Since we have arrived here, we have noticed how amazing Chinese people hair is. They have so many different styles for all having very similar hair to begin with (straight, thin and black). I am constantly seeing people and saying ohh I want that haircut. So a lot of us have been wanting since we've arrived to get our hair cut. I though was a bit apprehensive though because as opposed to the other two girls who were very serious about it, I have very drastically different hair types than Chinese people. My hair is thick and curly. Jeannette who is Korean and Fatema who is from Bangledesh both have more Asian like hair than me. One of the teachers (Samantha) of the school who we have been hanging out with mentioned to us one day that she had a friend named Rain who we met later on who cuts hair. Jeannette and Fatema then decided that they were going to go get their hair cut on Thursday morning. Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to go with them. Once we arrived Rain looked at Jeannette and Fatema's hair and told them that they would need perms to get the haircuts that they wanted. This would take two hours and Fatema had a class in only an hour. After we arrived there, and were looking at the books I suddenly got the urge to myself get my haircut but figured if I did I would go last and had some time to think about it. All of a sudden though, it was decided that I was going first because Fatema had class soon and I agreed that I would get mine cut quickly and then go teach her class. I went from not getting my hair cut to getting it cut first in a matter of 10 minutes. Samantha explained to Rain what I wanted done and off she went back to school. I was left with Rain who speaks no English but beautiful and no beautiful and his 6 pairs of scissors. After a 20 minute hair washing session the process began. Rain started to cut, and cut some more and after about 45 minutes he was finally done. It was looking good! He then dried it and straightened it and then pulls the scissors out again and cuts for another 30 minutes! Needless to say Fatema ended up having to go back to school and teach her class and I got my hair cut by the artist Rain. Cutting hair in China is apparently something you feel, and they create a haircut for what they think is the best for you. It was by far the best haircut I have ever gotten. I have never had someone rub my head for its bumps and crevices to determine the best cut for me. He was so serious the entire time he was cutting it. It was really sort of comical. Finally after an hour and a half, and a mouth full of hair, I was finished. I arrived not thinking I was getting my hair cut and left with half of the hair I began with. Although it not much shorter, he thinned my full thick head of hair our more than anyone would ever dare in the US. I do though love my hair, and am quite pleased with the result. Jeannette and Fatema did eventually get their hairs cut and permed and finally at 8PM Thursday night we were all done.
On Friday I taught my last lesson of not only here in China but of my college career. It hit me as I was teaching this class, that I would never again teach a class as a student teacher. I am now officially done with college! I just have to graduate. Quite a strange feeling really. After lunch we left and went to Flower Town. This place was amazing, and a gardener's dream. There were every kind of flower you could think of just in stacks. As is most things, its hard to describe. Flower Town was apparently created by the government as a place for Gardeners to bring their flowers and then sell them. They had a place where they were making arrangements for weddings and other events. It was really like a huge Wal-Mart sized florist. Across the street from flower town was a park area. Here we found a tea house and played some more MahJong. Really is a great game, can't wait to teach it to everyone. After we played Mahjong for a couple of hours we took a bus back to the college and ate some dinner at the first Chinese restaurant we ever ate at that we all really enjoyed. We had this sweet and sour pork dish that we have been trying to get at every other restaurant we ever go to but can never manage to. It was excellent and a great dinner.
This morning (Saturday) Jeannette and I braved our first Chinese excursion without any Chinese chaperone. Tonight I am cooking dinner for my family and needed to buy some groceries. Tomorrow we are also having a birthday party for Jeannette's host sister so she also needed to buy a few things. We managed to get on the correct bus and made it to my favorite place (Japanese Mall or Wanda Plaza) and the Iko Wakoda store. We picked up a few gifts for our host families and then went to McDonalds for lunch. After lunch we braved the grocery store. I had Stephanie write out a few of the things I needed in Chinese just in case I could not find them. So this was helpful in finding the things I need. I would just point and they'd point and it was all good. Marshmellows were the hardest thing to find, but I actually did succeed. I even got some Rediwhip. The plan for dinner was going to be fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, garlic bread, and rice krispy treats and sweetened strawberries on top of cake with whipped cream for dessert. Some variations had to be made because I did not want to buy a whole chicken, so we ended up getting pork chops of sort and I will fry those. We also could not find strawberries so I got mangos instead. I am going to start cooking soon, so we shall see how this goes! I'll let you know soon!
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