Went out to spoil myself tonight and did so rightly. Had my hair washed tonight as it needed to be washed and I just couldn't bring myself to do it in cold water. Had an hour massage 70 rmb, a really nice meal, 45 rmb and also my hair washed and finger dried for 40 rmb. All total 155 rmb, and China doesn't do tipping even though I still did, so add 15 rmb in tips and the grand total for a wonderful evening was 170 rmb or right under $30 as the exchange rate is 6 rmb to $1. Now, this part of China I can do. Just think, this whole evening experience cost the same as 4 avocados! Oh, talk about being a stranger in a strange land. I enter the beauty parlor for a hair wash. We all understand the word 'shampoo' and so I think I've communicated. But the lady leads me to a chair nowhere near a sink. She then proceeds to wrap two towels around me, one in front and one in back. Next she goes to put some creamy lotion looking stuff on my hair. By now I am sure we've miss communicated and I ask what that stuff is. She looks surprised and says 'shampoo'. She then proceeds to put the shampoo on the crown of my head and adds a little water from a bottle with a pouring spout. This procedure continues until my entire head of hair is totally covered in shampoo. She then gathers up the extra shampoo from my head as if she was going to wring my hair out, takes the extra form to a trash can and deposits it. She comes back to me and starts the whole procedure over again. I'm wondering how she is going to get the shampoo out since no sink is in sight. However, once she gets done massaging my scalp while shampooing, she leads me to a sink in a totally different area. Comfy lounge chairs for sure, and quite different than at home, for the rinsing of the hair in the sink. Felt great to feel warm water on my head. Sounds weird, but ever so nice. Then she wraps my head in a towel like an Arab sheik and leads me back to the original chair. There she massages the area around my ears, uses Q-tips to clean the outer ears and hunt for wax in the inner ear. Next comes a full shoulder massage before she calls over the man who will blow dry my hair. I shake my head when I see a tiny brush and he immediately catches on and runs his fingers through the hair while blow drying it. Great experience. Next-door was the massage parlor. Here you stay fully dressed while being massaged. You are invited to change into loose clothing first, which they provide or stay in your own. The majority of the massage was on my neck, then my backside. Only my head was done once I rolled over onto my back. So relaxing. And one can't argue with the price.
Have had 3 short Chinese lessons. The 3rd one was a wash as the room was so loud and the teacher so soft spoken that I literally couldn't hear some of the sounds she was making. They have an up sound, a down sound, a flat sound and a down and up sound. Those are the intonations one makes when speaking a world. The written Chinese has those symbols for you so that you know what intonations to make. But, when I am struggling with what things look like on the page, versus these extra clues, I'm still clueless. Eventually am sure it'll help. I have learned how to say some things phonetically and am putting everything into my own spellings so that I can remember how to say them. I can share some Chinese with you already; at least so you can say it right. Their word for hello sounds like knee-how, thank you is xiéxie, one of the few that I can spell and sounds like say-a-shay. The number one sounds like our E and number two sounds just like R. So 1, 2 is E, R. Now the tricky part comes. When counting something they use different sounds for the numbers 1 and 2, so you have to think am I counting how many of something I have or just saying a number as in an address? I have learned how to say my address so that I can talk to taxi drivers. Also, it is important to know how to ask for a bill at a restaurant as without asking for one, none arrives. Chinese are too polite to rush you, so they wait for you to ask. Am clueless how it is written, but it sounds like 'my dan'.
August 18, 2008
Hi Everyone,
We were greeted with a cultural lesson on China today to help us all adjust. Here are the highlights of what we heard.
We live Shanghai which is like adding NYC and LA together culturally plus doubling that population and you have us. We live in a safe city as far as muggings and things like that go. If a crime is committed against a foreigner, the penalty is five times that if committed against a Chinese national. So all jail sentences would be five times longer. Last year a teacher was caught jaywalking and the policeman pulled him over and fined him. It was a small fine, but the policeman spoke some English and scared the teacher when he stated that he had been caught breaking the law and now he was going to be punished. So, be aware that punished means you pay a fine and not to jay walk as they take that seriously. You must use a crosswalk. The ticket was 5 rmb, or just under a dollar!
The Bund, which is a really modern upscale area of town, name translates to mean swampy soil, as that is what it was built on. This is an Indian word as all guards at banks were initially Sheik Indians. The tallest building in the world is currently under construction in The Bund.
