i heart my bike!

time is a creepin' up on me... if i put off updating the rest of the world on my many goings on in the Chinas more things happen, and then there's not enough time to fit in everything. oh what a vicious cycle! i'll try my best, regardless.

first thing's first: i bought a bicycle, finally! she's a beauty and only cost me a 100 kuai + another 35 kuai for a lock, basket and bell ting ting! (that's about $20). i'm so, so happy.  i was beginning to forget what it felt like to ride around the city, slightly fearing for my life at every turn, with the wind in my hair... i really love it, despite the traffic in China. (side note: since Nellie, Gino and i now all have bikes, when we ride around we are a gang of people, hence we have formed a bike gang. we are called Cao mei sha sho, which translates to the Strawberry Killers. We are badasses, and we will kill any strawberry, on sight.)

now, you may have heard stories, but you really don't know the horror that is Chinese traffic until you experience it.  It doesn't really matter if you're in a taxi, scooter, bus or personal car, there are no rules, no lanes and everyone refuses to stop for any reason.  At first i thought i was going to die every few minutes, then i realized that i actually would die by giving myself a heart attack from watching the road and the many, many close calls, so now i try not to pay attention when i'm a passenger... that being said, riding a bicycle is very different.  of course i pay attention to the traffic around me and i use my bell when needed.

this brings me to a topic that has been on my mind: the use of the car horn in China.  at first, again, i was extremely put off by the frequency and volume of car horns on the roads in China. Excessive, to say the least. but now, i am able to equate their honking of the horn to the ringing of a bicycle bell. They don't honk like we do in America, rarely, and only to say "hey you ass, get out of my way!" or "what the hell are you doing, MOVE!" No, the Chinese honk, as if to say, "hey, i'm here, i'm not stopping, on your left!" so though it is incessant, i think it is somehow more polite. maybe.

other things that happened this week are i got a haircut at a literal mom & pop place where Penny used to get her hair cut as a kid, for about $3! i learned the word for hair, tou fa. we were invited to do KTV with a fellow teacher whose wife is Chinese and she wanted to use us as eye candy to impress some local government people.  it was kinda fun to hang out with Paul, Annie and their daughter, Susan, but there was a down side. the government men were SO drunk a) i thought they might puke on me, b) they forced me to dance with them and c) we think they may have tried to drug me.  now don't freak out too much.  i'm fine.  but Annie, the Chinese lady who invited us, got pretty sick, like she was given something, sick.  we later put it together that she drank a drink that was poured for me but i only took a sip from and then left to select a song.  Annie is also fine, but it was a little scary.  if nothing else this has taught me that i don't want to be eye candy for Chinese rich people, even if there are lots of free peanuts!

anyway the weekend ended well because Nellie, Gino and i got foot massages at Tian tian foot massage and it was very relaxing.  They don't just soak, massage and lotion up your feet, but they also give you about a 20 minute body massage after they do your feet! so nice, we were there for over an hour, and again only 60 kuai ($9)!  and then we got some fantastic street food, bao zi, pan fried.  granted this is a breaded meat ball, and i have avowed to not eat the meat; the crunchy crispy bread dipped in hot sauce was still delicious.

despite the whole, apparently being roofied thing, the KTV night was not a total bust. Gino was able to show Susan (in my opinion one of the coolest 16-year-olds i have ever met) some serious dance moves and she therefore thought of him when she needed help to put together a performance for her school.  i truly hope to be able to witness the final dance, but if not i will at least record the practice session this saturday and share with the world four Chinese girls dancing to "Tell me when to go" by E 40, choreographed by Gino... stay tuned

Annie invited us over to dinner after Gino was practicing with Susan and i had some of the be

st food i've had in China thus far.  She kept saying that if she had known Susan was going to invite us over she would have really cooked, but it was still so good! Mushroom, tofu, and broccoli, oh my, hen hao chi! (pictured to the right are Gino, Susan, Sunny and Annie, the chef)