The past couple of days have been slightly uneventful so I’ll pass over them. Well, I did go to the house of the boss here (whose husband hosted the get-the-foreigner-good-‘n’-sauced dinner) for dinner. We had a choice of 10 dishes, a delicious German beer, and a Swiss cigar. That guy lives it up and is bathing in the spoils of capitalism. Me, I’m a lefty for the most part, but I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t enjoy nice things. If I sound like a conundrum, I would whole-heartedly agree with you.
Tomorrow morning, in what will be a personal record land pace; I’ll be departing from Wuhan. Although I’m not sad about leaving Wuhan in the least bit in lieu of getting closer to Jishou, I literally mean I’ll be going at a speed the MIllenium Falcon might find familiar. Lei Lei and I will be taking the new high speed train to Changsha that will reach speeds of nearly 200 mph! Can you dig it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuhan–Guangzhou_High-Speed_Railway
Tonight however I will have to bear through another amazingly gracious and wonderful dinner at a great restaurant with Lei Lei parents. Oh the agony! (wink) [Side note: Over the past 2-4 years, I’ve lost a small inter-tube around my mid-section due to running, drinking less beer and soda and eating better, but the air is starting to return to the depleted space in rapid fashion. I can’t help it though. Two reasons: Chinese food is notorious for not making you feel full. And two, it is so unimaginably delicious!] No, not another get-the-foreigner-drunk dinner I wouldn’t expect, but who knows, the Chinese are full of wonderful, and sometimes not such wonderful surprises. Examples of surprises: Good Surprises-Never ending generosity and consideration for a foreigner (dinners, small gifts, and the like. Bad Surprises-Ever changing plans with little or no warning….ever; more intestinal dishes (I can eat that stuff, and I like fried intestine quite well, but enough with ordering the stomach, liver, etc. at every meal!)
Connections are abundant and an integral part of life in China. (And so it seems for me in the past year as most all my close friends were made in Seattle through connections-Thank you!) For Changsha, I not only have a wonderful escort to go with me, but a random connection named Steve, another connection Jin Mengmeng, and the English teacher in charge of foreign teacher(s?) from my future school in Jishou will be there for dinner. If a potential night of ganbei-ing (remember? “dry glass”) looks as though it is forming, I will HAVE to decline. The day after I have a medical exam in Changsha which who knows could all entail? This is undoubtedly going to be a memorable experience. For those who know me well, I don’t particularly like the doctor, or needles. I don’t faint, they don’t hurt, I just don’t like the idea of a piece of metal being inserted into a vein and removing me and the millions of bacteria and such that share the space. I have a particular talent for getting myself worked up in marginal situations, so come Friday morning, I will undoubtedly be sweating double from the heat and my mind jumping to fantastic conclusion about what will happen to me in the hospital. Although I read a blog (really showing how paranoid I am) that isn’t nearly as bad as one could expect. And to be honest, I’ve never had an EKG, and that could be cool.
Map of locations I discussed to give you an idea of where I will be going. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=2&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-google-mm&utm_medium=ha
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