Yesterday we signed our official teacher's contracts with the university who in turn submits them to the provincial government. Also, yesterday was Teachers Day in China so in honor of both events they threw a huge welcoming dinner at a posh hotel on campus with the Vice President of the university and several other big wigs. The dinner was quite elaborate, with huge circular tables and a motley assortment of various dishes. When one dish is finished another replaces it, and the dishes keep circling around the table. And boy, the Chinese big wigs sure love to drink, and drink they do.....a lot. They drink this stuff called Byjo which is a cheap clear liquor that people drink everywhere in China. It doesn't taste good, but it doesn't taste as bad as some liquors. The Vice President would go around and have a mini shot with everyone at the table, about 12 people, and then the next guy would go around and have a mini shot with everyone at the table. And if your the last one you have to take a double shot. They even got my coteacher Andrew to drink some and he has never drank, and man...he had the funniest bitter beer face ever after his shot, it was priceless. I wish I had my camera and took a snapshot of that. And to wash that down, you drink Peijo, which is Chinese for beer, of which they have a lot of light crisp beers. So by the end of the night, I had the English bloke Raf to my left forehead to the bartop, and to my right an American dude Dax forehead to the bar top, and when he was woken up and stood up, he almost toppled over like a giant redwood.
Today was quite the day. I started off with a haircut. I have now gotten a haircut in South America, Africa, and Asia. And Asia was definitely the most pleasant. In Africa I got a haircut with a straight up razor blade. Here, they shampoo and wash your hair and give you a head massage, diligently cut your hair, and then wash it again. All for 10 yuan or about a dollar and some change. I gave my barber a Kevin Garnett trading card for his service which he liked.
Then we proceeded to head downtown where we got an awesome lunch, and then checked out some sights. Apparently Xiangfan has a soccer team and basketball team, and we saw there stadiums today. We walked into the basketball stadium which is an amazing architectural sight by the way, kind of like a big sloping roof in the middle, it kind of looks like a turtle shell. So we walk in, and people are just shooting hoops, so I joined in and got to play inside the stadium. It was pretty money.
Then we headed over to a music shop, and was chillin there checking out the instruments when all of a sudden I see this giant camel walk by outside. I was like, what? So of course checked it out and took a ride and got a picture with him. It was quite the odd sight to see a camel walking around downtown in a busy Chinese city.
It gets better. So after that we are walking around and our Chinese friend shows us a massage an acupuncture place, which is right up my alley with the bad car accident I was in this year on my birthday. My neck has been cracking like crazy ever since I got to China. So I was like, let's do this! For only 20 yuan or maybe 3 bucks, I got the full acupuncture treatment and it was awesome. In the US that would cost probably 200 bucks or so. First he cracks your neck chiropractor style, and then come the needles. I felt a sharp prick in my neck and with my face down on the table, I was like...'Mike, is there a needle in my neck? and he was like, 'Yeah,' and then I felt a few more sharp pricks and I was like, 'Mike, is there lots of needles in my neck? and he was like, 'Yeah' and I was like, 'dammmmmn.' So then they hook up the electrical current to the needles and buzz the heck out of your neck like an electric massage which feels crazy at first but pretty relaxing after a while. And bear in mind, the tiny needles go about 2 inches deep. So after that, I feel this clamp sort of feeling, about six of 'em. And I was like, 'Mike, whaaaaat was that? and he was like, "heated up cups that create a vacuum.' So they put these cups on you that sucks out all of the poison and toxins in your blood which feels great afterwards when they take the suction cups off. He said I have a lot of buildup or something like that in Chinese so they put me on this machine that has a neck strap for you jaw and the back of your head. Then they crank it up so it stretches out your neck like the longneck tribes in Africa and that lets the blood circulate and flow better and reduces pain. When it was all said and done, I felt much better and will be going back often, and now I have several perfectly circular purple bruises on the back of my neck.
No comments:
Post a Comment