Hot Pots, Papa Johns, & Pimps.

HOT POTS. One of the teachers had her birthday last week at a restaurant where they serve food family-style. Each restaurant-goer is given a bowl of boiling chicken broth, typically filled with leeks, a red "man's" fruit, and some type of oil; underneath the bowl is a Sterno flame. Meats, tofu, vegetables, dumplings, and all sorts of wonderful foods are put in front of you to dip into the boiling concoction.

I made my rounds to the surrounding tables filled with teachers, students, and friends. Arriving at one table, a student stood up, extended his half-filled glass of beer and exclaimed "gang bei." The other men at the table quickly arose, as if being called to attention by a drill instructor. Considering that 50% of Asians have lactose intolerance (i.e. lacking the lactase enzyme to breakdown the alcohol), you would expect at least half the men at the table to not have alcohol. However, a vast majority had beers in hand and proceeded to go toe-to-toe with me in a chugging contest. Seriously? How do they think I developed my well-rounded figure? This didn't happen overnight; it took dedication and focus to stay on a balanced diet of cheap beer, cheap wine, fast food, and over-sized portions. As predicted, a lobster-red skin tone slowly crept across their faces.

Papa Johns...Deluxe Edition. I strolled down the paths of a nearby mall in search of food with my coworkers, and we came across a Papa Johns. When I fist walked inside, I knew this had a different feeling to it. The store was a sit-down restaurant with a full menu of tasty food. From salads and coffee, to pizza and ice cream. It felt kind of classy, if I might be so bold to say.

Pimps & Prostitutes. Whenever I stay late at work, I am approached by pimps and prostitutes when I walk past this one corner on the way home. Last week, in fact, I was walking past some shops, and I see a woman point at me and I hear her exclaim "laowai" (foreigner) to her teammate. They came rushing out the door, at which time I decided to pick up my pace. Eventually, she made an offer, I made a counter-offer...juuuuust kidding. I blurted out some nonsense in French and kept walking on home.