The place where we live we all call "a village".
It's far from the center - 2hours by bus to the Business center, 40minutes to the closest big supermarket. There are cows and hens walking around; people are quite poor; shops do not have as a wide selection; restaurants are cheap...
But this is a developing village. When we arrived we had only 1 nice restaurant-with free magazines to read, plants and pictures on the walls. Some weeks ago they opened a new one, even nicer! We've tried it - we had a pigeon I guess (we found the claws in the dish, it made fore for a cringy surprise...) and the restaurant offered us fruits for desert, because we were the first foreigners there. : )
If some of you comes over here, we'll take you mostly to these 2 retaurants. All other places require self-control and blindness, matters in which we became masters. You pretend not to see how they (don't?) wash dishes, how they cook, how the kitchen and cooks look. Yes, otherwise you may just starve in China. If you buy food in the street, it's with same unwashed hands that the woman cashes in the dirty money and takes care of kneading the dough or making dumplings.
Some days ago, we came across a european restaurant. Yes, they eat with forks there. Actually, they eat with spoons but cut food with a fork.
Shopping is quite possible here as well. Mostly students work there and they like to work on the design. I have to admit that they do have a lot of creativity and ideas for this.
We have 2 bakers and several minimarkets around.
Hairdresser's are the "elite" of the village. They are the most fashionable guys around the village and they listen to cool music. They have a lot of clients, by the way. I decided, if I go there I'll take my own towel. I saw theirs drying outside in the dirt........
You can have a lot of fun in the village. There are pool tables all along the streets. Students love billiard! When I said I had never played billiard before, I understood from their faces that I was retarded. But then they coped with themselves and said they would teach me!
In the campus we wake up with music that they put at 6 in the morning . Sundays are not exceptions... This gives you energy for the whole day!
KTVs (karaoke) are incredibly popular here. We've never tried it but we should. It's just I thought I didn't have good voice but after all the sounds I heard from karaoke bars I decided that I have all chances to become a local star!!!
We have bars, which have a wide selection of soft or alcoholic drinks and teas are on the menu but you can get just a beer and in the best case a very expensive tea. There is even one bar in the village with books and magazines, which you can read for free!
There are discos on Fridays and Saturdays in the campus . They turn on the light (this does not happen often!) and put music, everybody is welcome to dance. Chinese like to dance in crowds. If a song stops, the crowd runs away from the stage, if a new song starts, a crowd runs back to the stage. They even put russian music here.
There are many internet bars around, students download and watch films there, sometimes quite sexual. They don't care, nobody bothers them and nobody tries to join.
The DVD renting place is an interesting experience. It's actually a cinema. You can choose a room - private, common or a big one if you come with your friends. In a common room there are computers with DVD players and headphones. In a private room you have a TV+DVDplayer and a couch, and you can lock the door... You can also just rent a DVD - 0,2 cents.
Oh, and I forgot about fireworks! Every time somebody opens a restaurant or a shop, he launches fireworks: in the daytime, in the evening, but what is more important - it happens every day! Yes, we live in a partying village!
Ore
lena.
