Random Thoughts

Hello, Hello.  With street hawkers for whom English is not a second or even a distant tenth language, the phrase "hello, hello" is a essential sales tactic.  This is not a nice greeting, but a forceful means of getting your attention with a word that your are familiar with but in a context that is totally foreign.

Stinky.  Just follow your nose.  The bathrooms have the craziest smell, like a hot August outhouse that was overturned then righted again.  Squat toilets do not have the odor barrier like the snaked drains of western toilets, it is just an open pipe right to the fun stuff.  Our guide pointed us to a building that had a public 'rest'room and said "you will smell where it is".   

Wet When Slippery.  The floors seem to be perpetually wet as moping happens with high frequency.  Mop wringers may be made in China but they are not used in China.  Water is simply pushed around until there is enough to give it a nice liquid shine.  After the drying cycle the dirt that previously resided there had been joined by new dirt removed from the bottoms of wet shoes.  One must exercise particular care when entering bathrooms as the thin water/urine film creates an extreme hydroplane risk.  

Rice is Nice.  Except after you have been eating it for two weeks.  Patti has done a great job of managing her dietary issues and has only had one migraine.  This comes at a price.  Rice is thought to be an intestinal coagulant and after a steady diet Patti is no longer just thinking that.

Can you SPEAK UP!  The Chinese can get loud and animated when they speak.  Sometimes we are unsure of the sentiment behind the verbalization.  We ask amongst ourselves, "angry, or just Chinese?".  I have little doubt that they are saying the same things about our conversations.

I have a dental cleaning appointment on June 4th.

Dim Sum.  These are little dumplings, filled with pork, onions and other things.  We have eaten these for breakfast, lunch an dinner.  Is this the Chinese Super Food?

Napkin Please.  I am starting to realize that I am a bit of a slob, or just over active OCD.  I have always, or at least I first remember in high school, needed to wipe may hands repeatedly while eating with them.  In China, much to my dismay, napkins are not standard issue.  I have noticed the Chinese rarely touch their food with bare hands, they use chopsticks, plastic wrap and other distancing tools.  Many times napkins are not present when a meal is served and on occasion it will be a box of Kleenex.  I had the prescience in Hong Kong to load a Ziplock bag with as much Starbucks napkins that I could cram in.  

Xi jian.