats and veggies mixed in, but you add the noodles and goodies to the broth yourself at the very last minute when you are served. Apparently they're also called over the bridge noodles. It comes from an old Chinese story about an intellectual who would go out to the gardens to study, and his wife would bring him the soup for lunch. But, since she had to walk pretty far and cross a bridge, the noodles were always cold by the time the intellectual ate them. So the solution was to add the noodles at the last minute. I don't really get it because wouldn't he just be adding noodles to cold broth? I think I've got to get my story straighten
ed. In any case, it was very good and a nice change from the heavy greasy food that we've been eating a lot of lately. Today Cabby helped me buy a cell phone, which was an experience. We went to about four different places to compare prices and bargain. We ended up at a HUGE warehouse full of counters selling electronics. It was daunting. But, I got a good deal, and now I have a cell phone! If anyone wants the number let me know. Tonight we're going to JJ's bar to play video games and meet a bunch of his friends. I'm looking forward to meeting more new people. (Well, a bunch of people meeting me, the new person.) As for teaching, I believe we start this monday, but we STILL don't know who, what, where, or when. Apparently we're supposed to be informed by a Mr. Li, who has yet to appear. I heard a rumor that he's in Florida. I hope he materializes soon. I'm getting a bit anxious. However, last minute is the Chinese way, as I'm swiftly beginning to learn, so I'm sure whatever happens will work. -Carrie
HILARIOUS. He's got a lot of energy and is very outspoken. His friend Tom is much more subdued and very sweet. I tried a few new dishes that I liked, especially the niu nai mai pian zhou, which is a cold milk soup that has what I think is oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit and huge chunks of sugar. The tang zha nan gua tiao (fried pumpkin) was also good. We were there probably about three hours and drank too much beer. After dinner, KTV! (kareoke television). The place was really fancy. It's about four stories, with a very big lobby where you can buy drinks and snacks to bring upstairs. They give each group a private room with couches, a TV and a kareoke machine. Apparently at some KTV places you can hire girls to come keep you company and poor your drinks while you sing kareoke. We passed. Maybe next time. We alternated between Chinese and English songs. The "music videos" that played along with the songs were some of the cheesiest I've ever seen. Every once in a while an actual music video would play instead of the Kareoke adap
ted song, and we went crazy when we found Michael Jackson "Thriller." Seriously, "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal" are two of the best ever made. (Some would argue that "Billie Jean" easily takes the cake over "Smooth Criminal," but I thought it was kind of boring.) ANYWAY, it was a lot of fun, everyone made a fool of themselves, as per usual with kareoke. Yesterday (friday) Kara and Zack took us to meet their Chinese friend JJ and see his new bar which is opening next weekend. It's still under renovation right now. JJ is Zack's best friend and roommate, and he loves foreigners, and so his bar is geared specifically to them, especially Americans. (Someone already drew a picture of Stewie on the wall.) It's located on the main prostitution street in Dongying. Hmm. Not sure if that will help or hinder. Probably help. There is a huge sign on the outside 
of the bar that you can't miss and will definitely attract English speaking foreigners. I took a picture. Take a look. JJ's lingo is very Americanized (yo, girl, put yo f*#&$ing number in ma phone.) and it's clear he wrote the sign. After JJ's we went to a hot pot place for dinner. Hot pot is noodles and broth with yummy meats and veggies mixed in, but you add the noodles and goodies to the broth yourself at the very last minute when you are served. Apparently they're also called over the bridge noodles. It comes from an old Chinese story about an intellectual who would go out to the gardens to study, and his wife would bring him the soup for lunch. But, since she had to walk pretty far and cross a bridge, the noodles were always cold by the time the intellectual ate them. So the solution was to add the noodles at the last minute. I don't really get it because wouldn't he just be adding noodles to cold broth? I think I've got to get my story straighten
ed. In any case, it was very good and a nice change from the heavy greasy food that we've been eating a lot of lately. Today Cabby helped me buy a cell phone, which was an experience. We went to about four different places to compare prices and bargain. We ended up at a HUGE warehouse full of counters selling electronics. It was daunting. But, I got a good deal, and now I have a cell phone! If anyone wants the number let me know. Tonight we're going to JJ's bar to play video games and meet a bunch of his friends. I'm looking forward to meeting more new people. (Well, a bunch of people meeting me, the new person.) As for teaching, I believe we start this monday, but we STILL don't know who, what, where, or when. Apparently we're supposed to be informed by a Mr. Li, who has yet to appear. I heard a rumor that he's in Florida. I hope he materializes soon. I'm getting a bit anxious. However, last minute is the Chinese way, as I'm swiftly beginning to learn, so I'm sure whatever happens will work. -Carrie
No comments:
Post a Comment