Would you like more MSG with that?

Yesterday, the Americans and some of our host siblings met by the Jingshan school for lunch. We found noodle place down the steet, next to an "Adult Shop." Kristen (Ms. Kamerick) was careful not to walk in the wrong door. For the most part, it was the first time seeing each other since we landed. Afterwards, Alan (one of the Chinese kids) and his dad arranged for us to go swimming at his dad's office. Swimming pools are hard to come by in Beijing, so people are very proud when they have access to them.
He dropped us off around 3 p.m. and said he'd pick us all up for dinner. None of us were really sure what we were supposed to do with a swimming pool and some ping pong tables in the basement of some corporate building for three hours. Most of us didn't even bring bathing suits with us. Amy (Ms. Richard) taught Victor and Miles, her host brother, how to do the crawl stroke. They were very excited to learn. The rest of us organized ping-pong tournaments. Hannah and I beat Alan and Elias in an intense match. We spent the last hour laying on the floor, talking. Alan was confused why American kids talk about boys and girls so much. I learned it was considered bad luck to get a haircut within the first month of the new year, so hair salons are packed the day before.
The restaurant was great. Alan's dad treated us all to a fancy hot pot restaurant. Hot pot is pretty similar to fondue. Two boiling broths we placed in the center of the table -- we were such a big group, we got six brother containers. One is filled with a plainish (but still delicious) broth, the other with an incredibly, chili-filled broth. Then, you order raw food and drop it into the broth of your choice, wait a bit, and eat. We had pork, chicken, shrimp, shrimp balls, unidentified fish, fish balls, sea cucumber, pork stomach (maybe? not sure), and some other. But the food kept coming. Once the first wave of food came the waiters asked us if we wanted more MSG with our meal. It looked like salt with grey specks in it. We were all stuffed before all the food even reached the table. Elias, Hannah, Rebecca, Carolyn and I stupidly ordered a pitcher of hot bean milk, thinking it would taste good. Not sure why. Elias managed to finish his glass, but I think the rest of ours went to Kristen. I also ordered an Aloe & Lemon drink, which turned out to be this half neon, half puke colored clear drink. Yuumm.
Alan took us back to his house afterwards to fire fireworks (fangpao).