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Christmas in Nantong, China - 2007 26 December 2007 The Old Codger has survived Christmas in Nantong, China. In reflection, this survival is a bit like a miracle. No, not one of those sentimental type of miracles that seem to abound during the holiday season that will leave one teary eyed and with a lump in their throats. But, a miracle none the less, especially at The Old Codger's advanced age. This past year The Old Codger stumbled upon an accurate, and hence, no doubt true, definition of what an old codger really is. They are, according to the definition:
The Old Codger reckons he just has that "old codger look" about him which seems to garner him a lot of free drinks. This holiday season has certainly not been an exception to that "ability." The Old Codger certainly does not complain about those free drinks - not even the morning after. This of course is the first Christmas that The Old Codger has spent in China. Even had all of the free drinks not materialized - seemingly from no-where - he is looking forward to the season again in 364 days. The foreign or 'ex-pat' population of Nantong is so much different than it was in Udon Thani, Thailand. It is extremely easy to describe the differences, but a bit more difficult trying to explain the reasons behind the differences. Here in Nantong, it seems as though the ex-pat community is friendlier than back in Thailand. When there is going to be a party, great efforts are made to notify everyone that is known. In Thailand, if there is going to be a party, it is more of a clique type party where only certain "friends" are included. The only exception to this is if a local bar is having a party and having free food, which is certain to bring out all of the free loaders who ordinarily patronize just one or two establishments. Here in Nantong, nobody seems to mind contributing and paying their own way for a good "community type" bit of fun. They also typically patronize different establishments around town. We do have "transients" here in Nantong, but they are here for different reasons than the transients that come to Udon Thani and Thailand in general. The transients here are all working in China for short periods, and certainly do not fit into the category of "sex tourists" or heavy drinkers. Even though they are transients, they are able to mingle without any problems with the long term residents and fit in quite well. The second party of the holiday season was last week (the first party described about here) Tuesday. This party was sponsored by the Nantong City Government for foreign experts and business bosses here in Nantong. The opening address was: "Welcome business leaders, foreign experts, teachers and comrades." While it is a bit strange being referred to as a "comrade" our resident self described and self proclaimed communist (PD Dave) seemed to revel in that greeting. It was funny for the rest of us to see him go and button hole one of the communist party officials and try to talk to him. The official, after just a few moments was trying to get away from Dave, but he kept on moving with him. The food at that party was passable - nothing really special. A Chinese menu - no doubt to tout Chinese tradition and things like that, without regard for the sensitive foreign palate which, along with most Chinese palates from elsewhere in China, find Nantong food to be bland and less than desirable for the most part. Ah well... When in Rome... Most every dish revolved around fresh water fish or crustaceans, which one must develop a taste for. The wine did flow freely, but they were a bit possessive of the beer for some reason. They did give us a 'grab bag' (I guess that is what they call them) with a couple of Nantong magazines and two lapel pins promoting Nantong. The pins are in a nice looking wooden box (pressed wood that looks like natural wood - quite impressive really) which I suspect cost more to manufacture than the pins themselves. A few of us escaped for the familiarity of Captain's Bar as soon as they brought out the desert. Christmas Eve promised better tucker and fare at Captain's Bar. On the menu was your choice of roast turkey or braised tenderloin, potatoes plus a large salad - which was actually a meal in itself. Five of us ventured down to Captains, making sure that we were there for the beginning of the serving time so as to ensure that we got the best parts of the turkey before all the other vultures swooped in and ravaged the poor bird. It was a bit pricey - 180 Yuan - (USD $25.50) - but having not had turkey for a long time, it was a good pricey treat. The Old Codger suspects - aw hell, he knows - it was not an imported American turkey, but instead a Chinese version. Didn't quite taste the same as an imported turkey, presumably because it used to eat a different diet, but it still met nostalgic culinary desires. We decided to see if we would be able to see Santa Clause making his rounds that night, and had a few beers, then a few more beers. The Old Codger, without even having to utter a word - only make a walk through the bar to and from the toilet - was the beneficiary of numerous shots of many different brands and types of liquor during each trip. I have since reached the conclusion that the only "trick of the trade" for me to get a free drink is to simply let people see that I can still walk. No need to say a word. In the immortal words of Jackie Gleason: "How sweet it is!" What time we left Captain's, no one knows. We somehow ended up in separate bars for more Christmas cheer. I ended up in a bar frequented by some of the other Americans teaching here, and once again started receiving free drinks. At that time of the night, or morning - whatever time it was - I suspect that just being able to stand was a qualifier for getting a free drink. I left that bar earlier than most of the others - 4:30 AM and headed home to dream of... hell - a drunk doesn't dream at all, though it might be a nice touch to say "dream of sugar plums, but I refuse to take that type of literary license. Could ruin my Scrooge image. A drunk just goes to sleep, and hopefully won't see any pink elephants when he awakens. Christmas Day: The weather was beautiful - for the most part. Drizzling a bit of rain, but warm, or at least much warmer than it has been. Almost like a rainy spring day. About 1:00 PM three of us went and tried to catch a cab to go the Wen Feng Hotel for the foreigner's exclusive Christmas party. The Wen Feng hotel is a 5 star hotel here in Nantong, which is the same place that the City Government party was held. This party however promised an all you can eat western buffet, and all the beer and wine that you could drink for the low, low price of 150 Yuan. (USD $20) The buffet was absolutely spectacular. Virtually every kind of western food that one could want - including large T-Bone steaks cooked to order. Turns out that the Chef specializes in only western food there at the hotel, having trained in France. Excellent food - and of course, everyone probably ate too much. Gifts were mandatory to attend the function, and they were exchanged in a similar manner to those that were exchanged at the party The Old Codger went to the previous week. After about 4 hours, a few of us moved on down to Captain's Bar again, as it was happy hour. Suffice to say that the liquor was flowing quite freely as some people there were a bit nostalgic. After a bit, no idea of the time, someone suggested going to The Dwarf Club. The Old Codger had never been there, but since it was a new experience decided to go with the others, despite the fact that he is well known for being a bit anti-social.
The way that the club operates is that it has a number of lovely ladies that sing, typically in evening gowns. There was one girl that did a bit of a trapeze act, and a couple others in two piece bathing suits - conservative ones at that - that did a bit of pole dancing. After the entertainment part of the show, all of the ladies return to the stage and patrons can purchase a "crown" for something like 100 yuan for a particular girl. The girl that gets the most crowns is named as the "most popular" and is given a sash to wear. The girls that received a crown from a customer will then go over and personally thank the customer, and talk with him - or her - for a bit. Then the entire routine starts again. Interesting enough to see one time, but The Old Codger doubts that he will go back again. The beer was cheap enough - 20 yuan for a jug of beer. Cheap - yes. However, there is a bit of "drinker's psychology" at work here as well. A large jug or pitcher of beer served with a small glass - about a 4 ounce glass - means that people will drink more and faster. There is something about having a lot of beer in a pitcher and only a small glass that gets people to drink faster. Of course, someone that is drunk, or close to it, is going to spend the 100 yuan or more to buy crowns for different girls. Needless to say, The Old Codger is a bit too savvy to fall for that old trick having become prey to it a couple of decades ago in Alaska. In any event, The Old Codger did take a bunch of pictures at The Dwarf Club. Getting some good pictures was difficult because a fake "fog" was permeating the stage. However, the ones that were taken are passable at best for the most part. All photos were taken with a Canon Power Shot A470 3.2 MEGA PIXELS digital camera. They can all be seen here. And that about wraps up Christmas in Nantong China for 2007. Memorable to say the least, and about the best Christmas that The Old Codger has had in a number of years. New Years promises to be much quieter - very much quieter, if for no other reason it has suddenly turned cold as hell. See everyone next year! The Old Codger
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