Kuangou

Alright, lets get this baby back on track!

Now where were we? Yes, VACA! I arrived at the airport to meet my uncle and cousin, Fei Fei (I know your jealous of her name), for this mini getaway last Tuesday.  As soon as my uncle arrives at the gate, he greets me with a formal handshake. Hugs are not common amongst the older generations.  I learned this the awkward way (no surprises there).  I went in for a huge hug when I saw him two years ago, and well…lets just say he didn’t enjoy it as much as I did.  Learned to best keep those bear hugs to myself from now on!

Hey family hey! **HUGZ handshake**

Taking this picture made them feel really uncomfortable…can you tell?

As fast as I said hello, we were off.  My uncle is always going a million miles an hour and has a metabolism of a sixteen year old.  I’ve noticed how uncomfortable he looks when he stands still, which doesn’t happen often unless he’s in an elevator or a car.  A driver was already waiting for us (uncle is very organized, having everything planned out down to the nitty bitty) and we headed forty minutes outside of Beijing to a small town called Kuangou.  The first thing I noticed being away from Beijing was the air quality. It felt so good to finally be able to take a full, non-humid, clean breath again. We were greeted by saluting guards at the gate of the hotel. Or was this a resort?  I’m not quite sure.  All I know is this place was huge and reminded me of a rain-forest.  I had not seen this much green in…TWO MONTHS!  Oh how I’ve missed oxygen.

I asked Fei Fei about the guards saluting at the entrance, and she told me it was because this is where all the high government officials go to relax from all the “hard work” they do. By hard work, I mean watch everyone else roll in the dough. 

Kuangou was surrounded by high mountains, beautifully painted temples surrounded by willow trees, and lotus flowers .

The bright pink flowers scattered across the lily pads are the lotus flowers. They’re about the size of my head and people can eat the odd looking shower head in the center of the lotus.

I thought the flower was fake after I saw the shower head.  My first thought was “What?! Plastic water hose?!?? I’m leaving.”

But to my surprise, it’s real. I felt pretty silly afterward…

My uncle was here for business, so after going out to dinner with him and his business partners, we all went out for…

KTV aka KARAOKE !!

This is one of the moments where I really really regret not having my camera with me. To sum up the night. I was gan bei-ing (chugging till empty) huge bottles of beers with my uncle’s biz partners, and listened to them sing scream into the microphone.

My uncle insisted I sing one song to be courteous, so I did. I sure did!  After chugging half my beer, I nervously walked to the front of the room and started singing “I do” by 98 degrees.  Why? Because it was the only song I knew all the words to…don’t ask.  I guess I could have chosen Britney Spears’ “3″, but I’m saving that for when I become a better singer. With the music video playing in the background and everyone else (who couldn’t understand a word I was singing) cheering me on, my nerves calmed down a bit. Maybe I was meant to be a world famous singer? Chinese people seem to like it? But then again, they were cheering on the previous guy who reminded me of William Hung on American Idol….

Source

All in all, it was a fun, entertaining night despite all the screaming and yelling, and the constant calling of “HEY! Hey you, American girl!” Can’t blame them though, my name is really hard to pronounce.  Ann-ni-cah…

During my last day there, I found the biggest cockroach EVER in the bathroom.  It made the ones in Chicago look like nats. Y-lime, you would freak.

A few more weeks until school registration!! Can’t wait!

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