Forbidden City and Mao-loving Tiananmen! (fri 4/8)

Paula was well enough to have day out on the city of Beijing! Yay! Our plan, loosely, was to wander the streets of Beijing in the direction of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, then possibly hit up the Pearl Market, which is a collection of stores with knock off designer everything. The day was ours, no one to pick us up or tell us where to go. It was also our last day in Beijing and our last day in China!

Walking along the streets of Beijing was an awesome thing to experience. First, we came to the train station and there were people everywhere! This was the crowded China that we had heard about but not really seen. We were soon befriended by a ‘student’ of an art institute who was having a showing that was on our way to the Forbidden city so we stopped in to take a look and see if maybe we could find something interesting. Whether this story of him being a student or not was true, we didn’t really care. The art that we ended up seeing was magnificent. So we indulged and bought some. We could not help it! At one point this ‘student’ actually even teared up!

We had stumbled upon a huge shopping area, with stores lining the streets and no cars are allowed to drive in. Apparently the rules of the road are more closely followed in Beijing. We decided not to shop just yet since we had a big day ahead of us.

The view of the Forbidden City from outside is interesting. There is a moat surrounding the entire city, and massive walls erected just in case someone conquered the moat. The last inhabitants left in 1911, and the PRC did a good job of maintaining this impressive landmark. This being a tourist area, we paid for entry and upon entering through the first gate were greeted by a massive courtyard, huge gates and fortresses and of course people everywhere! There were dozens of tours taking place, so we opted to veer off to the side where the people were sparser. It turned out to be a good decision. No one to get in our way and plenty of time to see things as we wanted to see them. There are numerous halls and temples that just simply can’t be listed here, and all in all we spent over 3 hours wandering the Forbidden City. The jewelry that was on display was simply gorgeous, and the only thing missing was the exact date these were made. They only gave a year range that ended in 1911, so who really knows how old the stuff was. I had heard of rock gardens before, but nothing compared to what this one was. It spanned city blocks and there was even one that rose over 100 feet to protect a tower at the back end of the city. Why I did not get pictures of that is beyond me.

With our legs moving a little slower after the 3 hour stroll through the Forbidden City, we then headed south to Tiananmen Square. They are directly adjacent to each other, with Tiananmen Square in a way being the entry way to the Forbidden City. I think we approached it from the wrong side, but it still was sort of impressive. We emerged from a massive gate with a ridiculous picture or Mao on the front of it. He is still worshiped here. Across the street was the main part of the Square, and that was something I had no clue about. Yes, a street pretty much bisects the Square into 2 parts. There is no way to cross the street except for walking a ways down to an underground walkway. Since there was really nothing to do in Tiananmen Square except walk around and stand we decided we had seen enough. Not to mention there were guards EVERYWHERE. The memory of what had happened there was not forgotten and any protests are taken very seriously and I don’t doubt that it may be treated in the same fashion as the earlier tragedy there. We did not dawdle in leaving the area!

The walk back was met with some shopping and bargaining, which Paula and I double-teamed a shop for a couple bags we needed to haul all of our souvenirs home in. We had no more room for the things we had bought and needed an easy solution without breaking the bank. Let’s just say we purchased what we needed for about 1/4 what they originally wanted. It was apparent that on our last day here we had finally mastered the art of haggling.

Jesse had originally planned for us to accompany him to one of his friends’ restaurants, but we did not feel up to going to a big elaborate dinner. After a month of being in China, we were tired and needed to relax. So, off to the executive lounge we went for our free dinner and cocktails. This was a much more relaxing way to end the trip, and was good for the 3 of us to have our last meal together without the need to entertain anyone.

It is a Wall, and it is Great! (thurs 4/7)

You can’t spend a month in China and not see the Great Wall. And we were going to see it today! At breakfast it was just the General and I. Paula must just be on girl time or something. As the time to leave drew near, I used a courtesy phone in the lobby to call her since there was still no sign of her. She said that she would not be joining us that day. Apparently her backed was all messed up. I can understand not wanting to climb a bunch of stairs if you can’t even bend over to put socks on. So, it was just the General and I for the day. Very bummed though. The triangle cannot stand without all three sides! Pauly B would be missed throughout the day.

