I feel that you should know that the street sweepers in Qingdao play "It's a Small World" just like an ice cream truck. Since there is a whole army of actual people employed to sweep the streets with actual brooms, I have come to believe that they use the trucks just to amuse themselves and confuse foreigners.

I was super excited for our Dragon Boat Festival! It occurred over the same weekend as Memorial Day (this year), we got 3 days off, and I was told that festivities involved boat races with famous people. (Incidentally, that is actually exactly how it was explained to me, with those exact words).

It was a wonderful weekend, mostly because I desperately needed a break. But also fun things! We walked on the water front, went to the beach, and enjoyed a music festival. Not Folklife, but pretty fabulous nonetheless. Though I was informed by my Chinese friend that there would be no boat races because these only occur in rivers and in rural areas. So Dragon Boat festival is basically when everyone goes to the beach. Yeah, it's good here.

Also, I ate a moth chrysalis. It tasted surprisingly okay, kind of like grease and stinky cheese. They were served as part of the wedding reception dinner for my co-worker.