Wow China has taken over our lives by storm. Here are the updates you've all been waiting for....

Small Creatures: We were lucky enough to find this guy right outside our school selling little animals to the students as they come and go. He is selling parakeats, bunnys, small guinea pigs, mice,and in the left corner if you take a closer look, yep thats a chipmunk!!!!! Wow. The whole time it was bitting on a rope trying desperatly to free it self, only in China can you buy a chipmunk for less then 10 cents.
Speaking of small furry creatures we also are secret keepers for a few of our students. One day Joe and I were just hanging out near one of the classrooms. We could see that several of the students were playing with something and passing it back and forth. So we decided to see what it was. When I asked they first kept it hidden, but I let them know that I wouldn't tell on anyone and that I just wanted to see what it was. The girl then opened her hand and revealed a tiny mouse! She told me that she keeps it in a small cage, just like these cages pictured. She keeps it in her desk and feeds it grass, chips and tea. I asked her if the mouse made noise, but she said the noise is too soft for the teachers to hear it. Later that week I also had this happen with another group of students in a different classroom. I guess its a trend in our high school to hide small creatures in your desk.

Massage: Recently Joe and I went to get massages at our local massage place. Our friend from Cameroon assured us that this was a good place, so we ventured inside. This was no ordinary massage however. Chinese massages arenot like the ones you all know well in America. No smelly oils, no mood music. Just a guy or girl, lights on and a bed. Yeah not a massage bed. An actual bed! At first I was a little worried and uncomfertable, but then I thought. Hey I'm in China, so lets just see what happens. I was in my own room and Joe in his own room. I had a guy and Joe had a girl. You lay down on the bed and they come in. Then they sit down on the bed and take off their shoes. This is when it got really weird. For me, the guy started massaging my legs, but the whole time he was starring at me. and standing over me with no shoes on! He then massaged my legs all the way to my waist and then left his hands directly on my inner thigh! Later I remembered from my days in nursing school that there is a large artery there and in chinese medicine he was stopping the blood flow to my legs. At the time however I thought I was going to die!
I started cracking up a few times because this was very different from any massage I have ever gotten in the U.S. or even in CHina!. Then we talked as much chinese as I know , saying where I worked, what I like to do, that I am american. etc. and then thats when the time came that every person trying to learn a new language knows, there was silence. I had run out of chinese, and he didnt know English. So that left me feeling even more not relaxed then before. However I did learn the chinese word for relax because the kind and handsome, I might add, man continued to tell me it again and again. When I finally relaxed I relized why they have a bed for these types of things. He wrapped my leg in a funny position as if I were stretching after running and began massaging it with his feet. Possibly the best massage of my life and since I had just run that day, it felt amazing. He also massaged my arms, face and head, and then my stomach. The stomach was very strange, almost like going to the doctor. After he was finished he sat next to me and we compared tattoos. We then got up, he offered me a tissue, which I didnt know what the hell to do with, then my glass of tea. As Joe and I paid he continued to stare at me and tell me he would love it if I came back to see him. It was an amazing massage, yet I cant help feeling like I cheated on my husbandIt was sooooo weird! !! Joe also had a similar expeirence which also included about 3 chinese women trying to learn english. All in all we both agree the leg thing with the feet is the best!!

Joe's new chinese name: Joe has recently changed his chinese name. it is now Zhouen lei.
There have been countless occations in which I will be telling someone that Joe and I are going to the supermarket. Thats when they look at me and say pardon? I tell them again and then I have to re word it so I say me and joe. Then they understand. I asked my chinese teacher what she thought I said finally and she told me that she thought I was speaking chinese and refering to one of the famous communist party leaders that served with Mao, whose name is Zhou en lei. Pronounced Joe and I . I would like to introduce you to Joe Groshens aka Zhou en lei!

B.Boss night club: We have a bar in our town called B. Boss. Since we arrived we always thought about going, but since Joe and are arent really the dance club types, we always found other things to do. Last week however we had a friend come and stay with us not to mention our friend from cameroon really wanted to go. So we ventured out to the club. When we got there they told us there would be a show and that we should wait about 15 mins. We ordered some wine and when it was brought out the waitress poured it into a pitcher full of ice. It was red wine!! So strange, ( a friend told us they ordered french red wine at a fancy restraunt and it came out in a glass with sprite)
The show started about an hour later(china time, much like island time) It started with 4 girls and two boys all dressed in Mambo type outfits. The girls wore these crazy flamanco inspired orange gowns with a long skirt in the back and short in the front, frilly all around. The men wore blue shirts that were open in the front, just like the mambo men you see on dancing with the stars. and white pants and a cumber bun to match. Pretty Hot right?
They did there number and introduced the hosts for the evening. The male host had his head shaved in weird patches, almost like he had fallen off a motorecycle and some hair was long (to his back) and the rest was gone. all of this was on a stage the size of my living room and the bar wasnt much bigger. The evening then led into jokes and more singing numbers and more outfit changes then you can count on one finger. The show ended with 5 chinese girls and there mother doing contortionists acts. They spun plates on sticks and climbed through a ladder there mother was holding with her feet. Very impressive, but after watching it for 10 mins I relized what time it was and that these girls were not going to school in the morning and therefore didnot need to be in bed already. Its sad that this is the way people make money and when they are too old who knows what happens to them.
It was a good show and our guest loved it.I guess its good to live in a small town, where you can go to a bar and everybody knows your name. We have our own little frenchmens in China! except I never saw any mambo dancers in hot blue shirts at frenchmens, what gives, somebody needs to call chris and have him tell the management!