As for chinese culture…well..where do I start? Let’s start with their insane, no rules, gowhereveryouplease driving habits. They might as well not even have the white and yellow lines painted on the roads. They all drive very fast, and well, wherever the hell they want. Oh, and they honk. All the time. For no particular reason. Driving from Shanghai to Ningbo late last Monday evening, the father of the girl picking me up just kept honking randomly. I thought, hm? did that person do something wrong? Is it just really really impatient? Okay, now there…was he just warning little-guy on the scooter that we were…approaching? And for the 4th time, with NO ONE around us, being late at night, I was at a loss for words. Arriving in Ningbo, this was one of my first questions. As it was very well explained, there is no reason for honking. They do it when and where they please, and it most likely means nothing at all. Oh..okay…..
When crossing the street, look both ways if you like, find the cross walk specifically designated for the unimportant pedestrians if you truly please, but after more than 24 hours in the country, you should really just jaywalk as you please, where you please, and take the 6 lane road lane by lane. The cars may or may not hit you, but you will most likely, the majority of the time, make it safely across the road.
The rumors about them spitting everywhere? Understatement. This is not a polite crash of saliva into the nearby grass; this is a full-hearted, kate-winslet-in-titanic style lugey.
The rumors about children having a large butt-crack like slit cut in their pants enabling to do what they want, when they want, where they want? True story. Oh, and the little boys have little, appropriately shaped, holes cut into the front of their trousers as well.
The chinese do not believe in chemicals. Or sanitation for that matter. This society of a bagillion gazillion people has built up quite the immune system for germs because nothing more than water is used to clean anything. Anything at all. This includes the toilets, the floors, the machines at the gym…you get the idea. Water, and water only. If you ask me, they’re wasting their time. Oh, and soap is rarely available in public restrooms. Just water. Towels on a good day.
The staring. Oh my god the staring. When I went to France, I noticed quite quickly how people openly stared. But they had a bit of tact about it. They would stare when you “weren’t” looking. But the staring was usually taken as a good thing. It was taken as if you, or the person being stared at, was something worth looking at. Okay, weird at first, but okay. I don’t think there is a spectrum of words in the English dictionary to define various levels of staring, so I’m going to say that the Chinese…examine. And by examine, I mean, they very openly look at you, look up and down, take a step back, stare a bit at something wildly different than what they see in the mirror, look you in the face, make a “huh” kind of look, and walk away. Only then to turn around and take another glance…you know…to take in each and every perspective of this new… “specimen” in town. In the grocery store, kids yell out loud (imagine Kindergarten Cop) “Daddy!!! She’s SO white! Look, daddy, look!” The poor child is not yet old enough to have any kind of concept of a foreigner; instead, she thinks I was abused as a child and wasn’t let out to play.
So far the food has been good. I’m stepping out of my shell to attempt eating some slightly spicy dishes. A few bites here and there are just fine for me at the moment…maybe in due time, I can build up a bit of a tolerance.
My life has become a guessing game. Aside from some road signs on very large motorways, basically no english exists in the country. I go to the supermarket and attempt to choose the bottle of “stuff” that looks like soy sauce and try to find the vanilla flavored yogurt. Because its white and has a small flower on it, does that mean its vanilla? I dunno. We’ll see…. This was basically my approach and solution to each and every item I purchased. Oh and the vegetable section. Ha. Ha. Ha. I don’t know what half of it is. My mission for my year in China will be to buy one new vegetable/fruit everytime I go to the supermarket/market just to see…what will I do with it? How will it taste?? How do I cook the damn thing?? Only time will tell! As I am making flashcards for my little 4 year olds on their colors, shapes, alphabet, etc., maybe I can sneak in a bit of time to make fruit and vegetable style flashcards of asian produce to bring home to my wonderful friends and family! You all thought my mom’s games sucked at Christmas! Muahahaha.
Undiscovered Sunsets 