CM#15 Karaoke!!
As many of you know, Karaoke 卡拉OK is very popular in many Asian countries. I have managed to miss out on this particular leisure activity for quite a while, but my streak ended Friday night. Alison and a friend she had been dining with got an invitation to join some other co-workers in a hotel’s karaoke floor(? I don’t know what quite to call it). In the US, karaoke is often a very public thing, where people go up on stage in front of a lot of people, and they are expected to be good. In China, and I assume other places in East Asia, this singing sensation is far more private. Groups of friends or business partners rent a room and order a boatload of drinks - everyone sings, drinks, and makes merry. It doesn’t matter how bad you are, ’cause you are all friends anyway. I think this set-up makes a lot more sense, since everyone can get into the spirit of things and relax without worrying about getting booed off-stage.
So we went up to one floor of the hotel that had maybe 10 seperate rooms for people. They were already partying when we got there, and I am sure they carried on for a while after we left. We had a good time. I even sang the current pop hit “Mice Love Rice” 老鼠爱大米, whose chorus states:
I love you! I’m loving you 我爱你，爱着你
(wo ai ni, ai zhe ni) [woh ai nee, ai juh nee]
Just like mice love rice 就像老鼠爱大米
(jiu xiang laoshu ai dami) [jiu sheeang lou-shoo ai da-mee]
A-a-anyway - it was a nice time. I didn’t know anyone, and I think Alison didn’t know most of them very well, but that didn’t stop them from sharing their drinks and snacks with us. The group we joined were having a great time, and it was fun just to see them bond and let loose.