Hootaaaz, and my very cool bicycle with its very cool basket

Not a lot has been going on since my last post, just some of your general run of the mill studying and partying. I have decided to try and limit myself to hanging out with foriegners only one night per week. I want to force myself to make Chinese friends. I have a few friends already. One is the security guard at my community's gate. He makes 35 RMB per day, which is less than $5. I call him Gomer Pyle because that is who he reminds me of. Every night, when I come home late, he is curled up on his desk passed out... drunk. I treated him to KFC on saturday which ended up costing twice as much as his daily salary. I am really suprised at his ability to look fasionable. With his income, I would not be able to dress well at all, but somehow he pulls it off.

Friday night was foriegner night, and this week we went to Hooters. The second you walk in, all the waitresses yell, "welcome to Hootaaaz!" It really is impossible not to chuckle just a bit when you hear it. All joking aside though, the Hooters girls probably have some of the best English of any Chinese people I have met here. The food was not great, and way overpriced. That's what you get in the states though, so it really wasnt a dissapointment.

After hooters, we all went to a bar nearby. They were playing old music and I must have heard YMCA like 5 times. We started a congo line on the dance floor. We didn't have to pay for a drink all night. Being a foreigner in China often works out well in unexpected ways. Also, if you are a lesbian in Beijing looking to find pretty girls who are as well, then this is the bar you want to visit. All the guy's in my group were just a tad bit jealous of some of these girl's partners... ok maybe a lot jealous.

Last but not least, as any man who is worth his weight in Einsteinium, I am lost without my wheels. I bought a bicycle and I ride it to school 5 days a week. It takes 40 minutes to get to class and 40 minutes to get back. I'm not talking about a leisurely commute here either. Im talking 40 minutes of hard peddling, traffic dodging, sweaty back and armpit smelling goodness. I am so fast that only the electric bikes, and cars pass me. To anyone worried about me riding a bike in the Beijing traffic I have this to say. It is safer to have a bike here than it is to walk, because if someone hits you while on your bike, it will damage thier car more. That last statement was tounge in cheek, but it is actually kind of true. The taxis stop for no man though.

Here is a pic of my bicycle:

I had the basket put on by a guy who fixes bikes on campus. My basket is cooler than most because it has a decoration:

Yes, that is a butterfly on my mountain bike.

Great Wall, Bavarian Beer and Chinese Haircuts

I have found a little bar district near my house here which is cool because I have really begun to meet Chinese people. I go there almost every night and do my homework. In the past few weeks, I have only seen one foreigner there and he was Spanish. This saturday, however, was different. I went to the great wall and then went to some western places with friends. I spent waaaay too much money... like $60 which seems like a small fortune here.

Naturally, before any really good night out people like to get all primped and primed. I hadn't had a haircut in a while, so I decided to go and get my first one since I came to China. It was about $5 but the experience was priceless. I have become accustomed to being stared at, but this place took it to a whole new level. I thought I had offended my hairstylist because he kept cracking jokes and the whole place would break out into uncontrollable laughter. Needless to say, I had no idea what he was talking about. It was very awkward and stressful and when it was over, I grabbed my dictionary to look up the word "offend" so that I could apologize. As I was looking in the dictionary, all the stylists, hair washers and clerks quit what they were doing. They circled around me and waited silently with anticipation. When I pointed to the word in the dictionary, they all started laughing again. My stylist shook my hand and told me he wanted me to come back because I made everyone laugh. All I really said the whole time was, "I don't understand" and "what did you say". Apparently that is a riot around these parts.

The next day, saturday, was time for climbing the Great Wall, and then a little socializing with my classmates. The climb to the Wall is really hard. I stayed at the very front of the pack though.

Here is a picture of how high we climbed. That town at the bottom was the starting point.

This is me standing on the wall:

The view:

This is me with my favorite Croatian, Maya. Actually, she's the only Croatian I know.

The next picture is of me with my Thai friends and the Croatian. From left to right: K, me, Oui, Li, Belgie, and Maya. Oui is a weightlifter. I see him in the gym almost everyday and he invited me to go to Thailand with him this summer. I sure do hope I have the money.

These are some more people I am friendly with. I don't remember their names, but I will remember eventually. They are in a higher level class. The girl with the reddish hair is Caroline. She is from Macao and speaks English, Portugese, Chinese, and some other languages. She sounds native in English, Chinese, and Portugese. I thought she was American the first time I talked to her.

Later that night, me and some English speaking friends went to the Lufthansa Center. It was fun but I won't be going there again because it is expensive. When we left, we got lost and walked around the streets drinking. We finally found a decent bar, and I drank everyone under the table... go figure. One guy actually threw up. It reminded me of the time me and Brandon out-drank the frat boys at Ohio State our freshman year. Here is a picture of us at the Lufthansa Center:

Left to right: Amanda (American), Peter (American), Nigel (American/Ugandan), Anna (Khasakistani), Robert (American), Nate (American), Belgie (Thai), Me (Descended from Heaven), Fina (German), Flourian (Swiss), Ben (American)