Gambeiing

So, it's been a while since I last posted here. It would be an understatement to say I've been busy. Every day I work, then go to someone's house, some networking event, some restaurant, or someplace other than my apartment until late. Sometimes I don't come back at all. Don't get me wrong, I love it. I meet new people everyday. Just recently I met a fellow American who works in the video game industry and his work entails pretty much staying home all day and playing video games. Some life. Today he told me about a modeling gig a friend of his is doing, and she needs some white guys for it. So this weekend I will be paid 1300 RMB (almost 200 bucks) for 5 hours of trying to look good.

When last I posted, I was about to head off to a business trip to Yichang in central China. My role was to say a few words in English and look like a foreigner. Any company here has instantly more clout by having a foreign face on the team. The meeting went fairly well, though I could only understand a little of it. For the two nights that we were there (me, my boss, and one Chinese coworker), we got full body massages. When I say full body I mean full body, and for three hours long no less. It was incredibly relaxing and also a little humorous when they got to my extra toe. The day after the meeting we had a lunch to finalize things. It was a proper royal dinner, with 9 courses and incredibly expensive Chinese wine. During these lunches it is customary to salute someone, say "Gambei" (basically cheers), and take a full shot of 65 proof alcohol. Considering I was the laowai, I had to represent my company and outdrink everyone. There were about 15 people at lunch, so that meant one would Gambei me, then I would Gambei them, then another would Gambei me, and so on and so on. Let's just say I was knocked out for the plane ride home right after that.

During the meeting, I managed to sneak a quick pic. On the far left is my boss, Johnny, and to the far right is the head of the development company we were working with.