Girls' Nighttttt

Did you notice the title of this post? Don't I just seem like someone who screams "GIRLS NIIIIIGHT!!!!" No? You're probably right. ;) But, Paula, Doreen, and Lydia in my department at work really wanted me to "have a good memory" of China, and decided to take me out for a girls' night out. Now, of course, I am spoiled rotten right now in China, so please remember that I am learning how the upper-middle class live, while my American colleagues are in very different living situations. I am so very blessed to have Betty, who is such a wonderful friend already, and her insistence to show me as much of Chinese life as possible. For example, soon we will visit her family who live in the country and see how many different people live here. God has been so good to me and I am so grateful.

NOW! ONWARD! I have had a few people who are extremely curious about the restrooms in China. Before I came, I heard horror stories about how the public restrooms are just a hole in the ground with no toilet paper. With that lovely preview I have just been dying for the opportunity to find out the truth. I went to restroom after restroom, searching for the opportunity... Oh wait. Nope. However, while I am lucky to have a Western toilet in my home, I have normal ones at school. SO. Wanna see one? You know you do. (Don't worry, you don't have to tell anyone you were curious. ;)

So, typical for the outside of a restroom right? Ahh. Except this is the faculty restroom, so there is soap. The soap is apparently optional in most of Chinese public restrooms... Hence my BFF, anti-bacterial hand gel/wipes which accompany me where ever I go. At my school, this is just like the end of a hallway, and you can see straight into it, but most places, it is a room just like in America. The men and women share these sinks. 

Down the hall to the boys, the girls' is first. Same symbols as America, which is further proof THAT THERE IS A GOD. I speak very little Chinese and read even less, so can you imagine if I had to worry about going into the wrong restroom all the time? Well, perhaps it would be a good way to make friends. "Oh, saw the foreign girl was in the wrong bathroom again..."

So there it is. That's all. Not as terrible as you thought right? Well, at least, not as terrible as I thought. I mean, it's not pleasant, but on my random list of like to dislikes: soft beds > summertime > sleeping > those toilets > coachroches. 

In case of a fire at my school, I dial 119 and pray someone who speaks Chinese does the rest. 'Cause the pictures are seriously questionable and I can't read a lick of it.

Anyway, on to Girls' Night. I realize now I forgot to take a picture of us all, shooooot. I will get on that. I apologize. Paula, Doreen and Lydia are three of the five English teachers. They speak very broken English, but are getting better with our teacher-only lessons I do with them after school Tuesday-Thursday. Doreen is very stylish, Lydia is very sweet, and Paula is HYSTERICAL. She had me in stitches. "My husband. Call me every day at 4:30, he say 'Time to come home, your turn. Our son.' Because he like to play card games with friend. Today. I call him. I say: YOUR TURN. I'm going out!" Hahahaha. She loves her husband very much and he is very sweet,  she was teasing about him. 

They wanted to take me to a new restaurant called "Oscar." It had fake American Oscars, like from the Academy Awards all over the place, 10 songs on repeat ("Unchained Melody," "Just a Girl," "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"...among others. They made me sing along with parts of them, HA!), and random movie paraphernalia all over. The movie paraphernalia is kind of like what you would see at the state fair if you win a prize, really random... For example...

So glad "Twilight" is international. 

Naturally.

On to the food! These are THE MOST DELICIOUS rolls you have ever eaten in your entire life with baked-in hard light sugar in the top. I mean, these rolls make Texas Roadhouse look like amateur hour. 

And my first Asian milk bubble tea experience. Ehhhhh, not so sure about the sensation of drinking tiny pieces of jello through a straw with tea and milk and whatever else together. But, definitely interesting. (Actually though, I had it again but with chocolate milk tea, and I liked that better. I guess what I had believed was true: EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH CHOCOLATE. )

See the dish on the left in the yellow wrapper? It's made by yeast being put into a stone long bowl and then it being pounded two hundred times. Then they sprinkle all the yummy on it: caramel, a little peanut, crunchy something, I know I tasted nutmeg and brown sugar, roll it up, and cut it in a zig-zag pattern. SO GOOD. And I am so skilled at chopsticks I could use them the whole meal, which is hard to do. On the right is a spicy-ish dish with snails in it. So you suck the meat out or use a toothpick if it's hard, and then you eat it. I have the snail meat on my toothpick. Tasted good. However, the snails had obviously eaten things in their lives, which makes them gritty (sorry for the visual, dude, but I ate it so I don't feel too terrible for putting it in your head). The first time I tasted it, I spit it out: "AHH BABY SNAILS!" which they thought was hysterical.

Another dessert. I had said I hadn't tasted many Chinese desserts, so they were determined to show off. It's like angel food cake, with custard in the middle, and then you dip it in icing or jam. I'm sure you just died and went to heaven like I did when I ate it. I don't know why, but Chinese bread is 100x's softer. Yum yum yum. 

Then, they wanted to take me to a spa to get a facial. I have never in my life gotten a facial, so I had no idea what to expect; my impressions of this are definitely based on only what they did in China.

Well, I understood the Spa bit...

Of course, when I went in here, I thought, well. This is it; this is the place I am going to die. 

But, Paula was going in with me so it was ok, right? Then I turned around..

And nothing says relaxation like that mermaid staring you down. Hey girl. So they started, and massaged my face and massaged my shoulders and then, Paula said "Don't worry, it's going to get a little warm on your face." Huh, ok, so I peak AND THEY'RE COMING AT ME WITH AN OPEN FLAME! Like, as in a fire poker that's lit on fire! "WHOA! Whatcha doin' there?!" They said, don't worry,don't worry, and they put put under a glass, and stuck the hot glass to my face. Then, they did it again and again. It "removed the moisture from my face" and made me almost go to the bathroom right there. 

Overall, the spa thing was lovely, but it was two and half hours long, and they only did like my neck, shoulders, and face, so I was getting kind of antsy by the end, especially because it was 9:45 and I was very tired from everything. They were so kind to take me and I was grateful for the experience. I loved my Chinese girls' night with my new friends. I was telling Betty about it from my perspective, and she asked if in America colleagues are friends, and I said I was very lucky because at my school, the English department are very good friends and we care about each other very much just like in China. 

So it turns out, I reflected I was blessed beyond belief--friends at home and friends in China, what more could a girl ask for?