Meet Fang Fang

So it's been a while. I guess not too much of interest has happened lately or maybe I'm becoming used to the differences of life in China from the US. 

I have a language partner now though. Her name is Fang Fang and she is very sweet (I tried to hunch in the picture a little to disguise the slight height discrepancy)  She is 25 and a graduate student in physics...we obviously don't have much in common there. I knew I would

instantly love her though when we met for the first time and, to practice her English, she was reading, "Women are from Mars, Men are from Venus". Ha! The girl's got a little spunk. 

Another favorite Fang Fang moment of mine is when we were discussing Gossip Girl (which she also loves) and I explained to her that in real life high school isn't much like that and she responds with, "Oh. Probably Desperate Housewives is more like real life." Hahahhhaha. I teetered on the decision but in the end couldn't allow myself to spread the propaganda of tv producers and had to explain to her that nothing on TV is how it is in real life in America. Pure shock and disappointment from Fang Fang. 

For our first meeting I took her to the coffee shop I always go to, my treat, and told her this is what friends do in America: meet and chat over coffee. Being a student still and not yet part of the disposable-income crowd of China I don't think she makes it to the $4+ latte coffee shop much. I could tell she didn't want to disappoint me though so she ordered a coffee and had maybe 2 sips of it (on a side note: it was a hazelnut latte and billed as "the classic drink of all time"). Every time I've suggested going back she says "may be we try something new?" Ah something new. She took me to eat real chinese food tonight and I had to re-establish my vegetarian policy b/c we went to a REAL chinese restaurant where the whole dinner cost 24 kuai or about $3.50 US. I think it was safe to assume free-range chicken and Niman Ranch grass-fed beef was not on the menu here. I felt really bad lying about the vegetarianism to her especially when she asked why: "Because Chinese meat scares the bejeezes out of me" just didn't seem appropriate. All I could come up with on the spot was because I didn't like the taste- as if all meats taste the same, right? She gave me a funny look but dropped it. I of course slipped no less than 5 minutes later and made a big deal about how much I love jiaozi and xiaolongbao (2 types of dumplings ALWAYS made w/ meat) and ate it everyday for the first 2 weeks I was here. Being the smart girl she is she immediately called me out on my vegetarianism, "So you're not a real vegetarian". Just let me order my eggplant and tofu and leave me be woman! I really am thankful for her and her appreciation for my "unorthodox" American ways :)

Here is another special Chinese friend: A 30ft Mao! I walk by the big guy every day on my way to class. No public institution is complete in China without him!