Days 60 and 61: My First Chinese Party

Saturday morning, I started the day with sleeping in and working on various things, as per my normal. But early in the morning, the Chinese TAs invited us to a party. I don't party much, to be honest, but I decided, why not? I'm only in China once, I might as well at least see what a Chinese party is like.

So I got dressed up for it in a newer dress that I had, and did a bit of grading while we waited for the Chinese TAs to get here from Campus A.

Around 4:00, me, Jessica, and Nick all headed out (since Dom was still getting ready and told us to go on ahead). We went over to meet the Chinese TAs at Campus A. Celia had gone on ahead to the party, and it turned out that Alexandra didn't come (I found out Monday that she had had a dentist's appointment) and so we met Robert and Suri, and they took us down to the party.

They took us in the opposite direction from our apartment as usual, that is, away from campus. I was astonished to realize that after almost two months, I had never been this way before, and I saw a pretty park on the way there that I hoped I could come back and visit.

I also saw a fence that only had red rust at the top of its spokes while the rest of it was black, and I commented on how it appeared as if people had gotten impaled on the fence in the past and their blood had remained. The others were shocked by my vivid imagination, but amused as I realized just how active my imagination really was.

view of a park with planters

gorgeous fountain on the way to the party room

As we kept going, we found a sign for the SkyMall, which looked interesting. I had heard of a giant slide in a mall in Chong Qing, and asked if this was the place. Neither Robert nor Suri knew, and I decided to look it up later.

We headed further in, seeing that it was somewhat deserted, with entire buildings that appeared devoid of stores. Apparently they had just built some of the buildings and they hadn't found tenants yet for them.

We got a bit turned around, but Robert called Celia and got directions from there. We met up with her, and she took us down a side path, and we saw kids' horses for them to swing on. Suri wanted to get on one, and Jessica and Nick followed. I looked on (and snapped a picture) amused as they relived their childhoods.

Reliving their childhoods

Cool painted tires and barrels

Getting in, we were impressed by the setup of the room. There were couches, chairs, a TV for video games, computers for RPGs, 2 tables for playing card games or gathering around, a pool table, a KTV (karaoke) room, and even beds upstairs for sleeping. It was basically a mini house people rent for parties so they don't wreck their own rooms. It was a very interesting concept, which would make a lot of money in the US if implemented.

We didn't know most of the students, so at first we all went into the KTV room, and picked from the very limited selection of English songs. We kept the door open for students to come in and join us, and Celia brought some fruit in to the room for us as well. Eventually Robert closed the door to try to keep the noise down. One student did come in and talk to us about the program. It turned out none of us TA'ed their classes (they were 3rd year EEs) and none of them, including the student (who we found out was named Slim after Slim Shady) knew us.

We went outside to try to play pool, as well as try to interact with the students in other ways. They were playing games of Midnight Werewolf, which is their version of Mafia. I wanted to try to play a game of Mafia in English with them, but I never got to.

Jessica and Nick were feeling a bit bored, and they headed out to get some western food. I decided to stay, and I'm very glad I did. I wanted to stay for dinner in order to save some money, and stay in the tradition of Chinese eating. A lot of students had gone out to get the food, and there were students on the side making French fries on the stove. Without anything else to do, I helped them peel the boiled potatoes to make things easier. Soon after, they came back with the food, and we dug in.

Lots of delicious food

Celia asked if we (the Americans, that is) didn't really like Chinese food, because we didn't seem to eat too much of it. I explained to her, that we just weren't used to it, especially with all of the oil, and that I didn't eat too much in the first place. We then got to talking about co-op, and I found out that co-op in China only paid enough for living expenses for that semester, where in the US, lots of co-ops pay enough to cover tuition for subsequent semesters. I talked to Celia about my plans for co-op, and my past jobs, and that it is somewhat hard to juggle everything and still make money in the US at times. She found the fact that I had to work "cool" and I was reminded that these students get a lot more help from their parents that I'm used to.

After we talked, I played some of the video game in the corner. It was a Naruto video game, and they kept asking me if I knew what it was, and I was laughing internally, because I love anime, and it's one of the most famous ones worldwide. It was an Xbox game, so sometimes I did better than other times, but I had a couple of the students helping me, so it all worked out.

