Magores is a Party Animal

I'm going to hell for last night.

The day/evening started out innocently enough. But, once it went downhill, it went downhill fast.

First... A little background. May 1st is International Labor Day. China takes a week off of work to celebrate this. So,

in addition to my normal Monday and Tuesday days off, I also have W, TH, and F.

Monday has become my regular "Nite Out". I go to the expat bar. Have a beer or 3. Play a game or two of pool. Pretty

standard stuff.

Last night was not standard.

-I had a beer before I left my house.

-About 8:30pm, I went to the bar and put my name on the list for pool. About two hours later, I finally got to play.

-The time between 8:30 and 10:30 was somewhat interesting.
--I'm a generally quiet guy, and I can also be exceedingly polite. The waitresses have noticed that I'm not the typical

expat. ("expat" = "Ex-Pat" = "Ex-Patriate" = "Citizen of one country, that lives in a different country".) Most expats,

no matter where they are from, are very nice. But, many of them can be quite loud and boisterous..
--One waitress, Linda, and I have developed a little flirting situation. Nothing crazy, just a little fun. Remember, I'm

the the quiet guy that says nice things. I ask about how the past week has been. I ask about family. I ask about this,

that, and the other thing.
--Last night, a different waitress was a little more friendly than usual. This is good. She's very cute. She looks VERY

much like a shorter version of Tina. (SF readers will know Tina.) For those that don't know Tina... She was the main

reason for my original decision to learn Chinese, and by extension, for moving to Beijing.
--The expat bar has a certain "dynamic". The South Americans group together. The Irish hang out together, the Brits,

Arabs, etc. There are VERY few US people. (I almost said Americans. But, Canadians, US, Mexico, Bolvia, Argentina, etc

are ALL Americans. In common speech, though, "Americans" refers to "US citizens", so forgive me if I'm US-centric on

occasion..)
--I haven't figured out why I see so few Americans. Lots of Russians and Germans. A large contigent from the UK (and

connected countries, AU, NZ,, etc). Are the Americans somewhere else? Or, are there just not that many of them?
--One nice thing about the expat dynamic is that that even though you start out hanging with people that speak your native

language (Spanish, German, British, etc.), it is very easy to cross over into another group. EVERYONE speaks English.

And, all expats are, by definition, in a foreign country, so there is the beginning of a "bond" by the simple fact that you

exist.

-Sorry if all of the above comments seemed like something from a Sociology textbook, but, I call it as I see it.

10:30ish - Finally my turn at the table. I needed a partner, so I asked a gentleman that was sitting near. He looked

reasonable, he hadn't played yet, and we were going to play against some Brazilians that had owned the table since before I

arrived--I want someone that might actually be able to play the game.

As it turned out, we lost quick. My partner sank the eight on accident.

No big deal. At this point, I was ready to take off. 11pm, 3 beers, played pool, I was content. My partner had other

ideas, however.

His name was coming up for pool soon. And, I was the obvious choice for a partner. So, we hung out, shot the shit, drank

beer, and eventually lost at pool. (The Brazilians were actually VERY good pool players.)

--
I really must say more about my partner at this point. I'll call him "R" from here on out. R is from the Cook Islands.

He is in China on a cultural exchange type of thing. We shot the shit about everything under the sun... US politics,

racism, medicine, rain, wind, and snow. R is about 30 and a crazy man. I mean "crazy" in a generally good way.
--
After we lost the second time at pool, R had the idea to go to the Sanlitun District. Okay. I'm up for that.
--
Sanlitun is "beer street". ALL tourists go here. Tourist bars, thats all they are. And, "girlie bars". Lots of them.

I'll explain more in a bit.

If the expat bar is "my bar" then one of the bars in the tourist area is "his" bar. (By the way, "my bar" is the Goose &

Duck. Called the "GND" from now on.)

