So yesterday was the 2nd and final mid-term exam and it was hard at first, but with a little perseverance I think I got most of the answers down. Tingli, the listening class, was excruciatingly slow so Anthony and I escaped at the break and sat outside in the sun and talked about twin things. He is also a twin and his is coming out in a few months for a while. Can't wait for Sara to come here! Eventually though we crawled back in and struggled through the remaining 30 minutes before blessed freedom.
We had lunch at the baozi place. I walked in first and blithely marched to the back but a high pitched squeal from behind stopped me in my tracks. Becka had spotted the owner's new (pet) puppy...
We spent the next 10 minutes going EEEEEEEEEEEEITSSSOOOCUTEEEEEEEEEEECOOTCHYCOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
It was very cute. Although it seemed far too little to be away from its mum. The owner had bought it the other day apparently. It kept lurching around onto our shoes. Becka scooped it up and mothered it on her lap for a while. I didn't touch it. They don't vaccinate dogs here- and they have far more interesting diseases than we do back home...
Last night was Anthony's birthday as well as 5th November so we all trooped off to a teppanyaki restaurant. I have never had teppanyaki before, well sort of but it was in Spain and the food was suspiciously Spanish... The food was fantastic and I loved it. I really like Japanese and Korean food and I'd never have tried them in the UK. Plus there was sake flowing freely, as well as Qingdao beer, so everyone was very merry. I was sat next to Axel who is a fellow B Ban classmate. He is 43 and from Germany but has lived all over the world. He dances salsa at the salsa club in Qingdao (I know- a salsa class in China!) and I'm thinking of going. I did a bit in Edinburgh and it was great fun. Axel also told me about his ancestry-his family used to be some aristocrats in the the Baltic states but they've lost it all now. All he has is a very long surname and a signet ring which I thought was cute. Interestingly one ancestor, Paul von Rennenkampf or something, fought in China for the Russian army.
The food was fantastic- did I mention that? It was very well cooked and the chef obliged us all by creating these huuuuuge flames in front of our eyes (the food is cooked at the table on a hot plate). My favourite was when he chopped up fillet steak with onions. I love fillet steak. I'd sell my soul for that.
Afterwards we went outside for fireworks. The restaurant is in the marina so there was a square outside with lots of flags. We set off the fireworks and whooped happily. Then some policemen came running. Fireworks, believe it or not, are actually banned in China. However a couple of the guys explained that it was our festival today and ended up posing for pictures with the policemen. One of them had obviously been having a nap as his shirt was done up wrong but he straightened himself up for the shot. Instead of saying cheers the guys shouted "fuck the police!" but the police obviously didn't understand and smiled along anyway. I think, sometimes, that some laowai take the piss a little too much.
We walked to a bar nearby but passed some other people setting off fireworks-it was also Diwali yesterday- and more police turned up. Becka, some Chinese girl we'd met and I were stood outside and got accused of setting off the fireworks. We denied it "we're only laowai we don't know where to buy fireworks" but they did ask to check our passports... A passport here is very important. It has my residence permit in. To replace it would take a trip to Beijing to the Embassy, several pounds for a new one and then a trip to the Entry/Exit Bureau (please god never again) and several pounds for another permit. So understandably neither Becka nor I had brought ours on a night out. And you are supposed to always carry your passport with you... We ended up going to the 派出所, police substation, which turned out to closely resemble an American suburban detached house complete with decking, and arguing with the police. Becka got very angry at one point. Then she went back to fetch our passports and I was left to make sure she came back. While we waited I ended up giving an impromptu English lesson to an eager policeman. He wanted to know what Louise meant- I had to explain that in the West, names don't mean anything but are just names. Then he wanted to know my 小名-my childhood name so I had to explain that we don't do those either. The police were all very nice and a bit embarrased. I suspect that the only reason we had been taken back was because the boss was around. The others realised how silly it looked cracking down on us. It is a requirement that you carry a passport but we know, and they know, that if they went to an expat bar noone there would have one with them. I suspect they would much rather be hanging around enjoying their rather large selection of tea than making a point with us but hey, when the boss is around appearances must be kept up.
Becka returned and we departed all with big smiles and waving enthusiastically. Bless them, it's so hard to take a policemen seriously when he has socks and flip flops on.
This morning the two of us headed out to shop. We felt rather delicate but soldiered on. We went to the proper converse shop to get me some non-heeled shoes but they didn't do sizes big enough. I am actually kinda worried now as I have one pair of tatty trainers and one pair of faded boots as my only non-heeled shoes and this is not enough. And I don't see where I am going to find anything big enough. The only jeans I could find were also too small.
I feel like Gulliver.
Becka looked for some jumpers but they were so expensive. Clothes here are either stupidly expensive or really bad quality. And all are too small. An emergency trip to Shanghai might need planning...
In other news I did pluck up the courage to buy an ipod touch. I have it now, all shiny and new and modern. I can afford it if I eat nothing but baozi for the next month. It is great for the Chinese dictionary.
My dog-eared dirty paper dictionary and my old, small, slow mp3 player are sat on the desk. Abandoned.
*Feels guilty*
I've been reassuring them that I'll still use them. My ipod is too precious for me to use it in daily life I think- when I walk places and am on bus I'll use my old mp3 player as noone will want to steal that. Plus the paper dictionary has one huge advantage which is that it does not need batteries. There may come a time on my travels when I can't recharge my ipod and it will come in very handy.
*Still feels guilty*
No comments:
Post a Comment