10 Gay Men for Dinner at my apartment in Beijing

Remember a few weeks ago, I wrote about the birthday dinner for Onions friend, my FRENEMY?  If you don't remember, here's the story.  Anyway, this past weekend, Onions invited my FRENEMY and the core of that group of friends over for dinner.  I promised Onions that I would be on my best behavior and NOT get all sullen.  In my opinion, I don't get sullen.....it's just that I really have nothing to add to these conversations but I'm not going to argue the point with Onions.

There he is!  On the left, with his back to me, the Frenemy!!!

So, the two guys at the end of the table are not part of "the crew" but are a couple play volleyball with Onions.  These guys are great, have nice normal conversations with me, just talking. 

Food is served.  Being the bachelor that I am, I didn't have enough plates and bowls to cover serving and dining.  You'll notice some people eating out of plastic Tupperware. Onions had recently made a trip home to Quanzhou to visit his parents.  He brought back some specialties that his Dad makes that I like to eat.  His

My man is a ROCKIN cook!  I need to go to the gym just to make sure I don't put on too much weight eating his cooking.  I've also gotten really good and washing dishes!

On the left, Nick. I get annoyed at talking with him because he always asks me about the United States, but in a comparison way.  I know he means no ill will, but it doesn't come across as inquisitive, but a bit as if he's judging everything I say about the United States. On the right, is Hua.  Hua is the nicest guy in the group and always gentle in speaking with me and talking to me in a level of Chinese that he knows I understand.  Yes, I have a little crush on Hua!

On the left, Onions.  To his right is Frenemy's boyfriend,  Xun, who is quiet and I also like a lot.  Xun is an interesting story.  He has a PHD in science and because of that the Chinese government will NOT let him travel abroad to certain countries, including the United States.  The group is VERY happy that Xun is a partner.  I also realized why Frenemy doesn't talk to me or talks to me in an infantilizing way....it's because he is embarassed that he doesn't speak English and that I do speak Chinese.  That's my current working theory.  The guy next to Frenemy is single.....and totally looking for a boyfriend.

Even though I didn't say very much, I enjoyed the evening and felt more connected than ever.  Perhaps that was because they were on my turf and NOT drinking too heavily.  But mostly I sat there in amazement that here I was in Communist China sitting with a group of gay men, some coupled, some single and all talking about the same things gay guys do everywhere. 

Lvshun (aka Port Arthur) -- Russians, Japanese and Chinese

The history buff in me came to the Liaodong Peninsula to see and learn about the history of Port Arthur, or as the Chinese now call is Lvshun, 旅顺.  This tower dominates the city and can be seen from everywhere.

Why was Port Arthur the site of so many battles from the 1890's to the 1950's?  Because at the end of the Liaodong Peninsula, it was the site of the best harbor in the region, and it never freezes over.

First stop, the memorial to the Lvshun Massacre.

In November 1894, the Lvshun Massacre took place here during the first Sino-Japanese War.  The Japanese, with their modern military after the Meiji Restoration easily defeated the Qing Dynasty forces and then massacred local citizens.

The hypothesized number of victims is 20,000 and the Japanese burned the bodies.  The first Sino-Japanese War ended with the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Chinese ceding the Liaodong Peninsula to the Japanese and independence for Korea.  However Russia, wanting a warm water port was leased control of Port Arthur.

Hill 203, the highest point in the Port Arthur area.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, this was the site of a major battle between the Japanese and the Russians.

Eventually, after thousands of casualties, the Japanese defeated the Russians and built this monument out of old military hardware. 

The tower that overlooks all of modern day Lvshun is now called Baiyushan Tower.  Originally, after the Japanese victory, the Japanese forced the local Chinese to build this "loyalty tower." The Soviets in the 1945 scraped off the words "loyalty tower" and in 1986 it was given its current name.

The entrance into Port Arthur.

In 1931, the Japanese again invaded Manchuria and occupied it through World War II.  With the help of the Soviets after WWII and during the Korean War, this area was finally liberated with the help of the Soviets.  The Chinese have built a monument and maintain a cemetery for the "Soviet martyrs" who helped liberate this area from the Japanese.

These markers without names are for soldiers on boats that drowned without identification.

Next to the Soviet Cemetery is one build for the Chinese soldiers.

Each deceased soldier has his story and history written on the back of the grave stone.

Bridge Under Construction in Dalian

Tomb-sweeping holiday occurs the first weekend in April.  It's a time to pay respects to the deceased.  Onions headed down to see his family so I had a free weekend.  I decided to hop a quick and cheap flight to the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to visit Dalian, known to have a very nice coastline and beaches!

Nice beaches....for northern China, but also too cold and windy to have quality beachtime!  However, it was nice just to be outside with clean air to breathe.

I started walking along the beach and the coastal road and saw this bridge under construction!  I became fascinated and the rest of the pictures of this post will be of this partially constructed bridge.

Speaking to the taxi driver I had on the way to the airport, he told me that this bridge is about two years into construction.  I wonder how long it actually it has been since conception and through the design process. 

Who says the world no longer has grand castle like architecture!  It's here in China.  The real reason I came to Dalian was to visit the historical city of 旅顺 just south of Dalian.

Because We Speak English Without an Accent

This past week, I got a message from a friend of Onions asking me to find some native English speakers to voice characters for a video game. I told her....no problem.  And using the wonders of voice memo technology I had a bunch of my students send in voice samples and three students and I were chosen.

So, this is what the inside of a video game app company looks like.  So we learned that the company, Topgame, is in the midst of creating eight different games.  We arrived and hung out for a while.

And we got to play the game we voiced the characters for.

The game is called "Farm Freedom" and has elements of Candy Crush with five animal characters.

I was up first.  My character, the bird, was described as having a "irritated and annoyed sounding voice."  I can pull that off in my sleep.

My lines consisted of "Nothing can stand in my way!", "Run! Before I get angry!" and "Burrnnn!"  I said each line three or four different times with a different intonation.

Christina N. played the only female voice....the Lady Cat!

The video game developers were particularly excited by the voice of Joey H. so he voiced two characters, the frog and the dog.  He had the best lines, such as, " Sayonara, you vile veggies!" and "Just what the doctor ordered!"

In addition to voicing our lines, each of us gave voice samples of the basic lines such as "Welcome back!", "Congratulaions! You Win!" and "Faster, Faster!"

Angus W. voiced the character of the pig!

The easiest money all of us will EVER make!

The company asked me when the students are leaving and I say the end of May.  But I told them a new group of students are coming next year and she will be in contact with more voice work for English speaking students.