Silk Streets, 啤酒，and Hunting for Victory

The few days after our arrival were a blur of excitement and exploring. After our first orientation and placement exam we went to the Silk Street Markets and practiced our haggling skills. Getting a transportation pass was somewhat interesting, but very useful as it allows us to move anywhere in the city for cheap and very efficiently using either buses or the subway.

Silk Street one of the most interesting places I have ever visited. It was originally literally a street full of markets, but now is in a multistoried building that dwarfs the surroundings. On each floor are vendors’ stalls selling all sorts of wares. From clothes to embroideries to hats to jewelry, anything can be found there. At the Silk Street Markets we all got ripped off for our first purchase, but later learned how to really bargain. We all could still use a little work on it, but I’m sure we will be going back very soon. It was Jamie’s birthday, so we bought him a fuzzy and warm Communist hat for the winter. Hopefully he will be brave enough to wear it.

The day after Silk Street we had another Orientation and met our Chinese roommates. My roommate’s name is Yue Wenlan (岳文岚) and he is a very tall big Chinese man. He is very friendly however, and enjoys playing 16-bit fighting games and ping pong. He took me to the 首师大 (equivalent of CNU) cafeteria and treated me to a meal of very spicy Kung Pao Chicken.

Afterwards, Stephanie, Alan, Stephanie’s roommate and I all went to the bar. We went to The Rickshaw, near Sanli Tun. It was half-off beer that night, so we all drank as much as we wanted. For a large stein of Qing Dao beer, it was about 1.10 American Dollars, normally it is about 2.20. We met Alan’s old expat friend Florian at the rickshaw and told stories deep into the night. Then, a little drunkenly, we took a cab back to CNU and went to bed.

The next day we had a scavenger hunt that had to be completed throughout the city with our roommates. We got into groups of 4 or 6 (2 Americans and 2 Chinese or 3 Americans and 3 Chinese folk) and began planning what to do. It was interesting because all of the Chinese roommates were very excited about the scavenger hunt and wanted to win, their American counterparts however, were very happy to follow and just enjoy the sights of the city. Due to this, there were a few roommates who were very disappointed with their final placement.

Our team set off to complete objectives that needed the entire group such as group pictures at famous places. After we had completed those, we separated into 3 groups, each set of roommates, and completed specific objectives. In the end, we were able to complete almost every objective and only had to worry about the last thing: a group performance. We decided that we would do a duet rendition of 看过来, a famous song in Chinese. The original can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PXVCwlBIA. Our performance was unmatchable, and when all was said and done, we stood victorious. We were given a 200 kuai gift card to a Korean barbecue restaurant as a reward, and feasted very well that night.