Stephen's 30th Birthday

On Saturday we went to celebrate Stephen's 30th birthday at a bar called Beijing Love Story, formerly known as Banana Bar. Scott, Jerra, Sarah and I took a cab there since we had no idea where it was, but it turned out to only be a five-minute walk from our place. Oops.

The party was a pretty amusing event. Stephen, a future politician in the making, invited tons of his Chinese friends and students. He has been in Qiqihar for several years and is dating a Chinese girl, Bonnie, who is also a student at the university. There were live singers and musical performances on the stage. The music was so loud you could hardly think. Stephen stood up and made a speech and was presented with a bouquet of alcohol. Such a great idea! Bonnie had put together a slideshow full of pictures of them together. It was really cute to watch.

Taking pictures of people taking pictures:

One issue I have in China is with their pastries and cakes. They always look so good and delicious, but more often than not they are pretty revolting. Following suit, Stephen had two massive cakes. They both looked scrumptious, only until you bit into them and discovered it was layered with a weird pineapple tasting paste. On top were all these chunks of candied fruit that did not taste good. Needless to say, I stuck to the icing.

Speech with some cakes and a bouquet of alcohol:

Stephen had also invested in a giant box of fireworks. Unlike the fireworks in the US, these ones looked a little like shoeboxes. The guys working at the bar set them off using their cigarettes. Very safe. We were all standing less than 50 yards away watching all of this. Also very safe. Gotta love the safety regulations in China.

Some super safe fireworks:

The rest of the night was a fun mix of dancing and singing. Sarah and I tried to sing 'Call Me Maybe' on stage, expecting the version with the lyrics. Once we heard it was only the music, we promptly forgot all of the words. Oh well! Deb serenaded Stephen with her version of 'Happy Birthday Mr. Hunter.' And Bonnie sang him a Chinese song. We all danced to copious amounts of 'Gangnam Style,' a huge hit here in China. All of my students know the song and the accompanying dance moves. Whenever I mention it they promptly start calling on one of their classmates to stand up and do the dance. It's all good fun!

We stayed at Stephen's party until shortly after midnight, so we could ring in his actual birthday, then we walked on home to get a nights rest before our morning classes!