Valentines Day!

... is no big deal here! There were some roadside flower stalls that popped up, but for the most part the Chinese just go on their merry way. Actually speaking of flowers, I saw a super awesome one that had "flowers" with Rochet chocolates as the bulbs. But anywho, I had heard there exists another holiday in the fall that is kind of the Chinese version of Valentines Day.

I had my first, official, honest to god Chinese lesson yesterday with a former coworker. He really is a great teacher, and it's unfortunate he left. But I'm on my way to becoming a less of an idiot in trying to communicate. Afterwards we went out to a coffee shop, and it was the first time I was able to talk candidly with someone about politics and history. In particular he mentioned the "Three T's" of Tianmen, Tibet, and Taiwan. Three things that are really kind of uncouth to talk about here. I'm incredibly ignorant about the situation in Tibet, so I left that subject alone.

I feel like an idiot pointing out something I found at McDonalds, but McDonalds in China puts ours to shame. They have your standard Big Macs and whatnot, but also crazy variations like a chicken and mushroom sub. Mmmm! And their latest offering, a double cheeseburger with bacon and mashed potatoes. Yes, mashed potatoes. You'd never think it would work, but it's frakin' delicious. I will bring this mashed potato condiment knowledge back from the Orient. Also I've seen this awesome car in front of McDonalds several times now:

The coolest car in Xiaoshan

Also, I only knew of two grocery stores in the area. In the past couple of weeks, I have discovered three more. I think this is pretty cool, and it allows me the opportunity to find more Engrish.

Toot toot!

The past few days have been me repeatedly getting lost. Yesterday it was unintentional, and required me finding a cab to get my bearings. The day before that it was a "I'm going to explore this part of town, because I never have." kind of day.

It turns out, that was a pretty awesome decision. Unfortunately, you know how the last few posts have been about Spring Festival? Officially it's over, but it's fallout remains. Spring Festival is like a month long Christmas, and just now are stores starting to open again. Two of my favorite ones, a dumpling place a block from home, and my second favorite restaurant in the city are still closed. But alas, I decided to see where I wound up and if anything was still open.

I wandered into a hole in the wall kind of place that had these rice and meat dishes. There was no English, and I only recognized the word "meat". So I figured why not, and ordered that. It turns out the meat was lamb, which I haven't had in quite a while. It was actually quite good, and it came with some sort of fried bread. The whole time eating it I kept thinking that it tasted so familiar, but I was unsure from where. A few hours later I figured out I was basically eating an Izzy's Potato Pancake. Another great restaurant to add to the list.

Let's all enable our good modes!

Near this restaurant was another store that looked quite large, so I thought I'd take a look. It turns out there's basically a Walmart in my backyard that I never knew about. It's well within walking distance, and not to mention they have everything you could possibly need. The best part though, is all the Engrish you can find! I probably looked like a crazy person taking pictures of stuff on supermarket shelves, but so be it.

This coffee is not for men!

You wanna drink this at home? Too damn bad.

On the way back I came across a park that had a really impressive light display for Lantern Festival, presumably. It was all a bunch of families, but that didn't stop me from appreciating it. I'm sure this is a temporary thing, but it'd be pretty great if they left it up all year. There was also a bunch of dancing and noisy, flashy toys.

Caution! Do not let Dick Tracy's ghost walk your dog!

Stupid kids, getting all the cool toys...