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Today's weather:
- - Day: 33 degrees, cloudy and a bit rain.
- Night: 22 degress
Sentence of today:
Happy birthday.
祝你生日快乐。 Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè.
It's Yóu Mama's birthday today. She got flowers and a birthday cake and of course birthday noodles, which is a traditional Chinese custom to eat. The length of the noodles symbolizes "longevity".
Today's - Good to know:
Beware of inadvertently sending the wrong signal with your body language while in China. Squeezing hard on people's hands when shaking hands is known to be an attribute of scary, hairy foreigners. Chinese handshakes are soft - more of a gentle clasp really. Foreigners staring at locals while speaking to them are also off-putting as the norm in China is not to look people in the eye when talking to them. When someone is addressing you, however it's all right to look at them.
Don't be put off by people gesturing at their noses as if they have an itch. The nose, as opposed to the heart, is the symbolic centre of the self in China. Don't kiss anyone by way of greeting unless you want to frighten or titillate as it's not socially acceptable.
Todays tip:
Zebra crossings mean little here, so think twice before stepping out to cross the road.
Dish of today:
农家小炒肉。 Nóngjiā xiǎo chǎo ròu.
Kind of kebab with beans and garlic and chilli, very hot but delicious.
Today's Historical fact:
c 1600: The period of China's dominance as the world's greatest economy begins to end. By 1800 European economies are industrialising and clearly dominant.
Book of today:
Balzac and the Little Seamstress (Dai Sijie;2000)
Two teenagers find a secret cache of Western novels during the Cultural Revolution, helping them - and the local tailor's daughter - to escape from the tediousness of rural re-education.
My day:
Slept to 12 o'clock today. I have holiday, right? :) Breakfast was made for me when I woke up, today was some kind of bread with vegetables inside and a soup. Tasted okay.
I met with JiaoJiao near her home, here we took a cap to Song Qingling Former Residence. There were far too many Chinese tourists there, and nothing really interesting. It was a typical residence from the Qing dynasty. Big though. After spending half an hour here we walk around Houhai Lake, to Golou Dongdajie to Nanluogu Xiang. This was much more interesting. Nanluogu has a lot of small shops, café's, restaurants, more trendy than what you would find elsewhere and quite cosy too. Here I bought a beautiful tea-set with a teapot and 6 cups for my grandma. I also bought a little bag. Would defiantly recommend people to visit this place! Its very lively, and you could easily spend hours here.
Yóu Mama told be we should be home at 6, so as we walked from the subway to the bus stop, a man shouted from a car, it was Deng Baba. We drove around 10 min to a big restaurant on the third floor. He we had a very delicious dinner again. This type in a typical Chinese style which means a around table, with a big glass plate in the middle you could turn. We were 5 eating dinner, Yóu Mama, Deng Baba, Jiaojiao, Xiaoxiao and I. Deng Baba ask me to choose one dish on the many, and I chose frog. They of course ordered a lot of dishes, among others Beijing kaoya, (Beijing Roasted duck). The frog was surprisingly very taste, and I ate two. In general everything was delicious, and I love that you can take a little from each dish. Not like us Danes, who orders only one dish, and eat that.
Today they asked me if I had a girlfriend, and I said no. Then they ask why, and I answered, I'm to busy studying to have a girlfriend. I didn't feel telling them I have a boyfriend, I have no idea how they would react, so I rather just keep it to myself. Maybe I should just have told them the truth, but didn't want to have any awkward moment afterwards. And when it comes to it, its not really important. As long as I know who I am, and my boyfriend knows I care about him a lot, than its not important if anyone else knows.
People who want to check out the gay scene in China should take a look at www.utopia-asia.com. Very useful webpage.
When we got home after dinner, we ate birthday cake, and I asked if they sing. And Yóu Mama said, you sing! So I started to sing 祝你生日快乐! 祝你生日快乐! "(Chinese birthday song.)
She was very happy for that.
Have had a nice long day again today. This family is awesome!
Bedtime! Goodnight!
Ps: I miss you Vince!
- comments
Patrick Frog?!?
Mor Majbritt Hej Skat! Det er lige spændende at læse om hver gang. Ser ud til, du hygger dig og får en masse input. Her er alt ved det gamle. Fortsat god ferie. Møs Mor
Mor Majbritt Give my regards to the family, hwo takes good care of my son. Majbritt