Three Favorites and Three Dislikes

While I was in Hangzhou my co-worker asked me three things I liked best and three things I did not like about China thus far. So I will be sharing her list and mine.

My favorites
1. Inexpensive. Everything in China is cheap! It is about 7 USD to 1 RMB. A meal costs between 20-40 RMB which is about 2 to 5 US dollars! Amazing! I just got a haircut for 98 RMB which included a scalp massage, it is 15 USD. *cue tears of gratitude*

2. Architecture. I love architecture and I can not get over the buildings that look "Chinese" with the slanted roofs and red doors with big Chinese characters written on them. They are beautiful. Plus many places try to practice feng shui which is a decorating style the Chinese invented. It states you need earth, water, and four directions in a house or living area to create a peaceful environment (there is a lot more to it but that is the most dumbed down version I can think of). My courtyard has a pond, trees, and four exits which is convenient for pick up for work and gives me a nice place to relax.

3. My co-workers. The people I work with are kind and understanding and have helped me, a first year teacher, a lot. They provide feedback everyday and let me know what went well and what needs improvement and their ideas on that. They compliment me a lot too. :)

Dislikes
1. BONES. I hate eating meat with bones in them. This was mentiond in a previous post but it truly irks me to no end when I bite into a meal and have to chew carefully in case I choke on feather thin bones.

2. Hygine. This is a western idea for sure and I am trying to accept it more but it is really hard wired into me. People spit on everything here from the phlegm in their throats. It is yucky. When we were in Leifeng Pagoda a guy straight up spat a booger onto the marble floor and no one batted an eye. I have been told that younger people don't do this as often and the culture is changing but for now it is gross.
Part two to this is that hand soap is not in every bathroom. I knew this before and packed hand sanitizer for this reason. It is used often. When I go eat street food I make sure they use tools; not sure when they may have washed their hands with actual soap and water.

3. Not being able to read. There is no alphabet in many Eastern languages so when I order food or see a sign I take a picture, translate it, write my translation, and give it to my waiter/waitress. I have been taking pictures of food that I like so I can show it to restuarants so they can make it.

Co-workers Favorites.
1. Co -workers. (You da best!)

2. Cheap.

3. Food. My co-worker loves the food here and enjoys the spice and noodles. There is even a "spice capitol" in China which I do not plan on seeing. I have a very low spice tolerance. My co-worker loves it.

Co-workers Dislikes
1. Internet. If you do not know, there is something called The Great Fire Wall of China. No western websites are allowed which inclue Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Blogger. How do I get access to Blogger you ask? VPN. A VPN is a way to get around the firewall and get access to these websites. The government has a fire wall so citizens will use Chinese sites and help their economy. This Februrary any Chinese based VPNs will no longer exist, but foreign ones are okay. The US government website states that the Chinese understand that foreigners want to keep using their websites and are fine with us using  it. Even then, sometimes my internet will mysteriously stop working when using VPN. Hence my spotty coverage.

2. Pollution. Right now we are in a yellow zone for pollution which means you may or may not need a mask, depending on your preference. There are four levels-green (good), yellow (okay), orange (bad), red (super bad), and purple (TOXIC). Everyone wears breathing masks here. I have noticed that I get sinus problems at least once a week. I brought my neti pot (something to clean out sinuses) with me from the USA and man, I am glad I did. Right now it is fall and mostly been in the yellow zone. Winter it gets to be red zone more often.
Also the water is not safe to drink unless filtered or boiled. (Stop arguing about saving the planet, I can see what happens when you don't care about the environment first hand!)

3. Cars. This was mentioned a while back but driving here is scary. It is a bit odd as the driving test is quite hard here but as soon as you pass you can break all the rules you want it seems. People go down the wrong way on one way roads, people park on the sidewalk, today a car almost ran me over for running a red light. I have grown more accustomed to this but my co-worker really hates it.

I hope you like this post, I may do more like this in the future!