Day 3 (retroactive)

Our morning started strangely, first with breakfast, meeting a lost Mexican who needed a room for the night, and then a minor car accident.

The car accident was particularly disturbing to me, though I tried not to show it. Andy seemed to find it amusing, which is was, in a distant way. A bus failed to stop when our cab did, and so rolled slowly into our bumper during the morning traffic. Very little, if any, damage was sustained by the cab, and the matter seemed settled when the driver of the bus gave the driver of our cab a cigarette.

I was amazed that we hadn't been in a larger accident. I guess my time away from China has softened me. The cars whizzing in and out of lanes, the bicyclists with seemingly suicidal intent, the misuse of the turn signals, the disregard for signage of any sort--all of it adds up to the general Chinese road condition. Not that this phases Andy.

Sigh. I suppose I'll be used to it in a few days.

We had lunch at Skyways, and I copied a number, hoping to get a final translation check of our survey. Andy also stopped a few foreigners for a chat. One seemed promising at first, a teacher at a local middle school, but it seemed that her students were too young.

We went to the internet cafe in Wutaishan, the local soccer stadium. It was amazing, really. It had previously been a car park, and indeed, a door still opened to an area where cars were lined up against a wall. It was not the darkest wangba I'd ever entered, but surely had the strongest odor, that of car exhaust. We tried not to stay long, and went to visit Pingping and Tang Laoshi at her new office in the building next to Xiyuan.

Pingping was extremely friendly and helpful. She's so nice. I had really forgotten how warm she can be. She offered to take us to Pukou campus sometime next week, where classes are still being held. Tang Laoshi also offered to help us, but it was less clear how she could, so we politely declined.

In the evening, we met again and had dinner at XiaoFeiYang, Little Fat Goat, a restaurant that's name boasts its main ingredient. It's a hotpot place, where a vat of boiling oil is brought to your table and you're expected to cook your raw ingredients yourself.

It all sounds very barbaric, I know, but in actuality, it is the most delicious form of entertainment that I have ever encountered. We ordered far too much food and sat around for hours eating and talking. The evening ended late, and we were very encouraged by Pingping's request that we finish our survey as soon as possible.