The first was KTV. It's a major chain in China for karaoke. You can rent a room for about 8-10 people, complete with a huge TV, a touch screen computer, two microphones and who could forget the tambourines and the maracas?
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| Alice, Helen, (Me of course!) Shelly, Jean |
- First, these are girls I've only seen at work. At KTV they are crazy happy. I've never seen many of the smile. But Jean was
so excited when I arrived she bear hug tackled me, linked arms with me, and dragged me into grocery store.
- One important thing with karaoke is the food. KTVs have grocery stores inside them. We were also brought a fruit platter, and a couple of the girls disappeared and came back with KFC for all of us. So much food!!
- I had to clear up one misconception really quick. Just because the song is in English, doesn't mean I automatically know it. Most of those songs were written before I was born.
- The only song I did pick to sing was "Footloose". I felt it was important for their American education :)
- Other favorites that the girls picked out included: You Are My Sunshine, Jingle Bells & Jingle Bell Rock, I learned Alice is a big fan of Linkin Park, of course some Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson ... and others I can't remember at the moment.
- All the Chinese songs sounded the same to me. Same pretty melody. And very similar dramatic, sad music videos about star crossed lovers in beautiful old Chinese dress in a serene, mountainous setting.
- French Fries came from KFC. Shelly picked up a packet of ketchup, looked at me and said, "tomato?". Then she looked confused and said, "potato?" ... then she went back and forth, "tomato ... potato ... tomato?" Then Alice grabbed the packet from her, looked at her meaningfully and said very slowly "kkkettchhhupp!"
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| Singing to Linkin Park with Alice. This is one of the first times I've seen Jean smile. |
The next day, Alice and Shelly took me to the hair salon. Another very Chinese thing to do, especially for the women, is to get your hair washed. Don't you love the feeling when you go to the salon to get your hair cut and they wash your hair and massage your head? Well the women here go every week just to get it washed and styled! No hair cut necessary.
- The women who work at the salon are the ones who do the hair washing. It's actually VERY comfortable. You get a full reclining seat complete with leg rest, and your head isn't in a bowl, it's more of a cushy water proof pillow that drains the water on the side. Very nice!
- It was very comfortable until the men figured out that I was in the salon. The men who work at the salon are the ones who do the styling. They must have heard a mei gua ren was in the salon, because I was relaxing with my eyes closed when I heard a HELLO! and opened my eyes to find about 6 guys leaning over me and staring at me hair. *Fantastic* The same "hello" guy told me I was very beautiful when I sat up with my hair wrapped up in a towel. Really? Not laying the flattery on a little thick there? My hair is in a towel!
- Of course there was one "lucky" guy who got to dry and style my hair. This took about 40 minutes. And during those 40 minutes EVERY guy would eventually saunter over, and here is what would happen:
First he makes jokes with my hair stylist.
Then he pretends to be very interested in the styling techniques, but I can see him slowly giving in.
Finally, he gets up the courage and touches my hair. Then he asks me if it's real. Of course I don't know what he's saying, so I stare at him blankly, so he asks Alice if my hair is real. Alice translates and tells him there is no coloring in my hair.
He looks confused, touches my hair again, and gives it a little tug. Yes, my hair is actually attached to my head!
Only a couple reach this step, they ask Alice if I'm looking for a Chinese boyfriend. If that question has to be translated, I'm sorry but it's probably not going to work out!
The Ningbo Focus:
This is a magazine that the city of Ningbo puts out every month. Usually it includes monthly news, interviews with new business and restaurant owners, and pictures of all the festivals from the last month. It's very popular so the magazine can be found anywhere, but I normally find it at Cup of Joe. Here were some interesting stories I found.
- Next year, the smart phone app for tracking public buses is coming to Ningbo. Cool! If only I had a smart phone ...
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| Cup of Joe. The green store front to the right is Hemingway's. Cup of Joe delivers coffee and wine to our apartment. Hemingway's delivers pizza :) |
- Beilun has been named the "Seed Breeding Base of Rhododendron of China" or ... more eloquently "Rhododendron Hometown in China". This is kinda cool, because Rhododendrons are my favorite flower. And flowers are still in bloom here in Beilun, but I'm confused because I've never seen a Rhododendron here. I'm thinking maybe there is a factory that exports the most Rhododendron seeds ... Not as cool.
- There was an article about the Ningbo Sinology School, which is cool because our elementary school is taking a field trip there this Friday. It's a hundred year old school that teaches the new technology but also the old traditions of China. So our students will be getting lessons in the old calligraphy :) Kinda neat!
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| At Cup of Joe you get to choose your mug. You can have rockwith your name placed in your spot so people know the mug isreserved. This is my favorite. I'm told someone else likes this one too, but it's always been available so I'm choosing to be adult share instead of reserve it :) |
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