Hanging out in Hangzhou

Day 5 - LongJing Tea and much more

Oh the joys of a non-Western society. I am so entrenched in the American
way of doing things that I forget other cultures do things differently. So,
today, rather than write about my class, I present to you: The things I miss
(besides friends and family of course!)

Bathrooms. I have yet to use the "hole in the floor" bathroom. It
just...weirds me out. These are still used pretty much everywhere, but the
American style of toilet is in use much more now.

My bed. No. A bed with a mattress. At first, I thought a prank was being
pulled on me -- quite the contrary! - I don't sleep on the floor! My bed is
this wooden frame with -- strong matting in the middle. Covered nicely by a
comforter-looking garment (which is pretty by the way). On top of that
there is this bamboo-ish covering. I'm confused. I want my nice comfy
bed. There is no give to the bed sadly. Hmmm.

Air conditioning. I have it. It is a luxury here, yes. BUT - I have 3 of
them. One for each room. Maintaining a constant temperature is extremely
difficult. I'm usually up 3 times a night turning one or the other on and
off. We are so spoiled in America to have central AC.

Food. Buffalo wings and real beer, how do I miss thee? ;) The food is
pretty good really -- if I knew how to order the correct things. I've
eaten pretty much everything you could ever imagine -- dumplings - they may
seem fun in America, they are fun here -- but -- SURPRISE! You don't know
what meat you are getting! ;) I close my eyes, dip it in the vinegar and
soy sauce and down the hatch. I've given up the pretension about eating
something weird (even though I skipped the chicken feet). My mate, Guy,
said he received some glass chunks in his street vended food the other day.
As is life. It is an adventure, right?

Drinks. Beer. I miss Colorado and its 4000 beers. I've settled into a
life of Bud Ultra, Heineken, Tsing Tao, and Carlsburg. All very light,
very unflavorful beers (in my opinion). Ordering a mixed drink takes
patience - for some reason they think Americans are supermen(women) and we
have ended up with some amazingly strong drinks - scorches the mouth. Oh.
They don't have Diet Coke either (or any diet soda that I can find). Plus,
the bottled tea is hit or miss -- The Oolong cold tea - ICK. The green cold
tea - not so bad. This other one in a bluish bottle - Good!

Oh. And don't drink water from the tap. Bu hao!

A real shower. I won't go into this too much, but let's say - Figuring out
the hot water heater was funny. Now I have intensely hot water. =) But
still no shower curtain. I think I'm going to see if Guy and Zena will let
me shower at their place once. They have a glassed in shower.

Clothing. *shakes head* I brought 2 shirts with me, hoping to buy some
here. If you didn't know already, I'm a large man. (my fitted shirt size
is 17-17 1/2 and 37/38) Chinese people are small. OK. Really small.
Lily (the training center's webmaster) took me shopping and -- I wear at
least a 3X, if not 4X here (XL-XXl in America). They don't make 4X. =(
I must find more shopping.

All in all, I love it. Sure, these things could be "better", but it is
part of the cultural experience. =) Time to go see the very nice
produce lady and get some "yang mei" -- there are no American/English words
for it -- kind of like a Poplar Tree Berry. =) about $0.25 for 1/2
pound. =)

I have class in a bit, I'll post more later this evening.

posted by Mike @ 8:01 AM