Dice queen

Last night, I went out with Michelle, Mike, Gail and a new kid, Jason. I knew I would just freak out again if I stayed home so I decided to go. Mike is a high strung, funny 20 year old from California. Jason only 17, from Long Island so he got pretty drunk even off the weak drinks that grace open bars. I haven't hung out with someone that young in a long time! They're both Chinese Americans and can speak some Mandarin. Makes it much easier to go out. Gail is 26, from France, very nice and sweet. We went for dinner at a dumpling place (18RMB each=$2.75) then to some bar called "Windows." Pretty standard fare: loud, popular music (Lil Jon, Will Smith, things I didn't recognize) and the dice game from Pirates of the Caribbean (apparently) movie. All the Western bars here have the dice game.. it wasn't crowded because it was Tuesday but there was a 30 kuai open bar (=$4.50) all night. So, we played the dice game and the loser had to answer a question truthfully... which quickly degenerated into dropped jaws when my turns came around. Mike goes, "She is, like, the coolest person EVER." Ah.. I don't know about that.

Yeah, right. Signs limiting the age of purchase of alcohol/cigs to minors are starting to crop up but no one ever checks or pays attention. My 13 year old cousin would be able to come to the bars here easily.


We left at 1, took a taxi home with 4 of us squished into the back for about 5 miles (40RMB=$6.50). I sat on the porch awhile when we got home and everyone else went to bed.

I almost hurled on the metro this morning.


Look at this picture I took last week of a girl eating corn:

I think corn is like candy here but not very popular. All the corn cobs at the grocery store look seriously anemic-- nothing like the hearty sweet corn of the great Midwest! There's also some kind of frozen corn on the cob treat that's stuffed in with all the ice cream cases that I haven't been brave or interested enough to try yet.

I lost my wedding ring! Shit!! It's for when I go to India and Ghana, to fend off marriage proposals. I think I will just tell them my fictitious husband and I are Buddhist and don't want to support the diamond slave trade.