KTV and the Foreigner

Last weekend some students took me with them to a park. The park is on a hilltop, covered with old trees and topped by a temple replica. Below the temple lies a lake, made by man, and surrounded by a promenade and joined by bridges and small islands. We started at the temple, where I played a sonnet to the few students who would listen, and the passers hid among the stone pillars and beneath the shade of the ancient trees beside the temple replica. I played several songs and several sonnets, and soon songs were not sung on the tide of the wind, so we left. As we passed through the park, the rising colorful figures of painted metal spirals and swirls joined the ground before me. Amusement and merriment resided in the old remains of a play-scape, still running along like the little train that could. Below the roller-coaster and the carnival rides a middle aged man sold twisted stalks of green some forming snakes and other dragons, and even an alligator or two. I bought a dragon and a snake. Later, by the lake, I twisted the snake into a coil, and the dragon's wings fell of, so I put them back where I saw fit.

We walked around the lake, where we found the students who wouldn't wait for a song, sitting beside the water, on a table as round as a wheel. Beside them the water was shallow, but beyond the bridge there lay an island covered in green grass, defined by a stream slithering around it in green water.

I fished, and caught nothing, but I did catch some tips, and picked up some knowledge of the local fishing shop. These fish like live bait, and the weeds are too thick to use a lure. We all left the park, and traveled in a bus to the school. One Sichuan girl noted us that there is a small restaurant that sells Sichuan style meals. We went and had some porridge and noodles. Mmmmm. It tasted like oatmeal with sugar. It was rice, but now it is in my stomach. After meals, we left and so I went home to subside until six, when we were to join again to sing songs. At six, we slid down the road in a taxi made by VW to a fancy place called KTV. There, inside the first person who saw me, stood in complete awe and shock with her mouth hanging open. Western?!!!!!!!! So, we rented a small room, with two leather sofas, a screen sensitive to someone's finger, and an LCD simply hung within a set of cabinets, wooden and subtle.

The songs came in Chinese and Western style, and we sang everything from "Ring a Ring a Ring," a Chinese favorite of mine, to some of Lionel Ritchie's works. I sang John Denver, the Beatles, Celine Dion, and more. I sang the chorus for a song I call control: Here it is: