All At Once

Hmmm. I've been out drinking thinking and decided it was time for an update. There are so many things to say so I will put them all in one...ummm, thing.

Dogs
No, they don't eat dogs. That's dumb. And wasteful. But the middle- and upper-classes are crazy about their dogs. I was told that there was a fad a few years back where people dyed their dogs' hair; I've only seen it a few times but those dogs look so punk rock!! I love em. Still popular, however, is dressing up toy breeds. I have seen them with all sorts of outfits (from the slutty to the nerdy) and even with shoes! Imagine: a dog with shoes! Bad to the Ass.


I'd say about 70% of the dogs are toy breeds and the remainder some awesome Chow Chows, Golden Retrievers, Shar Peis, Cocker Spaniels and Akita/Wolf-like dogs.

I've yet to see a mutt or a stray.

Movies
They are incredibly cheap here, costing 6 kuai (6.75 kuai/US$) each. Over the last month I've managed to acquire a fairly substantial collection of pirated DVDs. What can I say? I have a lot of free time. Since nobody reads this I will freely admit to watching-- and crying through-- Bridge to Terabithia. And The Covenant sucks Panda balls.


My Phone
Last week I tried to update the software of my Nokia and realized the model number doesn't exist. Reason: my phone is a fake. On the good side: because it's a not a real Nokia it has slots for two SIM cards so I can use both my China and US (or Argentine) SIM cards. Bad to the Ass.

Food
A Chinese-American couple came into my school last week to see if their daughter could join. I think they decided against it but they told me there was a "Western" restaurant in one of the hotels. On the menu: hanbaobaos. So I went and ordered one. The restaurant seemed like it had never been used and after I ordered my cheese hanbaobao I could hear them discussing how to make it! I thought the worse but it was actually quite decent and the fries were the best in town. They also have pasta dishes and terrible pizza. Buy, hey, even bad pizza is still pizza. Score.

I have also managed to find some US-grade sliced white bread and have made too many grilled-cheese sandwiches and PB &Js with it. Score again. Me 2, something else 0.

And since the popcorn here is always sweet I convinced one of the vendors to sell me some kernels. It took some convincing but he's now my dealer I enjoy buttered popcorn about 4 times a week.(I became hooked on it in Bolivia.) Triple score.

Buying Shoes
I thought I'd be in shoe-buying heaven but every time I find a nice pair they are not only always expensive by Chinese standards (US$60+) but they NEVER have my size!!  Unbad to the Unass.

Cycling
It is incredible. Everything on the road has the same right and so streets have trucks, cars, buses, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, bicycles, rickshaws, tractors and buggies. My favorite intersections are those without signals because it's kind of a free-for-all: everyone goes into it slowly maneuvers their way to where they're going. It's super-fun for me and involves looking in ALL directions. I am too afraid to try it while intoxicated and hopefully never will because helmets are non-existent.

My Name
In Londontown Britney's friend Heidi gave me the Chinese name Ai Tou (Love + Head). Conveniently, toufa means hair and that's kinda stuck as my name. It's gotten to the point that if I walk into the right bar restaurant with the right drunks patrons they'll just yell out Toufaaaaaaaaaa!!!! In practice, my name is just Hair.


Photographs
Many people want to take them of  foreigners. It was new at first so I put up with it. After a week it became annoying but people kept snapping away. Now, if I catch them I'm going to take a picture of them.

Muslims
There is a very visible Muslim minority in Western China. For the most part they are just like the other Chinese except they happen to be religious (very rare here). My city has a pretty cool mosque and the city of Xi'an to the north has a fairly large Muslim Quarter since it was the terminus of the famed Silk Road. They make very, very good food; .Meats on sticks? Yeah, they introduced it here. Bread? Them again. Thank you.

Children
A surprising number of children are terrified of us Laowai (Foreign Devil). It's fun. Very fun. SL