Day 115, 116, and 117: Last Weekend in Chong Qing at the Chinese Opera!

Friday morning started with going to models lab, because there was no heat transfer class that week. I headed there with Jessica, and we wound through a path I had never been through before, which was pretty interesting.

Models lab

Jessica and I were tasked with watching the students present their final project- the GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) that they designed. I was also in charge of getting their information recorded, which was harder than one would think, as we had to get one team's info while another presented. There were over 100 students, so there were over 30 groups, but we only got through 15 in about 3 hours. The others would have to present on the next Monday (except for one group who was going to do it right afterwards.) I had a severe headache though, so I joined Jessica for lunch.

View from the building in question

Jessica mentioned a fried dumpling place in the cafeteria, so we went there for lunch. We didn't end up getting fried dumplings, due to a misinterpretation, but we got fried bowsa, and regular dumplings that were pretty good. I took some home for later, and we stopped at the convenience store on the way, grabbing some sweets for dessert.

Lunchtime!

Good for a snack

The others messaged to ask if Jessica and I wanted to see Fast and Furious 8, but we both decided to pass, with a lot of grading left to do.

I graded for a few hours, chatted with Will about statics (and finding out that they didn't need my help grading the statics final the students had taken that day), and around 6, I heard a knock on the door. Confused, I got up to see who it was. It was Celia, which made me even more confused.

It turned out that she had to proctor the C++ exam at 7, and wanted to come with me to the dinner at the Indian restaurant that I was going to with my Pakistani friends. We left early, so she could eat her meal entirely, and got there before the others. I ordered mango lassi, garlic naan, and some sort of paneer, and Celia ordered chicken biryani. The others got there, and we headed upstairs to a larger booth to hold all of us. Two people I knew already were there (Shahneel and Nadeem) , as well as one guy who I had met in passing, as well as his girlfriend (who was from Germany!)

The food took a while to come out, and Celia was worrying, but I reassured her that it should be out quickly. She kept asking the cooks, and she eventually got her food, and I got mine as well. She scarfed things down, while I chatted with the others. She headed out soon after, but she said that she did enjoy the food.

I learned that although the three Pakistani guys we were with were all in engineering (two Mechanical, and one Software), the German girl was in international business, because she had studied Chinese in undergraduate back at home. I talked to them about my life at home for a while, explaining why I was in China as well, saying that I was going to do another co op in either Germany or Japan at some point.

She was interested in hearing that, and gave me a few tips, saying that German grammar was extremely hard, but travelling in Europe was extremely easy. There was a Bollywood movie playing in the back of the restaurant, and she had never seen one before, so her boyfriend pulled her away for a moment to show her. I started talking with the others about the overlap between Indian culture and Pakistani culture, and about movie industries. They were pretty surprised when I told them that Nigeria had the third largest movie industry after America and India (they do, look it up!)

Mango lassi, garlic naan and some sort of spicy paneer

The food that the others ordered (I tried some chickpeas, and a bit of chicken)

After eating, we took a few pictures under the decorative light with Shahneel's camera, and headed outside, grabbing a fistful of sweet crystals and seeds that tasted like licorice along the way.

 Outside, we took a selfie, and Shaqueel took a few more pictures, a Chinese guy taking a picture of us while we were taking the picture, much to my simultaneous amusement and annoyance.

We all agreed to bike around, and I was thinking that they meant regular bikes....but nooooo, we headed to a motorbike shop, and I was a bit too nervous to get on one. They offered to ride with me, but I didn't feel up to it. The couple rode off a bit later (with the guy's Chinese also being really good), and the two friends that I already knew walked with me.

We chatted for a while, and I showed them around Campus D for a while. I showed them some of the ponds, and we talked about varying things, from Shahneel's impending marriage (he said I was welcome to come, or to visit him in Pakistan at any time) to religion. We both learned things from each other. I didn't realize that Islam recognized Jesus as a prophet as well as his resurrection, but not as the Son of God, and they didn't realize what Easter was about (or even that Christians recognized the resurrection...although it is the pivotal point of the Christian faith.) But it was very good to have a respectful conversation about these things with friends, trying to understand our similarities and differences.

While we walked, I showed them the swan pond, I noticed a light show that I hadn't noticed before, with lights appearing to "drip down" from trees like water, and I took them to the pond in the back of the campus. We ran into the others along the way, and at the back of campus, we took a few more pictures.

They had to head back to the bus stop soon after, but I walked them there, smiling the whole way, enjoying their company, and telling them to stay in touch once we parted ways.

Saturday morning, after getting up and working a bit, I decided to go to the art museum on Sunny Block that I hadn't been to yet. I bought a cappuccino float at the little shop I was fond of, and decided to head inside.

Looking at the doors, however, it looked like a lot of people were getting turned away by the guards, so I decided to head around, and look for another gate, as well as take pictures with some of the beautiful mosaics on the sides of the building.

I headed around all sides of the buildings, and all the gates were closed. Disappointed, I approached a booth with a guard, and asked him if they were open on Monday. Seeing him shake his head no, I was disappointed, and so I asked when they would be open. He walked out of the booth, led me closer to the doors, pointing at it, and saying something to me that I had no chance of understanding.

I thanked him, and walked closer to the doors. I saw a couple who was trying to go in. I asked them if they spoke English, and the guy of the pair said that it was closed for the day, but it might be open the next day.

Making the best of things, I started wandering a bit, enjoying the woods behind the building and mosaics for a while.

an art library for the art college

After a bit of reading, some people sat a bit too close to me, so I decided to head to the grocery store and buy some things that I had been meaning to.

