Friday, November 17, 2006

Today is our last day in China. We’re looking forward to getting back home just in time for the UM/OSU game. I hope I’m not too tired to watch. Katie says GO BLUE!

First, though, a quick note. We’ve accomplished all of our required goals and appointments for the adoption. We now are in possession of Katie’s passport and visa (sadly, with her American name spelled incorrectly), and she is will become an American citizen after they stamp her visa in Chicago. We are incredibly happy. Now, onto our final entry from China.

We are going to jot down some random thoughts (in no particular order) about China (this is a collaborative effort between Eric, Kelly & Karen).

Baby on a motorcycle: Those of you who have been here will immediately know what I mean. In the middle of busy traffic you will see three people on a motorcycle. The baby will be sandwiched between the driver and the rear passenger. No helmet required.

Taxi rides: Again if you’ve been here no further explanation is necessary. I think this is one of those experiences that everyone should have. For three traffic lanes there are five lanes of cars, busses, bicycles, motorcycles and pedestrians (oh, and people pushing fully loaded carts). There are no apparent traffic laws, and, in Karen’s words, it is “a game of chicken.” Amazingly, it seems to work. I have not seen any accidents. I did talk to someone who saw a pedestrian bounce off a car, shake it off and keep on going. Note from Karen: I did see a bus on its side at a curve in the road, but no other vehicle seemed to be involved.

Street sweepers: They are everywhere with big brooms made of straw or sticks. Consequently, the streets and sidewalks are surprisingly clean (except for the saliva and urine puddles). The most absurd sweepers were the ones on the airport taxiways hunched over with little whiskbrooms. I wish I could have gotten a picture.

Pollution: Except for a few days in Guangzhou when we saw blue sky, the visibility is reduced to just a couple of city blocks due to the smog, smoke and soot. In Beijing the dust in the air was choking and made the city seem like some Dickensonian scene. I don’t know how the Olympic athletes are going to handle it in 2008. One of our travel group witnessed a man ride up to the edge of the river on a motorcycle, get off, and dump a bag of trash into the river. Then he tossed the bag in as well.

Smells: I can’t accurately describe them, but they change every few feet. Often, they’re quite unpleasant. Again, if you’ve been here you know what I mean.

People: For the most part I have found the average Chinese citizen to be very friendly. Many want to practice a few words of English, especially the children. A few of the old people gave us the disapproving stares but I think that is just a generational thing, and some of the older people seem very happy when they see us with the baby.

Vendors/Sellers: Similar to in America, the salespeople will tell you what you want to hear. They make up outright lies (and sometimes are embarrassed when they get caught in one) to sell their goods. There seem to be no fixed prices on anything, and everyone says they “will make you good deal” and sometimes, they actually do. Many times, however, you walk away, satisfied with your purchases until you enter the shop next door, to find your “good deal” was not so good.

Split pants: They don’t seem to be as prevalent in the Guangdong province as they were in Beijing, but maybe we’re just not hanging out in the right neighborhoods. First, it’s way too cute to see little buns peeking out behind a little kid or baby. Second, it can be pretty gross to sit down anywhere, for the obvious reasons. We’ve seen kids up to about 10 years old drop trou in public places to relieve themselves. Kinda funny, quite disgusting.

Laundry: Maybe the Chinese are doing it the right way (you know about the “ancient Chinese secrets” of getting shirts so clean – or those of you who are over 30 do!). Hanging off nearly every building (at least those near the roadways) there is always laundry drying. I wonder how clean it can be after it’s been hanging outside in the smoggy air, being surrounded by exh aust from the passing cars and trucks. Seriously, very few buildings don’t have laundry hanging off of them. I think I’ll stick to my dryer.

Food: Cantonese people eat some pretty interesting stuff. It’s said that the Cantonese will eat “anything with four legs except a table and chair,” and we believe that to be true. Walking through the market you can find nearly every type of creepy-crawly bug, insect, sea creature, fowl…almost everything you can imagine, and some you can’t. Most larger, formerly living things are completely intact when they are presented (or, in our case, when we see their picture on a menu). When we dine at local Cantonese restaurants, we let our guide, Kelly, order for us. Most of what we’ve tried has tasted okay, but we usually don’t ask too many questions about what is IN what is put in front of us.