Jesse had arranged for a cab for the day. It was a little car, the XR4 from LTI I think. British car and if you picture a British taxi, that is what this was. Pretty neat little thing, and very roomy, especially considering there were only 2 of us. The drive to get out of Beijing was about an hour, then was another hour to where we would get on the wall. During the drive we could see some of it, and it looked awesome. We had no idea it was going to be even better. The driver took us straight up to the entrance for a cable car. This was it. We were now just about to be on the Great Wall.

The cable car ride up was nothing spectacular, at least until we crested a ridge. Then there she was, in all her glory. From our vantage point in the cable car it was breathtaking. Words are easily lost to describe what we saw. We came out of the cable car station and were walking right next to it. It didn’t take us long to find a staircase to actually get on the Wall. From where we started, we could either go up right away or down and up and down and up and so on! The craftsmanship to make this ridiculously massive wall is unimaginable. The way it follows the ridges of the mountains was pure genius. We set off on what is definitely more of a hike than a walk. Steep inclines and declines, both with stairs or smooth were all that there was. Very rarely were there flat parts. Every so often was a fortress, which generally had a huge collection of people catching their breaths and resting. As we continued in our way we spotted a really high fortress and opted to make a straight shot for it. When our driver dropped us off he told us we only had 2 hours total, so we had to be quick to get that far. From what we could see, there were no other people on that section, so this was a plus that we didn’t have to deal with crowds, but also potentially a negative since it looked very challenging!

Before I go further, let me just say that the General is a machine. I consider myself in good shape. General Dave is on another planet in that sense. Hell, he might even be FROM another planet. Try as I might, I could not keep up with his blistering pace. That is also to say that I don’t think there was anyone else there that day who could have kept up with me. It’s like there is a rocket strapped to the guy! Every so often I would stop for a photo op, because I absolutely had to. The views are spectacular. The Great Wall seems to extend in every direction, twisting and falling with the mountains every step of the way. This is a wonder of the world for good reason. I think I was in awe of it the entire time. We fell upon several sections that were literally straight up, and there was 3 foot spacing on some of the steps! If you are short you would find yourself crawling up these parts rather than climbing stairs. Steeper than any section we encountered on Mt. Qingcheng. And there were only a couple of other people during this section. It really is a shame that we only had 2 hours. I could easily spend a full day on the Great Wall, even multiple days. We achieved our goal of that high, lonely fortress. We wanted to press on further up the mountain and clamber up more steps, but we had reached the halfway point as far as time was concerned. Back we went, and went even faster than we went up. Well, not necessarily up one way down another. It was all up and down. We were stopped by a few groups of Chinese girls or women for pictures. Even on the Great Wall it seemed we were celebrities. We also got many comments on how we were in short sleeves and everyone else in sweaters. They did not understand how we were not cold. We worked up quite a sweat during our time on the Great Wall. Forgive us for not sauntering like the rest of the lazy world! Our time on the Wall was now over. It really is too bad because like I said before, we could have spent days on it.

Wall and ridge on right was our destination!

Straight up!

Our next destination was the Ming tombs. On the way there, we had an unexpected stop at a restaurant for lunch. The General and I assumed that lunch was not going to happen and had brought some fruit with us for nourishment and were quite content with it. Oh well, lunch we would have. And it turned out to be a good thing. We went to a hole in the wall local place close to the tomb entrance. Our driver stopped there, so it must be for good reason. We ordered broccoli, fried rice and barbecued rainbow trout, which bot the trout and broccoli were said to be local recipes. The broccoli was not like the normal floret broccoli, but resembled spinach leaves with broccoli stalks. Best broccoli I have ever had. Fried rice was good too. But the best was by far the trout. I would say it was the best fish I have had in my entire life. General Dave also found it to be ridiculously good, he said best fish on the trip. I even ate the skin with the meat. It made it even better. You can bet your whatever you want that I will try to duplicate this on my own barbecue. It was so good yet so simple. Par for the course here in China!

