It's that time again, ladies and gentleman. Quite a bit has happened, so here's hoping I remember it all.
(You might have noticed that the introduction this time is significantly shorter than normal, and without the typical self-promotion. You're welcome.)
First thing's first, I was invited by another college to give a small talk. They were ridiculously evasive about what they wanted the topic of my talk to be, and kept saying, "It's up to you." I would try to explain to them that a few boundaries would actually help me to think of things to talk about, but to no avail. I decided on various tips for learning english, most Chinese students would appreciate that. I asked how many people there would be, and I was told that I would be speaking in front of 100-200 students. Imagine my surprise, then, when I arrived the night of my talk to find myself in front of a huge auditorium that had maybe 1000 to 1500 students. Unfortunately, that's about as interesting as the story gets. I did my speech the same way I would have done in front of 200, and it seemed to go over well (as well as it could have, the english level of the students at this school wasn't too high, so I had to spend a lot of time repeating myself). I realize this story would be much more entertaining if I'd choked or wrestled a bear or something, but alas, things went off without too much of a hitch. This is fairly common for China though...not the giving speeches, but the telling me it was 200 people. Chances are, the person who told me this didn't really know. Generally, people will just make something up on the spot if they don't know the answer to a question. It's why any delay on a train or a bus will only take 15 minutes if you ask anyone. They really have no idea how long it will take, but they know the answer "15 minutes" will usually get you to shut up.
One other thing that I don't think I ever mentioned about Chengdu. I was challenged to an arm-wrestling match by a random Chinese guy in my first hostel. I really didn't want to, but he was ridiculously insistent and I finally consented. I beat him left-handed and he beat me right-handed, but it was one of the more surreal moments of my life. I was really tempted to just throw both of the matches, but this guy was very.....well, very eager, I guess would be the right word. It was a strange hostel, and I was glad to be gone from it.
