Apples to Apples

Current Raves: Apples to Apples, Lush, Diet Coke, Lady Antebellum singing from my ipod dock "mama said home is where the heart is, just south of the Mason-Dixon line", discovering the new fresh cut flower shop close to my apartment

Hubcat and Garfield getting close. I heart cuddling.

I don't think Dan, Daniel, Mark, nor I knew what this little furball was. Whatever it is, I want it. 5 of them, please. I'm seriously considering going back and getting it. I'll be in the vicinity of this pet store on Wednesday night because we're going to Mao Live to see European men wearing 3 piece suits play techno music. (I dunno, it sounds like a blast) Nerd Rock as Carol put it. :P Nerdy guys are the hottest. Colin Hanks or Jackson Rathbone, anyone?

Chinese babies are just the most adorable things in the entire world. I can't stop taking pictures of other people's kids.

Every so often during the day here in Beijing, you'll hear a loud boom. They are quite similar to the sonic booms from the jets in Warner Robins Air Force Base. I was freaked out the first time I heard it, and I thought it could be 3 things:

1) Launching rain-inducing things into the atmosphere

2) Launching cannons and missiles into the air because given my luck, while I'm over here would be the time that China decides to take back Taiwan by force or something

3) Fireworks

Apparently, these huge sharp booms are just construction sites setting off explosions for foundation work. There's so much construction going on in Beijing that it sounds like people are setting off cannons every 50 minutes! They do say that Beijing's cityscape changes every single night; but I had no idea it was this prevalent. However, now I know not to wince every time I hear it...all in the name of progress.

On Sunday, Dan, Daniel, Mark and I went to the Golden Tripod for brunch and we had fried crispy milk. Next time, I'm thinking of trying this thing out:

We went on to Houhai afterwards and Mark gave us a quick tour of the different hutongs.

Happy NIU Year! Year of the Ox.

Mark (U.K.), Daniel (sort of everywhere, 52 countries?), Dan (London via Saudi)

I wish I knew how to post video on here; I have some good clips from Sunday. Maybe I'll youtube them, but they're not that good. We did see an actual fist fight in a hutong. I wanted to yell at the guy to get him to stop, but it was such an uncomfortable feeling of should I get involved, how do I get involved...(in English because I thought itd be more effective than Chinese.) Maybe it was because of the fight but Dan and I ended up talking about the crime & punishment system in Dubai, where he has spent a lot of time. Really fascinating stuff; I absolutely love learning about different cultures and hearing different stories about traveling. My colleagues here in Beijing are so incredibly well traveled. I think most people have been to at least 5-6 countries, while the higher tolls are like 37, 48, 52...ridiculous amounts of global exposure. Maybe thats why they're so cool and open; they've seen that the horizon really doesn't end anywhere. Most disturbing story of the week came from my co-worker Kate, who used to teach English in Moscow. She was telling me about how these thugs threw an African woman, whom they caught jogging by the river, off of a bridge just for fun, but the woman turned out to be an Olympian swimmer and the daughter of the Kenyan Ambassador to Russia. She survived and identified the men who threw her off, who were actually off-duty policemen, but they weren't punished at all for their actions.

I have an extreme dislike of turbulence during flying..I think I am a pretty rational person (no snarky comments Zach), but every time the plane bounces a little, I truly think I am going to die. Nonetheless, I plan on traveling for the rest of my life. There's so much I want to see. You have to make the most out of this one precious life. Just seeing the pictures of Carol and Erik's awesome awesome awesome trips (seeing wild elephants drinking water from the lake while staying overnight in a treehouse) at their apartment (super awesome apt up near the Bird's Nest/China Daily) made me feel anxious to get on the road. Have I used awesome enough yet?

