Chinese Culture Shock

What surprises me most about living in China!

9/7/15
Newest surprise about living in China is people spitting. Yet another weird and gross thing you'll see in China is people hacking up a loogie. Men and women alike clear their throats with a giant spit out in public. Perhaps it is due to pollution or some other odd Chinese medical belief, but be prepared to hear and see someone spit anytime day or night.

8/30/15
OK, I have to get this off my chest! In China babies don't wear diapers! It is shocking but 99% of babies and toddlers go around totally naked from the waste down or they have pants with a HUGE split right up the middle. 
It is common practice for children to go ...you know... wherever they are. Parents will sometimes hold their child over a trash bin but often they just go right on the ground. Sometimes they wipe and sadly the tissue gets discarded on the ground as well. Not only does this occur outside but INSIDE TOO!!! It could be the floor of  a restaurant, the bus, elevator. You name it, it's probably been wizzed on.
It's incredibly uncomfortable walking out and about seeing babies bottoms every where you go. I suppose the practice began before disposable diapers existed and then continued due to the huge economic gap and then continued to persist due to waste management concerns. If half a billion babies started wearing Pampers, that could fill a pretty big dump..hehe see what I did there.

OK but seriously, even in the areas where people are financially well-off, you will inevitably see babies bums all over.

I couldn't bring myself to snap a picture of any poor kid, so here's some split pants thanks to Google images

8/13/15
Tonight we had a staff dinner to welcome the new teachers to Hanova International School. The school hosted a lovely banquet at the Sheraton hotel and after a warm welcome, introductions and a toast, our meal was served.
Chinese banquets are unlike anything I've ever experienced. The first two dishes were small pieces of thick sliced ham and deep fried shredded beef. The ham was closer to bacon than traditional American ham because it had excess fat. The fried shredded beef was very crunchy and interesting. The flavor was salty and spicy.

After these "appetizers", things began to arrive very quickly. On the center of the table is a huge 'Lazy Susan' or turn table. Dishes are placed on the table and served 'family style". Guests turn the table and then select some of the dish they want. Did you know there was more than one kind of tofu? I didn't until tonight. Some tofu is soft, and some is chewy and rubbery. One of the dishes was cold chicken. It had been cooked and was in some kind of sauce but it was served cold. Instead of removing the chicken meat from the bones, they simply slice or chop it up into pieces, bones and all.

There were several different kinds of seafood and fish. There was an odd creamy seafood soup, fried rice, jumbo shrimp or prawns as most other guest referred to them. they also served scallops cooked on the shell with some kind of cheese melted on top. These were one of my favorite thing.
There was also some kind of beef stew with turnips, river fish, a fungus (not mushrooms), Three different kinds of vegetables, pork dumplings, vegetarian dumplings and more, I didn't try everything but I felt proud of myself so what I did try.