partying, american style

i have a couple of folks from the peace corps that live on my floor, and like i said before, this immediately gives me someone to go out with and explore the nitelife. i was invited out for dinner and dancing with a new group of foreign teachers. the teachers within the peace corps are under a certain set of restrictions than myself. their salary is a third of what i make, they cannot really do any traveling until their commitment is up, and their commitment is at least two years. needless to say, they still know how to party and do it very inexpensively. we all met up around eight and went to this restaurant i have already deemed my favorite. they have western and chinese food there. spaghettie, pizza, chicken fried steak, it is all delicious. after dinner we walk around the streets of the city drinking beer. a huge bottle cost about 40 cents. i love drinking on the street. while we walk around, i find out how small this world really is. one of the girls i just met went to 'ole mizzou. another girl who is with us, is from kansas city and went to truman state in kirksville. more midwesteners half a world away. after getting our drink on outside we go to this dance club. this club plays western music you would hear in the US. it is also a place where other laowai (foreigners) go. laowai, by the way, is a word you here on a regular basis. the chinese like to say it when they see you. i went into the restroom and i heard it. i also noticed some chinese guy staring at my junk when i was taking a piss. this club was alot of fun, chinese girls dancing on the bar, and a live band between DJ sets. after a long nite of drinking and dancing we take a taxi back home. not much different than a nite out in the US, except for the whole being in china thing. i only met a few members of the peace corps, but there are over twenty in this city alone, and every saturday nite the plan is drinking and dancing. i also heard there are nearly a thousand foreign teachers in the chongqing area. i am enjoying meeting new people and discussing why they came to china and how they went about making it happen.