I love you, my dear. Will you marry me? [55-59]

My last day working at CIIC was also the first day that I wore a tie in China. The interns gave a presentation in front of our department directors, Celine and the scholars that would be visiting UNC and ASU next year. Here are some pictures from during and after the presentation:








So here’s the deal about this internship: it’s the reason I am in China, so I am very grateful for the opportunity. I am so thankful to have met Celine, Pang Li, Catherine, Ada and everyone else who welcomed me at CIIC and helped me accomplish more than I thought I would. However, I feel like I have gotten more out of just being in China and experiencing life outside of the office. That leads me to a tough decision I had to make this weekend.

Pang Li invited me to his best friend’s wedding in Hebei Province, and I accepted without question. It came to my attention Thursday night that the party that Celine had been planning for the interns was also Saturday. I felt really bad missing her party because I love Celine, but I knew that going to a Chinese wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think I made the right choice: the weekend was amazing.

Pang Li, Annie, and I left after work on Friday. We took a train (my first in China!) to Pang Li’s hometown – Gaobeidian, Hebei Province. My first impressions of this place were all good – cheap cab rides, 100% more trees than in Beijing, and the warmest welcome I’ve ever experienced from Pang Li’s family. His family (mother, grandmother, aunts, cousins, etc.) lives on a ranch, for lack of a better word. We got a short tour and then ate dinner which Pang Li’s mom made with the vegetables from the family garden. It was delicious, and the noodles were the best I’ve ever had. I was fully prepared to stay the night in one of Pang Li’s family’s rooms, but he surprised us by telling us that his “rich cousin” had booked us a hotel room at the best hotel (and the tallest building) in the town. When we got to the hotel, we found out that his cousin had actually booked us each a hotel room – so I had a huge bed and a shower (with a curtain!!!) all to myself.



On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel (sadly, all Chinese food – not the Western-style breakfast I was hoping for) and walked to the restaurant (yes, restaurant) where the wedding was being held. There was a huge, tacky blow-up archway, fireworks and confetti when the bride and groom pulled up. The whole wedding was a spectacle, complete with pink and red fake flowers, a red carpet, and other (pink and red) decorations. We sat at a table with Pang Li’s friends and watched the show unfold. Chinese weddings are very different for many reasons, but the most being the fact that the couple is already legally married by the time of the ceremony. In fact, there are sometimes two or more ceremonies – one in the groom’s hometown and one in the bride’s hometown. Also, most couples hire a wedding company to perform the ceremony. The host of this wedding stole the show, in my opinion. He had everyone laughing, clapping and even shouting (still not sure what this was about). There were some rituals that I have never seen before – pouring wine in a cascading tower of glasses, bowing to the parents, almost kissing the bride… more than I can post in a blog.




The ceremony was followed by lunch – which was convenient since we were already seated at tables with lazy susans in a restaurant and all… The men at the table wanted the meg [uas] to drink some baijiu, but I could barely let it touch my lips. I seriously don’t know how they drink that stuff. Pang Li probably had a little too much because, as he explained it, guests at the party prove their friendship to the bride and groom by staying longer and drinking more.

The bride was beautiful and she had two wardrobe changes. The groom spoke some English and even incorporated it into the wedding (see blog title). He had his Ph.D. and even published a book in English.

I took the best nap ever at the hotel then met up with Pang Li and his friends for [chaun’r] (barbecue) and pijiu. It’s amazing how much you can enjoy someone’s company without speaking the same language. We had a lot of fun, ate everyerything imaginable barbequed (the fish tasted like candy!) and supposedly finished 100 beers before leaving for KTV (!!!). It’s the Chinese version of karaoke, but so much better. The best part is you get a personal room instead of embarrassing yourself in front of everyone in a bar. Pang Li’s friends rocked out to some Chinese music and picked out Lady Gaga (surprise, surprise) for Annie and me to perform. Unforgettable.

[ktv pics to come]

We slept late on Sunday, and we ate at a dumpling restaurant before Pang Li took us back to his family’s ranch. This time we took a proper tour of the place (with sunlight). Besides the garden, his ranch had a fishing pond, chickens, rabbits and Tibetan dogs (AKA monsters). His grandmother was the sweetest person I have ever met. She kept inviting us (through Pang Li’s translation) to “stay for a few days.” His little five-year-old cousin was the cutest kid ever. He was making forts out of his aunt’s traditional Chinese wooden furniture and silk pillows. The whole family was adorable and made me hope that sometime in the future I will take Pang Li’s grandmother up on her offer.

Pang Li’s friend who also works in Beijing gave us a ride home. The rest of Sunday was spent resting and planning our first official day off of work.

After being treated to an amazing weekend by Pang Li, I didn’t feel guilty going shopping the next day. I felt guilty afterwards. Annie and I went to Panjaiyuan Antique Market, where I bought a bunch of really cool but pretty useless souvenirs. However, I’m pretty happy with a red Buddha bracelet and a framed dragon shadow puppet that I bought. I also picked up a pair of prescription sunglasses from Glasses City.

