Shanghai V
Last night was fun. Went to an all-you-can-eat and drink sushi place. Cost 170 RMB or about $21. It was a riot dealing with our very sweet and well intentioned waitress who was doing her best to serve us and make us happy. She spoke not a single word of English. For some reason she decided I was the leader of the table, which was sweet, but misguided, as I spoke as much Mandarin as she spoke English, and I know nothing about sushi. I was poorly equipped to communicate or decide. She and I did manage to communicate a few things over the course of the evening.
Fortunately, my Mandarin speaking classmates at other tables interceded as required. Once we figured out that she was offering to make selections for us, and after we realized that we really liked her recommendations, the evening went very well. My classmates were a bit boisterous. Very boisterous. One pointed out that re-inforcing stereotypes makes it easier for us all to relate across cultures.
At the end of the evening, the restaurant employees all lined up at the end of their shift. My classmates, finding this too cute and quaint for words decided to line up along with the staff. The staff thought this was hilarious. Pictures were taken. You have to imagine the two 6'6" lumberjack sized white guys in line with all these giggling uniformed Asian girls roughly half their size. The juxtaposition was great.
While tipping isn't customary, we tipped our staff adequately by USD standards, and perhaps embarrassingly generously by Chinese standards. Our waitress probably makes about 800RMB ($100 USD)/ month.
Later that night we walked to a bar close to the hotel. Along the way were a few women toting babies and begging, to whom one of my classmates gave something. She's kind. There were also many young women standing outside of some semi-divey looking bars, who said "Hello" to us as we passed. They were dressed not hyper trashy, but certainly trying to look attractive.
Me: Are those girls what I think they are?
Classmate: Yes (you naïve, naïve boy)
We had some interesting drinks: "Tube wine" seemed to be 7 up and vodka in test tubes served in a giant bowl of crushed ice with Rose petals and a small cup of water with a dry ice cube in it that made mist roll over the bowl.
I drank the first two shots, but then when another round came, I admit I dodged my last two. A sharp eye would have noticed that the volume of water in my water bottle increased after I sipped it, not decreased.
On the way home, a classmate who's first generation Chinese American (and a very good guy- study group partner, all around stand up guy) decided to have a little fun and tried to get some of the "girls" to flirt with me as we wlaked past. Probably said something like "Do you think he's cute?" Nothing happened. They could tell I wasn't interested, and we were walking fast.
On our last turn before the hotel, he stopped to show me a woman cooking on the street. Street vendor. He warned me, look but don't eat. He asked a perhaps 40 or 50 -something woman who was eating what they were cooking. She answered him, then looked at me, smiled, pointed at me, pointed at herself, then pointed at her crotch with an in and out motion. It was as glamorous and sexy as it sounds. We turned tail and booked, very very grossed out. Eeeeeeeew.
Prostitution is not glamorous.
Fortunately, my Mandarin speaking classmates at other tables interceded as required. Once we figured out that she was offering to make selections for us, and after we realized that we really liked her recommendations, the evening went very well. My classmates were a bit boisterous. Very boisterous. One pointed out that re-inforcing stereotypes makes it easier for us all to relate across cultures.
At the end of the evening, the restaurant employees all lined up at the end of their shift. My classmates, finding this too cute and quaint for words decided to line up along with the staff. The staff thought this was hilarious. Pictures were taken. You have to imagine the two 6'6" lumberjack sized white guys in line with all these giggling uniformed Asian girls roughly half their size. The juxtaposition was great.
While tipping isn't customary, we tipped our staff adequately by USD standards, and perhaps embarrassingly generously by Chinese standards. Our waitress probably makes about 800RMB ($100 USD)/ month.
Later that night we walked to a bar close to the hotel. Along the way were a few women toting babies and begging, to whom one of my classmates gave something. She's kind. There were also many young women standing outside of some semi-divey looking bars, who said "Hello" to us as we passed. They were dressed not hyper trashy, but certainly trying to look attractive.
Me: Are those girls what I think they are?
Classmate: Yes (you naïve, naïve boy)
We had some interesting drinks: "Tube wine" seemed to be 7 up and vodka in test tubes served in a giant bowl of crushed ice with Rose petals and a small cup of water with a dry ice cube in it that made mist roll over the bowl.
I drank the first two shots, but then when another round came, I admit I dodged my last two. A sharp eye would have noticed that the volume of water in my water bottle increased after I sipped it, not decreased.
On the way home, a classmate who's first generation Chinese American (and a very good guy- study group partner, all around stand up guy) decided to have a little fun and tried to get some of the "girls" to flirt with me as we wlaked past. Probably said something like "Do you think he's cute?" Nothing happened. They could tell I wasn't interested, and we were walking fast.
On our last turn before the hotel, he stopped to show me a woman cooking on the street. Street vendor. He warned me, look but don't eat. He asked a perhaps 40 or 50 -something woman who was eating what they were cooking. She answered him, then looked at me, smiled, pointed at me, pointed at herself, then pointed at her crotch with an in and out motion. It was as glamorous and sexy as it sounds. We turned tail and booked, very very grossed out. Eeeeeeeew.
Prostitution is not glamorous.
posted by Kenneth at 11:40 AM
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