Being gay in China

Something I have been meaning to write about for a while, is homosexuality in China. As far as I was a where it's a taboo or at least something not spoken openly about. No where near as common or accepted as the western world especially England. But what is so curious is how metrosexual the society is and outright fabulous (said with a wave of the hand) the men behave. The men are preened, overtly camp and extremely feminine. This is in mass amounts of men as well, and flip reverse this the amount of lesbians could give Chorlten a run for it's money.

The thing that is worth pondering is whether they know they are gay, or if there friends do. Because it's not everyone, there are clear signs like back home between the gay and straight men, so it's not like every man in China is camp and therefore they are all equally straight because this is just their behaviour. It's that there is vast amount of potentially gay men everywhere in china and what I want to know is do they know they like boys or do they think they are just feminine. For instance I have a boy in my class that crosses his legs and and constantly has limp wrists and then I have another boy that crosses his legs and there is nothing remotely feminin about him. The comedy factor is even with the mass language barriers and culture differences camp is camp in any language. You could find your self a boyfriends easily, if you gay that is. No one admits to being gay though, In class frequently people are teased in a joking way about having boyfriends, but nothing menicing and it's normally the lads with girlfriends that joke about it, I would never let out right bullying occurs or discrimination, anyone that knows me can clarify I am an out and proud fag hag. I seem to attract gay men easier than straight men to be completely honest. Luckily I love the flamboyancy! The other curiosity is unlike England gay clubs are hidden, underground and not openly known to anyone unless you are gay. Which shows the secrecy involved. In Birmingham being seen in a gay bar has no reflection on your sexuality it just means you are guaranteed an amazing night. Add pure irony to this and in Birmingham the gay quarter and China town are in the same place! I wonder what they would think. In all honesty they wouldn't even bat an eyelid at a man wearing a fur muff (not that kind) or skipping down the road waving a rainbow flag.

They don't seem to notice things that would get boys/men ripped apart in the locker room at school for being gay at any tiny sign. Going to dance lessons is cool. Holding your girlfriends handbag, singing love songs whilst dressed as a thug is the in thing. A few months ago we went to see a live version of Xfactor. And all the performers we're the same, lots of songs we didn't know all made to pull at the heart strings. Then this gangster guy whose video showed him rapping and tagging in the streets came on, we thought wow Chinese rap has got to be amazing to listen to. Then he comes on kitted out like 50 cent and starts singing some heart rendering love song! The disappiment was huge. My point is over here it seems unless you are physically gay nothing you can do or say and no amount of camp behaviour will make you labeled gay. And I like it. They do the one thing we dont for a society that is meant to be accepting of homosexuality. They don't insult people with words for homosexual. In England there are countless insults which in fact just mean homosexual. And why I don't know. Litterally some of the best people I know are gay. The funniest, smartest not to mention beautiful. So if anything being gay should be a completment not something men get all offensive about. 

So yea maybe China have got this one down to a tea and their blind innocents has helped them.

This and that

I keep meaning to write and then I don't know what to say so I thought I would do another photograph blog and see if I'm inspired into words. 

So we went to Chenzhuo, 

We had amazing Mexican food, visited Misty Lake, 

Went on a boat 

In Caves 

Managed to get the tour bus man to drop us in to town somehow. If you don't ask you don't get right.

Wild night out, I'm sure we met someone famous, couldn't be sure. The boys ended up worse for ware but me and Jade had a great night winding and making Chinese friends.

The night was fab except for Jack having to be carried home and Shaun's jacket being robbed. When we complained to the manager they got the CCTV footage up and was able to see it being stolen. Two hours later they had found out who had it and agreed they would get it tomorrow, which was great but ruined our day plans. So we pottered around finally grabbed it and headed to the mountaining with cable carts. I'm not normally a fanny but with the China's normal health and safety polices I had to have some concern.

We was extremely high up! They made lots of noise and they looked at least 70 years old! Anyway we survived. We got to the top with an hour and a half until out train was leaving for changsha and obviously the last cable cart down had stopped. So now we had the mission of navigating our way down an epic mountain, at high speed, with out killing our selves! After much debate we agreed to walk the road route and thank the lord with in minutes a buggy came down the road, I jumped in front to stop him and everyone jumped on board. We make it to the bottom with an hour to go. Some school girls tell us what bus to get so the debate of taxi and bus stops as soon as jade goes sprinting past and we follow in histerics! We are on the bus and with language barriers it's quite easy for us to get 4 stops and 40 minutes confused as they are the same piasing signal! Anyway with positive thinking in our minds we sprint up the steps with literally 3 minutes till the train departs. We run to the front pushing chinamen left right and centre to find out out train is delayed!!!!! This never happens!!! So happy we agree to head to Helens after for food! In my case lasagne! It's actually really good! 

The weeks finishs on a high. 

The next week Cian Lorraine boyfriend is leaving and in order to keep her occupied and far from sad we get excited about our holidays. So with much faffing about and many mistakes we book our flights to Bali!!! I actually can't even remember how it happened or came into conversation. One moment we're going Thailand and Cambodia the next it's Bali! 

So the week was spent booking flights and doing research. Iv also been talking to David.

After my last blog would you believe we started talking and we're planing to travel together from September! Seems most things work out anyway we'll see what happens that's a long way off anything could happen. 

Friday night jade, cat and Evie came over and I cooked some healthy grub as that's the plan now the holidays are booked. I'm leaving the country with one of the most beautiful women I know, Iv got to at least not feel body conscious. Food demolished films watched we had an early night for comicon! Well.... 

