Semester 1

Chapter XI: Mansion & Games (November 8 – November 16, 2016)

It’s the mid term period at the university so I actually have to study little harder than usual these days. That doesn’t necessarily prevent me from unveiling another parts of the city and local life though, so don’t worry – I got some new shit to share…

Last week, I went to a joint named Organic Kitchen for a game night. Now, people who know me probably also know that I’m not really that social and that me at a game night isn’t a very common thing. Which is absolutely right – this was in fact my first experience with something like that. However, Organic Kitchen does all-you-can eat vegan buffets every week for around 80 RMB and veggie heads use that opportunity to hang out and play. And they say that getting out your comfort zone is important, right? The menu was great – burgers, muffins, tons of salads, fruits, soups different mixes of vegetables… Another food overdose. Even the games were kinda fun. Cards Against Humanity are quite amusing. After couple rounds of that, I ended up playing some super complex RPG game with couple of guys that felt like board game veterans - I, on the other hand, still didn’t have a clue about the rules by the end of the evening… Anyways, Organic Kitchen is a cool place – small, cozy, has a little European café feeling. Today, I’m coming there again, hehe…

I also visited The Mansion for the fist time ever. Couple of weeks ago I went to Nantong for a party organized by those guys, this time I had a chance to actually visit their main hub. Mansion is located outside the city center, close to Shanghai Zoo subway station. I heard so much about it and based on that, I expected some kind of squattish/druggish dirty place with certified party freaks. That’s not the case at all. I mean the place is super cool, you get in for 100 RMB and that includes 5 drinks on the bar. You can choose whether you wanna spend your time on the ground floor which is more chilled out and you can actually talk to people, or in the basement where the party goes on. DJs played techno, some heavy house and base tunes and I stayed there till around 6am. Even the crowd was quite diverse. Students, model-looking girls, swagged out kids - everything you'd expect - just a little more appealing and alternative. Another place I genuinely enjoyed…

As far as studies go, I think I passed Chinese language mid-term test which is something I feel fucking proud of. After some struggle, I’m able to formulate some most basic phrases (with completely fucked up intonation) but I can fucking feel the progress. Going all Asian and shit…

Weather is still acceptable and temperature ranges between 12-20. Haven’t really needed to turn the AC (which is the only heating system in our flat) yet. Outside of my social and educational activities, I’m still on regular shit and I still enjoy that. And I adopted the habit of wearing a face mask when I cycle anywhere – not sure whether it helps but there’s really not much to lose and some days the pollution is just off the roof... I've also started to write some raps after like a million years - I'm having fun with that.

 

Highlights:

• I booked a ticket to Malaysia for the winter break. Almost 4 weeks, no particular plans so far, this is gonna be fun!
• Donald Trump. Fuck everyone that voted for him but more importantly, fuck our corporate capitalistic bullshit system that actually created the amount of animosity and frustration that got people into even thinking about supporting that idiot. We live in the world where people channel their issues in a completely wrong direction and this is what you get… Didn’t expect Brexit, didn’t expect this. Please miss me with all that white man, traditional family, anti-immigration shit... And fuck Hillary too... Bernie was the only rational option all along...
• Wasteland – new HBO produced Czech TV series. Definitely one of the best TV productions that ever came out of our country.