Cafes pt. 2: Spain

When I was studying abroad in Spain, it was impossible to find a good cafe to study in (not that we studied that much anyway). Not for there being a lack of cafes, though. It is only socially acceptable to be drinking coffee or alcohol while laughing loudly with your friends in a Spanish cafe, at any hour of the day. One time, we were all cramming for finals so we go to a cafe and ordered coffee, but the owner got mad at us after awhile, so then we all ordered beer.

Studying abroad in Spain was the best. 

Coffee and Cafes

I really like spending time in cafes, and I love coffee. So the recent proliferation of Chinese cafe culture has made me very happy. Coffee is a foreigner's product.The cafe scene is also mostly full of foreigners, but I see Chinese students also taking advantage of these adorable spaces that offer wifi and comfy seats. You can't find cat/dog/snoopy/hello kitty cafes, but even then all the cafes here are well decorated and comfortable. And some cafes will deliberately have 2-3 cats walking around anyway. One notable difference though is that most cafes in China offer alcohol and regular meals as well (usually Western food), as opposed to just pastries. Aside from that, nothing about these cafes make me feel like I am in China as opposed to anywhere else in the U.S. Unfortunately that includes how much I am paying. Sellers are definitely taking advantage of how much coffee sells globally, so relative to everything else in China, coffee is pretty expensive. But at least I haven't tasted anything too horrible yet.

Photo: I hate liking giant chains, but Costa Coffee is an exception. They are a U.K coffee chain that is as ubiquitous as Starbucks, similarly priced (if not cheaper) but sell much higher quality coffee. Their cups are larger too.

Chinese Fashion

My first thought when I came to China and saw all the people around, was that these people dressed weird. Several minutes later, I realized how judgmental I was being And I realized it was very possible that everyone was looking at my watermelon tank top and black Walgreens-flip flops thinking I was the weirdo.

While you cannot generalize the clothing style 1.3 billion people, here are some patterns I've been noticing so far:

Males

1. The Beijing bikini: where fat older men wear wife beaters pulled up to their man boobs, showing their naked beer bellies. (Does it ever get that hot enough where this can be deemed socially acceptable? I don't know. Beijing summers can be pretty hot though)

2. Tight everything and low cut. Tight jeans, tight shirts, low cut V knecks and some strange colors

3. Rooster hair for the younger guys. This involves a lot of gel and a lot of times, streaks of blonde or orange.

4. Some guys wear these really crazy matching pattern top and bottoms. I don't know whether to describe them as goth, or hip pajamas...

Females

1. Platform shoes! These are amazing! I am talking platform converse, platform boots, platform converse boots,  platform sandals, platform heels, everything. And what is nuts is that even with these shoes, I have never seen a girl over 5"4. Which makes me wonder just how short these people are... (total self esteem booster for me though)

2. Feminine, pastel colors and lace.

3. Lady umbrellas for the outdoors so as not to shed any sunlight onto their deliberate white skin.

4. It is completely acceptable to wear the shortest skirts imaginable (even to work), but anything on top is conservative.

5. Little to no make up, but lots of skin formula for deliberate white skin.

Photo: see point #4 under Males

Pictures with Malls

Why do Chinese families and young people think it is cool to take photos of malls? Or pose for photos in front of malls? I was an hour early to meeting some friends so I decided to people-watch. In that one sitting alone I witnessed this bizarre phenomena five times.  I swear to you, there is absolutely nothing remarkable about the exterior of these buildings. And there are malls everywhere in China. So if there is any logic to this strange practice, it is lost on me.

Photo: Instead of taking a picture of the mall, I took a picture of myself with my disgusting cold sore finally gone. Then I sent it to my best friend. So basically I was sending before and after photos of my cold sores which I am NOT ashamed of. 

About

On this blog, I will jot down my thoughts on life and anything else I observe while living in China.

Photo: finding energy to take jumping photos after making it to the top of 海坨山 - the second highest mountain in Beijing