Delightfully Tacky Yet Unrefined.

This weekend, in attempt to get out of my miserable counting-down-the-days-til-I-leave funk (actually, from the force -as much as you can give over the telephone- of my madre), I headed to Shanghai for some much needed English, delicious food, bargaining and magazines.

Started out well... Found 10rmb on the ground! Slept a little on the bus and was in Shanghai in record time. I love direct buses.

3.5 hours into my weekend, I arrived at the corner of Jiangxi Road to find a dead man... yes a dead man... outlined with white chalk and laying askew next to his smooshed groceries and smooshed bike. Approximately 40 Chinese men and women stood around him, smoking and talking, the typical response to an accident over here. Just hanging out waiting for something to happen. A bit freaky. Not sure if that is a good omen for the rest of the weekend or not, but since quite frankly it should happen way more often than it does and that is my first dead person in 11 months (I KNOW!), I figure it cancels out the 10 rmb.

New books on the trade shelf at the hostel. Some nice folks in my room. Sexy men. I stare at them now, similarly to the way that I am stared at by Chinese people. Scary. It is time for me to leave. Scandinavian boys better watch out.

Went into some nice hotels and snagged some English magazines. Amen to free magazines. And more importantly, a lesson that shows that acting like you know what you are doing will get you very far. Everything was really pretty and covered in holiday decorations. It was really pretty.

Had some yummy food and did a wonderful job bargaining people down at the market for some last minute prezzies. Coffee on the water at Element Fresh and dinner at Hooters... a funny experience in itself.

I love Hooters. A guilty, kind of embarrassing pleasure. Actually more embarrassing for my mom because we were taken there quite often as children. My brothers (obviously so) loved going and there were 5 of them within 15 minutes from my house so we went often. My dad even made us a kitchen table modeled after their tables... rectangular and covered with many coats of polyurethane.

Anyhow, much as it would be a strange feeling to go into a Hooters at home as a single female, it was kind of weird going in Shanghai... simply because the majority of customers were middle aged white dudes, staring and trying to make conversation with girls in tank tops and orange tiny shorts. Although these girls were lacking in the actual things in which they were advertising, which was pretty amusing. I swear I would make a million bucks. Actually... I did always want to work there, but I wanted to work at Bath and Body Works too... and the post office...

So the requisite wings and jukebox music and signs on the walls all were present, but one thing was strictly unique and very Chinese. The ladies do line dances. In unison. Essentially the mama bear in a tracksuit that was taking people to their tables stopped what she was doing and started clapping. All of the girls stopped what they were doing and as their song started to play, they did their little jig. It was painful. These girls did NOT know how to move and danced pretty much like robots in spandex. And the worst part was that drunk men went to go dance with them!

Amusing. I drank and laughed out loud. And I will probably go again because the food was a much needed thing. Spicy wings, grease and beer. Delicious. Check out the website to see what I am talking about. www.hooterschina.com

I slept well last night. My first solid night of sleep in a week. My things were safe and I was locked in a room where I felt safe. It's amazing the amount of peace those feelings bring to you. I thought that all was well until I woke up this morning... and while I thought that college football could live without me, IT COULDN'T! Or actually I couldn't... UCLA carried on just fine. Imagine my disappointment to realize that I had missed quite the upset while I was getting some sleep...

Today was a post office run to get things mailed off home and buy some DVDs. Now trying to heat up the icebox of an apartment that I have and doing some laundry.

Hope you are having a good weekend:)