shock
Some things I've discovered in China:
1. Southern China used to not be heated at all in order to conserve resources for the north where they are needed more. Now there are little space heaters in Hangzhou but they don't work very well and people are reluctant to turn them on so most public places are cold. People wear their coats, hats, mittens, and scarves in the Center for Mathematical Sciences' hallways, common areas, and bathrooms. We have the heaters going full blast in our offices and apartments but they don't get warmer than 16C. I need to buy some long underwear.
2. My princess lifestyle is more difficult to maintain here. For example, it is a long bus ride downtown to go to Starbucks. I bought a french press and beans the other day and paid western prices for them. I was horrified. They were more expensive (500 yuen) than my bicycle (270 yuen).
3. There is a lot of bureacracy. For example, I went with some students to purchase a bicycle the other day. We went to a big department store downtown and I picked our a cheap schwin-style bike. I was sent to a counter in the middle of the store to pay. I then brought the receipt back to the clerks who ran off and got another slip of paper. I then had to take this to a desk by the stairs where I filled out a form (in chinese! Xi helped me) and paid 8 yuen for a license. I then brought this back to the clerks who attached the plate to my bike along with a basket and pumped up my tires. This entire process took an hour and a half.
4. I don't like pig intestines. They are chewy.
5. I love eating buns and I don't really care whats inside them. In general, if the meat is unrecognizable, I'll eat it and its good.
6. I've found that when I ask what something is, I often chicken out of trying it-- frogs, jellyfish, cow intestines, etc.
7. My internet connection here is not very good. It is too slow for me to download my old blog pages so I don't know how much I'm repeating myself. Also, I have not yet figured out how to get a good enough connection to Harvard so I can post pictures. This is driving me and the other grad students nuts.
8. Every university in China used to have a big statue of Chairman Mao. The statue at Zhejiang University is one of the biggest at 10.8 meters high. Back in the early eighties, people weren't allowed to plants trees anywhere near the statue so it was the biggest thing around. Now there are trees around it but it is still pretty damn big. As soon as I can figure out how to put up pictures, I'll post one. Its impressive.
9. Most things are pretty cheap here. The exchange rate is approximately 8 yuen to $1. A feast lunch or dinner with many many dishes costs about 22 yuen per person. A cab ride downtown is 13 yuen. A large bottle of water is 2.2 yuen. My bike was 270 yuen.
10. Eating with chopsticks is non-trivial especially if the piece of food is small and slippery. Forks are not available.
11. You need to bring your own toilet paper to public bathrooms. They are frequently of the squat variety and it is good not to look too closely at the facilities.
12. Pedestrians don't have the right of way. Cars do. Pedestrains and bikers cross the street at their own risk.
13. I was in chinese class last semester long enough to learn good pronounciation but I don't know very many words and I don't know how to read. Very few people know any english at all-- spoken or written-- so I'm going to have to learn some chinese.
14. It is illegal to spit on the sidewalk but people do it anyways. Loogies.
15. China is growing at a phenomenal rate. Riding on the bus from Shanghai to Hangzhou, there were building cranes everywhere. Traditional houses are being town down and giant tacky neon colored apartment buildings and houses are being built in their place.
1. Southern China used to not be heated at all in order to conserve resources for the north where they are needed more. Now there are little space heaters in Hangzhou but they don't work very well and people are reluctant to turn them on so most public places are cold. People wear their coats, hats, mittens, and scarves in the Center for Mathematical Sciences' hallways, common areas, and bathrooms. We have the heaters going full blast in our offices and apartments but they don't get warmer than 16C. I need to buy some long underwear.
2. My princess lifestyle is more difficult to maintain here. For example, it is a long bus ride downtown to go to Starbucks. I bought a french press and beans the other day and paid western prices for them. I was horrified. They were more expensive (500 yuen) than my bicycle (270 yuen).
3. There is a lot of bureacracy. For example, I went with some students to purchase a bicycle the other day. We went to a big department store downtown and I picked our a cheap schwin-style bike. I was sent to a counter in the middle of the store to pay. I then brought the receipt back to the clerks who ran off and got another slip of paper. I then had to take this to a desk by the stairs where I filled out a form (in chinese! Xi helped me) and paid 8 yuen for a license. I then brought this back to the clerks who attached the plate to my bike along with a basket and pumped up my tires. This entire process took an hour and a half.
4. I don't like pig intestines. They are chewy.
5. I love eating buns and I don't really care whats inside them. In general, if the meat is unrecognizable, I'll eat it and its good.
6. I've found that when I ask what something is, I often chicken out of trying it-- frogs, jellyfish, cow intestines, etc.
7. My internet connection here is not very good. It is too slow for me to download my old blog pages so I don't know how much I'm repeating myself. Also, I have not yet figured out how to get a good enough connection to Harvard so I can post pictures. This is driving me and the other grad students nuts.
8. Every university in China used to have a big statue of Chairman Mao. The statue at Zhejiang University is one of the biggest at 10.8 meters high. Back in the early eighties, people weren't allowed to plants trees anywhere near the statue so it was the biggest thing around. Now there are trees around it but it is still pretty damn big. As soon as I can figure out how to put up pictures, I'll post one. Its impressive.
9. Most things are pretty cheap here. The exchange rate is approximately 8 yuen to $1. A feast lunch or dinner with many many dishes costs about 22 yuen per person. A cab ride downtown is 13 yuen. A large bottle of water is 2.2 yuen. My bike was 270 yuen.
10. Eating with chopsticks is non-trivial especially if the piece of food is small and slippery. Forks are not available.
11. You need to bring your own toilet paper to public bathrooms. They are frequently of the squat variety and it is good not to look too closely at the facilities.
12. Pedestrians don't have the right of way. Cars do. Pedestrains and bikers cross the street at their own risk.
13. I was in chinese class last semester long enough to learn good pronounciation but I don't know very many words and I don't know how to read. Very few people know any english at all-- spoken or written-- so I'm going to have to learn some chinese.
14. It is illegal to spit on the sidewalk but people do it anyways. Loogies.
15. China is growing at a phenomenal rate. Riding on the bus from Shanghai to Hangzhou, there were building cranes everywhere. Traditional houses are being town down and giant tacky neon colored apartment buildings and houses are being built in their place.
posted by Michelle at 9:50 p.m.
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