The One Month Mark

So it'd seem that somehow we've been in China for a month. I'm not really sure how that happened.

It's been a busy month, packed with a whole lot that I'm still digesting (not talking about the Dan Chao Fan though... that goes down mighty smooth) but I can say that Corey and I are definitely acclimating to life in China fairly fast.

I'm at the point where I can walk to a stand on the street and get myself a bottle of water with no trouble, and even a few words of relevant Chinese. We can go into a restaurant, and order a full meal without needing to rely on our tattered paper of dishes that we got on our second day here. Although, if we want some variety we're sort of screwed. But only for now. I've got a feeling we'll be just fine.

That's not to say we're not still sticking out like sore thumbs everywhere we go. But that won't change ever. Westerners get shocked stares all over the place here, but it's becoming less and less unsettling.

(Still sort of unsettling though.)

For instance, Corey and I were eating at a restaurant across from our gym, and two drunk Chinese guys came over, sat down and ordered us a round of beers. Their English was terrible, but still light years ahead of our Chinese. As weird as it was, it was a friendly gesture, and we enjoyed the strange few minutes we shared. (I think... it could have been a dare from their large table of equally drunk friends.)

Still though, on our way out, they insisted we sit with them, making the Fu Yuan (waiter) bring them two more chairs and another round of TsingTaos.

I guess we're celebrities or something. Strange, funny-looking, foreign celebrities. And the blown up pictures of us aren't even up in the windows of our school yet (more on that soon!)

On the topic of upcoming blog postings, this being the one month mark means that I'm retiring the Ni Hao label. We're not saying hello anymore, we're going to have to continue the conversation with some new and exciting things. (By the way, anyone looking for a Chinese pick up line - "Ni Hao Ma" is the equivalent of Joey from Friends' "How you doin'?" And you say it basically with the same intonations as Joey. Just in case you wanted to know.)

It's been a month and we're getting used to life here, but there's still a lot more to get used to. Maybe in a few months when the drunk Chinese come over to chat we can blow their minds with some butchered Chinese responses.

But hey, it's only been a month. I can't wait to see what it'll be like in a year.

- Shawn