The underlying drive in China is to resume the stature the country once held. Until this last century China always held the distinction of having the largest GNP. They want to resume their place of being the center of world culture. The name for them translates as Middle Country. (I immediately thought of Tolkien’s Middle Earth people) Their name for the US translates as 'beautiful country'. Now in slang that same word that is used for the US translates as 'dork' as in bookish, nerdy, dorks.
Beijing is set up with Tiananmen Square being the center of the city and concentric roads go out from there. Shanghai is not set up in circles with their roads as it was built to be the business center of China. China wants to hold onto their traditions as they move forward. They feel as though they are the underdogs right now and have to work harder. The US is the top dog right now, but the goal is to resume that position once again.
The Great Depression was short in the US compared to the famine in China that lasted 340 years. That famine is when Chinese started eating dogs, lizards, and anything else that moved, and has carried that forward today. BTW I went out to lunch with colleagues today and we order by pointing to pictures. One of them was very surprised today when the meat he had ordered from the picture ended up being dog. In 1960 another year of starvation occurred, but this time it was due to political decisions.
In China there are certain topics that polite people don't initiate. However, if others do, then it is okay to discuss. Politics is one of these topics as it is considered to not be an open topic. Another one is not to ever ask a pregnant lady if she is having a boy or a girl as that is forbidden by law to know ahead of time due to the attached stigma. They have a national holiday here in the spring called Tomb Sweeping Day, when the son goes and sweeps the tombs of all of his ancestors. If you have a daughter than all of those tombs no longer get swept which is bad. Some Chinese will go to Hong Kong to have the sex of the baby determined, as there they will tell, but not Mainland China. One of the things Chinese people do ask soon after asking how a person is doing is how much money they make. This is considered standard and not rude. Outside of the big cities in China, the average person makes the equivalent of $125 a month. The most expensive city to live in is Beijing with Shanghai a close second. However, the wealthiest people in China are attracted to Shanghai as it is the business center of China. At New Year's time, it is customary to give your employee's an extra month's salary. So, if we have an I-E, then be prepared to give no more than and no less than one month's salary to them in a red envelope.
Oh, they teach Tibet has always been a part of China and it was never separate. There was an uprising last year, but it was squelched quickly. The students did the uprising. The Chinese leaders stated that if anyone's students were found protesting that the teacher would lose their job. So the teachers went to the site of the demonstration and told all of their students to stop. It was immediately stopped, as students did not want their teachers to lose their jobs.
In the small stalls where one can bargain for everything, typically offer 20% of the initial price that you are given, and then negotiate for no more than 40% of the initial price you were quoted. In stores, even Best Buy, you can barter for up to 10% off or getting some 'extra treats' with your purchase.
It used to be that as a foreigner you didn't have to follow the Chinese laws but the last legislature put a stop to that and stated that everyone needed to follow all of the laws. Get used to being starred at, even though they will attempt to be discreet about it. We look different than they do and are a curiosity item, so they are going to look. BTW: I've noticed people glancing, but it doesn't seem to be much of a problem really, especially after being really stared at in Bangladesh this summer. Great preparation there for here, not only for being stared at, but all those stairs we climbed. : ) Yeah Courtney.
If you are in a taxi and it gets in an accident, you must stay until the police arrive and then bare witness before the police will dismiss you.
If you need a hospital go to Huashan Hospital (said wah-shawn hospital) as it is attached to a University as a teaching college and is also the number one hospital in the country. They have an ex-pat wing where doctors speak English! Now we'd pay ex-pat prices for our services, but many of the doctors there come from the States, so it'd be like going to a hospital at home. Huashan Hospital is the most famous hospital in all of China, and our school insurance works there (added bonus).
Avoid street vendors selling meat on a skewer, as that meat is old and left over from restaurants. It is also typically dog or lizard. Other items sold by street vendors are great. The food item that looks like a huge Hersey's Kiss made out of dough has liquid inside and it is hot. When you know how to take a small bite from the side of the kiss shape, and drink the liquid, then the Chinese are impressed. Guess they get a laugh out of watching the rest of us react.
That is it for our lecture today. Oh, today my I-E worked for the first time. She basically ironed all of my clothes that were still wrinkled from the suitcase. She is going to do my shopping too, so I don't have to make a special trip to the store now for toilet paper. She also indicated that she needed money for cleaning supplies as my place looked too empty. She asked for $35 to purchase supplies. The other teachers at school talked me into getting her 2 times a week instead of just one. That way she can do laundry one day, and leave it to dry and then come back and iron it another day. I watched her use the machine and now know which buttons to push to get a good wash, yeah for small favors.
