Back again

So we now have access again here in China so we'll see how long it lasts again! Here is from my latest email and I'll try to update hopefully a few times a week here so check back. Make sure to check out my flickr site of pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/chinamegan

So Friday night I met up with some of my students from last semester. They met me at my dorm around 5 pm and headed to the "famous" Han's BBQ in Harbin. Students really seem to love this place. We got our own special little room and first went through the buffet line. In the buffet you get cold dishes such as fresh vegetables and fruit, some fruit salads and Chinese cold dishes. Among these included a dish made from "fish skin" and another with cow stomach (at least that is what I am pretty sure it was. At least someone's stomach-when I got it my students said they thought it was tofu; it was not). I did not get the strange looking dish that was "fish skin," however my student did and then asked me to try it. It wasn't skin like you peel off when skinning a fish, but more like white gelatin like material with some grey. The texture was indescribable.

Then later the waiters bring around various meets off of skewers and put it on your plate. Some were quite tasty, others were quite interesting. These included various animals' legs, chicken hearts, squid (very tough), a lot of fat, and many other parts of meet that my students did not know how to translate, which was OK with me. I don't eat a ton of meat really and so this kind of restaurant is somewhat challenging for me. I just cover it in this barbecue/ketchup sauce and put it in without thinking about it-mostly tasted pretty good!! The restaurant is sort of Russian themed and so we used forks and knives, which was fun to use with Chinese students-we talked about the "proper" way of using them (mom-you should be so proud). My favorite was one student, who always kept both in his hands and while chewing put the ends to the table like a child; so funny.

We had some great conversations and afterwards went to KTV, the Chinese oh-so-popular karaoke. We got our room and had some great times signing, using the tambourine and laughing together (I even sang Thriller for them and did the dance-it was great!). Around 10.30 I went ahead home because I was tired from classes all morning. It was a great evening.