His bar had 3 girls singing, and one guy on keyboards. Think bad karaoke. That what this is. Okay. I'm open for

anything. Who am I to question a persons choice in bars?

After one beer, R had the idea to go to a different bar. Okay, I'm up for that.

Same situation, different place. After one, we were on the move again.

This time we went somewhere very different.

----

Kai Club

VERY LOUD DANCE MUSIC. Essentially, it was a rave club. It's a place for expat students. Good bar actually, but... I'm

twice the age of most people in the place. If they are students, then I'm the Professor.

I use the word "Professor" on purpose.

We actually hung out at the place for a goodly amount of time. I had time to go outside and chat with one of the doormen.

We talked about alot of things. But, a couple of things he said struck, and stuck with, me.

We traded names, and the usual chitchat. He's a student, and I'm a teacher. "Ah", he says, "A professor." I explained,

that "No", I am not a professor. I teach little kids. I'm aware of the difference between a professor and a teacher.

And, I'm barely qualified to call myself a teacher. I hope I do a good job, but I am not a professor. Contrary to what I

intended, he said... "Yes. You are a Professor." I still bet he would NOT have said that if I didn't have white hair.

(BTW...

In Mandarin Chinese, "white" is "bai se".
--bai = white
--se = color

You need to say both words if you want to say "white".

In Mandarin, hair is "tou fa".

So... Wo you bai se tou fa. = I have white hair. (It might be, "Wo you bai se de tou fa". Dang grammar!)

)

Another thing that struck me is what his schedule is like. Student five days a week, bouncer 7 days. He does it to keep occupied.

This kind of schedule is not odd for people in China. The people here work constantly. 6 day work weeks is common. 7 day work weeks is not uncommon.

__
Editorial Comment Time (aka. It's my blog, so I get to give "My Humble Opinion" on occasion):

If the US is ever going to lose its dominance in the world, it is going to be for 2 reasons.

1) Everyone speaks English, but how many Americans can speak something other than English? Ordering "2 mas cervezas, por favor" doesn't count. If everyone speaks English AND another language, why hire the American that only speaks English?

Since I've been here I've met Russians, Jordanians, Libyans, Nigerians, Chinese, Brazilians, French, Germans, and many other people. Everyone speaks English.

Oddly enough, everyone speaks English better than the Aussies/NZanders/Brits. (But thats a different issue.)

I heard a scientist guy on the radio saying that its rapidly coming to the point where English skills isn't enough. People are learning their native language, plus English (as a matter of course), and another language just to get an edge.

It's a global economy. If people want to compete, they need to prefer to deal with the globe. Currently, that means English, Japanese, Chinese, German. Spanish, French, and Latin are great/beautiful languages, but from an economic standpoint they aren't smart choices. Schools in the US need to update their curriculum.

2) The other reason the US might lose is due to the simple amount of work done. Don't get me wrong, I know people in the US work hard. I'm not suggesting that the US should move to a 6 or 7 day work week. But, people in the US should keep in mind that the people in China (at least) DO work that many days. AND, they find the time to learn English.

A five day work week, plus an hour or two of language learning on the weekend, would not be a bad idea.

(Maybe next time, I'll talk about what it's time to go shopping in Beijing, or go to a restaraunt, or something similar. It's a very different experience than in the US.)

Editorial comment over...
__


Oh yeah.. The cops showed up. The music was LOUD at this place. Cop came in looked around, told the bartenders to close the windows. This was funny. Even with the windows closed you could hear the music 2 blocks away.


Eventually, R had the idea to go back to the tourist strip. Okay. I'm up for that.

1 beer in one spot, another in another spot. And, then foosball.

Someone had set up a foosball table on the sidewalk. Somehow or another, I ended up playing. Me and some 14 year old kid on one side vs a couple of guys on the other. Basically, I stomped all over all comers. After 3 games against 3 different teams (and another beer), I stepped away from the table. It had gotten to the point where we had 20 people watching. Every time I made a point, there were lots of "Oohs" and "Aahs". It was kinda silly actually. Everyone other than me simply spinned the foosball guys constantly. I actually tried to slow it down a bit and take aim. Apparently, this was impressive. I had 10 people patting me on the back saying, "You're good." Chalk one up for America :)

While R took a turn at the table (spinning the guys the whole time), I took a breath of fresh air.

Now it was time to get offered "girlie bar".

At this time of night, every Chinese person on the sidewalk was either: A guy tempting the tourists to go to a "girlie bar", or it was a girl tempting the tourists the go to a "girlie bar".

I surprised them...

"I am not a tourist"

I actually know how to say "No" in Chinese. There are different ways of saying it, depending on the situation. Apparently, this is something that most tourists haven't learned before they arrive.

Soon enough R walked up. And we were both inundated with offers of "girlie bar".
-His response: "Mei you." This appears to be what many tourists DO learn. And, of course, it's completely the wrong response. (The odd part is that R has been in Beijing a week or two longer than I have.) The barkers and babes recognize this as "tourist speak". So, it just encourages them more.
-My response: "Bu yao, xiexie."

Chinese lesson...
-Mei you = "Don't have" -- Pronounced "May Yo!"
-Bu yao = "Don't want/need" -- Pronounced "Boo! Yow!"

Of course, "bu yao" isn't difficult, so that didn't get rid of the barkers. What DID get rid of them was... "Bu yao. Wo bu shi you ke. Wo zhu zhe." ... "Don't need. I'm not a tourist. I live here."

I guess I'm actually learning a little of the language after all.

Back to the expat bar

I got us out of the tourist area, and found us a cab. R does his version of giving a location. Taxi driver gets a blank stare. So I say, "ChaoYang GongYuan XiMen". The look of relief on the taxi drivers face was obvious. I speak badly, but I do know some of the words. As we got close, I told the driver "ting zhe hao". (stop here good.) R is "blah, blah". Driver just looks at me. Repeat.. "Ting zhe hen hao" (Stop here very good.)

So, we end up back in the bar we started at.

Another couple of beers. Played a little pool. Made friends with a drunk Irishman. I helped into the cab when he left. I was designated a "Good Man".

And I met the coolest girl since I've been here.

She's very cool, but...

She's a lesbian. Oh well. She actually is very cool. Another Irishperson. She's a director of a school that I might think of going to in the future. Teach adults for more money than I make now. We'll see.

Drank him under the table..

Eventually I realized that R had disappeared. I guess he wandered home to pass out. Chalk up another victory for America! I had drank a New Zealander under the table! And, I escorted a drunk Irishman to a cab.

I guess its time to go home..

Got a kiss from a Mongolian girl before I left. Whoo hoo and all that. (BTW... Mongolian sounds very similar to Russian.)

Cab ride home was uneventful. I just watched the city go by.

It was easy to watch the city. It was light. I had left my house a little after 8pm. Arrived home at 6:30am.

For one night, I was a party animal.

To summarize...
-Flirted with the usual waitress, plus another one
-Made friends with a NZealander, an Irish lesbian, and an Irish guy
-Played pool
-Did the tourist area
-Went to a rave bar
-Kicked everyone's ass at foosball
-Drank everyone under the table
-Got a kiss from a Mongolian girl

Pretty successful night over all.

Of course, Tuesday was hell. Slept from 7am-12 noon, and from 1:30pm to 4pm, and 6pm to 9pm, and 11pm until Wednesday 7am.

I've been here for six months. I think I was due for a night like that, even if I didn't plan on it.

And... It gets even more interesting...

Tomorrow (Thursday), "the boss I'm not hitting on" has invited me to meet her for a picnic lunch at some park. She has warned me that I will be rowing the boat when we are on the lake.

I don't see a waterfall, so rowing WITH the tide seems to be the best thing at this point.

Go with the flow.