No Title - too disturbed

 

Well, it's nice to know I can still be shocked.

 

Today on my walk home I stumbled upon (although not literally, thank god) a very unpleasant sight. On the corner of a major intersection was a man, drunk and unconscious, slumped motionlessly against some steps. Three very large piles of vomit lay around him, one directly beneath his face. But that was not what I noticed first. What had initially drawn my attention to this grotesque scene was the fact that the man's pants were down around his ankles, leaving all hanging (well, squishing) out the back. I didn't want to look too closely for fear of the image burning itself permanently to the back of my eyeballs, but I'm pretty sure that the vomit wasn't the only product of his bodily functions that had left its mark. Oddly enough, he didn't really get much of a second glance from the passers-by. Perhaps the sight of a man passed out in his own excrement and filth is not noteworthy. Blech, I say. Blech blech blech.

 

There is no photo for obvious reasons.

Underground shopping

I just got back from DVD shopping. I'm not always in the mood to flip through row upon row of unorganised movies, but today I was. I kind of like going there justfor the atmosphere. I go to a place called Electronic City, and there is a huge section of the basement that is devoted to DVDs. Thousands and thousands. Of course these are all pirated DVDs so they aren't legal. But that's just a technicality. Occasionally there are raids and all the vendors will throw sheets over the DVD trays, maybe shove them under a counter, or pulls drapes closed around their stall. Yep, so ingeniously hidden.

 

Lately, they've gotten more professional with their clandestine operations. Some shops have constructed narrow passages that lead to hidden rooms, at one place you even have to move a hanging poster to find the entrance. Other shops have almost nothing on display, but when you walk by, they offer DVDs, and when you show interest they lead you down a long winding corridor into the bowels of the building, where the walls are lined with inconspicuous, padlocked wooden doors. Behind one of these doors will be the merchant's stockpile of movies.

 

So I bought eight (grand total: about $7.50). Now usually the quality is perfect, it's only the brand new movies that aren't great. But usually still passable. Today was not very successful, only 6 out of 8 movies are fine. I will return The Interpreter because the beginning has been cut off and about 20 minutes of the movie is missing. And The War of the Worlds must also go back because it is in Russian. With no option for the original English. Sigh.... Oh well, out of the hundreds of DVDs we've bought, only a handful have been bad. Just bad luck today.

 

Okay, back to the "secret" movie cavern I go!

Anyone hungry?

 

Time again for one of my favourite topics: food.

 

Because my knowledge of Chinese is so limited, I usually just order the same dishes whenever I go out. Most restaurants have the same things, but they taste different everywhere you go. One of our regular lunch spots is a Sichuan restaurant in the mall near the school. And here is our usual fare.

 

 

    

Gong Bao Ji Ding - chicken with               Zhe ma bo cai - spinach with garlic

peanuts and peppers. A little bit              and sesame. Served cold. So simple

spicy, a little bit sweet. SO delicious!       but amazingly tasty.

 

And here's the whole meal with some rice and noodles. Mmm... my mouth is watering just looking at it. Time for lunch I think!

Mind wandering

 

I guess there are no more Hitlers in the world eh? Or Mussolinis. Haven't met any Stalins yet either. I'm just curious what happened to the names. Okay, there are either no children, or perhaps the children don't want to carry on the family name. Understandable. But there must have been other people with those last names. Don't tell me that Germany only had ONE family with the last name Hitler. So I guess all those other innocent people just had to change their names too. What bad luck. I'd be pretty annoyed if some jerkball with my last name went off and because infamous for all sorts of nasty deeds. This is MY name and I won't have it tarnished!

 

I don't know why I was thinking about this.

move over Right Said Fred!

**update** I removed the word "offensive" and reposted my photo. It's working so far, but who knows how long it'll last.

 

So I had a complaint today. Generally no one likes complaints. But if I'm going to be criticized, this is definitely the way to go.

 

The other day, a parent sat in on my level 8 class, where the kids are between about 13-15. And here's her beef: apparently I'm "too sexy", and it's distracting some of the boys. Haha! Oh, I knew these dazzling good looks would get me in trouble one day! A curse on these big, smoldering baby blues, the bewitching smile, the porcelain complexion, the heaving bosom...! (I secretly write Harlequin romances on the side) Is she worried that I'm out to Mary-Kay her son? Or probably it's just easier to blame his poor grades on my clothes rather than admit that he's lazy. Here's a picture of the outfit:

 

 

Of course I was unzipped at the time

 

This is the first complaint I've ever had that made me feel good. Thanks!

nothing

This is just a very quick comment directed at Ms Amena Flamingo who left a question here. If you want to get visitors and comments on your site YOU HAVE TO SET IT TO PUBLIC!!!

 

That's all.

Read this if you're having trouble falling asleep

I haven't been my usual blog-happy self lately. I'm not updating very much, and when I am, it's short and not too exciting. I haven't been visiting much either. Not because I don't want to, I've just been busy. The school is having me write up some manuals to teach writing and I don't have very long to finish it. So that hour or so a day that I used to blog is now being taken up by work. Blast!

 

I'm also going through a bit of a writer's block. I just can't think of anything interesting to jot down! What's the matter with me? My pool of creativity is all dried up! Any questions you may have? Give me a topic, I need inspiration.

 

It's been hot here. A few days ago was unbelievable, now it's just regular hot again. But it looks like it'll be climbing back up to unbearable again soon.

 

I love watching the fruits and vetetables go through seasons here. We had a brief cherry season where every street corner had people with baskets of irresistable plump cherries. Then came peaches and funny little things that looked like flattened peaches. I've seen some mangos out lately, and corn seems to be popping up everywhere too. Ha; corn, popping... oy. There have been other things, often fruits I've never seen before and therefore can't tell you the names.

 

I just went outside and bought some potatoes, peppers, onions, and some kind of pea/bean things. They laughed at me because i bought so few, but I've never tried them before and I know my boyfriend doesn't like beans, so no point getting too many. All together I spent about 90¢. I also picked some stuff up at Walmart (the meat and things I don't buy off the street) - 4 chicken breasts, 2 pork steak things, 1/2 a dozen eggs. butter, 2 packs of bacon... and a pack of badminton birdies. Only $10. It's going to be a real shock to the system when I go shopping back home.

 

Here's the view from my window. I love buying from these guys :)

 

 And here's a lady shucking corn. Hmm. 

 

 

Well, now that I've regaled you with fascinating tales from my shopping list, I shall move along to doing work. I'll do my rounds as soon as a get a chance.

Nobody likes sputum

 

Alrighty, here's another sign with some fantastic rules to abide by. Really, it's in everyone's best interest.

 

 

Breaking the rules

I've seen a few posts with funny pictures from Engrish.com, and I felt the need to contribute. After all, I'm getting this first-hand! So here's an old picture from the Forbidden City in Beijing. The English is perfect, no spelling or grammar errors... but it still cracked me up.

 

Damnit Amanda! Didn't you read the sign??

 

I shall be on the lookout for more hilarity.

Happy Chinese Communist Party Day!

Oh, and Canada Day.

 

I know, I'm a day late. I thought I would be on time because of the time difference, but then I waited too long. Not much Canadian celebrations going on here in Dalian. But I paid tribute to that fine country of ours in a subdued, sophisticated manner. FAKE TATTOO!

 

 

Man, I am one tough chica. Grrr.