The Most Patriotic Day of My Life...

If it wasn't bad enough that I am one of few Americans in my city, we made ourselves stand out even more last night. When we heard about the Women's World Cup having games in Tianjin, my friends and I were pumped about the chance to see the US. Our chances came last night against England!

After our carefully planned out purchases of water-based paint,brushes, baby powder, hair spray, and a flag, we got together a couple hours before the game to prep! Myself and 6 other guys got decked out with "GO USA!" on our dark red chests and parts of the American flags on ours backs. We then made haste to the stadium!

Wow, its not everyday you lead cheers for the loudest group in a stadium of 60,000. Apart from the hundreds of pictures, and smiles from other entertained fans, the highlight of the night was our "lap of patriotism" in the beginning of the 2nd half. With red, white and blue hoisted high, 15 of us ran around yelling USA at the top of our lungs and going ballistic! This inspired thousands of fans to to get up and cheer as well as conjuring up quite a few amused smirks from security guards. But the highlight had to be the first goal the US scored during the middle of our lap only to be followed by 2 more insurance goals soon after! It was quite a rush and I think I know what they mean when they talk about the 12th man!

The match left us with having lost our voices, in dire need of some long showers, and the feeling that we had truly done a service to our country. Not to mention that we were celebrities for a night and had made absolute fools of ourselves (which could have resulted in a possible loss of face if we had been nationals). On the bright side, we even had some other American fans tell us that they thought our run around the stadium in the second half inspired the fans and players so much that they gave us four free tickets to the following night's match!

Then I began thinking about professions in cheerleading (well, not really, but it did make for an unforgettable experience!)

The Ultimate Sport

In looking for some sports to partake in here, my roommate introduced me to a sports college ultimate frisbee team! After my first practice with them last week, we took the field today, to be a part of a special television documentary on ultimate frisbee in my city.

Ultimate frisbee is definitely a new thing here. The team's captain/coach has been very influential in growing the sport in this country. He was explaining the rules to the television camera and an American guy who was the MC for the whole gig.

Not only that, but the field we were playing on was surrounded by over 500 young people, all in full military regalia! No, they weren't there to escort us away if we didn't perform well, or stand in awe of our mad skills (though I think many of them did during their breaks). It was a group of freshmen from the sports college who all (by law) were doing military training (chanting, marching, pushups; the whole bit) as part of their kickoff to college. How 'bout that for New Student Orientation at college!

To top it all off, my team (who had very little English background) closed our time singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to thank the other team for playing. Good times!

Eating Like Chinese

Meals with Chinese food is always so much different. Firstly, I know now know the reason for why the FDA exists, and everyone now knows that Chinese people don't have the same constraints. Anything from what is called street food, (served everywhere on the side of the road and with undoubtedly hefty doses of dirt and germs swarming the kitchen) to what is cooked in our not so spotless kitchen, isn't the safest in the world. And they're certainly not like the Sino-American restaurants in the States we like to call Chinese Buffet. When in reality they are endless supplies of food are oftentimes filled with obese European Americans looking to gorge themselves with a slightly different flavor with more food than is ever necessary.

Chinese restaurants, are often quite dirty and can range anywhere from being given nice menus with pictures (always a plus) to no menu and you have to write down your order on a blank piece of paper (in Chinese characters mind you!). Since anything you order is a larger portion of one type of food, it is much more conducive to coming with friends and each ordering a dish to share it amongst each other, the Chinese way of eating in community.

It has been a gut check for me because every time one of my favorite dishes is about to run out, my automatic reaction is to grab the rest of it myself instead of waiting for others to have their fill. Then I started thinking how many times finding what was best for myself regardless of other people's needs took priority in my own life ... getting the best seat at a sporting event, merging (or letting someone merge) on the highway, expecting immediate and superior service at a department store, taking time for what I want and giving other people what's left. Its like we think we deserve so much. Why us and not someone else? Can I even practice a mentality that is not me first? Maybe I can start with how I eat Chinese meals.