It's been just under 2 weeks since I arrived in China - my home for the next 2 years. It's been an overwhelming combination of sights, sounds, smells and "you had to be there" moments. I've been jotting down a few observations which I thought I would share. If you've been to China, you might be able to relate. If you haven't, let me paint the picture.
A few observations
1. When you ask for water in a restaurant, they serve it boiling hot. The first time I reached for my glass and picked it up, I'm pretty sure I let out a "what the fuck?". I learned that lesson the hard way
2. Chinese girls love taking photos of themselves, usually with the two finger peace sign, or some other pose. I spent 15 minutes on our tour bus in Qingdao watching one of the girls take photo after photo, until she got the right one. And yes, I was so tempted to photo bomb.
3. Despite the government attempting to stop people spitting in public (they did a massive advertising campaign leading up to the Bejing Olympics), people still do it. There is nothing like seeing an attractive girl on the street, and then watching her hock up a loogie.
4. The car horn has replaced the indicator in China. The car horn is such a powerful device. Chinese drivers use it to change lanes ("beep", I'm coming over), to warn a pedestrian/cyclists/other motorist that they are within 50 metres of them ("beep", I'm behind you), 0.00001 seconds after a traffic light turns green, they will give you a toot ("beep", the light turned green 0.00002 seconds ago) and my favourite they use it to merge into traffic (Perth drives, take note).
5. Chinese men have mistaken underwear for swimwear. Walking along Qingdao beach on Sunday, I was surprised at the amount of men who were wearing their underwear on the beach. Now it doesn't take a genius, but when your underwear gets wet, it tends to "cling" to your body. Need I say anymore...
6. They love the "close door" button on lifts. My boss even mentioned this to me last week, that as soon as someone walks out of a lift, everyone reaches for the close door button. So, when riding a lift and you're getting on or off, don''t hesitate.
How strange is the boiling water?? Apparently they've been taught that mixing cold drinks with hot meals is bad for the stomach. Something about causing digestive problems, hot water apparently aids in digestion.
ReplyDeleteYou may also come across a sort of hot tea drink too...although it doesn't taste or look like tea? Anyway, keep up the blog mate, I'm loving it!