fast food, cultural food, and a hair cut

A couple of things have happened since I last blogged. One, a bunch of us went to McDonald's yesterday to see whether or not there are very many differences. I couldn't help it...I havent had cheese in a long while...so I ordered a Big Mac. But I did try to stay adventurous and got 2 pies...one was green bean...and the other was sweet taro. Neither were really bad...the only part I didnt enjoy too much about these pies was the fact that they were fried rather than baked. A bit odd. Other than that...everything didnt seem too different. Oh...except the poster advertisements they had inside the store...very...erotic. I didnt have my camera with me yesterday...but Sarah did take some pictures. Let me see...I think she has them up. Just going to copy and paste real quick...so the first one is just eating...me with my Big Mac...that's Ben on the left and Sunny on the right. Here is a picture of my pies. The last picture from McDonald's are those erotic posters. There are several of them...but I think that these are enough to get the point across. We thought they were very odd...anyways...here they are. So, after we had lunch there...I headed back to the Overseas School to pick up my bike. I have been having some problems with my bike lately. One of these days...I'll take a picture of it and post it in blog. For something that only cost me 60 RMB...it's a pretty okay bike. But the chain keeps coming off. So, every once in a while, I have to stop and hook the chain back on. At first...it took me a bit of time to get the hang of it...but now, 5 secs? I also had a flat tire the first day I rode it to school...but I had that fixed on Monday. So...want to know how bikes are sold here in China? You could always go to the local bike shop and pick up a new bike...that will probably cost you around 500 RMB or more. However, if you want a second-hand bike...well...things get a bit shady here. When the Chinese talk about second-hand...they are hardly talking about a bike that was sold to its current owner who is trying to sell it again. Nope...majority of the second-hand bikes here are stolen. I'm pretty sure my bike was stolen from someone else. That's why when I went to the "bike alley," I couldn't really tell that the place was a place for selling bikes. We crossed the street...and there were a couple of houses that were killing chickens and selling live fish. However...walk a bit longer and people will start coming up to you to ask if you are looking for a bike. So...we were walking (we being Li Yun, Violet and me) down this street and this vendor comes up to us. She asks us if we were looking for bikes and we told her we were. She told us that she had one that she could give to us for about 70 RMB...so we followed her. The entire time, from the point we met her to where the bike was, she wouldnt walk next the us. That was because a cop car was driving in front of us. Usually....whenever vendors are selling stolen bikes...you could always figure a cop was around when you see them hop on bikes...or just start taking off in all directions. A few minutes later, they all reemerage and continue their business. Anyways, back to my bike...we arrived at this abandoned stripe mall area. There, on the corner, was this lonely bike. I honestly thought that that wasnt the bike she was talking about. It looked like someone had just parked it there. But...as we got closer...she signaled for us to come closer and that was when we started bargaining. It doesnt look old...but it doesnt look new either. Perfect for me cause I really didnt want to deal with a bike that could stolen. Haha...it took both Li Yun and Violet to bargain the price...but we settled at 60 RMB...and an additional 10 RMB for a lock. Not bad for China's most convenient (and cheapest) form of transportation. So...thats my bike.
Last night, there was a lecture on Tibetan history. It was given by a Tibetan professor who teaches at the ethnic minority college here in Chengdu. He started with their origin story and then talked a bit about their various kings. Next week...he'll be back to talk about Tibetan Buddhism which I am excited about.

Today, after class...Ben, Matt, Tabitha, Sunny, and I went out to this one resturant. It had Uygur food. Uygur are an ethnic minority group here in China and they live in Xinjiang. Alot of them are Muslim. So...at that resturant, we had sheep on a stick *which were probably the best kabob I've ever had* and a sharable dish of wide noodles, green peppers, cubed chicken with bone, potatoes, cinnamon sticks, ba jiao, and garlic. Everything was really, really good. And everything was only 58 RMB...between 5 people. Gotta go again sometime.

After lunch, Matt wanted to get his hair cut. Sunny and I figured we could get a trim...Tabitha came along to watch. It was quite the experience. I dont really like Chinese hairstyles...alot of them have their hair thinned out in the back and then the hair on top cut really short...so that it kind of frizzes out. I was sure I didnt want that kind of hair cut...but...the guy cutting my hair convinced me that my cut wouldnt be so bad...so, I was reluctant to ask for anything else. I figured...he knows what he's doing. I did ask, though, that he not cut the top too short and that I wanted side bangs. Everything else was up to him. It turned out okay. Better than I expected. So, here is our after picture. :) My hair may not look too different...but that's cause I kept it at the same length. But...maybe tomorrow I'll take another picture...and post. It is different though...in a good way...I think.