The worst name for condoms, I have to say (or the best name?)

I got some origami paper (much cheaper here), and some snacks that you can only get here to take home with me (some white chocolate lemon and strawberry Dove bars, and some blueberry pocky), and headed out.

My hoard of the day

Going back, I wanted to head into a food market that I had walked past many times but never gone in.

I was underwhelmed, as it was completely empty, and the food stands that were open didn't look that good anyway. I shrugged, looked around in a neat plant store, and headed towards campus.

Along the way, I caught sight of the swans in the lake, stopping for a moment to watch them.

I headed towards the back of campus towards the pond near there. I was able to finish grading and tallying points for the Mechanical Engineering students for their Engineering Models 2 exams, and then I drew for a while, until hunger and faintness drove me to go get food.

I also tried to go into a couple of buildings to find a restroom, but miserably failed. I grabbed a fried chicken dish, eating a bit, and heading home to rest, work, and make a video call for the rest of the night.

On Sunday, I got up, worked for a bit, and tried to go back to the art museum again. It turned out they were still closed, and when I tried to ask the guard on Google Translate when they would be open again, he didn't understand. There was a person standing there who I decided to ask if they spoke English. They did (and it turned out they were a translator for a European looking girl), and they found out that it would reopen at the end of the month. I walked away, and then came back, asking if they knew what day. The guards didn't know. Disappointed (and seeing the person the translator was with also disappointed), I decided to try again on Wednesday to see if I could indeed go in.

Having an hour to kill, I decided to walk around the woods in the back of the museum for a bit, taking pictures, relaxing, reading, and messaging a friend who I haven't talked to in a while.

An area that I hadn't been to since the beginning of the semester had since grown a lot farther up, and I was floored by the change. (Perhaps, poetically, mirroring the internal changes that I had undergone this past semester?)

My view for a bit while reading and messaging

Around 12:00, I headed back through campus, parking my bike near a store to grab an extra water bottle. I met Sean at the gate, and we headed down towards the subway.

We had to wait a bit to meet Celia and Pablo, because they had to take a taxi there, since Pablo had overslept a bit. Once they got there though, we headed out, and we were able to quickly make our way to the opera.

Box of puppies we saw along the way

We got there, and there were many people already in costume. We were ushered to a seat in the second row, and a lady came around, trying to sell me a chance to dress up in costume and take pictures for a fee. I didn't feel like paying that much money and spending that much time for it, so I decided to pass.

It turned out that the afternoon show was a series of short skits, which actually suited me a bit better, because we got to see a variety of different things.

We thought about ordering things to eat or drink, but the prices were so outrageous that we decided to pass. The one lady eventually brought out free tea for us to share, which Pablo and I drank a lot of.

the free tea that they brought out

The show started with several types of traditional Chinese musical instruments, which I will let speak for themselves in the videos below. (However, the lady playing the last instrument had the most interesting facial expressions!)

There was then a dancer dressed as a fairy, who wowed us with her grace.

Then there were two gods of wealth dancing around for all to see. (Explanations were courtesy of Celia, by the way.....)

After this joyous pair, there was one that was not so happy..... A husband and wife who were arguing, and as punishment, the husband had to balance a lit candle on his head (apparently a traditional punishment in China), and do ridiculous tasks with it (not traditional, thank goodness). Their argument started with the husband in the audience, and then he progressed onto the stage.

Another set of dancers came out to entertain us then.

For the halftime show, the only talking in the whole opera was a magic show, which wasn't too bad to follow even with the language barrier (although Celia's explanations still did help).

Afterwards, there was a couple dressed as a warlord and his lover, reluctant to let him go to war.

For the grand finale, there was the hallmark of Sichuan opera. Face-changing! The dancers turned around, and in the blink of an eye, their mask was changed! This happened time and again, and they even wandered through the audience, shaking hands with people and changing masks to startle them. We were all trying to figure out how it worked. Later, I found out that they wear all the masks at the same time, and they have a special mechanism to pull it up one at a time. (Still not 100% clear, I know, but we have to have some air of mystery left, I suppose.)

After the opera, we wandered around Ciqikou for a while, with Sean and Pablo both wanting to look around, and since we didn't really know what else to do, we all went together. We made sporadic stops along the way, with Pablo stopping in a lot of toy stores just for the heck of it. I bought some plum juice to sip on as we walked, and we were all pretty happy in each other's company.

Terribly offensive dolls....

Sean ended up stopping at the same poster shop as he had before. He had gotten something for his mom there, and he appreciated the quality, although he didn't appreciate the "white people tax", as he put the overinflated prices there.

While I was waiting, I got some meat sticks from the same vendor as before, and Pablo bought one from me.

Not the most appealing name for a restaurant

We headed out of Ciqikou after wandering for a while, and talked about getting dinner. Celia stopped at a yogurt and rice stop that was well known for its drinks, and Sean and I realized that we weren't really that hungry. After she got her drink, we all decided to just head home.

I caught sight of a pudding place that looked interesting. Celia helped me buy it. I got the blueberry one, which also had layers of kiwi flavor, and orange flavor. The lady put some strawberry ice cream on top for me, and there was real fruit in the layers, which I appreciated a lot. It was also in a glass jar, which I decided to wash out, and stash in the apartment.

We headed our separate ways at the station, Celia and Pablo taking a taxi back because Celia didn't have a subway card, and the line was too long for the tickets, and Sean and I headed home. Getting home, I let Sean buy some quai off of me using American money, I started to revise some more things in the Mech E Models 2 tests that I hadn't realized needed to be done, and relaxed for the rest of the night.

-Zoe