Kickin' It Laowai Style, Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, Kickin' It Laowai Style, Part 1, I had just returned from my first visit to that tiny, unnamed, hole-in the wall restaurant that makes malatang, and entered my dorm when Miguel - my Mexican roommate - gave me some interesting news. He told me that several of the foreign girls had invited us out to dinner later that night, and that we should meet them at one of the nearby bus stops just outside of the university. Miguel was very excited about the prospect of a date, and encouraged me to go along as well. In fact, he was so excited that he asked me how to say a girl looked pretty in Chinese in order to impress her (很美丽 "huhn may lee" for those who are interested).

Miguel's hope

 I wasn't feeling very hungry, but I decided it would be a good idea to try and connect with the other foreign students in the university. Before I continue with the story, I think it is necessary to convey something about studying abroad. For those readers who have never studied abroad before, one of the most difficult aspects about studying in a foreign country is, simply put, the loneliness factor. There are plenty of people around me to talk with (the Chinese students, for instance), but unless there is a range of interest, there is little point in attempting a conversation. In understanding this, dear reader, it is easier to comprehend why I had no real choice in the matter.

It was an offer I couldn't refuse

Miguel and I got ourselves ready, and headed out the door without any sort of expectations of what was to come. Miguel's linguistic skills had, in fact, given us both an incorrect impression of what we were going to expect, as there were seven other foreign students waiting at the bus stop, three of which were male.

Miguel's unfortunate epiphany  

Our little group was a virtual United Nations of B-List civilizations from around the world including a young man and woman from Belgium, as well as a couple from Costa Rica, a woman from Turkey, another from Switzerland, and a man from Argentina. However, problems began to arise as soon as Miguel and I arrived, as three of our group (the two from Costa Rica, and the other from Argentina), decided they would rather go to a Chinese bar and get drunk instead of eat out at a restaurant. With that fracturing, our number was reduced to six. 

Taken at the bus stop just moments before the tragic breakup of our group

The six of us decided to head to one of Suzhou's biggest commercial areas, called Guanqian Road (观前街), where we decided on having Chinese Hot Pot (火锅) for dinner. For those who don't know what hot pot is, hot pot is where you have a big bowl of broth in the middle of your table that is heated by a mechanism underneath the table. You, as the customer, order what ingredients you would like to boil in this pot whether it is vegetables, meats, fruit, noodles, essentially whatever catches your fancy. The waiter will then to proceed to give you the raw food you requested, and you yourself put the food in the pot and cook it. The whole process is actually a lot of fun and provides itself for an entertaining dining experience. 

From left to right: Miguel (Mexico), Thomas (Belgium), Pellin (Turkey), Katerin (Switzerland), Joke (Belgium), and me (Canada)

With our combined language skills, the six of us were able to pick out a variety of different things to put in the broth, including pork, beef, chicken, bok choy, potatoes, mushrooms, and some bowls of noodles. We also realized that we were the only foreigners in the entire restaurant, as everyone else in the restaurant had gone silent to watch the group of foreigners eat and socialize as if we were a zoo exhibit.

In this picture we foreigners are the tigers, and whatever poor animal the tigers are eating there is the hot pot

After eating our meal, we decided to venture further along Guanqian Road, primarily because Pellin, the Turkish girl, wanted to buy something to drink from one of the local vendors.

One of the local juice bars

As I mentioned previously, I am very cheap when it comes to how I spend my money. In China, when it comes to food, I feel that if I pay more than 5 RMB (about 76 Cents) for a regular meal, then I've been cheated. As things stand, you cannot buy a relatively-fancy drink around Guanqian Road without paying at least 8 RMB! The area also home to many different pseudo-western restaurants and boutiques that try to appeal to the Chinese belief that the west is glamorous and rich, and I've provided a few examples below:

Guanqian Road is not solely made up of modern stores with brightly-lit neon signs, as there are also many slightly more cultured and ancient pieces or architecture lingering around the area (I also apologize for the shoddy nature of these photo, which are this way because we were being constantly harassed by greasy-looking salesmen trying to convince us to buy cellphones, pornography, or cheaply-made trinkets, and had to keep moving to keep them away from us):

After walking about Guanqian Road for about three quarters of an hour, we decided to head back to the university. To do this, we chose to take Suzhou's newly-opened subway line, of which there is only one line right now (the second is due to be open next year, which probably means several years).

Eagerly waiting for the subway to arrive

Once we reached our stop, it was a quick ten-minute walk back to the campus. Before we went or separate ways, however, we decided to take a trip later this week to see some of Suzhou's famous gardens, which I will cover in my next blog post.

Until next time, please enjoy the somewhat appropriate music: