China for beginners

You may be wondering, what is China like? well the answer is, i don't know- it depends. There are at least 50 provinces and many languages and accents, all living inside what we call the great country of china! I lived in city of several million people that no one has ever heard of. I traveled through the countryside where crops have been grown for 1000's of years. I hiked mountains where people have gone to listen to the sound of their own breath and come closer to their God. I climbed an apartment building 8 floors up to a small, but clean flat built for three people. I rode a train for over 30 hours standing up with 100 other people in a car the size of two of my living rooms. I ate cold, thick, glossy noodles with chop sticks, slurped my soup and drank tea when it was put in front of me.
But does this describe the beautiful awe inspiring and overwhelming feeling of being in a country with so much history, life and magic? Does my mere two weeks of living with a Chinese person, traveling around the country and doing things she does on a daily basis make me an expert in what China is really like? No, but I still experienced it and loved it and hope to go back and experience it again someday. My experience is not complete. I cannot accurately paint the picture... but then again i did bring a camera :D
So, soon after leaving the airport we were speeding down the road through fields and old buildings, each with the curved roof and animal protectors perched on them. Buildings were decorated with Red and gold banners with the caligraphy displaying representations of former ideas, whose entire meanings are lost and untranslatable to english.
There were corn fields, fruit trees and mountains in the distance. I found out later we travelled out from Shenyang to Benxi, a smaller city, you know, like only 1.5 million people, higher in the mountains and less dnagerous, dirty and definitely more friendly than the rest of China as Sister Gao said. I loved that, everywhere we went, sister Gao commented about how rude people were, who were not from her province. i couldn't tell the difference, because I had no idea what they were saying, and I can't hear the tones, let alone know when someone was upset or friendly.
We arrived about an hour later at this block of buildings and sister gao turned to me ans said you are hungry. I said, sure, so we hopped the curb and parked under this giant blimpie tunnel thing. It was red and large and filled with hot air to keep it in the air, kind of like a cloth gate that was the entrance to a restaurant. We sat at a table and were invited to a back room filled with plates of food wrapped in saran wrap of different entrees. thre were a few pictures on the wall. most of the things I looked at I had no idea what they were, and was too afraid to ask. I knew a few things. yes there is an actual food called general tso's and another that is kung pao chicken, although we have the accents wrong and some of the consonents too. ut I got the picture what it was and was very excited that i could eat it. We also ordered fried sweet potatoes and as with all meals potstickers. We had this final dish of what looked like giant see through slugs dredged in a teriyaki and peanut sauce and topped wth grated cucumber. i don't know what it actually was, but i ate it and it tasted good.
The whole time I was eating I noticed people were staring at me and watching me eat, yes I was using chopsticks and no, I don't think I ever truly got the hang of it. Seriously I must have been a sight- a white girl almost 6 ft tall, with twisted hair, tanned skin hanging out with two chinese girls speaking english. yeah I fit in really well there.
We finished eating and went to drop off my stuff, luckily I only brought one small suitcase,but it was filled with church supplies and american foods that Sister Gao missed. I think I brought a total of two outfits, including a pair of jeans and a sweater. I found out even northern china is hot and humid sometimes.
i decided I was going to try to get on the chinese time schedule as quick as possible, so i forsook the nap I desperately wanted and travelled to sister gao's parent's buisness and home. I can't describe whether it was more downtown or east or west of where she lived, but in the taxi it took less than 3 minutes to get there. My face did a little stretched out by the wind when we arrived.
I was surprised by the amount of English sister gao spoke and how much she had improved in her skills from the time I worked with her a year and a half previously. Unfortunately, her mother and step father did not speak english, so I never got to thank them properly.
We arrived and had dinner prepared- potstickers and all sorts of other delicious foods that I have no idea what they were. we had two other guests at the meal besides me- a cousin and friend of Sister gao's stepfather. They had all been actors and comedians back in the day and were really funny. One of the men spoke a small amount of english, but knew different songs and jokes in english. We were rolling on the floor. It especially became more funny as they got more drunk they became louder and more flamboyant. The only problem was that I couldn't keep my eyes open. I learned so many things that first day- the chinese have a great sense of humor and they also have very hard beds. I think it was a box with a futon like thing on top. it didn't matter though- I slept well.