Ok, I know the Ming tombs are very historical, especially for the Chinese. Had we not gone to these I would not have been missing much. I liken it to a Chinese person going to Abe Lincolns’ log house. Sure it has historical value, but mostly for those who actually appreciate it. And let’s face it, after seeing the Great Wall it just did not compare. I will not waste any more blog time on the tombs, other to say that the General and I have seen them, so I suppose we can mark it off the list of things to see.

The driver wanted to take us to Olympic stadium and all that jazz, but we declined. I snapped a couple pictures as we drove by, and that was enough. I think we were more concerned with getting back to the hotel and going to work out! Paula was feeling better, so we met in the executive lounge for free dinner and drinks! And that was the end to an amazing day!

Back to Beijing! (wed 4/6)

Our home for almost a month, the Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Chengdu, would soon be nothing but a memory. Well, it’s about time! There are advantages and disadvantages about everything. But all together the 3 of us racked up a laundry bill of just about $1,000. Big disadvantage. I could have bought a brand new wardrobe for my share of that! They also tried to charge us for 3 cigarette holes in linen. None of us smoke, so the General got that taken care of. Nothing gets by the General, monetarily speaking. He is a Hebrew!

After the lengthy check out process, our regular driver took us to the airport. As we pulled up, another 120 vehicle angled in in front of us. Out popped Miao, another director, Pu and Leo! They had come to see us off. Quite a gesture for all of them, and very much appreciated by us! Leo was able to translate for us, and we the found out that Paula and I would be paying 440 yuan ($70) for our second bag. Well that is just great! Goodbyes were quick, but not painless. Pu told Paula that she loved her multiple times, and Paula welled up a bit. Hugs abounded for all of us, and it was a pretty amazing thing. We came into these peoples lives and made such a difference to them that they took time out of their day, drove over an hour round trip, spent an hour with us before we went through security. The hospitality and sincerity of these people is completely and absolutely breathtaking. You can say what you want about China and the air pollution and the billions of people and communism, but the individual people are fantastic. Our experience has been a very positive one, and certainly will never be forgotten in any of our hearts.

Nothing exciting happened in the Chengdu airport, and nothing exciting happened on the flight. We were fed, it was duck and it was only ok. Airplane food is only ok. We arrived in Beijing with no fanfare, and the first thing we noticed was there was no shortage of white people. We were no longer celebrities. Shane Battier, it was nice being you for a few weeks, but you can have yourself back. Apparently I am done. Jesse had told us that a taxi to our hotel would be 100 yuan. Yeah, right. We needed a big van because of all of our crap. It was 500 yuan. We had no energy to haggle at that moment. Such is life. The driver did prove to us that this is what it costs to go to where we needed. It was about 40 km. So it ended up being fair. Our hotel was right in the middle of Beijing. Perfect. Could not have picked a better location. Nice place, too.

Jesse met us in the lobby at 630 pm to take us to Beijing duck. This was supposed to be the best duck anywhere. A short walk later we arrived at the restaurant, and it certainly smelled good. To sum it up, this was not only the best duck I have ever had, but was one of the best meals we have had in China. And that is saying something because we have had a lot of good food here. It really was unbelievable. Crispy skin, tender meat and ridiculous flavor. If they made duck like that back home I would eat it as much as possible. And so would every one of you!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to the executive lounge and enjoyed a few drinks. So close to the end, we had to look back on what we accomplished and relax. I took a page from the dude and ended up enjoying some white Russians. I think that will be my drink of choice now, if I were to drink liquor. Nothing beats the home brewed beer though! Few more days and I can enjoy one of those from the comforts of my own couch with my wife under my arm and my boys getting me to wrestle with them! But first we had some serious sight-seeing….

The giant Buddha (tues 4/5)

We had something to do today! A driver was supposed to pick us up at 830 am and take us to Leshan to see the giant Buddha. Just about 830 am we were at breakfast Paula was still eating very quickly and I ran up to my room to get some water. While I was in there the phone rang. The phone never rings. So I answered it. The front desk said our driver was downstairs waiting and they couldn’t get a hold of Ms. Botman. I tried to explain that we were going to be there in just a minute. Several times I tried to tell her this. She may have spoke English, but I don’t think she understood it. Finally I just said I’m on the way and hung up. So we were just a few minutes late. I don’t know if this was the reason, but our driver was none to pleased. Maybe he just didn’t want to drive 3 lao-may 2 hours to Leshan, sit around all day waiting for us and then drive back. Whatever. It’s your job, dude. Suck it up.

Naps were had on the way there, and upon our arrival we met up with one of the students from our class, the director of the Leshan 120 center and a woman who spoke English. It was clear she would be our tour guide. Her English was good, but not great. We walked along a river a bit, and she explained that this was the confluence of 3 great rivers, none of which I can remember the names. If you are curious, google Leshan and it will tell you. I don’t feel like it right now. Anyways, these rivers can sometimes flood, and about 1,000 years ago there was a bad flood, so they decided to carve a giant Buddha out of the rock at the point where the rivers meet in order to protect the city.

Apparently it worked. It took 18 years to complete this project. It is pretty spectacular. We had tea on the river, where the tour guide informed us we were at the confluence of 3 great rivers. The men were forced to have green tea, the women jasmine tea. Jasmine tea is effeminate so we weren’t allowed to have it. That was ok because the green tea was yummy. Then a nice stroll along the river to go get lunch. This was a good walk. For the first time we were under a canopy of trees, and the air smelt clean and fresh compared to what we had been breathing. Everything was green and lush and it seemed that great care was taken to be sure of this here. While on this walk we were told that the river we were walking along was one of 3 great rivers that met in Leshan. Good to know!

Lunch was quite interesting. We were informed that Leshan is world famous for its tofu. This excited General Dave and Paula, as they are tofu fans. I was not so excited. But, I thought I could try it. I mean I have already tried hot pot, snake, crickets, chicken blood, duck, pigeon, intestine, tripe, chicken heart, liver, kidney, various glands, chicken feet, duck feet, pig feet, eel and pig snout. I suppose tofu would join the list. What is the worst that could happen, my tits (I said tits Paula!) get bigger but not in the muscly pectoral way? There was tofu everything. Bear paw tofu, peacock arranged tofu, chili oil tofu, Sichuan tofu, tofu tofu tofu. There was also a yellow bean milk that if you add some sugar to was quite delicious. I was alone in that sentiment. The others disagreed, but they loved the tofu. Some of it was actually pretty good. I kept feeling my chest for abnormal growth though. During lunch, our tour guide told us that where we were was the confluence of 3 great rivers. Cool! I can definitely see why this place was famous for tofu. In fact, both General Dave and I were able to mash beans in an ancient bean grinder. It wasn’t hard, but still was fun. For a minute at least.

Crown jewel on top of mountain on left!

And now the crown jewel of our trip to Leshan, the giant Buddha. What is even more interesting is that there are three mountains that represent the sleeping Buddha, and the giant Buddha is carved onto the body. There is a head, body and legs. From afar you can see this representation. What do you think the crown jewel is? I’ll give you a hint: it’s on the body section. Yes, it is in fact, a giant phallic symbol to symbolize Buddha’s dong. Even the ancient men had an obsession with male genitalia and the size of it. Oh, and we were told to look out from Buddha and see how we were at the confluence of 3 great rivers. The giant Buddha was not at all what I was expecting. It was definitely huge but had been repainted and fixed up over the years. Of course, a great monument such as this must be kept looking its best, but I guess I was hoping it would be in an original state. They even change the Buddha’s eyes from open to closed at times. There were new buildings all around here, and none of them were open. 6 months we were told. Souvenir shops or stands are severely lacking here. There are a few, but no matter where you go it is the same stuff over and over.

So, a 2 hour drive back with naps, and then dinner. It was our last night at the hotel and we splurged by going to the western restaurant! General Dave and Paula had the buffet, which was thai themed. It was gross. So, I made a wise choice in getting another burger! Then we packed up and awaited the next days’ flight to Beijing!

By the way, you may have noticed how I mentioned us being at the confluence of 3 great rivers many many times. This was exactly what we experienced with our tour guide. She also made us take way more pictures than we wanted. And if you didn’t catch that, we had been at the confluence of 3 great rivers all day long!

Nothing (mon 4/4)

Yes, that is exactly what we did. Nothing. We had nowhere to be, no schedule to keep and no one to meet. It was glorious. General Dave and I went to breakfast at the same time, but ate quickly and then shot off to our rooms. We had both talked of going to the gym. When I went, there was no one there and I did some cardio for an hour. General Dave went a couple hours after I and killed the weights.

About 7 pm I decided I had not heard from anyone yet so I tried calling them to get some dinner. No answer. So I was forced to do the one thing I hate, eat alone. I could have gotten room service, but had been in the room all day, save for the gym and breakfast, and had to get out. I wasn’t in the restaurant long. Later, I found out that General Dave and Paula had a chance meeting at the Chinese restaurant, both going down at the same time. So they were able to eat together. I see how it is! General Dave also went out for a walk around Pixian. He didn’t elaborate to me, so I assume it was unexciting.

That was our day. I only saw the General at breakfast, and he only saw Paula at dinner. I never saw or heard from Paula. Just as well, I’m sure she needed a break from the pink camera toting, Britney Spears loving, car obsessed, constantly teasing bald guy! If only I could figure out a way to get a break from him too!

The last day! (sun 4/3)

We made it! Today is the last day of class, and it could not have come soon enough. This whole project was a lot of work, a lot more than we could have imagined. There have been lots of changes from when we first started. Some were good, others not so much. All in all the finished product delivered what they wanted. We had known that our approval rating was 87% very satisfied the first time, with the other 13% satisfied. This time, it was 92% very satisfied and 8% satisfied. So, yes, we got better. Of course, the perfectionists that are the 3 of us wanted 100% very satisfied. You can’t always get what you want. But it is 100% satisfied all together!

The day had a lot of mixed emotions. Definite happiness to be done with all of this. Again, this has been one amazing experience that I will never forget, but I want to go home. Skype has been horrible. When it works, or I should say IF it works it isn’t for long. The internet connection at our hotel, the wired one, is horribly slow and intermittent. Wireless, only available downstairs, is even worse. This fact has made not being home harder, at least for me. Happiness also because we see the finished product. We hear the students saying that they have learned a lot from the ‘American experts’. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into this project and with us it is a success. We all take a sense of pride in that.

There is also some sadness. We have become friendly with everyone at the 120 center, and during the closing ceremony they referred to us as family and friends forever. We would always be welcome as their guests. You can’t help but be touched by that. General Dave almost got emotional again! We also got to know our interpreters pretty well. Crystal even cried at the end! Of course, strong little Michelle was more concerned about what she should do about her crush on a possibly gay guy!

So, for the last time, we would be making the morning drive from Pixian to the 120 center in Chengdu. ITLS testing had to happen, and obviously they all passed. The students actually did pretty good staying engaged the whole time despite the day being a pretty simple one with mostly testing. I think all of us were done teaching through interpretation, and I know I was mostly quiet through it all. Well, as quiet as I can be. The day really ended up anti-climactic though. Don’t days like this usually end that way? You build it up and build it up, and then it ends. Nothing exciting. Just a memory. We handed out the certificates, and that was that. I thought I would show pictures from the banquet last night, but they all bolted right after the ceremony, so that was not a good idea!

