Sand, surf and son...

So this weekend was another fun one (go figure!)...

Last week we finally got around to buying a map of Weihai, so we posted it on our wall, determined to have a sort of "point and go" attitude; we don't have pushpins or anything (I already thought of that, but they won't stick in our wall--tape hardly sticks to the damn wall...). We really felt like we wasted a lot of time in Korea (retrospectively)--there's no time for naps on the weekend, dammit! Only exploration! So we decided to go to the beach. Why not? It was super cold and windy, perfect beach weather if you just wear layers. So we loaded ourselves up in a taxi, opened up our (other, travel) map to the cab driver, and away we went. The entire beach front area is still pretty vacant, like it was the weekend before, when we travelled around with Thomas and Marina; but there were little hints everywhere as to what it might be like in the summer time--I saw swimsuit separates through a window, and shopkeepers were in their little mini marts stocking up on beach essentials. Evidently the March/April months here can be pretty brutal with wind, and there's evidence of this brutality all over town. There are all these massive signs (somehow) adhered to the sides of buildings that look like they've been chewed on. When we get in taxis to go back to school, we always pass this huge billboard that's sort of toppled over on its side. Even the strongest Chinese pole is no match for Weihai wind. For serious.

We headed down towards the beach area--the largest public beach area in Weihai. It was so cool! The breakers were all choppy and white-capped, and there was a pretty substantial layer of seafoam creating a barrier between us and the water. I had never seen seafoam before (notice the "had"--tee hee), but it's pretty cool and...foamy. There weren't a lot of folks there because it was so damn cold. But I also think that some of the Chinese folks we've met thus far have been a little too concerned about us being cold--jacket weather to me is parka weather to them (tomayto/tomahto, right?). So we walked along, holding hands, pretty much just us and the beach. And some huge industrial tractors. I'm not sure what they were doing, but they always seemed to start moving the second we wanted to walk in front of them.

We saw another young couple walking along the beach with a little white trash bag full of seaweed. Later, when we walked back in front of the empty shops, we could see strands and strands of seaweed being hung out to dry (or to blow away, it seems...). It was really funny, too, because even in the sand you could see the markings of a typical Chinese woman. Heels. They all wear heels. And they run in them, or work at the supermarket in them, or walk around on the beach in them. I just don't understand how they do it. Maybe they are born with little stiletto heels fused to their feet. But next to a heel marking, I spotted a sort of dried out starfish. I wrapped him (?) up in some tp and put him in my bag.

After walking around on the beach for a few hours, we headed back towards the same hotpot place we had enjoyed the weekend before. We were determined to do it on our own this time. We walked in around 4:30, and we were the first and only customers in the restaurant, but that was lucky for us, because it allowed three friendly Chinese girls (they all looked like they were 16) to help figure out exactly what the hell we wanted in our hotpot. So we used our handly little dictionaries (electronic and no) to communicate, and we all agreed that the entire scenario was pretty funny. As we were eating our hotpot, my nose started running--they really put the "hot" in hotpot--the spicy side was full of, well, spice. Ladlefuls. So I reached in my bag to grab my roll of tp (we always carry it with us here--smartest thing we ever decided to do), and I grabbed a little wad that was already ripped off. I started wiping my nose and realized it was my starfish. Ewwww...

We went home, relaxed and watched this Andy Richter show we downloaded off of itunes. Boy, it sure beats the Beijing Opera. Not that I don't like or appreciate the Beijing Opera, but really, it's on all the freaking time. And to a foreign ear, it sort of all sounds the same.

The next day we were invited to go meet some other foreigners and to go to church--each week they meet at someone else's apartment and just sort of rotate. When Thomas first proposed the idea, Rory and I quickly bowed out of the church part. But Cecilia said "Oh, don't worry, it's not going to be a big deal--it will just be people gathering and hanging out together." Thomas said it would be a lot of singing and playing guitar, so we were like--okay, we like singing and playing guitar (and we didn't want to seem like jerks)--we'll be there!

We met Thomas (sans Marina, bummer--she had class) by the gates of Shandong University and walked over to the apartment, which was on campus. Thomas was apologizing for the apartment being small, which was really funny, because when we walked in we could tell that it was waaaaay bigger than ours. But that's okay; we have as much space as we need. It's all good. At the end of the day, it's just a place to sleep. When we walked in, we could see that it was mostly older people. Not old people--older people, mostly 40+. There were a couple people there who were closer to our age, and we're actually going to hang out with them tomorrow. So we sat down and met a bunch of really nice people, but it was still awkward, just because they've all been there for awhile and have formed relationships with each other. Church relationships. What followed (for me, and I'm pretty sure for Rory, too), was one of the most awkward situations I've ever been in. One of those situations where you want to either curl up in the fetal position or toss yourself out the window. Or curl up in the fetal position and then toss yourself out a window.

