I've been a little sick lately unfortunately due to a 6 day, 60 hour work week putting together a huge tour for a prestigious international financial firm. I got some good money this week from the over time which I was happy about but boy did we have to work ourselves hard. There were four of us guiding 40-some business execs around the downtown of Shanghai telling them about the past and the present and how we believe they will affect the future which really got their minds thinking about Shanghai in a business perspective which is exactly what they were hoping for. I got several business cards from a couple of the guys on my tour and one guy said he enjoyed my tour so much that if I were to come to Japan (he's based out of Tokyo) he'll take me to see the city on his dime. I thought that was very generous and it really makes me want to check out Japan now but I know a trip out there is quite far off if I do end up going at all.
I've been looking for new housing lately with a fellow part time co-worker and his friend. My boss said that I could continue to live in an apartment with the other full time intern for the rest of my contract or he could give me a stipend each month and I could find my own housing. The other full time intern is a good guy and very capable but he's not the kind of person that I'm used to living with, so I told my boss I would take the stipend.
In China right now, the real estate market is quite bonkers which works in our favor. A lot of pretty decent housing is being built with the anticipation of China's economy booming within these next 10 years but unfortunately, nobody is buying up this property yet and so it's dirt cheap for a massive place. We found a nicer place than I've ever lived in with 3 bedrooms a kitchen 2 bathrooms with crazy fancy showers, a dining room, leather furniture and more closet space than I'd know what to do with for just over 1000USD a month. It's quite ridiculous really. With the stipend I'm getting from my boss plus maybe a couple hundred RMB out of my own pocket, we all agreed on a solid price range and although we're going to be 2-3 subway stops away from the office, the accommodation is worth it. I've been really bad about taking my camera around with me lately so no pics, but when I have a less-crazy work week, I'll make sure to get some good ones.
When I did manage to scrounge up some free time, I dressed up in my work clothes and headed out to hit the town in search of nice international hotels. (I didn't know this but apparently if you're a foreigner, you're not allowed to stay in a run-down hotel because the Chinese government doesn't want to give off the wrong impression about it's hospitality.) It's fun to walk around the nice bars and restaurants looking like I'm important and the Chinese workers never question my intentions, for they fear that I might be someone powerful with connections. I snap quick pictures and no one ever protests which leads me to believe that I can get away with a little bit more. This week with a little of my free time I am going to try to make it up to many rooftop lounges and bars to take some breathtaking pictures of the city. Here are a few pics so far.
A few days ago, I went and saw the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in theaters a couple of days ago with my good friends Yang Jie and his girlfriend Cici. It was the first time I had ever seen a movie in 3D so that was pretty cool in and of itself, however, it wasn't the most amusing part of the movie. Now, granted the movie wasn't that great in comparison to the first three, it was still entertaining and the Chinese viewers made the experience even better still. The movie was in English with Chinese sub titles so I had the pleasure of being able to listen for once instead of reading. I was the only foreigner in the theater and it really showed at a lot of points during the movie where I noticed no one else was laughing... One particular part that really stood out involved a sexual innuendo which apparently went right over the heads of the Chinese viewers.
The scene is set in a jungle with the actors Jonny Depp and Penelope Cruz who have had a bit of a romantic past and have recently found themselves in each others company. Jonny Depp pops out of some brush and surprises Penelope Cruz with a sword pointed at her neck. Cruz then busts out a line somewhere along the lines of “Jack (Jonny Depp), why is it whenever we meet, you're always pointing something at me?” I laughed at this line obviously understanding it's underlying demeanor but I was the only one in the theater laughing. Yeah, I was that guy. My friends looked at me baffled and I tried to explain it but I assume they wouldn't really get it at all since the theme of sex out here is quite tabu. Regardless, it was a fun time and everyone enjoyed themselves. Even that stupid foreigner.
A couple of weeks ago I hung out with a friend and his girlfriend whom I had met last year. During dinner, him and his girlfriend asked me if I was looking for a Chinese girlfriend to which I replied I wasn't so much looking for one right now but if the stars aligned and the opportunity presented itself, I wouldn't mind having one. They asked me about the attributes I look for in a woman and I told them. It was quite literally right after I had posted my blog last week that I got a call from him telling me he had found me a Chinese girlfriend and that I needed to go meet him right at that second. It was 9 o'clock on a work night where I had to work at 9am the next day but heck I had already had a few beers, and you could say I was quite intrigued by this interesting opportunity.
I rushed down to the subway station and rode a couple of stops until I was at the designated meeting place. My friend came and got me and took me to the restaurant where his girlfriend was sitting with three other girls. As soon as we both got to the table he pointed at the girl that he had found for me and whilst standing right in front of her said “That's the girl that we found to be your girlfriend.” Uhhhhh what am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do? Never has it been so open with a girl that I just met but now all of a sudden, I'm supposed to act as though this girl and I should be moving towards becoming a couple... please pass the beer!
