Date Day or Something along those lines

Saturday

Today's excursion was cancelled and there was no English corner so that meant a free day for me! I decided to head into town to see if I could get some clothes made by a tailor (because that's what you do in Asia...). Deena joined me at the bus stop and we waited for a bus. And we waited. And we waited. Finally an 801 turned up and we jumped on eager to be on our way. Oh the plans of mice and men... An hour later we were still on the bus and we weren't moving. There had been an accident and naturally the Chinese had made things worse by turning 1 lane of traffic each way into 3 lanes of traffic... Deena and I gave up and got off the bus and began the long walk to town. We made good progress too and then we realised how far we were from Xining and once we reached the end of the traffic jam we jumped in a taxi.

I was off to the office and Deena was off shopping so we said goodbye. I walked into the office and found out that I would be going with the computer technician, a man called Weilin. I had seen him around but never spent much time with him. He was nice though and his English was good enough for us to have a conversation.

We headed off to the tailors and began chatting; it was really nice getting to know him. It's strange though, he kept touching my hand and my arm. Now if I didn't know better, I would have said this was like a date but with Chinese guys it is so much more confusing. Not only to Chinese guys tend to be more feminine but they tend to be very touchy feely. It is common for guys to comment on how handsome other guys are too. So now I was wondering was Weilin gay or just Chinese? He doesn't have a girlfriend and dodged the question when I asked why not (so I guess that is a start) but still I don't know.

Anyway we headed to the tailors and looked at some suits, sadly they were far too expensive (£140ish) so we quickly gave up. Weilin was very apologetic and upset that he couldn't find anything for me. I then decided to thank him for his help by taking him to Bowmans (the best ice cream place in Xining). We got the bus there after a tussle as to who will pay (I won by stealing his wallet) then we ordered our ice cream. I insisted on paying (I had to steal his wallet again) and we sat in the sun enjoying each other's company. It was certainly playing out like a date but still wasn't sure.

After ice cream, Weilin invited me to People's Park with him so we made our way there. We strolled around the lake talking and enjoying each other's company, it was really really nice. Still didn't know what it was though... We eventually ended up at the fairground rides, now it was quite late by now so they were closing down. However Weilin went and managed to get us tickets for the bumper cars. THEY WERE SO MUCH FUN!! I was having a great time!

We then went and sat on a bench and he took lots of photos of the two of us on his phone (sadly I didn't have my camera). It was definitely feeling like a date. He then took me out for dinner (chow mian, or chow mein to you westerners!), very tasty. He then insisted on escorting me to the bus stop so I could get the bus back home. He was concerned about how packed the bus was and wanted me to wait for the next bus. I had to explain that the 8 and the 801 are just like that and that they would probably stick another 20 people on it. He relented and reluctantly let me get on the bus. As soon as I left, he sent me a message saying how he had a very good time and would like to see me again soon. He is so sweet! BUT STILL IS HE GAY OR JUST CHINESE?

The bus ride home was a nightmare, it took 2 hours! These locals kept talking to me in Chinese and I didn't have a clue what they were saying. They kept laughing at me, not very nice. However they soon found a translator (a poor girl who got dragged into the conversation). They wanted to know how tall I was, how much I weighed and how big my feet are (standard Chinese questions). We soon began to get along though there wasn't much talking and a lot charades. We were stuck outside a shop for half an hour so one of the locals went in and bought some Baijiu. Next thing I know I am gambei-ing with all of the locals on the bus!! AND THERE WERE A LOT OF THEM.  Only in China eh?

So after 2 hours I got back to school and I was drunk...

I then insisted on introducing Cecilia to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. She loved it and I was singing along merrily.

A very good day! However the question still plagues me; is Weilin gay or just Chinese? Either way today's date or non-date was lovely and actually quite romantic!!