saturday in Changchun

7-3-10 8 pm. Saturday night.
So I'm not used to blogging. It seems a bit egocentric to write things and assume other people will care. But I guess I will view it as a personal log/diary, and if people want to peek at my diary, have at it. I'll apologize in advance if its not that interesting.So long day today. Phil and Ling, Cheryl and Dave, Brian and I, (the coupling thing kind of breaks down there at the end) spent the day shopping. We went to the north market and the women spent some money. (that was kind of the theme for the day). I bought a much needed pair of finger nail clippers in a cute leather pouch. Very metrosexual.On to a nice cup of tea and the tea house. Turns out you can drink tea for free if people in your party actually buy some of the tea. I have pictures and video of this, but I haven't figured out how to get them off my phone yet. It was also funny that they were selling little clay teapots for $1000. Apperently the cheap stuff gets sent to the US.After tea went shopping for flowers. Bennett's needed some hanging baskets for their balcony and Ling wanted a new vase. I now know where to go when its time to apologize to my wife in China.After flowers we went to a vietnamese restaurant. Very tasty for $6.After lunch we went to the french bakery and coffee house. Kind of funny that the college kids were all sitting in the shop like it was a beaners. Felt a bit like home. Quick trip to the int'l market across the street where they have american stuff ($8 for a small box of cornflakes, but if you gotta have it. . .) They also had the large size spice containers for like $6-7 so that didn't seem so bad. The Chef Boy ardee ravioli was unmarked, but I'm guessing these would not be worth the price since they are not worth the .35 they cost in the US.I actually got my hair cut tonight for the first time. Its amazing to me how consistent teh process for haircutting is around the world. I didn't have to say anything and they washed my hair, cut it (in a slightly more chinese style: think Bieber with the swoop in front) and then he thinned it, used clippers for the sides and back, shaved my neck, washed my hair again and sent me on my way. He said 'ok?'. I said 'how' (chinese for OK, 'Nie how' is telling someone 'you ok' which is equivalent to american hello). We both laughed and I paid him $2. I felt like I was back at Super cuts (minus the hair washing)
Now I'm off to the int'l hotel to watch Germany play argentina in the worldcup. It's a $15 all you can eat/drink party. We'll just have to see how that goes. Peace out from Changchun.
JTS