Since Annie and I missed the dinner party with Celine, we took her out to eat Monday night. Well actually, SHE took us out. She took us to a fancy Chinese restaurant, where the food was amazing. It was great to catch up with Celine – I will surely miss her.

On Tuesday, I spent most of the day with my Chinese friend, Jesse, or Jessie, I should say. She was an economics major in college and idolized a stock trader named Jesse Livermore, so she decided her English name would be Jesse! I told her that J-E-S-S-E is how a man spells the name, but a woman can also have the name if she spells it with an "ie" or a "y." She was happy to change her name to be more feminine. Anyway, she took me to a really good Chinese place for lunch. It had lots of pastries, but we got noodles, peanuts, Korean vegetables, pumpkin porridge and sweet pea pudding. It was all delicious. Next, she took me to a tailor to get sized for a suit. This is one thing that I have been told I should buy in China. I hate dressing up, and a large part of me hopes that I don't have a job that entails wearing a suit often, but at least now I will have one if I need it. And it will only cost me 420 yuan (US$62).

The American Jesse came into Beijing Tuesday, so Pang Li took us out to a place that served Sijuan (sp? Also, not to be confused with Sichuan) food, a cuisine indigenous to a region of northwest China. It was one of the best meals I've had in China, and the black beer was great. What would I do without Pang Li??

Next up – vacation!

Take me down to the paradise city [47-50+Article]

FIFTY DAYS is a long time to be in a place!

Anyway, the rest of last week was all about friends and fun.

Thursday after work I met up with a fellow Tar Heel and friend, Katherine, who is also interning in Beijing. We met up in Wudoukou, which is near where she works, and she took me to The Bridge Café. The café was cool – three stories, including a coffee shop/hangout area, a fine dining floor, and a rooftop bar and eating area. The food was spectacular – I had fettuccini alfredo with chicken. It was the first time I’ve had pasta in China. We shared apple pie with ice cream for dessert – another first in China.

It was great to catch up with a friend from home, though it felt a little strange to be meeting up in the bustling and foreign city of Beijing. We shared our experiences of working for a Chinese company, living in strange places, and meeting locals and expats. We also shopped around a bit at the night market, where I bought some TV series of DVD and we saw a man giving real tattoos IN THE BACK OF A VAN - gross. We took the bus home, and it turns out she is staying RIGHT across from where I work – small world!



On Friday, Annie’s ASU/Holland Fellows friend, Jesse, came to visit. He is interning in a northern province of China and came for the weekend to do Great Wall Fresh with Annie. We went to the beer garden, where Pang Li joined us for skewers and pijiu. As always at the beer garden, rounds started stacking up, and just as we were about to leave, a few Chinese people (that seemed around our age) came up to us and gave us half of a watermelon! We graciously started eating it, which they took as a sign to bring more watermelon and beer to gambei (read: toast). Knowing they wouldn’t leave us alone until we did, we went over to their table, where it looked like they were celebrating something. Pang Li told us that they all worked together at a restaurant up the street, and it was one of their birthdays. That’s when the photo shoot started. Everyone wanted a picture with the Mei guos (read: Americans) on their camera phones. We chatted the best we could (which mainly stuck to “nice to meet you”s) and even renamed Strawberry and Javi to Stella and Seth, respectively.

As Annie and Jesse fought hangovers the next day hiking the Great Wall, I took it easy and went shopping. My first stop was Panjaiyuan Market, which was described to me as “the mother of all flea markets.” This was a good description. It was so huge, with so many different stalls full of sculptures, antiques, paintings, scrolls, books, and more that I got overwhelmed and left empty-handed.

I decided instead to try my luck at Glasses City, a huge mall solely full of eye glasses stores. It was a success – I bought a pair of prescription eye glasses for $20. They were ready in ten minutes! And now I want more.

Then it was work time. I love that “work time” for me meant going to a six-hour Chinese rock show. I was asked to report on this show late in the afternoon on Friday, so I didn’t have a chance to get a really good camera, but I made due with mine. I walked to the venue from Glasses City, which reminded me of a larger version of Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro or Tremont in Charlotte. It was such a cool experience - seeing Chinese punk kids moshing, running on stage, etc. The bands ranged from folk to screamo, from heavy metal to pop-rock. A couple of them even sang songs in English! However, I was the ONLY white person there, and seemed to be the only English-speaker, so conducting interviews was tricky. In the end, I decided to make my article into more of a slideshow of the event. Please check out the published slideshow here. Below are a few that didn't make the cut.





[Random, but the venue had a cool way to label the bathrooms: ]


During the last performance of the night, a Chinese girl, about my age, came up to me and asked me, in English, if I liked the music. It turned out that her name was Jesse (pattern?) and that she worked with one of the guitarists at a bank near Xizhimen, which is one bus stop away from my office. We exchanged e-mails since her English was rough, and decided to meet up at another point. She even invited me hiking with her!

I was exhausted from the show the following day. I took it easy again and shopped at the Hongqiao Pearl Market. China is known for pearls, silk, and of course, knockoffs, so I was obligated to bring some back home. I felt pressured, accomplished, and ripped off all in the course of this a couple of hours so I devoted the rest of the day to reading and relaxing.

As my Facebook status says right now, there is still so much to do and so little time!