Drying laundry on electric lines? Because China, that's why. Shut it.

West Lake is the "big thing" in the area, talked about in ancient Chinese poetry yadda yadda yadda god this is boring. I don't know if all those poems mentioned the tons of restaurants, bars, and streets alongside it. I've said it before, but Xiaoshan's Xiang Lake is quiet, prettier, and just and all around nicer place to go to.

Through three unrelated friends, I found myself there three times in one week. I'm totally okay with that, because one time there was a small carnival there. A creepy carnival? In a Chinese suburb? Yes please!

These friends are all locals, but two of them speak English quite well. They had one of those balloon walls and pellet guns, and if you win you get some stuffed something or other. They thought it was pretty cool you got to shoot a gun. Then they asked me "Do you know how to use this?" I told her in Chinese "Did you forget where I am from?" But in my mind, I was thinking "Step back ya'll, I've got this."

So 21/25 balloons later, we're walking away with our prize. A tiny stuffed heart. Ah well, it made for a neat picture. Swear to god, 90% of Chinese girls must get regular shyness injections, because she didn't want her photo taken. Well the jokes on her, I already have her on Facebook.





I'd also like to thank my friends for bringing a jumbo shaker of chili powder, because I finally got around to making some decent chili. I had to make it with pork, so I'm still not really happy about it. For god sakes China, why does beef only come around twice a month? I feel like I should be camping out like Wii launch day. On the other hand, PBR has come to China under the label "Blue Ribbon General Beer". I got the biggest kick out of the idea of "General Beer" <salute>. It commands a bit of a premium, because it's "Imported". Yeah, I'll wait until you stop laughing.






And that's it for this update. Allow this OH MY GOD IT'S GODAMN HUGE bug to show you out. This thing was like, 2 index fingers wide and just as long. After cowering under my bed, I escorted him out the window.