This was the best thing Iv seen at college so far! 

Being mobbed was definitely the right word for Saturday, you would of thought we was the main attraction 

  It was an incredibly mental experience, after leaving we had a mass ordeal which we won't talk about and then eventually made it on the right bus home and on the look out for Benny's. We didn't find it but did find a nice Korean place! And low and behold three doors down is Benny's. It's ok I went Sunday and my god is it good! 

Anyway we're all sat in the restraunt and it becomes evident none of us are in the mood to go out. So agreement made we buy a load of snacks and was back home we're the boys are waiting at Lorraine's. We break the news and predrinks begins. Lorraine, Shaun and Shaun head out about 11, we grab all the  bedding and make a mass bed in the living room 

Anticipating being woken up by the others getting in at silly o'clock I was surprised when I here them get in and go to bed. We wake up, I Skype Queen which was a present morning wake up and then I make bacon and egg sarnies for everyone. The day consists of films chilling and more research.

I then discover I can fly to Aus for £50 so this is a potential plan to see David and then head to Thailand. I just want some sun! Any sun I don't care at this point the weather in China is actually shit ATM with increasing dangerous pollution levels I'm scared of telling my parents about as they are arriving in 34 days!!!!! Ahhhhh 

Anyway today I tried my first frozen yoghurt. I liked it a lot! 

The last few weeks in pictures

Iv decided to do a post mainly pictures. Keep my memories a live.

Thinking I'm a last on the back of a moped with a beer

Windswept 

Being hijacked for dancing by a very energetic polish man

I had my first date in china with a German/Chinese man.

There was Halloween and Bolton Shaun's birthday party where we raided a bar......

There was the cat walk ....

I had beans for the first time in 11 weeks

Standard china, with blue sky's 

 

Temple raiding 

Hours of over time which I actually loved! And a Friday night with pasta, cheese garlic bread and comedians 

Life is pretty grand ! 

It's strange...

Because sometimes I can happily write nonsense for hours and then other times I think I have nothing decent to say. But I think maybe that's just life. A lot of the time I can sit in a room full of my closest friends or family and talk for hours. Same with new people I have just met. I have a nack for being able to talk to any one literally about anything. And then other times I like to just sit back and observe, take in all I can. When there is a big group and lots of conversations are happening at once, I try to listen to them all at once. Or certain words grab my attention more than others. Why is that? What draws our attention, do we subconsciously have things we are more intrigued about or are we just listening for what sounds most interesting? I really don't know.

Living in China has become normal. I still haven't found anything that drives me mad about the place except two of my classes. There's nothing I'm craving I can't deal with out food wise. This morning we are cooking a big breakfast! The weather has now turned. I would say winter is in fact here! This week has gone from turenchal rain to beautiful blue sky's! It's like being in England apart from the blue sky's bring the sun here. I'm working all hours I can get my hands on at the moment with the idea to travel as much as possible when my holidays start. I'm also toying massively with the idea of traveling afterwards. Like really traveling. The kind where you just travel until your money runs out. It drives me mad there is so much I want to see and the most annoying part is there is actually no reason why I can't do it. I was thinking about my friend yesterday and his increasingly ablity to faff for hours about a simple decision when I realised something about my self. When I want to do something like really want to do it. I don't hesitate I will just do it. If it's move to china I will book my tickets. Go to Thailand I will book tickets. Go shopping I will do it. Cook and so on. When I'm not sure or umm and arrr over something for too long that's when I know really I don't want to do it. Because I'm actually quite impulsive and I do what I want, the majority of the time. I wouldn't say I'm stubborn, I'm very flexible and accommodating and always listen to others ideas because let's be honest we're not always ways right or know best. But if my mind is set it's set. So I think my next thought is I want someone to travel with. I want someone that wants to spend a good portion of time with no actual time restrictions actually pottering around the world and seeing everything there is to see. Because although I feel I definately have become so much more Independant now I am here, I want someone to share it with and I am a big pansy really. The idea of heading to Columbia on my own scares me. Yet is thrilling. What scares me more is going home and not having my fill of the world. I know I wont be happy. And that saddens me for two reasons. I don't want to go home and wish I was somewhere else. I want to go home content with the idea Iv done it. Iv seen everything I want to see. No more I wish I had of or I could be here right now. I want to go home knowing I did this, I did that I had the best time of my life and if I died tomorrow I would die happy knowing I did exactly the thing I wanted to do most. I think traveling makes you grow. It makes you see things in whole new prospective. It makes you grateful for everything you have and opens your eyes to certain things you would never even contemplate back home. The other thing that's daunting is after being away you want to come home and tell everyone you care about how amazing your experiences have been. When you did this and that. And in reality no one gives a shit. No one that hasn't been traveling, actually no that's not true no one that has no interesting in traveling gives a shit. Anyone that does but just hasn't done it, or can't because of commitments is open ears and you can see when they are talking to you that they are living through you. But anyone else ask the odd question and then is bored of the relentless stories. You become annoying. I never quite know if that's because they seriesly don't care or if it's because some people just like to talk about them selves more. But then again that could be flip reversed talking about your adventures could sound like a monologue of "listen to me and all my stories" to someone else. There's no equal footing. Maybe there should be a land for all the travelers out there. A kind of rehab to ease you in to normal life again. You go get all your stories out. For a few weeks you talk about nothing but,  then when your released it's all out your system and your too talked out to ever mention it again? Maybe this is what I'll do. 

Alternatively I went to sleep thinking about some form of charity I could create, but I fell asleep and now I have no idea what the amazing concept was! Bugger