Meeting People at Church and Flamingo Dancer's Pictures

Today we went early to church so that we could attend the newcomer lunch. We had a nice time and got to try out a new restaurant (serving Turkish fare) close to the church. However, due to us attending the lunch we had to go to the earlier church that does not have the nursery. It of course would not surprise anyone that Josh made it through the singing and then wanted to talk and crawl around while the pastor talked. I therefore, made my way over to the Starbucks across the street. What is interesting about this area of town is that while it just looks like a row of stores and restaurants to us, it must be some either scenic or important area to the Chinese. I say this because we have seen more Chinese people having their pictures taken here than anywhere else in the city.

For example, when we arrived for the lunch this morning, there were no less than four brides and their grooms posing for shots in front of these stores. Now I will say they have nice light posts (sort of old fashioned ones) which one couple was posed around, and they have nice arches that act as an overhang in front of the stores, but I wonder if they leave the Starbucks and Papa Johns in the background, or if the photographer photo shops that out. I could not imagine paying for pictures and having Papa Johns—with the people watching through the window-- in the background of the shot.

So back to my trip to Starbucks with Josh. We ended up getting the coffee and there were no seats available to sit down. I therefore headed outside and to both Josh’s and my amusement there was a couple getting their photos taken. The first amusing factor for us—well I will say me as I am not sure Josh could process all of the comical aspects of it—was how they were dressed. The woman was dressed in what I can only describe as a knock off of a flamingo style dress. Big ruffled sleeves, no middle section to the dress (this is quite amazing for China) and a short ruffled skirt in black and gold—think Purdue colors. Her boyfriend/fiancé/husband was in a matching yellow/gold shirt. It of course was no ordinary shirt—think of the pirate shirt episode of Seinfeld and you have it to a tee—except Jerry’s was white. If you never saw this episode of Seinfeld, try to picture the cover of a cheesy romance novel—they seem to be in these types of shirts a lot. Then in contrast to the rest of the outfit was the guys tattered dirty looking jeans which stood out like a sore thumb and made me wonder if she could only convince him to wear the shirt and not the matching pants, or whether they were only taking the shots above the waist and he thought “who cares how the pants look”.

Once I got over the fact of the outfits, I started to focus on what shots they were taking and the scene as a whole. One funny fact was that the photographer had an assistant. This in itself is not funny, as many photographers have assistants. What was funny is that as the photographer would take pictures, he would hold things up such as a large flower (think stuffed animal kind) up in the air near the photographer. This struck me as funny because the flower he used I have seen used in photo centers in the United States. The difference is that in the US it is used to get the children such as Josh’s age to smile or look at a certain spot not people in their twenties.

The last aspect that was quite funny was the poses the photographer had them in. While watching, all I could think about was where in the world are these people going to hang these shots. I will try to describe two different poses they took. The first had him sitting in a chair they borrowed from the outdoor part of Starbucks (this was all taking place under the arched cover way in front of Starbucks). She was standing behind him, and I mean like at least a foot behind him. They had her arrange her hands in a way that reminded me of a traditional India dance move, sort of crossing her arms in front of her with her fingers outstretched upwards, then to add some flair they had her fling her head backwards and look up at the ceiling. I was so captivated that she would want her picture taken this way, I forgot to see what pose they had him doing in the forefront of the picture. The second pose, I can only assume was to focus on his manliness. They had her on the side of the chair next to him and actually—I kid you not—had him unbutton the ruffled shirt down about half ways. So there he is sitting in the chair with this ruffled pirate shirt with his chest showing. There are two things that are funny about this, or at least would make me pause before taking such a picture (other than the fact that neither Dustin or myself would ever wear such an outfit) is that not to be unkind to the man, but it was quite obvious that he was not one that frequented a workout facility. Thus, I am not sure why this photo in particular was on their list to take. Now back to something I said earlier. Where in the world are you going to hang this photo???—definitely would not be in the family room or sent out in cards to friends.

Anyway, this blog was just to try and put a little perspective into what we run into on a weekly basis. It does not make much sense to us at all, but it is a very fascinating part of the culture—this scene especially. Needless to say it made the time fly while we had to wait for church to end.