(no subject)
well, its christmas morning here in shanghai....we just opened presents and i got some very cool gifts...ipod, tailored shirt, a trip to beijing to see one of the wonders of the world. Amung other things.
Last night i went to my dads business christmas party. there were some 200 people there and as tradition in china, when our family walked in, the entire place gave us a standing ovation (well, mainly for my dad, but...whatever) so, it was fairly weird. Then the food came...and the drinking. Apparently in china they have this thing thats similar to "bottoms up" where someone stands up, addresses either a person, or a table, and the ENTIRE table has to drink a full glass of beer or wine. Because my dad is the boss, the bottoms up came and came..hes not much of a drinker, but its considered insulting to not do it when asked. I was approached about 10 times for "bottoms up" so, i had a fairly stumbly trip home. The food at the dinne was something else. We had a fish soup which was filled with full little fish that looked like eels, we had full shrimp (full body, head and everything) and...to top it all off, snake stew. MY GOD....i tried most things, except that damn stew. The smell was unbelieveable.
Its been very interesting talking to people here. When we were in beijing, my dads company set us up wit ha driver and a tour guide to show us around the sites for two days. He was 26 and very nice. It was very interesting talking to someone from that culture about what they think about americans. WE asked him what the view is of Bush, what he thinks of american kids, and what chinese think about the one child rule..its odd to think that no one in recent times has a brother or sister...he had some interesting viewpoints about those matters. Its also crazy to watch telivsion here....to see what they say about our government. The funny thing is they have "asian CNBC" and about once a day, it will go black at random times. Its the govnernment turning off things that they dont want citizens to see. Its odd to see such control over people.
ah, i have a bunch more stories to tell, but i'll have to wait till another time, were off the the Ritz Carlton for christmas brunch...i must say, as nice as the food will be, i really wish i could have a homecooked christmas dinner....its been so long since i've had such a thing. My mom doesn't cook over here so we've eaten out every single meal...and i pretty much do that back in seattle because i sure as fuck dont like to cook.
but i'll write more later, we gotta go!!!
Last night i went to my dads business christmas party. there were some 200 people there and as tradition in china, when our family walked in, the entire place gave us a standing ovation (well, mainly for my dad, but...whatever) so, it was fairly weird. Then the food came...and the drinking. Apparently in china they have this thing thats similar to "bottoms up" where someone stands up, addresses either a person, or a table, and the ENTIRE table has to drink a full glass of beer or wine. Because my dad is the boss, the bottoms up came and came..hes not much of a drinker, but its considered insulting to not do it when asked. I was approached about 10 times for "bottoms up" so, i had a fairly stumbly trip home. The food at the dinne was something else. We had a fish soup which was filled with full little fish that looked like eels, we had full shrimp (full body, head and everything) and...to top it all off, snake stew. MY GOD....i tried most things, except that damn stew. The smell was unbelieveable.
Its been very interesting talking to people here. When we were in beijing, my dads company set us up wit ha driver and a tour guide to show us around the sites for two days. He was 26 and very nice. It was very interesting talking to someone from that culture about what they think about americans. WE asked him what the view is of Bush, what he thinks of american kids, and what chinese think about the one child rule..its odd to think that no one in recent times has a brother or sister...he had some interesting viewpoints about those matters. Its also crazy to watch telivsion here....to see what they say about our government. The funny thing is they have "asian CNBC" and about once a day, it will go black at random times. Its the govnernment turning off things that they dont want citizens to see. Its odd to see such control over people.
ah, i have a bunch more stories to tell, but i'll have to wait till another time, were off the the Ritz Carlton for christmas brunch...i must say, as nice as the food will be, i really wish i could have a homecooked christmas dinner....its been so long since i've had such a thing. My mom doesn't cook over here so we've eaten out every single meal...and i pretty much do that back in seattle because i sure as fuck dont like to cook.
but i'll write more later, we gotta go!!!