Entries Tagged 'trip prep' ↓

Online now getting ready for the holiday, searching flights on Ctrip.com and browsing photos on flickr. So many beautiful places!

This week my bike got messed up. Argh!

It wasn’t quite this bad:

It was parked outside Salvador’s Coffee Shop on Wednesday night (while we were having July 4th festivities) and someone managed to smash into it, bending the front tire to hell. Since it wouldn’t turn, I had to lift the front end and wheel it home on the back tire. Bruised my arm up in the process. Thursday I took the bus, and then Friday morning I dropped the bike off at the fancy bike shop on 一二一 (Yi1 Er4 Yi1) across from main gate of 师大 (Shi1 Da4). I ended up paying an exorbitant 50元 for the repair, but oh well. Anyway, it’s fixed now.

Well, next week is the end of classes. Sounds like our remaining class time will be used learning Mahjong and discussing some Chinese history. Only two of us are taking the exam, so our teacher sent it home with us to complete at our leisure. Yeah, 东方 (Dong1 Fang1) isn’t exactly the pinnacle of rigorous Chinese language learning institutions.

Photo by Cybergabi.

Ok, I didn’t mean to scare you. The last couple of posts have generate an enormous wave of anxiety-filled questions. I just want to make it clear (Mom, Dad, and Jeremy’s Ma) that everywhere we stay will have a Western toilet. You will be able to sit on the porcelin, just don’t flush the paper. No other rules or troubles. We will bypass the squat toilet and all of your related questions about the procedures and methods. Calm down.

Mom asks:

Why is this the year of the Golden Pig?

Well, you know about the Chinese zodiac, so you understand pig part, but what you might not have known is that each year also has a related element: metal, water, wood, fire, and soil. This year is fire. Here’s a nice chart.

Mom also asks:

If someone was born in January would they be born in the year of the pig or the dog? How do January and February birthdays figure out which Chinese year they were born in?

The new year that begins February 18 uses a lunar calendar. So, just like Easter lands on a different day (of our regular calendar) every year, so will the Chinese New Year. Therefore it’s difficult to determine what Chinese year you were born in if you were a February baby without going back and examining both calendars. Here’s someone who’s done that for you.

Sarah asks:

…they don’t kill & eat pigs in honor of the year of the pig, right?

Um, I’m sure some people eat pork for the new year. Are you picturing some kind of elaborate sacrifice ritual? Or maybe church-picnic-style pig roasting on a spicket? No, I don’t think that happens.

Dad asks:

I read about the painting the ground thing. Kind of odd. How far away is that?

Hm… still looking into this one.

[UPDATE: According to gokunming.com, Fumin County is "about 40 kilometers northwest of Kunming."]

americanstandard-1.jpg

Originally uploaded by jstarrdewar.

Ok, while we’re on gross-out subjects… I have to prepare you for something important before you visit me in Kunming.

China’s bathroom technology has really progressed in recent years. First there was indoor plumbing and then bathrooms. Even so, you can still find apartments without these luxaries — so public toilets and showers are commonly available outside older apartment complexes.

On your visit here, you may not have to deal with public showers, but you may find yourself at a public toilet once or twice. These are unpleasant places: smelly and not so private. You usually have to pay 1 mao (1/10th of 1 RMB = $0.01), and if you forgot to bring your own, you may be able to purchase an overpriced pack of toilet paper for 1 RMB ($0.12).

You may already know about “squat” toilets. These are either holes or troughs that you squat over to use the toilet. All public toilets will be like this. The only exception to this rule is the token “western” toilet (the traditional throne) in the ladies room at the airport or sometimes at a university.

Most restaurants and coffee shops will not have a toilet. When cafes or bars have toilets, they are for urination (pee, number 1) only. You cannot poo (poop, crap, shit, number 2) in these toilets. There are often amusing signs informing you about this in multiple languages, threatening enormous fines for violators of this (very important) rule.

No matter where you go — outside of our home and your hotel room, you must carry toilet paper with you. It’s available at any convenience store in handy little packets.

