Sheng dan kuai le (Merry Christmas) to Weg.

I walked around a park nearby that turned out to be quite beautiful. It has a giant monument in the middle, along with a bunch of traditional style Chinese houses. Combined with the meat dumplings I had earlier, it was a very chill and enjoyable day.

I'm gradually getting my apartment under control, and started going through the cabinets to see what the previous occupants had left. There was a fishing rod and line, which I may try out at some point. All the bridges are full of retired old guys fishing the day away. There also was a net. I asked my roommate what the hell this was for, and he said the previous guy took care of bees in the park.

"Bees?"

"Yeah, bees!"

"BEES?!"

And although he had seen Arrested Development, he didn't immediately get the joke.

Honestly though, he told me that it's a hobby in China to take care of bees in public parks and harvest the honey. I can't even begin to fathom how to do that, and it doesn't seem like something I want to get into.

There also were some really cool statues of a crocodile and rooster, some nice nail polish, and two big surprises. One was a gun. Unlike back home, you don't need those orange tips to show that it's non lethal. It was also made out of metal and was quite heavy, so I was convinced I was holding a 9mm in my hand. It wasn't until I removed the clip that I saw it shot plastic pellets. So, that's a relief. I'll take a pic at some point, it really looks and feels quite authentic.

The other was a really nice iPod speaker dock. With a little 3.5mm cable to my phone, I now have a really kicking speaker system. It sounds fantastic and got to be quite loud, and I'm sure it would retail for at least $100 back home.

I don't have any new pics as I just threw them all on Facebook. It wasn't until this week when I realized I had to go to the grocery store and bank that I'm no longer a tourist.

You ever do a beer run? How about a turkey run?

I went into the pharmacy to pick up some more allergy meds to replace my Bendaryl. I got this really fantastic Chinese dictionary app on my phone, so I typed in "allergy" and showed it to the clerk. She says "Oh, blahbidity blah blah!" and runs off to get something. She comes back with two boxes, one appearing to be pills, the other something to mix in a drink. I say thanks and take the pills. She tries to also give me the mix, which I politely decline. She then grabs the box of pills and forcibly puts the mix with them. So now I'm getting the impression they go together, but then I have to think what the hell are these pills? I'm looking for some Diphenhydramine, Presudoepiphendrine or something similar. Now I have mystery pills, powder, and a confused look on my face. She insists that's what I need, so I bought it and left it at that. One of these days I'll try taking it to see if I start hallucinating.

For Christmas Kyle pulled out all the stops and imported a bird from the states. However since the Chinese don't really know what ovens are, it had to be cooked in the one at school. We were over at Emilia's and Goran's for Christmas since lunch, which meant a run back to work. I was already quite sloshed on wine and took it upon myself to wear a panda hat that I think is for girls. Anyway Kyle and I had to run back and get it, but I'd be damned if I took that hat off. I had a lot of funny looks and giggles on the way over.

So we arrive at work, and it needs to bake another 20 minutes. Since they don't celebrate, the local staff was all working. But we convinced one of the local teachers to come along with us, and I just in general acted like a drunk fool around the office. On the way back Kyle told me if I drop the turkey I'm fired, which made for a nerve wracking walk. But all said and done I got to eat one of the best turkeys I've ever had, along with mashed potatoes, spanish rice, and all the trimmings. Followed by Apples to Apples. You know, just like every other Christmas.

So the pic today is a sign on the floor of my bank. I have no words.