Friends, family, and others surfing the blogosphere,
This weekend was one for connecting with old friends. Josh, Maja, and Connie have found their way to Beijing and I was happy to meet up with them and bond in the unusually cool air of a Chinese spring.
This weekend was not one for tourist destinations and I was sure to stay clear of them. It's not that I don't want to go; it's that I hate the convulsing crowds of people that flock to these places at the first sign of sunshine: the silver lining of a rainy day may be the rainy day itself! On Friday, Maja and I went trekking through Beijing University (Beida) and a Beijing hutong, beers in hand, flocked by locals looking to practice their English. I would not want someone taking photos of my house so I left my camera at home and left the photography to my memory. It was charming and interesting and at times a little dangerous. A man approached us and demanded that we leave his neighbourhood to which Maja replied that we would do no such thing. I am much more accommodating and agreed to but after heated (Chinese) words, we decided to prove a point by staying. What a wonderful decisions it was too. We stumbled across a delicious restaurant and gorged ourselves in the most obscene fashion for only 40 yuan ($8) split between us. Maria was shocked that we could still find a hutong by Beida and thought that it had already been re-developed.
That night, Josh and I resolved to do karaoke but after several more beers and drunken talk of love long lost, we fell into our usual discussion of controversial topics and conspiracy theories: inappropriate no matter where you are in the world, I'm sure. It was quite a wonderful time until the police came and told us to leave. I went home, was subjected to a passport check by another group of police en route, and finally arrived safe and sound.
Saturday, Maria and David took me to their athletic club for badminton with the neighbourhood. They first laughed at my poor badminton skills, but seeing as how every insult is accompanied by a compliment in China, I was told I had the spirit of an athlete and improved quickly. A nice man taught me the finer points of the game, proving the language barrier less obtrusive than previously thought. After winning 2 games in a row, I hung up my racquet and we went to a hotpot restaurant together. I didn't dare learn what I was eating until after and it turned out to be intestine of some animal: a point of clarification I wasn't too excited about asking. Afterwards, I met up with Maja and Josh for clubbing. We shared some noxious 40% baijiu, but at 10 yuan ($1.20) for a forty, it tasted delicious. We got some beers for the road (you can drink in the taxis) and went to a terrible club which we promptly left for sleep.
Sunday started with a baijiu-induced whimper. Despite this, it was nonetheless productive. Josh and I attempted to order food from a yunnan-accented restaurateur but found it impossible to understand, thus receiving whatever mash of meat and vegetables he thought appropriate. It also marked my first "day on the job" for the Beijing International Film Festival. I will be translating films from English into Chinese along with marketing work; jobs I am quite comfortable doing. It will be a trying foray into the film world but a rewarding one to be sure. I watched a movie about a fat woman making love to a cupcake in a shower and thought it hilarious, a highlight of the day. As the sun set on our meeting, the hutong it was being held in grew dangerous and some drunken cantankerous old men thought it funny to try to make me fight them. Using my sober agility, I ducked into the subway and retuned home where I now am.
Bringing Bessie (my computer) here has been a point of stress as she is now almost entirely defunct. I can only sometimes access this blog and facebook and google are things of the past. So if anyone is interested in contacting me, use email... except that I'm not sure if that is even being sent! Disaster strikes indeed.
What I just wrote makes me sound like a drunk but have no fear, sobriety rules the weekdays in the life of this cat (and sometimes even weekends).
Tomorrow I'm off to... somewhere everyone will find out next entry.
Yours in China,
Matt
Because of my phone's refusal to call international (I tried today) and the probability that my email is no longer working, I would like to issue a very public happy mothers' day to my dear sweet mother. Happy mothers' day mom!!! I love you, miss you, and can't wait to see you again in July. I could never ask for a better mother in all my life. We will go get brunch and get flowers when I get back. I hope your day is relaxing and as beautiful as you are.
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