Homophobia

There is a poster on my campus.  It isn't very big, but I think its causing a big discussion.  Here it is:  

For those of you who can't read Chinese, the poster is talking about a meeting to discuss homosexuals.  So that people who aren't familiar with homosexuals and their lives can learn about it.  This is a big deal because in this country a lot of people are very homophobic.  Which is sort of interesting because they are not religious.  I'm not sure what to think of it.

But there are 8 different people (myself included) who have posted this photo on renren (China's facebook).  Some people were talking about how its sad that they will be in class, or look at my great school...the comments that I understood were generally positive.  It was also interesting because as I walked by it there were A LOT of people stopping to read it, where most people ignore the posters on campus.  So, I know where I'll be Sunday night (checking this out!).

This is a copy of my 人人 page showing 4 of us posting different photos of this poster.

Some people on renren weren't happy about the poster, but most of them seemed either neutral or supportive.  Lots of people said "我的学校开放“ ，literally my school is open. 

Quick update.  More mixed results.  People are either really for or really against it.  I'll throw in an extra photo too. ^^

KTV

So recently a classmate invited us to her birthday party.  Her name is Mengjie.  So we ate dinner (which was great) and then went to do KTV.  KTV is Karaoke, which is much bigger here than it is in the US.  We went to a KTV bar and rented a room there.  Each room is soundproofed and there are a lot of couches and such.  There is a big TV for the music videos (with the lyrics) and a computer in the corner so you can choose which songs you want.  There are also two microphones, so you can do duets.  I was trying to take photos with my cell, but the room was too dark.  Also any pictures I got I wouldn't be able to get to my computer until I got back to the US.  Shoulda brought my camera.

Anyway, if you know me, then you know anytime I am listening to music I'm actually singing to the music.  Even when its in Korean and I don't know the words (or how to pronounce them) I'm still singing along.  So I have always been curious about doing KTV.  But I'm also a little shy, so I've been nervous.  KTV presents problems for me on multiple levels.  A substantial amount of my music is in Japanese, Chinese and Korean, which makes singing it a little more difficult (not impossible, but a little difficult).  And I prefer listening to fast music, which is even harder to sing a long with.  Also my range is low, so I have to be careful when I'm picking songs that I don't pick song with a lot of high parts.  This combination made me really worried about doing KTV.

My favorite band is 花儿乐队, and I was able to sing three of their songs (嘻唰唰, 我的果汁分你一半 and 穷开心).  I'm going to be looking up and practicing more Chinese-language songs that I can sing along with.  I'll keep in mind the speed and the range of the songs.  As far as English language songs we did "Rolling in the Deep", "Animal", "Fireflies", and songs from the Beatles.  There were several really good singers in our group.  Alex impressed us because he knows a lot of random Chinese songs.  I think he needs to work on learning the words more, but he made attempts at songs I don't know, which is impressive in itself.  Rocky sang an Eminem song which really impressed the Chinese students.  Rapping in English is too fast for them.  I also learned of some new Chinese songs that I liked, so I have more songs added to my collection.  Woot!  So I really like Karaoke, but I want to spend time practicing Chinese songs so I know them word-for-word.  Cause right now I can only sing two or three Chinese songs perfectly.   I had a really great time, and I was really glad she asked us to come.  ^^

Photo not relevant.  

I decided not to waste money or time buying spoons, so instead I eat my ice cream with chopsticks.  

Quick update

Red sun

Cola and Rootbeer.  Rootbeer was expensive. 

Andrew, Apple is more liked than Microsoft here I think.

Phoebus, Rocky and Alex at Beihai

Beihai

Luyolo and Yaohui playing Badminton

Rocky and Alex playing badminton

Been spending a lot of time out of class hanging with Rocky, Alex and Chinese friends/classmates.  That is when I'm not doing homework.  Or Facebook.  Or 人人.  We went to Beihai (北海) and played badminton over the weekend.  I have also ordered Rootbeer off the internet.  It was really expensive (18 bucks for 24 cans), but will totally be worth it.