Lost in translation x 2

Last night, I wandered around the corner to an Irish pub (Tin Whistle) I had heard about in Dalian. It was a Tuesday night, but I was expecting to see some people in the bar. I walked in to find only the bartender and another women who works in the bar.

This was my first visit to an Irish pub in China. I ordered a Guinness and felt like I was sitting at the Blackthorn in South Buffalo (though, I would be drinking Labatt Blue there). The bartender's name; Cherry. She spoke some English, but not a ton. I decided I wouldn't ask her why she chose that name. I sat there for about an hour talking to her about China, where she's from (Harbin), why she's in Dalian, etc...

Then, the owner stumbled in the door. He said a quick hello & proceeded to sit down on a bar stool with his head hanging down as if a brick was hung from his neck. Cherry whispered to me..."I scared of him." I asked why. She said..."Because when he drunk, he crazy and he always drunk!" He's an older Irish man. He lives a simple life..."runs" a bar, lives in China, gets drunk.
Finally, he decided to leave (after he left and came back about 5 times).

Next, a French guy wandered in. He was clutching two books...a French-English dictionary & a French-Chinese dictionary. Both looked to be heavily used. He really could not speak much English. I almost found it easier to try to communicate with him in the little amount of Chinese that I know, but that didn't work either. I did manage to determine that he lives in Dalian as a ship captain.

It was very interesting to be in China (Dalian), sitting in an Irish pub, drinking a Guinness, listening to U2 and trying to bridge communications between a French guy, two Chinese women and myself. Very interesting couple of hours.

Sounds of a hotel lounge in Dalian

"Hit me baby one more time"
- The cell phone ring tone of a Chinese guy...not only was it weird to hear it, it was the loudest I've ever heard a cell phone ring in my life

Deep southern accents
- A couple of guys from North Carolina chatting away over a couple of beers

Hotel girls asking for room numbers
- About every 3 minutes, you hear the hotel greeters asking for room numbers as people enter the lounge.

The constant beeping of car horns
- OK, this is anywhere you go in China

CNN
- On every TV...for the foreigners, of course