Halloween

万圣节 (festival of 10,000 spirits) in China is not that different from the US, at least when you're my age. I'm not around elementary school children, so I didn't see them in their classes preparing costumes for an event they really don't understand (they just know it's fun), and while there were decorations up at certain locations, there wasn't a city-wide phenomenon like in the US. All the decorations were at places where foreigners frequent here in Xiamen, and the only so-called Halloween party was an ex-pat fuckfest that I didn't bother to attend.

A friend of mine, a Dutch boy named Wesley, and I went shopping for costumes. We didn't really know where to look, so we went to the largest shopping mall here to try our luck. We rode a taxi to SM广成 where, only about a 2 minute walk from the main entrance, there was a store set up in the middle of the main walkway devoted to Halloween gear. The costumes and paraphernalia there were nothing really impressive, but good enough to fit what I was looking for. There were not any full-fledged costumes, like giant jack-o-lanterns or pirate gear, but most of what they had were masks and assortments--the rest of the outfit you'd have to provide yourself. Wesley and I had a nice time trying on random masks and wigs for the Chinese people who took pictures for us, and we walked away with a bunny costume for Wesley and a blond afro wig for myself. What was running through my mind was, "White people love to wear afro wigs when they want to make a statement because they find our (black folks') type of hair to be a laughing matter. I'll play on that." Of course, no one conceived of that but me. I smiled at the thought as we went out.

Meanwhile, I was having stomach issues that day, so we made a detour by the pharmacy in the adjacent Wal-Mart and, unable to find Pepto-bismal, I bought some Chinese medicine called "正露丸" that stank to high heaven, looked like rat-droppings, and when taken on an empty stomach (like I had) caused my insides to try out for the 2012 All-American Gymnastic Team. The cab ride back was terrible, but after I ate some 啤酒鸭 (beer duck), I felt a lot better. Although the medicine still smells like cabbage and bleach.

Here's a commercial (from Japan):


We (Phebe, Luke, Wesley, and I) went out later on and headed to The Key, a club/bar, to watch the Dutch girls perform a dance to, what else, "Pass the Dutch" (and, to illustrate how our cultures are slightly different, I told them the meaning of "dutch" in the Islands, which they didn't expect). The Key is one of the better dance pubs out of the 6 or so that stand, monstrously large and illuminated, beside each other. Most of the people were in costumes similar to ours--half-assed. Yet, they had a really good cover band that could sing very well in English, and for the entire night they played live music instead of resorting to the same tired-ass, "Get Low", "Please Don't Stop the Music", and other random stuff "apple-bottom jeans! boots wit da furrrrrr (furrrrr!)" that they play in every club here （I would kill to have someone play, say, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" or "Womanizer" or "Go Girl" or something that's come out in the last 5 months). During the course of the evening, the Dutch did a very good, hoochie-fied performance, I made amends with the Dutch boy who did me wrong (I shamed him very well), met an American gay dude from Kentucky and his half-Mauritian friend, watched my roommate and Wesley make out with chicks on the dance floor at K.K., and had a heated argument with this crazy stalker man from Niger who is 2 seconds away from a good old-fashioned beat-down.

All in all, my best Halloween ever. It's great being an adult.

Pictures will be up as soon as my camera comes correct.