Then I started talking to Celia about the other foreigners that I had met in China, and said that the Australian guy that we had met in Xi'an had been contacting me about poetry. We then started talking about different forms of poetry, both writing it (on my end) and memorizing it (on her end). She said Chinese poetry was like a song, and that's why people often memorized them. We even talked about Shakespeare, (she had read some translated into Chinese) and I taught her what a Shakespearean sonnet was, telling her that they were hard to write, and that was why I normally wrote free verse poetry.

Tree that has pictures from past parties hanging up

When we went to leave, my friends were asking me to help them use Facebook, because they just got the VPN to work. In China, several websites are blocked unless you use a VPN to access them, and Facebook is one of them. I said goodbye to the birthday guy, but he asked us to stay for the cake. We had to wait longer, but I was wondering when it was going to be cut, because the others had to catch the bus back to Campus A. Eventually, it was unveiled, and it looked magnificient. Interestingly, all big cakes in China had fruit on them, including kiwi peaches, dragonfruit, and tomatoes....because, technically, tomatoes are fruit. They turned the lights out, and put the candles on it. They sang Happy Birthday to the birthday guy in English (probably for my benefit), and then they cut the cake. They tried to give the first piece to me. I tried to refuse, and give it back to the birthday guy, but the guy who was helping me with the video games joked that the first piece was for the foreigner. I ended up giving my tomato to Suri, but enjoyed the rest of the cake.

After that, we headed out. It turned out that the others had missed their subway, and they were in no rush. I passed the time by talking to them about my life in Cincinnati, the food, and fun things to do there. They were very impressed, and said that they would make sure to ask me questions when they got to Cincinnati. I laughed because I'm pretty used to that at home as well, from both international and domestic friends. I crossed the street to get to the apartment complex, wishing them goodbye. Heading inside, I talked to Jessica about the rest of her night, and made a video call before I went to sleep.

The next day, I went out biking soon after I got up, because I was feeling pretty homesick, and needed to get out and get some fresh air. I decided to go the same way as we had gone the day before with the party. I biked down, and saw the same river area and a park that looked interesting. I backtracked towards the apartment complex trying to find a way in. I didn't find one, so I continued down the original way, and found a way in.

I walked past a city cleaning worker, and walked my bike into the park. I saw a large building that looked a lot like a church, but I knew it wasn't, because according to the map app, the nearest church was several miles away.

I saw lots of families and friends out enjoying the park, flying kites, and it brought a smile to my face. Watching all the people with their loved ones, I felt nostalgic for home, and realized that the next time I went to this park, I should bring my phoenix kite to try out.

I continued to walk around, seeing lots of small rivers and bridges over them. I also saw people fishing, and realized that it was a great family park.

Catching sight of some chairs overlooking another manmade river, I decided to sit there, snacking, reading, and finishing up some grading. I stayed for a couple hours, soaking in the peace of the area to try to calm my mind. Some people decided to sit at some of the other tables, but some people decided to go away, put off by a foreigner sitting at the table, trying to blend in. One guy came up to me trying to give me an advertisement, but gave up on me when I couldn't understand what he was saying.

After I finished grading, I walked around a bit more, admiring how much work that they had put into making this an urban oasis.

I biked back to campus to get some lunch, and ended up getting a vegetable dish that was very slimy (and almost tasted fatty), with a salad, some clear, salty broth, and rice, for only 11 quai total.

After lunch, I biked back to the apartment and talked with Jessica for a bit about my ride. At 4, we went out to get groceries at Sunny Block, and saw workers for the phone stores doing synchronized dances to try to get customers. We got our groceries, and came back for bible study. We felt like it was the most productive bible study yet, as we were able to pray together, and really bond. We continued talking for a bit afterwards, and the guys came by to invite us to go out for food. Neither of us went, but we decided to continue talking for a bit.

Before heading to sleep, I worked on some more stuff, and made a call. During the call, I got a cooking lesson of sorts, and when the "chef" said, "Who doesn't like cheese?" I exclaimed that the Chinese don't. That was utterly perfect timing, because right at that moment, his Chinese housemate walked by and gave me (i.e. the computer) a digusted look. We both cracked up at the coincidence.

Satisfied with my day, I gave myself to dreamland.

-Zoe