Adventures about town....

At first it was cute, but I've reached my saturation level for bare buns of the non-matrimonial type. Apparently the invention of safety pins has not yet made it to China's shores. That's all it would take to remedy this situation. Instead, parents just lay a rectangular cloth between their child's legs and hope their split leg pants hold it in place. They don't. We were at the police station getting our visas renewed and a boy's diaper fell out, and the father felt no need to replace it. The advantage of these split leg pants is that parents save a lot of money on diapers and don't have to stress over potty training. You see, when your child is a little older, you don't switch over to underwear, they just go commando. So if your child has to go the bathroom, you just stop in the middle of the sidewalk and tell him or her to squat. Why would you find a bush to hide behind or use one of the public restrooms that can be found every 100 yards? Only when men are older, do they have to learn to operate a zipper so they can uphold the tradition of public urination. Again, on the sidewalk in plain view. A little modesty please!

So I needed to mail a package back to the States last week, and I'd already mailed some letters, so I thought this would be simple. Wrong. The China Post staffer asked "Land or Air?" Air. "EMS?" Yes, EMS. Then nothing. The last time I was in, the EMS (Chinese FedEx) guy was there picking up packages, so I knew I was in the right place. But they didn't seem to have the forms or anything. So they opened up my package to inspect the contents. Progress. Then nothing. Why ask me if I want to send it EMS, if they are unable to do so? Luckily the EMS guy came in to pick up packages waiting for him (so how did all the others get the paperwork??). Through mime, I determined I was to go with the EMS delivery man. Know that I have no cell phone, don't have Brian's number memorized if I was able to escape to a phone, and HBO has been showing "Taken" on repeat for the last two weeks. The guy seems friendly enough, but now I'm paying attention to every turn we make so I can get back to where I started from, because I'm supposed to meet Brian for dinner in twenty minutes (so at least it won't be long before he realizes I've been abducted) and envision Mr. EMS  driving me two hours to Shanghai to mail the package. In the end, he takes me to a sorting facility that clearly isn't open to the public, fills out the paperwork for me, and gives me change from his own wallet. So where the heck am I supposed to drop packages off in the future? In the end, Liam Neeson didn't need to rescue me and the package has safely arrived in the States. Thank goodness Brian and I are starting Chinese lessons Tuesdays and Thursdays! I'm sure the teacher will have lesson plans, but I'll also have lots of questions based on experiences I've had to bumble through so far!

Lastly, a photo in honor of my dad's upcoming retirement from his veterinary practice:

It's a long one!

So, I didn’t plan well, and came to China already desperately in need of a haircut. It took me so long to find a stylist in Boston that I liked, that I was really nervous about having someone I’m not yet capable of communicating with, cut my hair. Three days in a row Brian left for work with me telling him “I’m going to get a haircut today!” Finally, I walked two doors down, armed with a picture of the haircut I wanted and took the plunge.  I’ll admit, the first 30 minutes I was really scared after the young guy with the beginnings of Howard Hughes nails made some horribly blunt chops with kitchen shears, but in the end it turns out I’d worried for nothing. The best part is, it was only $3!!!! The first week here I’d just been going around in a baseball cap, figuring, I’m not going to run in to anyone I know, so why bother gussying up? But I tell you, that $3 haircut got me feeling all spunky, like a good haircut tends to do, and I’m feeling like this town is my oyster! No more lazy days lady! (Even though they were great!) But it’s time to get out and explore!

We’ve had several great meals so far. There’s a fantastic Korean restaurant we went to with Brian’s office. And we found a Japanese restaurant just around the corner where we had sushi and drinks last night. (Don’t worry mom and dad, it’s been 24 hours and we aren’t sick, so the fish probably didn’t come out of the Yangtze!) And Brian’s boss took us to a tea house/bar in the middle of a beautiful park that I’m eager to go back to with my camera. In fact, there have been several missed photo ops just running around town doing errands, so I vow to always carry my camera with me in the future. Sadly, I can’t show you pictures of the soldiers with huge guns randomly patrolling the entrance to the grocery store. Nor can I show you Chinese street cleaning—on my way to the haircut, water trucks drove by spraying down our street—a very busy 4 lane road. On my way back from the haircut, 5 men were in the middle of the street with brooms scrubbing the road! The omnipresent smog makes the city look and feel pretty dingy, but they seem to work hard at keeping it tidy. Right now gardeners are planting flowers (and using HIDEOUS smelling fertilizer) at the many parks and large squares, so hopefully spring is on its way!

I went to Brian’s office at the shipyard on Friday and watched a ship launch with him. It wasn’t for his company, but it was interesting to watch nevertheless.  Just the hull was built in a slipway (a big ramp that can slide in to the water) and we watched them slide it out into the river. It was amazing how quickly it happened. The shipyard is huge and it is one of many in Jiangyin. The Yangtze is absolutely filled with ships coming and going. As the ship was being launched there were tiny rowboats crowding around to watch—I can only imagine the safety precautions if this were to happen in the States! Also reminded me of Darcy taking our little Hobie Cat out on Lake Shasta and getting too close to the dam and the security going nuts waving her off because the flood gates were open…. But in Jiangyin, if you want to row your 6’ homemade rowboat right behind 45,000 tons of steel, you go right ahead! I’m sending photos and a video to Darcy so she can post them here for me. Thanks Darc!

Lost in Translation:
 - "Soiled dish in a pot" (item menu at the Japanese restaurant last night)   
 - A store around the corner named HoLike  (I guess we have to go inside to determine if this is or isn’t lost in translation???)