humour

we all know I have a good sense of humor.. so when I accidently found this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo), I couldn't stop laughing. actually, I still have the song stuck in my head... is that bad? LOL *singing* Ken Leeeeee tulibu dibu douchoo! Ken Leeeeee

I won't even start putting on the other videos I find funny. basically, they're ridiculously cheesy or goofy and I just can't help but laugh. but obviously I enjoy laughing, so it's all good. :-D

have you ever started laughing at a really bad time but you couldn't help it cuz something just happened that reminded you of another situation that was hysterical? yeah... I do that all the time. and most of the time, when I try to explain WHY I'm laughing, people just look at me like I'm the boogie man or something. so I've stopped trying to explain and instead just say "sorry... you wouldn't get it." and try to stop laughing. haha

ok, I don't think I ever told my funny stories from China (JUST from last summer... otherwise I'd be here all day) that I referenced a week or so ago in my blog, so I will do that now. I have time to kill. I'll try to go in order during the trip, but I don't know if I'll remember everything.

1) "bu yao dance". in Chinese "bu yao" means "I don't want it." well, if you've ever been to China you know that in touristy areas the vendors are relentless. they'll hunt you down and keep trying to sell you knock off purses, watches, luggage, etc, etc, etc. so Jenn and I decided we were gonna make up a bu yao dance (basically it's the cabbage patch) and do it the next time a vendor approached us. we were just tired of them. so yeah, a vendor came up to us and we did the bu yao dance... and totally confused the snot out of them.

2) Shanghai rain. so, we were at the Bund and had just left Daniel. we were going to do something really quick and then head back to the hostel. well, didn't quite work out that way. it started pouring rain while we were doing that one thing (whatever it was). we tried to catch a taxi back and because it was raining so hard they were all taken. seriously, our umbrellas weren't even helping us out AT ALL. we eventually took them down because we were already soaked despite using them. and it was too windy to try to keep hold of them. so yeah, we were walking all over the city hoping that in one of the random back alleys we'd find a free taxi. I believe we walked for about 2 hrs. before giving up. we stopped at a Coffee Bean and got a HOT drink to warm us up. we waiting until well after it stopped raining before we went to look for a taxi.

3) late for the train, Shanghai edition. we were just late for it. I don't remember why. I think we had forgotten what time our train was leaving. anyhow, we had the taxi driver driving like crazy. we got to the train station and took off running with ALL our crap. seriously, we had just bought a whole bunch of stuff in Shanghai. it was a bunch of stuff. we ran for the security entry and rushed to the front of the line, showed them our tickets and ran in. we ran through the whole building to get to the gate for our train and showed them our tickets again... and then ran some more. we finally made it to our train car and jumped onto the train. almost as soon as we sat down at our beds the train started moving. I actually think that was our best experience at a train station! haha

4) "oh crap!" "what?" "it's gonna rain..." so Jenn and I had been at UBC cafe in Guilin for breakfast and had just walked out when I said "oh crap!" and Jenn questioned why I was saying that. I explained that "it's gonna rain..." she said something to the effect of "yeah, and?" and I said "no. big! and now! we gotta hurry!" almost instantaneously it started POURING rain. I mean, a ridiculously heavy down pour. Jenn was shocked. I wasn't. neither were all the street vendors... nor did it seem anyone else. quite a few people had umbrellas. anyhow, we sloshed our way back to the hostel slipping & sliding the whole way.... we were wearing flip flops & the whole way back was tiled. blech. anyhow, we made it back and then it stopped raining as quickly as it started. it was really funny! Jenn totally didn't believe me when I said it was gonna rain as we were walking in to UBC for breakfast. I guess living in China for 4 yrs has made me very sensitive to the rainy weather. I always know when it's coming. :-D

5) taxi ride in Chengdu. I think that was THE ONLY time I've ever prayed for safety in a taxi ride. seriously! and taxi rides in China are generally scary, so that must say something about that specific ride. Jenn was sitting in the back seat squeaking every time we got close to almost dying. I was sitting in the front seat absolutely quiet cuz I was praying and hoping that if I pretended I was pushing on the break that he would press the break. yeah, that didn't work. haha this guy was insane. he was weaving in and out of nearly stopped traffic going into on coming traffic. and then suddenly he'd be up on the shoulder going full speed heading for a STOPPED bus with no apparent way back into traffic and then somehow manage to weave back into traffic at the last second.

6) Kartoffelkarte. bus trip (as I call them, the buses are "sleeper deckers". bunk bedish style beds throughout the bus) from Xi'an to Yantai. so Jenn and I are on this awful bus trip from Xi'an to Yantai. my brain has chosen to forget most of the details of that trip. I don't remember how long it was nor most of what happened on the bus. I think I chose to read (I couldn't sleep cuz the bed was too small and my legs would start cramping) and listen to music the whole time. anyhow, at one point it stopped for a break. we got off the bus and were walking around trying to make ourselves feel better. I went to look at a map so I could see if I could figure out where we were and how much longer we had. mind you, we're both brain dead from being on this bus for too many hours. Jenn comes over to me and says that I'm looking at a Kartoffelkarte. I look at her and start laughing. I asked if I was looking at a potato card. she kept insisting that Kartoffelkarte meant map in German. after a while she finally gave in and admitted that it couldn't since Kartoffel does mean potato. but for some reason, neither of us could remember how to say map in German. so random.

7) "hell, man! you almost cut off my arm!" one day after Jenn & I were done teaching at the English summer school the school bus driver was driving us back to our place along with an Australian man and a guy from Cameroon. they're both really funny guys and we had met them once before. anyhow, this time just as the guy from Cameroon got in the van the driver slammed the door next to him. the guy screamed "hell, man! you almost cut of my arm!" and we all bust up laughing. I believe it was during this trip that they both showed off their "Japanese" skills. as I remember, they said something to the affect of "bastardica bombardica americana". we couldn't stop laughing. they were nuts. we enjoyed it. haha

8) bus trip from Yantai to Beijing. I wish I had never let those guys know I speak/understand Chinese. all I wanted to do for the whole trip was sleep... but they wanted to talk with me the whole time. relentlessly asking questions and what not. I eventually put on my head phones thinking that they'd leave me alone. nope, they just kept talking to me like I didn't have them on. I felt bad for Jenn cuz she was totally left out of the conversation, even though they kept talking to her like she understood and she got this blank look on her face. lol I was also jealous, cuz she had an excuse to not talk back. hahaha anyhow, some time in the middle of the bus trip the driver takes out a bottle of "water" and offers me some. I sniff it (cuz they, being the 2 drivers, made me) and almost passed out. ok, I exaggerate. but yeah, they were drinking baijiu. a really strong Chinese alcohol. fortunately they weren't chugging it or anything. but knowing that was going on kept Jenn & I quite alert to the driving for the rest of the trip. lol

(I already mentioned our Great Wall experience in a previous post, so I won't include that here)

9) late for the train, Beijing edition. this time it was a combination of things that made us late. one, being that we were waiting for a taxi for a good 1/2 hr. but we weren't late enough to have to run through the building. well, maybe we were but we decided not to. we just barely made it on the train again. :-D

10) "noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jenn & I had just walked out of relaxing at KFC when a vendor came up to Jenn, who was a few feet in front of me, and asked "lady, where you from?" Jenn got this crazed look on her face and turned to him and yelled "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I nearly doubled over in laughter. and the vendor and the girl with him got this confused/frightened look on their face and he said "no......?" oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard I thought I wouldn't be able to stop.