things to miss/reminisce about china

take a look at some things i see every single day. :)

bare bellies in the heat

i guess every guy wants to take his shirt off in the heat, but in china, they do what they do! 

totally casual

not just the worker type, but businessmen too! 

 green tea flavored EVERYTHING!! from cakes, cookies, noodles, potato chips, candy, EVERYTHING.

but look:

 w

t

f

?

 green tea noodles are lookin' pretty normal now, aren't they!?

 even starbucks caters to the epidemic demand for green tea products

 i'll have you know that they tried to market pumpkin spice latte in china and it was a bust. 

but green tea's a huge seller, of course. 

i'll miss seeing ridiculous couples (and families) matching and being proud of it

happy and proud 

 or not so happy... whatevs.

 the amazing engineering feats that are seen regularly around here will be fondly remembered

 i won't miss the spitting. every foreigner is keenly aware of the spitting problem in china, mostly because there's no mistaking that distinct hocking sound that precedes a nasty 'pei!'

 hehehe, the signs are a nice start, even the chinglish ones (oh, i will miss chinglish though!!)

 "pop a squat" why don't ya?

 anywhere will do.

 waiting? squat. talking? squat. reading the paper? squat.

even play a game while squatting in the street. 

 squatty meeting?

i'll miss the yummy/freaky street barbecue. 

how can you go wrong with things on a stick? squid? green beans? eggplants? corn on the cob? chicken? rice balls? potatoes? YES, YES, YES! 

 i won't miss trying not to die every time i'm on my bike or in a taxi.

 at least i'm not alone in my fear and biking...

 but seriously! daredevil's paradise.

i've found china to be hilarious and infuriating. it's such a unique place, full of life, crazy, and funny. i'll miss bits of it when life gets too boring. 

so long, china!!

hilarious, infuriating china

some chips/crisps

little kid was roaming free in the park and became enthralled by the wonder that is xander (and/or linda)

an awesome class presentation about the movie forest gump, that's him sitting on the bench

sterilized instruments in that tray at the hospital

the eye chart (no letters or characters because many people don't read pinyin -chinese transliterated with letters- and some characters look too similar)

a precious student paying attention in class (she didn't even know i took this picture)

free umbrella with purchase of a magazine - weird but completely understandable since ladies avoid sunlight like vampires around here

cucumber mousse for dessert, anyone? (too lazy to flip this pic)

how about some green tea starbucks drink with red beans all up in it?

my taxi driver had no windshield wipers.

don't worry though, he pulled over every half mile or so to wipe the windshield with a rag.

KTV or karaoke is fun and interesting

choose artists/songs based on album covers in case your chinese isn't up to scratch

snacks for sale at 7-11. chewy corn (not the official name), rice mixed with beans or meat or something steamed in bamboo leaves, wrapped, and tied (for dragonboat festival, why else?!)

a bakery full of light, fluffy sweets, including waffles cut into quarters... this makes me miss hungary's bakeries

china - first impressions

ok, it may be too late for my first impressions of china, but here goes.

this is TESCO *think wal-mart*

the place, and i mean china, not just the shopping center, is crowded. i don't just mean there are a lot of people once in a while. this is NORMAL here. every store, every restaurant, every mall, bar, bank - is ALWAYS like this. going out is really stressful for me and i do it as little as possible. you know there are 1.3 billion people in china - well, there's no forgetting that if you're here. you can seriously feel/see/and hear them all the time.

laundry: outside all the time

(photo from TIME, not me)

while this in itself isn't all that strange, the 1.3 billion people factors in again and there are some amazing sites. think of all the bikes and mopeds and taxis you'd see going anywhere. it's still shocking. every time!

the one long nail

there are several theories about this one long nail sported by men of all ages around here. some say it's to open mail. some say it's to clean out their ears (ew!). some say it's to show status, like they don't have a manual labor job if they can grow out this one nail. some say it's just a fashion statement. whatever the reason, it's startling every time i see it. sidenote: never seen on women, thankfully.

phone covers: all three pretty popular

(bunny with ears and puffy tail, cat, and suction cups on cords?!)

the thing about these phone covers is that, while cute, are impractical. they don't fit in a pocket or purse easily or on the first try. i've never seen a westerner with one of these, though i ooh and ahh over them in classes all the time. 

female students - aged 18-22, by the way, love hello kitty, anime, and other cutesy juvenile stuff. i'm not quite sure but have certainly noticed the much lower maturity level of chinese college students compared with their western counterparts.  it's not just the girls, either. guys and girls in my classes won't sit with or talk to each other unless forced and are then quite uncomfortable. they giggle at the mention of sex or anything remotely sexual. they are innocent-seeming and pretty naive - a lovely change of pace from my past teaching experience, to be honest.