Trip to Weinan

This last week was the National Day for China, it's basically the equivalent of our 4th of July, so most of the university student and many other people got the week off. One of my friends invited me to her hometown to visit for the holiday and I decided to go.
It was an interesting experience, it really reminded me of the culture differences between America and China. My friend would not let me pay for anything because she was my host and it was her hometown (this is very cultural, if you invite a friend to go do something you are expected to foot the bill). Another was my friend constantly wanted to hook arms. In China it is very cultural to hook arms or even hold hands between the same sex (sometimes even the guys do it, although this is mostly among the older generation). While I don't mind hooking arms, the constancy of it did get a little irritating for me (considering touch is not my love language, but it was most def hers). One other thing I realized while I was there was how every Chinese city seems to have some "Claim to fame". And Weinan was no different, I felt every other second was a mention of what Weinan was famous for. While in the US we have "Claims to fame" I feel like Chinese cities take it to a whole other extreme.
My friend took me to try something called "Yogou" which is essentially deep fried bread with sugar in the middle. Absolutely delicious with no nutritional value. There are two kinds, one is oval and the other is round like a ball. The round one is a little different (has some beans and other stuff mixed in). So the first day we went we ate the oval ones and I loved them, so my friend said we should bring some back with us. When we went back they had the round ones out as well. So my friend had me try one. And while it wasn't that bad, I preferred the oval ones a lot more and I told me friend so. And she said, "Oh well the round one is more popular." So I responded, "That's interesting because I like the oval one A LOT more"(hint hint, wink, wink.) Well the hints and winks didn't work cuz guess which one she bought me? Yup, your right the more "popular" one.
I had a really good time in Weinan seeing another side to china (the town aspect). We got to hike the small Hua mountain, and by the end of it my legs were killing me. Her family was really nice even though we couldn't communicate. Her dad tried to talk to me the first night, but when he realized I just didn't know enough he became satisfied with me just repeating after him.
On the day we were going hiking I put on some ripped jeans (knowing they are falling apart and I would rather get them dirty and stained). Well my friend saw that and took me to a shopping area and bought me some pants. It was interesting on multiple levels. One because most ppl assume I am a rich American and this friend of mine, must of assumed I couldn't afford new pants! (Which happens to be true, but most Chinese cant believe that because I am American and all Americans are rich, right?). It took awhile for us to find pants because not only am I bigger then most Chinese, but my body shape is very different. So we did end up finding some pants that fit, but it looks like my butt and thighs are going to bust through the seams. haha
Overall it was a fun experience and I'm happy I went, I tried a lot of new foods, some of which I enjoyed, others I didn't.