Stay for the Compliments
China is a land of many different things and what not. (My government and culture classes have been paying off, as you can tell) One thing thing they are full of, that on the surface you might not expect, is compliments. Case in point:
(After getting completely lost while trying to find People's Square and ending up on the Bund two girls come up to me to ask for a picture)
Chinese girl 1: You are...very cute.
Girl 2: Yes! Like...Korean pop star!
Me: (clarifying) Oh uhhh....haha....thanks...like...Rain?
Girl 1: No no no, not like Rain.
Girl 2: More like...Super Junior!
Girl 1: Yeah! It's the hair.
Did you hear that? I LOOK LIKE A KOREAN POP STAR
KOREAN POP STAR
Girls in the United States, I might not come back, the girls here know the route to my heart better than I even knew it. Dreaming I'd ever be compared to Super Junior used to only be fever dream fueled by delusions on delusions. But no, in the land of the Orient, I have found my calling: Korean-pop-star-tall-foreign-male.
Actually...scratch that. I am "Korean-pop-star-foriegn-male." If you want to come to China to feel tall, you better be at least 6 foot 6. I kid you not. Every single foriegner here is taller than I am, including the women. Like, seriously, what the heck? Hell, even a large amount of the Chinese are taller than I am. I've seen more girls over 6 feet in the last day that I've seen in the US.
I guess in terms of other observations, the Chinese, or at least the architects of this building, don't seem to mind windows looking into the shower. Not the bathroom, into the shower directly. On the fifth floor, it's not too bad, unless one of those super tall foreigners walk by, but I can imagine on the first floor...it's a little disconcerting.
There are also no chairs in this apartment. There are, however, four desks and a table. For what is normally two people. No chairs. Do you know how hard it is to sit when there are no chairs? How am I supposed to enjoy my non-perishable milk in a pouch while standing? It really is a sitting only sort of drink, y'know.
Some other things that involving sitting, and by sitting I mean walking around, and by walking around, I mean, pretend this was a good transition. We were walking around with JEAN! and her frind from the U on Nanjing Lu when this dude walks by saying "Lasers, lasers, lasers." I kid you not. Lasers. Lasers lasers lasers lasers lasers. And in his hand? LASERS. No lie. Lasers. When I grow up, I will be the old, crazy-looking, walking-on-nanjing-lu, laser-toting, chinese man. I may as well just stay here to get a head start. I've even been practicing saying "DVD, Watches, Shopping? Shoes?" whenever I see other foreigners, just in case "Lasers, lasers" doesn't work out.
One last thing, before I have to pack up and hop on a bus to Tongxiang to visit Millie and her family for the weekend:
Karaoke.
I was informed I am tone deaf.
I feel like this explains so much...
(Editor's note (5/12/11): The old pictures didn't transfer)
- Picture 1 Man fishing for lobsters outside of Century Park.
- Picture 2 Me and Kevin Cao after we accidentally ordered hotpot at a Korean BBQ. Everyone was giving us "wtf" looks. However, a gal was wearing a shirt that said (excuse my french): "No F*cking '69 Anytime Anywhere." So you'd think she'd be getting those looks. That's China for you.
- Picture 3 Shanghai at night! This was right before going to another ex-pat bar to watch the USA-Algeria game. I wore my sweater vest and pink tie...a dude smiled seductively at me. Apparently that is an outfit reserved for a college campus, or maybe I'm just weird in general. For the sake of my self-esteem, I'm going to think China (and its ex-pats?) is just not ready for the sweater vest.
Last Updated: 2021-11-25 10:51:09