Random Things about China: Volume II

I thought it was about time to publish some more interesting tidbits I've noticed while being here.

1. This one kind-of adds to the women not changing their names. Women and men here have such a sense of equality. Rarely will there be a stay-at-home mother, because women like having their independence. The cool thing? The men seem to be totally ok with it! The women I know work so much the men have got to help out in house with chores. From what I've heard, this attitude has been in place since the Cultural Revolution. Funny thing, huh? The Communist Party means equality for ALL, not just all upper class men.

2. Women get six months off for maternity leave. That's so cool!

3. I can't believe that I haven't really really mentioned this yet, but the people here are so nice! With the exception of a few not-so-friendly cab drivers, everyone here is just so friendly. The general attitude of the people here reminds me of what I would find in the south in the U.S. Everyone smiles and is friendly. We've been treated to so many meals and shown great hospitality while being here. It's like I'm a movie star! Everyone I've gotten to know hopes that, "we can stay friends forever."

4. Toasting is a big deal at mealtimes. Everyone wants to toast and it's a sign of happiness and friendship. Also, the person who is older or has the higher status's glass should be higher when touching glasses. So, often times there will be small battles to get your glass lower to show respect when people are toasting. I've had some pretty important people toast lower to me and it's been really awkward.

5. I remember going to Joy Yee in Chicago and loving the huge picture menus. Well, all the menus in China are huge picture menus! It's awesome! I love seeing the food that I'm going to be eating. Some fancy places even take it to the next level and have the food out on display and you can walk around and point to what you want to eat. For meat and fish, you can choose your unfortunate victim.

6. Karaoke (KTV as they call it here) is really fun when you do it like the Chinese! Instead of being in a big room where everyone can see you, groups of friends get a small private room. It's really fun when you don't have to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of strangers. Here we are all singing the official 2008 Beijing Olympics song "One World, One Dream"