One Month

It’s been one month since I’ve arrived and here are some of the things I’ve learned thus far and advice for anyone who wants to come and visit…
- Food is cheap here, eat as much as you can because you’ll burn off all the calories for the heat.

- The Chinese are good at deflecting yes and no questions so learn to read between the lines. If they say maybe then you’ll probably get what you want. If they say 'lets see what happens' then you don’t have a snowballs chance in hell. You’ll hear 'lets see what happens' a lot :-/

- If you’re ordering duck makes sure you know what the word for duck is or at least the characters because you might end up ordering something quite different. (In my defense the picture of the roast pigeon looks just like a roast duck)

- If you’re not paying an arm and leg for something its probably fake and of poor quality.

- Corrections you’re probably getting ripped off no matter how much you’re paying for something so just assume that everything and anything is fake.

- It’s amazing! A girl can walk into class dressing like a prude but is wearing sandals and everyone will treat her like she starred in a porno but when the Chinese version of Lindsey Lohan makes her entrance wearing nothing but shoes with a backing or back strap she’ll be totally ignored. Somethings I’ll never understand.

- China likes to blocks websites. If you come here for any extended time learn to use proxies.

- It rains a lot here, get an umbrella

- Try the street food it’s not bad.

- Learn to drink beer, regular coke, or hot tea because most restaurants do not have water, at least cheap water.

- If you’re a foreigner the Chinese like to stare at you. There’s nothing wrong with staring just stare back.

- While you’re gone your #5 ranked football team will precede to lose to an unknown school from the mountains. Learn how to deal with in a constructive fashion.

- And by ‘constructive fashion’ I mean not crying in the fetal position in front of your 7th grade history class.

- European soccer is huge over here. If you like it hooray, and if you don’t try picking up another hobby (sorry Zu).

- There are no movie theaters here just DVD shops that release the movie two weeks before it gets release in American theaters.

- Again that Lacoste polo that you got for $5 is probably a fake

- Most Chinese love to take with foreigners. Use this to your advantage and learn the language.

- Haggling is a way of life here. It can be a real hassle but sometimes you’ll find you actually like it. I did

- Squatting toilets are amusing for me but are not for women.

- China has some great cell phone plans. Verizon can kiss my ass

- On the other hand China’s banking system seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron

- When in China take the good, the bad and just live in the moment.