DAY 4 QUICK CATCH UP

08:03BST 7/12 KEISHA'S HOUSE - KUNMING

alright where were we? we went to wang laoshi's friends apt where their daughter keisha lives. the apt is i guess small but i dont really think so. they have an extra guest bedroom and bathroom thats big enough for me and im american, so who knows. keisha is 19 and studying to teach chinese. she is going to school in sweden next year - how cool is that?! her friends, sunny f/20 and danny m/20 (they are a secret couple) came over and we hung out for a bit. sunny is going to school in s. korea next year and danny goes to NYU. dannys english has been without hiccups but keisha and sunnys english is very very good. these kids are crazy hip and really into fashion and having fun. i guess the way it works here is that the parents play patron until you have a real job and college is much much easier than their highschool. so right now, all they do is hang out. its a pretty nice life.

so keisha was tired but sunny and danny and i went 'shopping'. at first, we went to the kind of shopping that they liked - all brand names, all high fashion in a big new mall. after awhile they figured out that that wasnt what i was looking for. we then went to an awesome street market and bought some candy. then to a smaller mall to buy textiles and.... JADE BRACELETS!! omg, so my wrist is the same size as jackie's and a little bigger than mom's. i wanted to use mine as a reference to buy theirs. good god the woman about broke my hand. so they have a bucket of water and some soap and they force it past your thumb, its really painful. i bought three, one for jax, one for mom and one for myself. i kind of want to get nice gifts for the roommates too, im keeping my eyes open. we went back to the real mall and had some drinks, i had a grapefruit tea with rose tips, and keisha met up with us. we all then went to dinner.

alright, im starting to catch on, the chinese eat everything all the time. our dinner was huge, there was so much food on the table. i think the most interesting thing was the tulip bulb. it tasted so beatuiful, i cant describe it. after dinner we play MAJONG!! omg, so fun. after two hours i figured out what i was doing and won three games! ::end scene 1::

yesterday, we all slept late and decided for a lazy day over at yunnan university. a lot of the buildings were built by the french in kunming so it looked like a very european campus. we walked around there and a park for awhile and then went to the international street for some traditional KOREAN BBQ!!! oh it was so good! every single thing on the table was just delicious. im going to try to list it off. there was this really cool cabbage stuff in a vinegar liquid and it tasted really fresh; there was this kind of tomato-y soup with zuccini, braised greens, rice and seaweed, peanuts, tofu, this specialty that had chunky veggies and congealed rice tubes (idk how else to call them) in this hot red sauce, rice, these thick rice noodles with black bean and pork sauce; and then in the middle of the table there was a big gas grill where we cooked our own plate of marinated prok, mushrooms and squash. this was just lunch!!

then we looked in some nearby shops, i found some tshirts with engrish on them, and went to this amazing coffee house to hide from the rain. i only now realize that i forgot to take pictures :(. it was all wood, two stories, and very lounge-like with low low tables and cushions to sit on. the ceilings had low hanging wood beams that i had to duck to miss. oh and the staircase was one of those cool cast iron tendrils in the middle of the cafe - soo cool! we ordered neat drinks (i had an irish coffee, it was time) and played cards for about 3 hours (bc the rain was so bad). we grabbed a taxi back to the house, got changed and went out to dinner with sunny's parents and co.

dinner was in this crazy upscale restaurant. everyone had to drink and eat until they were full. my beverages alone included watermelon juice, water, crysanthemum (sp?) tea, and bi-jio. *note, bi-jio isnt like normal white wine... its like liquor. you drink it in these tiny finger tip-sized glasses and toast with someone before you drink. food items included braised greens, two kinds of muchroom dishes (yunnan is know for it's abundant variety of mushrooms), fried sliced pork with caper-type things, vinegar noodles, chunks of duck fat (literally chunks), two whole fried birds of some sort (when i say whole i mean it), a plate of little micro shrimp, roasted pumpkin, fish and sprouts with peppers in a big pot, mmm i know im forgeting stuff... oh everyone had their own "western style" beef steak (teehee, not really western style but still really really good), and after dinner they brought individual bowls of yunnan-style spicy rice noodle soup. OH and everyone had their own little teapot full of chicken broth that you could sip on throughout the meal. SO MUCH FOOD. i really really had to use the restroom and heres a testament to how nice the place was: in our private room, we had our own restroom.... THAT HAD A TOILET! yes!!! i almost cried when i saw it.

afterward we came home and keisha and i (seriously) ate a bag full of lychee and talked about america and china for a long time. it is interesting how little the chinese know about their own culture or about what the world thinks about them. maybe its just easy for americans to assume that everybody doesnt like us because of our attitude so we feel like we know how we are perceived. but this darling smart girl had no idea that china is as big as it is (in terms of economics) or how the government acts or is perceived. keisha was thinking of changing her major because she didnt think that anyone would want to learn chinese! i tried my best to convince her otherwise.

today i think we are going to dianshi lake with keisha, sunny, her mom, danny, and robo (rob's chinese name). i should probably get ready for the day. how's that for an update though!