Yes, there was a guitar, and even song lyrics that were dispersed among us newcomers. Lyrics to all of these church songs. I mean, I thought there would be church songs that I know, and there was "Amazing Grace", but we didn't sing that selection this week. I have nothing against religion--I respect people who have found religion, and I am intrigued by the tenants of various religious teachings, but only within a literary context. I don't know what I was expecting, or maybe I just hadn't prepared myself for that type of setting--it's been awhile since I've been to church, and yes, that's by choice. Maybe Cecilia and Thomas didn't think it would be awkward because they are both religious folk; but when you're agnostic or atheist, it's really awkward. So Rory and I just sort of became flies on the wall, discreetly clutching each other's arms, wondering (well, I was, at least) what to make of everyone there, as well as wondering what their first impressions of us must have been. We weren't participating at all--we were really just sitting there quietly, trying not to be noticed in this room full of about 10 other foreign teachers, a few who work at a Christian school here in Weihai.

At one point, everyone went around the room, taking turns reading passages out of this book they've all been reading. Rory and I passed, but Cecilia read, and then we felt really alienated. Like we'd been duped or something. And she started quoting biblical passages and stuff, and everyone was sharing their take on the book-of-the-month and how it applied to their lives. But the most awkward part of it all, for us, came when the group veterans asked us if there was anything that we would like them to pray for. Other people had friends who were addicted to drugs, and then someone wanted to pray for their friends' stillborn baby (you know, legitimate stuff, and again, I totally respect that. I've prayed for things before, and no, not just a sweet pony or something at Christmastime). Rory and I passed, again, but Cecilia decided to use this time to talk about our school and our contracts. Her opinion about our contract and our situation here at the school is pretty different from ours. She is very unhappy here. She has lived in China before, and she has certain expectations about what her living arrangements should be like--that's totally understandable. For us, though, we already had the worst experience someone can have teaching in a foreign country, so if the tiny dorm room we're in is our only problem, it's not really a problem to us. But she used this prayer time as a forum to speak for all three of us, to ask everyone to pray that the school honors our contracts and that the recruiting agency is honest, saying "I mean, it may be okay for them (Rory and Julie), because they are new to China, but for me, it is unacceptable..." And she just kept going on about it. I wish that I could have seen the look on my face, but I tried to make eye contact with everyone there to maybe send some telepathic message that she isn't the spokesperson for all three of us. Granted, I really like the fact that Cecilia is able to help us out with all of the little logistical things involved with living in China for the first time, but I also like to speak for myself. I was pretty livid, but I didn't want to say anything in someone's house--hey, let's have a confrontation in front of our new friends while I eat their fruit and they pray for us. I mean, from their end, they probably just assumed we were religious folk--why else would we be at their little church gathering?

But hearing these nice people, with their heads bowed and eyes closed, praying for us and for our contracts to be honored, right after praying for someone's stillborn baby...I don't know, it just made me really angry that she had the nerve to bring that up. But hey, maybe she thinks that we are as miserable as she is. But this is a good time to note that we aren't having any problems here. We love everyone at the school, they love us and think we're awesome, and we couldn't be happier to be here. It's so different from Korea. Everything has been handled in a really professional way, and the little things, like a broken washing machine (now fixed) or a broken door lock (also fixed) or a minor miscommunication about some little thing (hey, we speak different languages), don't seem like they merit that much complaint or a freaking prayer. That's just me.

After the shindig was over and we were just talking to Thomas, I was completely honest with him. I said that I thought everyone was really nice, but it's an awkward setting when you're agnostic. And now all of those folks have this impression that we're religious, just shy. It's one of those situations that I don't really know how to handle, though when I said "agnostic" to Thomas, I said it a little loud, hoping some other folks would hear. And I'm sure he'll relay the message for us--he's good like that.

After that church "service" (?), I was a little nervous about continuing to hang out with the group. Thomas had to leave to meet a student, so it was just us and them. But, we're adults, so I figured it would be alright. It was. It was more than alright. One of the guys there, Lyndon, who is from New Zealand, took us all to this little restaurant to have a birthday lunch for his daughter, Zoe, who turned 9. It was great. We ate so much delicious food, we got to talk about stuff other than religion, and we enjoyed both speaking in English, and listening to Lyndon speak pretty fluent Chinese. He's also a really funny dude, and he knows all of the best and cheapest spots to go shopping or to hang out in Weihai. Even bars. He invited us back to his apartment, where his wife, Rachel, was decorating the place for the birthday celebration. So we walked over to the apartment and played a bunch of birthday games. Plus, I spent a lot of time on the floor with the little ones, indulging Benjamin (Zoe's little brother) by asking all about the differrent glow-in-the-dark bugs he was showing off. At the end of the day, we were glad we got to meet them, even if we had to suffer through an awkward section of the day.

But even in Korea, when we met some other Americans and some Australians for the first time, we realized that there are a lot of really religious foreigners in Asian countries (we were cracking open beers as they were praying before eating their lunch), and that we're probably the odd men out. It's just another thing that we can add to our list of new things we have done and will do here in the China.