I love to speak English!!

Tonight there was a get together at Kiwi Corner (Korner?), a foreigners' hangout a block or so from campus. Although one of the owners lives in my building, it was my first time there, as there's apparently a great divide between Kiwi Corner customers and Jenny's Cafe customers (the other foreign café in town), and my social circles tend to stick with Jenny's. Who knew.

I was able to meet some of the foreigners I don't know yet, which was nice. I also met the nicest prettiest Chinese girl ever and when I was told who her boyfriend was, I about cried. I don't understand these girls! This pretty, nice, friendly young woman who has a good job and seems very independent is dating a fellow American who I'd met previously. He's a bar tender, old!, short, unattractive, and I'm pretty sure he hit on me a few times... that evening. It's like they see FOREIGNER and are pretty much blind to anything else, both good and bad. I think this may be one of the reasons why I'm haven't made friends with many Chinese people yet. I meet people all the time, and they're all very friendly, but the whole thing seems unnaturally shallow. No matter how I may try to steer a conversation, it almost always goes back to these rehearsed questions that they've been told to ask foreigners, even if this is the 3rd or 4th time I'm meeting someone (if one more person asks me if I like Chinese food, I swear to god...). Often my responses are interrupted with the next unrelated question, and when the person has finished rattling these off, the inquisitor walks off very satisfied that they have had a conversation with a foreigner today. I know that this is "just" because of the language barrier and cultural differences. Formal questions are the proper protocol, and to skip past them is rude, forward, and abrasive, but it's a fairly safe generalization to say that the Chinese continue to baffle me.

So anyway, the most important part of the evening was when I got a free t-shirt. This may be the most awesome t-shirt ever ever. Observe:

Front

Back

Josh also got one. He's been in China for too long, evident by the fact that the Peace Sign Picture Pose is now involuntary. He's going back to the states in June and plans on checking into rehab immediately.

The amazing thing about these shirts is this: I get requests for English lessons basically constantly. Hello! You English teacher? Perhaps you can be my English teacher? No? Is there other teacher you know? I get phone calls from people I don't know, asking random questions about English, and I get stopped on campus by strangers who ask me to edit their papers. The idea that I may want to ADVERTISE the fact that I love to speak English! (apparently) is so far from reality, it's truly hilarious. In fact, if it said I love to speak Magyar!, you would not have to give these shirts away, because I would buy one. I don't think there's much of a demand for Magyar these days.

I do not know what the Enghish Home is, but thanks for the shirt.

(I know I basically said "I have no Chinese friends" and "I wish they would leave me alone!" Just trust me, there's little potential for overlap thus far)