Experiencing the experiences.

I had such a great China experience last night. And it was definitely needed! I’ve been dealing with those damn emotions… they’re the worst! I met a few girls last week at a coworker’s apartment. One of the girls I met is from Chicago, probably my age and super rad. I kind of want her to be my China BFF? She called me yesterday afternoon and invited me to go with her to see a band.  My inner grandma wanted to be in bed by ten, but seeing as I am in a new country with no friends I forced myself to go out and be social. Margret picked me up at my hotel and headed out to the studio. We drove through the beautiful touristy area before we headed for the dark alleys. Later when helping other friends find the place we kept telling them “the more sketchy it feels, the closer you’re getting. You should feel like you may get assaulted”. It was a completely different area of Hangzhou; the area tourists don’t visit. And like a diamond in the rough, there is a photography studio in this beautiful modern architecture building. It was so bizarre! The studio holds events, and that night it happened to be a couple of bands. After some time and the miracle cab that was lurking in the dark alley, we headed to another bar. The walk to the bar after that was so beautiful! West Lake is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. This city is well known as the most beautiful city in China. This bar was neat in that the alley next to the bar is one of the best street food locations, one of the girls also got a shoeshine from a very sweet Chinese man while we sat outside and had a beer. I can’t recall the Chinese term for this kind of thing (Chinese is not an easy language! I have a lot of work to do if I want to get by here). It is just a bunch of vendors lining the alley with their grills and tables in the middle. The food is super cheap, and fantastic! I can’t even tell you what we ate. Not because I was too drunk too remember, but because you just never know what you’re getting here. It really was delicious though. It was a great night and so wonderful to hang out with some Americans that can relate and help me with this transition.

I got home around 3am and had to be at work at 9am. At 3pm I went and met Jimmy. Jimmy is what they call an ‘immigration assistant’ or something like that. Basically he helps foreigners with anything they need. Our cab driver on the way to meet him was so excited to share with us that he is learning English. He also knows a lot of American music. We made a fantastic duet! We sang Lady Gaga, as well as “My heart will go on” from Titanic. The Chinese LOVE Titanic?! He also told me I was very beautiful, but only because I have blue eyes… eh, I’ll take it. Jimmy was darling and so helpful. We had a real estate agent show us a few places, the first apartment we walked into Jimmy takes one look around and says “no, too old and dirty” I was so impressed, he then told me he knows what foreigners want. Hah, I guess we have higher standards than a lot of Chinese. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like the idea of only having a squatter and not a real toilet in my apartment. No luck today, but now Jimmy knows what we are looking for and what area, so hopefully he can find something fast!

After apartment hunting I went to H&M with a coworker. She went home and I just walked around the mall. I then got very lost trying to get home, which is great. Sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way (this can also be interpreted as a philosophical life lesson… just saying). I think I was just walking in circles for two and a half hours. I was going by places that I recognized but just couldn’t find my way home. I started seeing spots, so I decided to get a cab. I am so exhausted now, but overall a good day.