During our lunch, we had an exit interview of sorts. To me, it seemed more like a ‘let’s give everyone a pat on the back for doing a great job’ kind of thing more than it was an exit interview. We did discuss things that could be improved on both sides. But it was a happy time. And I think I speak for everyone, interpreters, us and the students when I say part of the happiness of lunch was knowing that that was the last box lunch we would have! Same thing every day was just taking a toll.

Much to our chagrin, there was another dinner planned. After finishing the class we just all wanted to relax without toasting Chinese liquor. The choice was not ours though. I will admit, dinner ended up being very tasty and we were right on the river on a boat. It appeared to be a very expensive meal. Nicer than anything thus far. They tried to have General Dave play mah jong, but it ended up being Pu playing for him and we didn’t really learn anything about it except it seems to be like rummy. Jesse said that this would be nothing like the banquets in terms of drinking. Boy, was he ever wrong. Dinner was hot pot and we even had our own burners and pots. It was all fish, which we were told had been caught that day. It was really good. Some of the best fish I have ever eaten, just ridiculously more spicy!

The big news at dinner was that I finally had enough of the drinking Chinese liquor. We all had. I did something about it though. It started with normal toasting, then progressed into each person toasting us 3 times each. After a couple rounds of this I was none too pleased, and you could tell. I was done. The next time they tried it, I flat out refused. I didn’t care. They tried saying a man doesn’t refuse to drink. If that is their idea of a man, then I am glad I am not considered one. Obviously there are huge cultural differences. So they kept trying for awhile, and I kept refusing. It became quiet at times. I told them this was the last time for this and I wanted to enjoy and remember it. How could I do that if I was throwing up all the delicious fish I had just eaten? I’m sure I lost face and respect from them. But honestly, I don’t care. If I were to lose respect from my wife, kids, family and friends then I would be concerned. I tried to have Jesse explain why I wasn’t going to drink more, but I’m not sure what he told them. Later he told me that it was ok, they weren’t all upset with me or anything. They did give me several massive hugs when we were leaving, so it seemed alright. Maybe they did understand. Or maybe they were just happy to get rid of the lao-may who refused to drink himself into oblivion like they wanted! Either way, I’m happy with my decision and now I can forever remember the last night of traditional hot pot.

The banquet, 2.0 (sat 4/2)

Before the ‘fun’ of the banquet begins, we had to have a full day of class. There was a lot that happened throughout the day. It definitely wasn’t the normal class. The morning session we had skills labs. At the end of this we decided to have a little competition between the 3 groups. Fastest one to put a person on a backboard. They loved this. Of course, it became VERY loud in the room during this process. One of the interpreters told us that normally Chinese are quiet and reserved. Not this group, or the first class either. So we thought that maybe the rest of the day we could mix lecture with competitions to keep things spiced up.

Lunch was extended by Pu. Once again, we love Pu. Almost 2 hours for lunch. And we decided to go to Pizza Hut! Well, this Pizza Hut was like no other Pizza Hut I have ever seen, obviously we are in China. This was like a normal restaurant. Pizza was not the top billing here. They served just about every kind of food. Seafood, pasta, pizza, desserts, salads, French fries, thai noodles, and a whole bunch of stuff I can’t even remember. I did get pictures of the menu, but I am sure the banquet will dominate the blog. So we of course had to get pizza. One pepperoni stuffed crust, one supreme pan and a popcorn chicken pan pizza. Yes, popcorn chicken on a pizza. They also have popcorn shrimp on pizza too. And a seafood supreme, and a New Orleans pizza, shrimp filled crust and even sausage filled crust. Strange stuff, and we stuck to the normal. The pan pizza tasted identical to home. For me the pepperoni stuffed crust had a fishy taste. There has been several things that I have eaten here that have had that fish taste in them. No one else agrees with me though. I am weird, I know.

