There are a number of thoughts and ideas I’ve had that either didn’t get fleshed out enough for a blog post or I just didn’t have time to address. I’ll do them below.
My intention is to do a final wrap up blog tomorrow, before we leave, and then upload the pictures to all of the blogs when I get home (I stopped trying to upload them after a while, but in many cases they make the story or add to it considerably.) If you’ve read for any reason or any amount over the last 2 weeks you’ll want to come back next week and check out the pictures! I may also upload all of my pictures and post a link to them – I’ll only use the pictures in the blogs that relate directly to them.
Warm Water
The Chinese do not drink, or serve, cold water. This is a tea culture and they are used to warm drinks at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Water is, at worst, served slightly warmer than room temperature, and at best steaming hot. Even if you do not want tea at a meal, you will get a glass of steaming hot water. Several people commented on our Western desire for cold water – something one of our hosts (a nurse!) said was bad for our stomachs and digestion. She would NEVER drink cold water – especially not in the summer. While strange for us, like everything else in this country, it is a cultural touchstone which speaks to the way they live their lives and their thousand of year old history and tradition.
The Bathroom Experience
Going to the bathroom in China is always an adventure. First, the sinks are generally outside the bathrooms, no big deal. But rarely is there any soap – even in the hospitals we have been in (!!) That’s on the way out, what about the way in? Before entering a stall, you had better check to make sure it’s not a squat toilet. The majority of toilets in public, and I imagine all in the countryside, are a porcelain hole that you squat over. (Sorry, couldn’t get a picture that wasn’t utterly disgusting…) Oh, and don’t forget to bring your own napkins or paper. It won’t be found in the bathrooms in public (airport, etc.) Finally, there’s the signage. My favorite was a green placard over a toilet in the airport that had a cartoon panda on it holding up his thumb with the caption “Aim carefully!” A common problem in general is the literal translation done by many companies when trying to add English. Chinese is a character driven language, so individual “letters” can stand for an entire thought. That’s how you end up with the following sign Estelle saw on the door of a handicap woman’s toilet – “Deformed Man Ending Place.” The mind boggles. One can only wonder.
The Traveling Experience
Flying in China is still like the old days in the States. While not a luxury, it is treated as special. Meals are served on every flight. They come by to serve you or refill dinks 3 times (on a 90 minute flight) or more.
The landing process is something passengers, apparently, don’t have time for. Every time, the plan lands and, before we have even achieved a complete 4-point landing, people are unbuckling, standing up, getting down luggage, and stepping into the aisles. And god help you if you get in their way in the aisle.
I have been in 5 airports now. I have one bag – a large one – I am traveling across the country with. It cannot be brought on, so I have checked it each time. The majority of the airports we have been in have not been large at all. It takes less than 5 minutes to get from your gate to the baggage claim. And most often are bags are on the conveyer belt within moment. The efficiency is amazing, and something we only wish for in the States.
A Job for Everyone!
China is a big country. It has an immense population (1.3 billion, and currently the largest in the world, although its population control policies will lead to India taking over that position in the next 10-20 years.) And things are tightly controlled by the government. We saw 1 homeless person during our entire journey (although we were told by many of our hosts that this issue is a fairly new and quickly growing problem.) Apparently there is a job for everyone.
You see evidence of this all over – the person whose sole job is to empty the trash cans – 20 times a day in a nearly empty building. The woman whose job it is to push the buttons on the elevator for you. The overstaffing is everywhere – if there were less than 8 stewardesses on a flight or 6 waitresses in a small restaurant, it was an anomaly. And at nice restaurants it was almost obscene – people to bring the food, people to place it on the table, people to simply refill cups, the person whose job it was to stir the dishes so they didn’t gel up… It got to feel overwhelming and almost oppressive. Were they there to watch us? Maybe we UNDERstaff in the West.
Probably not, or at least that’s what I decide after we had dinner one night with a particularly worldly host of ours. When asked what their spouse did and, with some regret and embarrassment, they told us that their spouse worked for the state run company. It was a nice job – but they only worked 2 hours a day. At least, they went in for 2 hours a day. Even then there isn’t much, or anything, for them to do. Yet their spouse doesn’t feel right not going in at all. Our host was embarrassed knowing that their spouse was being paid – by the state – to do nothing. Unfortunately, we were told, this is quite common and that a “good boss” allows this, especially since they have a baby at home. Our host was apologetic about this common practice because they had a lot of experience in the West and worked at a particularly busy job.
With so many people, and a desire to make sure they aren’t living on the streets, the option the country has taken is to employ nearly everyone, even if they don’t have anything to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment