theme: chinese culture

sarah and i had our second language exchange meeting. i found out some more things about her. i also learned more things, as i often do. and this time, i taught her vocab and corrected her grammar. :)

1. she has been with her live-in bf for 6 yrs now. they have known each other since high school but starting dating in college. they grew up in the same town and came to SH together. he is a mechanical engineer.
2. she's 25. i thought she was older for some reason. i musta confused her with some other potential language partners.
3. she did extensive research while in college on tibet b/c she was planning a trip there. she learned that you have to take a really long bus ride from chengdu to tibet, there are no real direct flights, you can rent an SUV attached to a driver who is also a tour guide from a travel agency and drive from chengdu to tibet in 4 days, a train ride would originate from some faraway city and take forever to get there at some really expensive one-way rate. she never did go b/c it was just too expensive. but she still wants to go someday. i want to too.
4. there's a town called muo tuo (i can't spell it) near tibet that you can only get to by foot. that means no bike, car, train, bus or plane.
5. in yunnan, there are many tribes. one of them is a matriarchy, where the husband lives with the wife's family and if they give birth to a boy, the husband has to move out! crazy huh?
6. she taught me lots of new chinese vocab. i won't list them b/c people probably don't care.
7. tea houses aren't too popular in SH b/c people are too busy. i wanted to go to one but she said in chengdu (her fave city), b/c of how relaxed it is, there are tons of them.
8. there is a chain salon called Amani (pretending to be Armani i think) which is affordable and decent. that's where she gets her hair done. i need to find one. my locks are way long and thick.
9. i complained of bureaucracy and told her about my police experience. apparently, locals experience it too. then i whispered, "it's cuz of communism" and she laughed.
10. i told her about american and asian weddings back in the states. she was especially entertained when i shared pang's hmong wedding where a pig is sacrificed and you tie strings around your wrists and lisa's story on how bryan and her owed her parents the dowry money after the wedding. and paid in monthly installments, almost like a loan. hope you ladies don't mind. :)
11. she has never gotten a professional massage. i asked where i could get one that didn't offer "other services," as she put it.
12. she told me about an article she read about the different reasons people drank wine. she was shocked and amused that people drink for self-expression and to experience rebirth, in addition to relaxing and b/c they use it to deal with problems.
13. she does not eat very much which is probably why she's so skinny. i had a bowl of noodles for dinner. she had teppan of korean rice and chicken. we both want to order the other person's dish next time.
14. she eats bread and milk and gyoza for breakfast, eats lunch with her coworkers and for dinner sometimes cooks noodles and other things at home.
15. she's not a big fan of bars or alcohol mostly b/c she can't handle it.
16. i like her.

ok, that's all i can think of for now. i would like to meet her bf at some point. he must be a really nice guy.