The afternoon seemed to have lots of problems, but we managed. General Dave had a loooooong meeting with Dr. Ho and the like, and Paula was on pins and needles for awhile. I never stress, so I wasn’t scurred! But what if we weren’t good enough this time? We knew that the students weren’t exactly loving the lectures of ITLS. We tried to make it exciting. Competitions, making jokes – especially me since I am an easy target being bald and having the last name Hooker (which the equivalent is duck in Chinese, they pronounce yacht-za). But there was nothing to fear. Everything was worked out, and the big issue was that they wanted to trim another day off the schedule, making us be done on Sunday instead of Monday. Ok!

Which now brings us to the banquet and more Chinese liquor and toasting games. Ugh. I won’t mention the food, yes it was good, but nothing out of the ordinary here. We weren’t allowed to drink anything but the Chinese liquor, in terms of alcohol. How exciting for us. It began normally, being toasted by pretty much everyone at our table. During this Pu made Crystal get up and sing to everyone. She sang one on English then one in Chinese. Several of the doctors brought flowers that were on the table up to her. We were also informed that we would be ‘singing’ later. They had told us about that yesterday so I was able to come up with something good. But I’ll get to that in a bit. The toasts and eating continued well enough. General Dave decided to go and toast each table individually. Jesse told Paula and I that this was a mistake, they would now come back on him two-fold. In my opinion, General Dave was a big boy and as such could handle it. Throughout our experiences with the Chinese toasting tradition not one of us had ended up two sheets to the wind. I had confidence in my leader! Then the beer was brought out. They did not provide glasses, which was an atrocity since they wanted me to chug with someone. I said slow, and we went at it. As you may know, drinking an entire beer somewhat quickly through a bottle is a sure fire way to ingest way too much air. And this wasn’t a normal size bottle either. Nay, it was quite large and afterwards I was blown up like a balloon. Of course, they wanted me to do it again. My stomach was going to explode so I was able to pass and the limelight fell to Paula.

This is when the fun really began. I had gone to the bathroom, and was escorted by one of the doctors. On the way back he kissed me. No, not really. That didn’t happen. On the way back I was challenged by another table. How I got out of that I don’t know, but I promised them I would be back, and then there was a big Arnold Schwarzenegger voice thing going on. It was now time to sing. So, to make it fun and do something easy for everyone I came up with the idea to sing ‘You’ve lost that loving feeling’ to Miao and Ho, Top Gun style. They had no idea what we were singing, but it was definitely a big hit. They do know the word love so I think they understood what was going on! At one point something was poured on both of their heads, and Miao tried to run away. We pinned him down, and same for Ho. We later were told it was the liquid fire that is Chinese liquor that was poured on them, and some got in Miao’s eyes! We felt pretty bad for not letting him get up from that! I don’t know how his eye didn’t just melt from that horrid liquid! More toasts ensued. We all tried to keep track of how many shots (not a full shot, kind of like a half shot, but the liquor is over 100 proof) we had done, but after about 15 it just didn’t happen. Next up was General Dave picking up Ho yet again. After he put him down a mob picked up the General and began throwing him into the air. That was pretty hilarious. They must have tossed him up a few feet about 6 times or so. Just good clean fun! Then the ‘horse’ riding began. A few of them took off on their chairs, sitting backwards and rocking on them to make them move forward. Several more joined in, and the General and I also took part. Paula stayed back to watch this odd scene, and made the observation that men are stupid sometimes! Yes, we are, but only because we were having fun! There must have been a string of about 20 of us doing this. I was shouting out the Mandarin words for one, two, three, go and a bald white guy shouting out in Mandarin while riding a chair like a horse is probably a pretty interesting thing to see if you are Chinese. We have all found our roles in these events, and we give the people what they want. These dinners and banquets are still work and you can bet we earn our check by drinking that God-awful liquor!

Fortunately this all ended at a decent time, and we once again escaped with just the right amount of intoxication to please our hosts, but not over the edge to make us sick or embarrass ourselves. Paula and Jesse ended up going for a massage when we got back, which ended up being about 3 hours and Paula getting cupped! She says it felt great, and had the bruises on her back the next day to prove it! I was beat, and both the General and I went to our rooms to end the night. We still had one more day of class to go.