Another Beijing Story!

I wasn't sure if I would be blogging much but, since I brought my laptop to Beijing, I decided to send out this gem of a story. I was concerned about inappropriate content, but my father insisted it be posted... and it is father's day! Enjoy!
Yesterday I had a ton of time to kill since I arrived a day before T.Matt was getting to Beijing (minor mistake during all the excitement). I was going to meet with my principal and his wife (who are still in Beijing waiting to have their baby) but I had about an hour to kill. I decided to just walk randomly. I ended up walking through this nice little park that ran along the side of the highway. There were people about, sitting or playing. It was very pleasant.

One Chinese man (probably in his late-30s, early-40s) waved, saying "Hello!"- which is very common- and asked me to come sit. I walked over to him and sat down. We started to chat, all in Chinese, and I was quite thrilled with how much I was understanding. Of course there were areas where I wouldn't understand, but he would often act it out.

It was a pretty standard conversation to start with; him asking "Where are you from?" "How old are you?" "Where do you work?" "Do you have a girlfriend" "What do you do?". I told him how I was going to do some traveling with my friend after he arrived tomorrow. He said something I didn't understand, but then gripped my arm to show me he was talking about massages- I assume he was offering T.Matt and me to visit his massage parlor- those are very popular in Beijing.

Then, he asked me about "gei." I had heard this Chinese word before, but never with the tone he was using... After some serious confusion, I discovered he wasn't saying "gei" in Chinese but rather "gay" in English. I asked (in Chinese) to clarify, "One man liking another man?" He confirmed my suspicions: This guy was telling me he was gay and asking me if I was!

Finding the conversation rather interesting and knowing I had time to kill- I decided to see where he was going with this. He started to ask me about gay people in America and it seemed like we were going to have a somewhat serious, interesting conversation. I struggled to answer with my limited Chinese and keep the discussion moving towards an exchange of cultural information... but it went down hill fast.

He kept telling me how handsome I was and that he REALLY liked me. And the arm gripping that happened earlier kept happening... without talking about massages. He told me several times that his house was nearby. Then, the best part!

He kept saying something I couldn't understand but I noticed him looking around at the other people nearby before saying it. Then, he motioned to his crotch and said "小弟弟。。。小鸡鸡" ("Small Brother... Small Chicken"). Only then did I remember that these were slang words for penis! He was asking me how big my penis is! He said something about really liking foreigners because they were all really big. He even asked me some numbers; "8 inches? 10 inches?" That's when I decided the conversation was beyond recovery. As I got up to leave, he attempted another arm grab or two.

Well, there is my exciting story from my first day back in Beijing. I hope this haircut isn't too sexy or I'll have to keep fighting off gay Chinese men in their early 40's. Below is a dramatization of the traumatic event.


Other News

IT'S FATHER'S DAY!!! Happy Father's Day Daddy!!! I love you very much and you are the best dad ever! Thanks for everything and I can't wait to see you here in China!


Graduation... there's no way that would have happened without dad!

Dad and Doug enjoying the San Diego highway. Those two lookers would be stopping traffic... if there was any.

Maybe my favorite picture of Daddy-O... artistically moving and incredibly creepy at the same time. T.Matt summed it up best as "The image that haunts my dreams."

Thanks for reading and I guess I have a couple more blogs left in me!