Ok. Now here’s the bad part: You cannot flush toilet paper. Really. Not allowed anywhere. Not at the hotel, not at our house, not at the airport. The plumbing is just not good enough and you will instantly have a toilet running over. Yuck. Used toilet paper must be put in the trashcan beside the toilet. Wrapping is advised, but is a courtesy not always practiced in public bathrooms.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents’ upcoming visit. Kunming, China is a long way from their small Michigan city in the U.S. While it’s important to warn them about the differences, I don’t want to inflate the “foreignness” of life in Kunming. But with their visit in mind, I’ve once again begun to notice things that jarred me when I first arrived.

• Personal Space. Even when the street is not crowded, people will inexplicably bump into each other. Rarely do you hear someone excuse themselves in this kind of situation. Cars and bikes follow a similar pattern of winding and weaving down an empty street only to screech their brakes at the last moment to avoid the lone pedestrian crossing the road.
• Smoking. Smoking is permitted in a lot more places here than in the U.S. You can smoke in most stores and businesses. The idea of a non-smoking section in almost any restaurant is laughable. You can’t smoke on the public buses, but sometimes it’s tolerated on long-distance transportation. On trains, for instance, you’ll see people smoking in between cars or sometimes in the cars themselves. In Kunming smoking is especially bad because cigarettes are a local industry. However, it is considered a man’s vice, and when women light up in a public place they get plenty of stares.
• Spitting. People spit here. And although anyone will tell you it’s rude, you can’t go anywhere without someone making that deep, guttural sound before spitting something terrible on the sidewalk beside you. Often they aim for the gutter, but not always.
• Watch Your Step! So, of course, when walking down the street, you will have to dodge those spit wads. Also, watch out for dog poo. Small dogs are very popular here, and although people are generally responsible about tending after their dogs, there are plenty of strays without cleanup crews.
• The Squat. People of all ages can be seen perched on a curb, step, or sidewalk in a squatting position. There is nothing precarious or unstable about this position and it seems to be a comfortable alternative to merely standing.
• The Mother-Child Squat. Sometimes you’ll see a person squatting with a child hovered over a gutter. The adult is usually whistling a clear, high pitch in attempt to coax the child into peeing or pooing. Occasionally you’ll even see kids of 3 or 4 squatting down by themselves to pee or poo in the gutter. Ew!
• Sneezing. You do not say “bless you” or anything else after someone sneezes.
• Coughing. People don’t usually cover their mouths when they cough.
• Toothpicks. Toothpicks are popular, but are used by discreetly cupping one hand around your mouth while manipulating the toothpick with the other.
• Ear Cleaning. You’ll see friends helping each other clean their ears. This intimate act is often performed between girlfriends and boyfriends. Usually they use a long metal instrument designed for the purpose, but occasionally they’ll use their house keys.
• Shoving. Standing in line might seem like the ideal way of waiting your turn, but besides banks (where there is uncharacteristic law and order) people in Kunming don’t like to wait their turn. Mob scenes are common even at a relatively empty convenient store. You’ll be waiting behind someone paying for their items when *bam* someone has reached around you to slam their items on the counter and throw money at the cashier. This is not always tolerated, but it happens. Some cashiers have the magic power of ringing two people up at once, so she can quickly accept the money from the crazy impatient person and simultaneously ring up your items. Shoving also happens routinely at bus stops, where elbowing your way through is the preferred method of getting on board. In any case, shoving is usually rewarded behavior, but expressing shock and dismay can occasionally cower people into waiting their turn.
• Thank you! In Mandarin, “thank you” is translated as 谢谢. (The pinyin is “xiè xiè” and is pronounced “sheh sheh” with each syllable inflected down, as if you were finishing a sentence.) Although 谢谢 ostensibly means “thank you” the use isn’t exactly the same. You needn’t say “thank you” here as often as you do in the U.S. It can even be considered rude to over-use the word, especially with people close to you. For example, you would never say 谢谢 to your mother for making dinner. The implication is (a) that she’s doing something that’s you didn’t think she could do and (b) that you have a formal guest-host relationship. However, because Westerners tend to say “thank you” to everything, it’s become kind of trendy to use it more often. I still find it impossible to break the habit of saying “谢谢” all over the place.

All that said, Kunming is very good to me and I’m not complaining at all. The people I know here to a greater or lesser degree have similar thoughts about these things — not only foreigners, but also people from Kunming and from other places in China. These are just some small examples of the culture clash I’ve experienced. Sometimes things are annoying or strange or disgusting, but you quickly learn to let go. You become immune. Mostly immune.