Going out for Pizza, Chinese style

So this is my first attempt at living in the world of mega technology and super connectivity: I am blogging from my seat in a bus from Hangzhou to Shanghai using my iTouch as a scribe.  If it works then I won't be able to believe that I hadn't thought of this before, of not them I can't believe that I am wasting so much time increasing my risk of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Last weekend was a three day weekend for celebrating Qing Ming Jie or Tomb Sweeping Holiday (though that is a terrible translation).  The celebration of this holiday includes eating Qing tuan (as previously blogged), visiting the family gravesite, and, like all Chinese holidays, feasting with the fam.  My host dad came back from Taibei for a visit as well.
On Saturday,religious families rent buses to the massive cemeteries outside of the city proper.  On of the Gappers went and based off of his experience, I don't think I'll ever be inclined to participate.  Because the traffic was so bad, he ended up with a minor case of carbon monoxide poisoning, because his extended family smokes and insisted upon keeping windows open despite being trapped in a lung death field for five hours. He said matters only got worse when they finally reached to burial site due to the copious amounts of burning incense.

My family and I rested on Saturday and I went with Andy to school.
On Sunday, we met up with my host uncle's family at the kids' favorite all time restaurant: Papa Johns.  Can I first just say that watching the Chinese eat using a fork is probably on of the most simoutaneously intriguing and hilarious experiences to be had. I can only imagine what the Chinese think when watching Westerners fumble with chopsticks.  Also, the food served at Papa Johns is unlike anything that I would expect at a typical American pizza joint.  (Though, I have never eaten Papa Johns in the States, so I am no authority on the matter).  Most of what we eat is Chinese chicken wings, ribs, boney bits of pork.  Also, cheese tiao (cheese sticks) are extremely popular among my family dipped into a Velveta like cheese sauce.  They like pasta, but the actual pizza itself, is not very popular at all.  I find it very strange, because almost everything that my family likes to eat at Papa Johns could be eaten at home.  

Anyway, the interesting part of the Papa Johns story occured at almost the tail end, when my host dad paid.  He gave the waitress three one hundred yuan notes, all which he had just exchanged at the airport from when he came into Shanghai.  Additionally, all of the bills where very old, and crinkly at the edges.  About ten minutes later, the waitress came back with three one hundred yuan notes, all of which were very crisp with pristine edges.  She prompty informed my host dad that the money was fake.  At this, my host uncle became outraged, jumping out of his seat, disturbing the almost untouched pizza, and yelling in grumbly intense Shanghainese at the waitress.  Suddenly everyone was out of their chairs, dancing around the three red bits of paper.  The restaurant was evacuated, the doors closed so that Papa Johns wouldn't loose face.  Then the police were called.  
At this point, my mother decided that the bulk of the argument's valuable points had already been exhausted, and that we should go shopping.  So we strolled around the mall's underground market for about two hours.  When we returned, the police were still inside the resturant, seated around our uneaten food, appearing as if they could be enjoying a meal with my host family and the Papa Johns staff.  Ultimately, our lunch was free, and all parties, including myself, shook hands.  However, when my fire spirted host uncle shook hands amicably with the Papa Johns manager, he smiled at him, but the instant that their hands fell apart, he raised his index finger and continued to scold him.

On Monday, I went to my first cooking class.  I signed up for a series of cooking classes in Shanghai's "New Kitchen," which is located in an alley near the French Concession, the poshest place in Puxi.  It shares a building with several avant garde makeups studios (??) as well as a few art galleries.  The class included myself, two of my friends, and a Japanese couple working in Shanghai.  We learned how to make golden fish, insect, and flower shaped dumplings.  They are beautiful and delicious!!! I can't wait to make them at home, because folding them is relatively simple, but they appear to be extremely intricate and complex.After cooking class, I rushed over to Shanghai Song World to meet with my host family for karaoke.  There are no words to express how adorable my host brothers are when they stand a top tables and belt out the theme song from the Beijing Olympics.  This is a link (which might be a bit slow because it is a Chinese host site but worth the wait) to my smallest host brother's (and my) karaoke favorite.  http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzAxNTk3NTI=.html