Stream of Consciousness

This will be at times a somewhat random post but there are a ton of things that I want to share that are pretty much totally unrelated.

1.) People in China wear long underwear during the winter. This in itself is not an odd statement, however, they sometimes wear two pairs here in Beijing because it gets so cold here during the winter plus building are not usually well insulated nor even heated in some instances. This too makes perfect sense...what I cannot figure out though is why some people follow rules about the long underwear so closely. Once they put it on, they do not take it off until May 1st, regardless of what the weather is doing. Take a closer look at that. Outside of bathing, they do not take their long underwear off for the duration of the winter. This means that in most cases, the long underwear does not get washed from October 1st to May 1st. Plus, it has been over 80 on more than one occasion here already. The long underwear has stayed on throughout these higher temperatures. I just cannot understand the need to do this. Once it gets warm, you should make yourself more comfortable.

2.) The Summer Palace here in Beijing is gorgeous. I spent the day wandering the grounds of the Summer Palace enjoying the Spring Flowers, sunshine and warm day. I had not been to the Summer Palace the first time I was here which added to the enjoyment yesterday. Pictures will soon follow.

3.) Chinese teachers are treated very unfairly here. As a foreign teacher I am well paid and enjoy almost total freedom. The Chinese teachers on the other hand, are poorly paid and enjoy no freedom. Things that we foreign teachers get for free, accommodation, meals, access to laundry, the ability to use the dorm kitchen are either charged to the Chinese teachers or barred altogether (laundry, kitchen among others). This week I had the assistance of a Chinese teacher who served as my translator while I was in town getting some things done. We left at 4:30 to run these errands. To leave the campus she had to have a not from the dean saying that it was ok for her to leave campus before 5:30. I, on the other hand, frequently leave more than once during the day to run errands etc. I find this very unfair though typical of the Chinese mindset in terms of administration here. They seem to see nothing wrong with this double standard.

4.) Diapers are not really used by most babies here. Pants have a slit through the crotch which allows the babies to be held over the grass when infants and to just squat when toddlers. This would seem to be very un-hygenic and make for potentially dangerous walking through the streets, but these problems do not seem to exist. Now that it is warmer out I see more and more babies with their butts hanging out of their pants.

5.) Street food is really, really good. I have written about it before and will write a top-10 foods from China list soon, but I already can tell that I will miss street food when I get back to America.

6.) Mandarin Chinese seems to be a very difficult language to get started in, but it builds on itself so as I go along it should get easier...or at least that is what I am telling myself. If anyone in the Grand Rapids area that reads this knows of a potential Mandarin tutor can you see if they would be interested in meeting a few days a week this fall when I am back in town. I really want to keep working at the language and will need some help when I am back in the States.

7.) Vacation is fast approaching. In less than a week I will be off to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors as well as other sights. I am getting excited. Mid-term exams are this week so we will see how those go.

8.) I love China... which leads me to #'s 9 and 10

9.) I miss home also but...

10.) I really love China :)

Zai Jian, all the best.

Gao Tian