MEAT!

I was going to title this "I got culture like yogurt" but decided to save that for another day. I've had more cultural experiences in the past 24 hours than you can shake a stick at. I've finally worked out how long I need to be at work each day, so that gives me more time to explore. Now I know I promised not to give a blow by blow of my daily occurrences (its.... well just not that interesting if I tell you I slept in and skipped breakfast today.... see boring), but I have to tell you about EVERYTHING from the past 24 hours.

Starting when I left work in search of a messenger bag. I was told to wander behind the building with the UFO perched on top (no, I'm not kidding, those were direct instructions). Eventually I found the giant knockoff market. Think of 4 stories of little shops full of knock off merchandise and people asking you if you want to buy a watch... or something. This was going to be my first attempt at bartering in Shanghai when I wandered into a luggage store with some DIESEL bags on the wall (I don't particularly care for the brand, it's just their knockoff bags are everywhere here, so they must be cheap. I asked the man how much for one and he told me 250 RMB (about 35 bucks). I started to walk away and he quickly revised his total to 30 RMB (about $4). I RULE at bargaining (for now).

After wandering down a never ending street of lights and shopping (seriously, neon lights everywhere like Times Square and it never ever ends... ever), the company was treating to dinner! After a brief subway ride we surfaced in an area of the city I'd never seen or believe existed before. Kind of like taking the T from downtown to Harvard Square, but instead its a magical world of bright flashy lights. We had Brazilian BBQ, but the only thing true about the name was.... there was meat involved; lots and lots of meat. Sure it started innocently enough with beef, pork, chicken and more beef. Then things turned for the unique with squid, octopus and eel. From there it got downright weird with chicken hearts, tongue and the thing. What I mean by that is there was something served which the chinese teachers told us was fish, that had the worst hard rubbery consistency (more like a tire than a sneaker) and tasted gross (sorry I don't have a better description than gross, I try not to think about it). In short, there was too much meat (yes, I said it, and I stand by it) and not enough for vegetarians (I hope we didn't have any - although they did pass around cantaloupe and watermelon wedges for desert at the end). Naturally the only way for this to end was to go Karaoke with our Chinese co-workers. It was about what you'd expect so I won't expand on it, but all I have to say is that the Chinese LOVE Karaoke!

This morning I was prepared to put my bargaining skills to the test again - I was going to the fabric market next to my hotel to buy a suit. I wandered around and found the ideal fabric (black with lil' white pinstripes) and hesitantly asked for the price. Here is where I went wrong see, because I thought I'd hem and haw and work the price down maybe to 600 RMB, when she threw out 500RMB/suit. I totally forgot to bargain and just said YES! I did work on bargaining for 2 shirts - which I'm excited about (i even get to choose the cuff type, the collar type, the fit, everything!). I pick them up in 1 week, I'll let you know how it goes.

The rest of today has been spent wandering around the city. I went to lunch at this lil restaurant in the middle of a very chinese neighborhood (like, foreigners don't go there). I couldn't have ordered very well on my own - I don't know how to say 'noodles' (something my Mandarin teacher in Boston skipped for some reason, as noodles are everywhere here). Anyway, a very nice girl who spoke English helped me order noodles with beef and a coke. Cost me a buck and a half for the lot of it (i still can't get used to it). Well, the traditional way for it to come is with the noodles in the bowl of soup and the beef with onions and peppers in a separate bowl which you mix into the soup. I didn't know that.... so when it came i kind of picked at them both without eating for a while until someone at my table (you all mix it up at the tables here) told me to mix them. It was delicious... but i still have splatter problems with the noodles.

Oh yeah then I saw this beautiful temple where they burned incense and bowed to the 4 corners of the earth in front of an ornate continually burning pyre. Culture.