And the people's choice award goes to...the Chinese

Bones in the Fish at a meal

I realize I've been a little slow on updates the first couple of weeks in China. To rectify this, I sat down and wrote for three hours yesterday about the best part of Rongchang...the people. Unfortunately, I'm not one for saving things (i.e. money, baseball games, important documents) and my computer screen crashed before I could post it. To top it off, it all happened right before I was suppose to meet someone for the first time. As I was sitting in the glumps bemoaning the loss of my labor, I heard a "Hello, how are"? I stood up, slapped a big smile on my face, and shook the persons hand thinking that he was the person I was suppose to meet. After our five minute conversation, we established that we both like ping pong, basketball, Rongchang, and that we are friends. The boy's companion, who didn't speak any English, wanted to confirm that we were friends too so he started reaching into his bag of groceries and handing me things. I did not want to seem rude and was excited to say what little Chinese I know, so I said thank you and accepted the lime. This brought a huge smile to the boys face and I soon ended up with a tomato and a bag of Cow Jerky in my hands as well. We exchanged numbers and gave enthusiastic goodbyes. My spirits were once again soaring, compliments of the Chinese people.

Gombai means "empty cup"

Part of the reason why the Chinese population is so huge is because it is not uncommon to live to be 90-100 years old. Over 40% of China's population is over the age of 60. The best thank you one can give to their parents is a one way ticket to China. The elderly are treated like royalty and have the right of way to just about everything. Every night there are town squares playing music for the elderly to go out and go dancing.

Friends (with benefits)

Usually, we encounter friends through a mutual contact. Our last group of friends we meet randomly at a coffee shop where the four boys said every English word they could think of. Depending of their English classes, Chinese students learn English with either an American or British accent. For some reason I think it is very comical for a Chinese person to say words like "mate" and "lad." The two that spoke the best English were twins (which is one loophole to having multiple children in a family without paying a massive fee to the government.) didn't have English names. The other two were named Loy and my personal favorite Danish.

The next day, I shot some hoops with the twins, where I quickly learned that I was severely out of shape. Compared to the Chinese, I am an amoeba. Being the tallest one on the court, I found myself playing the unfamiliar position of center. I was crushing it for all of about seven minutes until my proper box out form turned into me putting my hands on my knees while gasping for air. Furthermore, I am accustomed to playing with a net, which is in no way essential to to the game, but convenient for slowing balls down. I would watch the ball go through the hoop, but I wouldn't be able to get my hands up in time to prevent the embarrassing result of getting hit in the face.

We had fun with these lil' kids

After balling we met up with the rest of the group and I introduced them to the frisbee, courtesy of Reid S-S (I don't think I've owned my own frisbee for five years now). At first they though it was some kind of American plate, then a UFO once I threw it at one of them. Within five minutes of whipping the D(isc) around a 45 year man came and asked if he could play. It would take a onomatopoeia expert to phonetically describe the squeals of delight he was making as he misjudged every frisbee flight pattern. After what must have been at least 25 failed attempts he successfully caught one and let out a triumphant cry that completely rekindled my love for frisbee. By this time we had attracted about 50 spectators, the largest crowd I have ever played frisbee in front of. If someone was to open up a store that sold frisbees here in Rongchang, they would make a sizable fortune.

Our closest friend is a 30 year old woman named Maggie who can really throw her weight around (even though she is smaller then Kassy she can move mountains.) Last week we went to the cinema where she was able to get us a 30% discount on the the tickets and the movie changed to be played in English, both through a heated five minute argument that ran parallel to general manager Ron Gardenhire butting heads with an umpire. She has taught us some popular Chinese card games as well as the best hand game I've ever played (it's like boomba be with reflex time). We also have her to thank for showing us some of the most delicious restaurants in town including one that has pot stickers galore. The song "You ain't never had a friend like me" from Disney's Aladdin sums her up best.