Every few minutes during dinner, if I wasn't talking with the girl (who's name is NiNi (pronounced knee knee) my friend would make it a point to point it out and then embarrassed, I would turn to her and ask her questions about herself. We were eating a style of food called hot pot which is a big pot in the middle with hot broth to which you add ingredients of your choosing such as meat or vegetables. Once you dump stuff into the boiling broth, you wait for it to cook, then snag pieces with your chopsticks, put it in your bowl then enjoy. The whole time I was at the table and talking with my new-found friends, NiNi would periodically put some food in my bowl which was very sweet of her to be serving me and I would always say thank you whenever she put food in my bowl. Well hahahahahaha everyone laugh at the foreigner! They thought it was crazy that I was saying thank you so often and they kept telling me not to be so polite. They told me it's a normal thing to have happen and that it's more obligatory on her end than it is being kind. Sweet deal (sort of)! But I still felt obligated to always say “thank you” which they kept laughing at. Dinner kept going on for awhile and the beers kept coming. Enter the Chinese drinking games!!!!
At the table they “taught” me how to play a game which turned out to be “rock, paper, scissors” and the loser had to drink half a cup of beer. It's a mild twist to this classic child's game so I thought I'd spruce it up a bit and teach the Chinese how my friends and I used to do it back in our early college days by teaching them the great drinking game of quarters. Essentially, you need two empty cups and two quarters (or 1RMB coins work just as well). The objective is to slam your quarter down on the table and have it bounce into the cup. Two people on opposite sides of the table start at the same time and if you make it into the cup, you pass it to the person to your left. If it catches up with the other person with the cup, they must drink! We had a blast playing this for awhile until the restaurant finally told us to leave because it was closing time. Ok, time to catch a taxi home.... YA RIGHT!
It was about 11:30 by this time and we started walking although I didn't know where to. I was pretty toasty by this time and was just soaking it all in. My friends kept trying to isolate NiNi and I which was funny and mildly embarrassing but instead of shying away, I embraced it. We walked by a lady selling flowers, so I bought three of them and gave them to my “date” which I guess was quite flattering. We kept walking and eventually entered a building where my friend's girlfriend went up to the counter, paid some money then led us all to a private room. They call it KTV but it's basically a private karaoke room with room service. As more beers were ordered, my friends wasted no time finding some songs to sing and they started belting it! They weren't shy in the least bit and it turns out Nini has quite the amazing voice. Although this was interesting to watch, the beers we ordered were brought and along with them came the spotlight of my night (besides meeting the girl of course)!
Have you guys ever seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movie where Orlando Bloom plays this dice game against his dad and Davy Jones? Didn't think so, however, that was what they brought! Apparently it's huge in China and holy cannoli is it super fun! The rules are very complicated and considering this one story has already gone on and on I'll spare you all of the complicated details. You start with five dice and a cup and you shake them up then slam the cup down on the table hiding the dice from your opponents. From there, it's basically a game of BS where you try to tell your opponent what you have and then they try to one-up you until one person finally reveals his hand to either prove he has what he boasted or to call the other player out on his shenanigans. I caught on quick and it was only two of us playing but I found myself winning over half the time. After belting out a classic: Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I immediately turned back to the drinking game and continued to neglect Nini. Whoops! Don't worry, I still snagged her number at the end of the night to show that I was interested.
Finally at 5:00am we left the karaoke place and headed for the subway which would open at 5:30am. It was the first time I've ridden the subway home in the morning after a big night of drinking and it was a blast! Oddly though, it turns out Nini and all of her friends were actually in town visiting from a town called Tai Zhou (Tie Joe) and were headed back on a train that morning which baffled me. If she lives three hours away, why was my buddy trying to hook us up? Chinese culture lesson: she wants to move to Shanghai and a foreign boyfriend with an apartment in Shanghai means she has a place to stay. WHOA WHOA WHOA!!! Hold the phone! We just met and now all of a sudden there's talk of a step that wouldn't happen normally in the US for at least a couple of years. Pardon my language mom and dad but this shit is getting crazy!
Well, we parted ways that morning and as I walked home alone contemplating the events that had unfolded that night, I decided to embrace the situation as a learning experience and take it in stride. She texts me every now and then to which I reply jubilantly, but I don't really foresee anything serious coming of it. Mind you, none of this night unfolded in English, so you can just imagine how much of an adventure this was for me. So like I said, I'm not really 100% sure, but it's quite possible that I have a Chinese girlfriend.
To finish off the post, I'd like to show you a recent discovery called huang jiu (hwang joe). It literally translates to “yellow alcohol” and I recently had it at a decently fancy dinner with my Chinese mother and her daughter's boyfriend as well as his parents. They were a blast to hang out with and they treated me very well. They brought a bottle of this huang jiu and poured me a glass. I didn't know what to expect but it was really smooth and finished well. I looked at the bottle and it's only 14% which is not much and explains the smoothness of it but eating it with food really highlighted it's flavor. It's also quite cheap too so I can foresee myself having a drink of this every now and then when I get off of work to relax a little bit.
Dang, this post ran a little longer than I was expecting it to but hey, it was that kind of week. I even had to leave some stuff out for next time, so I might write two posts this upcoming week since I will have a 3 day weekend. I hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy antics and experiences in this wonderland of Shanghai and I do hope you'll be back next week to see what I'll have gotten myself into. Big shout out to my friend Eric White and his possible job opportunity here in China as well as to his partner in crime, Cameron Hayes who will be coming out after the summer. In closing, I leave you with the great words of the great fictional cartoon character Tigger: Ta ta for now!
Tony G.
We better get some Nini pics on the next post! Preferably NSFW.
ReplyDelete$1000/month for a big house?? Not bad. Kasi and I are gonna be paying over $1200 for a goddamn 1 bedroom apt in Seattle.
By the way, it's "taboo."