I used to think I'd be so happy getting married soon, settling down, having kids, working at whatever firm. Given everything that's happened in the past few years, that's definitely changed. I don't even know if I see myself having kids...at least not ANYTIME soon. Its not that I don't believe in love anymore...I mean, look at my parents. They've been together since freshman year of college (when they met), they've worked at the same university since the early 1990's, and they drive to work together every day. They're still so in love and just completely each other's best friends, always together. They make each other so happy-just this morning, my mom called me and couldn't stop laughing because my dad was singing some wierd song in the background. (I don't know why)

I want that, I want that maybe more than anything. Disclaimer: just coming out of a long 2+ year relationship might have jaded me just a little.. But the chances of that happening to people just seems so damn rare these days...More and more, I find myself focusing on just being the best friend I can be to my friends, whom I absolutely love and adore, showing them I care, focusing on my family, focusing on my career...the romantic notion of any sort of soul mate is long gone. Plus the worst part when you break up with someone? Losing them as a friend....you wouldnt have fallen in love with them in the first place had you not liked them, wanted them in your life.

I tried to explain this to my mom before I left NYC, and surprisingly, she supported my notion of not wanting marriage right now/maybe even possibly adopting someday. Even when I told my grandma I might want to adopt someday, she said she saw a lot of "little dark children on TV who looked very hungry" and "maybe you can help them out." My grandma, the Angelina Jolie of her day. I know I kind of joked around once with a friend in the past about how being Secretary of State would be such an amazing time. Go around the world trying to help spread diplomacy, meeting people, learning about them, teaching them about home, helping those who need help...boy, I am idealistic. Haha, oh well, you gotta believe in something or else this whole charade everyone is putting on is for naught.

I am still surprised every single day by how Western Beijing has become. There are so many funky little cafes everywhere now. Just walking around the little bars at Houhai on Friday night, there was a U2 cover band, a Chinese folk singer, a rock & roll band, a jazz quartet...how cool! Growing up, Beijing was always so...big, concrete, and busy. By concrete I mean...boring gray slabs of stone everywhere. Now, there are SO many vibrant areas, such as Sanlitun, Houhai, Nanlouguxiang (sp), just everything. The buildings are either gorgeous glass structures that look like they are out of sci-fi futuristic movies or the same 2-story concrete/glass ones. I love the modern aspects, but at the same time, I think I was on the phone with my mom for an hour trying to explain to her how I feel China is losing its culture and selling out at an astronomical speed to things like Adidas, UniQlo, Hermes, Sephora etc etc. Its schizo. I love this new Beijing because its fancy, its convenient, and if you have $$, the world is your oyster. Nonetheless, at the same time...I see Chinese girls dressing up like Paris Hilton, giggling like idiots, and I just want to beg them to respect themselves.

In less depressing news, Niffy, Carol, and I went to get hotpot last night at the U-center. Delicious. I want to go back right now...this instant. In case you don't know what hotpot is...it is food served in a HOT POT.


...filled with broth and seasoning. You are given raw veggies, meat, noodles, seafood...and you put it in the boiling broth and it cooks right in front of you. Then you dip it in these variety of sauces, and omg, its just amazing. Mom makes it at home a lot after dad and her bought an electric hotpot in Houston. Its sofreakinawesome. Post hotpot, it was like 3 hours of apples to apples, my new favorite boardgame.

"When can I play the AIDS card?"
"Where's Dolly Parton when you need her?"
"It exploded...big."
"Schindler's List...trumps all. You can't really beat it."

Today, Niffy and I went to Lush at WuDaoKou, this almost frathouse-like bar/restaurant that serves really good Western food. I think I was the only Chinese person in the entire place (excluding the wait staff...we had this funny waittress who tried to say hamburger like 4 times...then she looked at me, saw that I was Chinese, and just said it in Chinese. Han bao bao Hilarious) Finally had that hamburger that I've been craving since I left NY. I'm not a big fan of typical Chinese food (I mean, I like hotpot, etc etc...I guess just not cafeteria food.) Lush has movie nights, trivia nights, pyro pong (?) nights, where first prizes are usually bottles of Jack or Absolut and then second prizes are...there are no second prizes. Second is the first loser.