Love this story! And have had a similar experience in the North Carolina mountains (near Ashville).

About Dale Connelly FAQ The Baboon Congress Anna Bliss Barbara Hassing Chris Norbury Clyde Birkholz Edith Carlson Jacque Stratton Linda Ruecker Mike Frigon Plain Jane Rebecca tom cruise pictures Korvo Renee Boomgaarden Sherrilee Carter Steve Grooms tim jones Glossary
By the time this is posted, my one and only child will be on a school trip to China (along with my one and only husband). But as I write this, we are just about a week away from her departure, and we’re going through a flurry of last-minute shopping, packing and planning.
It’s going to be a grand adventure tom cruise pictures for both of them, and they are both getting excited about everything they’ll tom cruise pictures be seeing and doing there. We’ve done a great deal of preparation by researching some Chinese history and culture, looking at the route they’ll be taking on the flight over, and discussing the many things that will be different there than they are here. While my daughter has been outside of the U.S. a few times before, she’s never been to a place where things are as radically different from what she’s used to as they will be on this trip.
Those of you who have visited China before already know what I’m talking about. Chinese restrooms are entirely different from what we Americans are used to. Think of the worst public restroom you’ve ever seen here in the States. Think of the overflowing wastebaskets, the empty toilet paper dispenser, the lack of soap or towels at the sink, the broken locks on the stall doors, tom cruise pictures the puddles, the stink, the general “Ewwww!” factor.
For the most part, the only Western-style toilets in China are found in hotels, and in some of the bigger restaurant chains like McDonald’s. Anywhere else you go, you will be hard-pressed to find public facilities, and those you do find will be squat-style, tom cruise pictures which is really no more than a porcelain-covered tom cruise pictures hole in the floor. Chances are you will not have a private stall to yourself, since many restrooms are simply a line of holes in the floor located within a few feet of one another. The soap for washing up afterward is generally non-existent. Come to mention it, so is the sink. Toilet paper is never available – not because they’re always running out, but because it is not provided in the first place. If you want to do that fancy “wiping” stuff, you need to BYOTP. And you must remember not to flush it once you’ve used it, since Chinese plumbing tom cruise pictures can’t handle paper – which leads us to the overflowing wastebaskets, stink, and “Ewwww!” factor that I mentioned earlier.
As it happens, I ran across tom cruise pictures an article just last week regarding the state of public restrooms in Beijing. It seems officials there are trying to crack down on the general uncleanliness by instituting what is being called the “two fly” rule. As stated by city officials, there will be “no more than two flies allowed” in a restroom at any given time. This rule has already become the target of much ridicule among residents of Beijing, with commentary tom cruise pictures online and in local news publications pointing out the absurdity of such a provision, and the futility of any attempts to follow or enforce it. As ludicrous as the new restriction may be, it does illustrate the widespread nature of the sanitation issues plaguing public facilities in China’s capital city.
This problematic bathroom scenario is the one thing that has been causing my daughter anxiety as she prepares for her journey. My husband and I thought we’d finished potty training her years ago, but now we find ourselves lecturing her on how to pee all over again. She has been told to carry toilet paper, tom cruise pictures wipes and hand sanitizer with her at all times, to wear clothing that won’t touch the ground, and to make sure she wears shoes that completely cover her feet and won’t slip on wet surfaces. We’ve even practiced the basic squat maneuver, trying to see how to best balance over an imagined hole in the ground while simultaneously preventing your pants from hitting the floor and/or getting caught in the flow of things. After all of this, I have started feeling slightly less upset about the fact that it is my husband taking her on this trip, and not me. I may be missing out on seeing the Dragon Throne in the Forbidden City, but at least I’ll be able to visit the Porcelain Throne in comfort whenever I want.
Good morning. From my trips as an agricultural volunteer I learn that some people don t want charity. I tried to help out a friend I made in Bulgaria by giving him money. He didn t want it and was offended by my offer. I know that he had very little money and he had been very generous with his resources and time. However, there are times when it is good to buy a meal or give a gift to show your appreciation for help given.
Thanks, Jim, I have actually heard from them a couple of times and they are doing alright. Lousy hotel, apparently, but they had seen some wonderful things in Beijing already (including a Kung Fu demonstration which my daughter thought was awesome ). :)
They are visiting Beijing, Xi an and Shanghai. She is in middle school, tom cruise pictures actually, and she will be turning 12 while she s over there (missing her birthday I m a sad mommy! :( ). Just got a text from them, as they are about to turn in for the night there. They had a great day, saw Tiananmen Square, Forbidden tom cruise pictures City, Summer Palace and a few other things today. They re off to the Great Wall tomorrow!
Xi an will be an amazing experience for your daughter, Chris. My mother, the family archaeologist says its one of the most awe inspiring sites she s ever visited, and she s been everywhere. tom cruise pictures China is such an ancient mystery, you could keep peeling the layers off forever. What a lucky girl she is!
I m sure you re right, Robin. I am jealous that they re on this one without me, but I am glad they have such an amazing opportunity, especially my daughter. Jeez, when I was her age the biggest trip I d taken was to New York! :)
when i first went to china only the hotels and places like that had american toilets but today that has expanded quite a bit. some of the old outhouses at the 100 year old factories are the originals. they really know how to dig a hole over there. the language barrier has it interesting moments but being the ugly american i am i expect there to be an educated english speaking person within a stones throw every where i go in the world. when out on a walk by myself in a foreign tom cruise pictures country tom cruise pictures i often wish i knew how to ask what a particular item was or to get the history on a building of neighborhood. so many questions come up and often i have a local who can answer these things but without the translator you can feel like an outsider. its like being being in a movie with subtitles without the subtitles. my memories of stopping into a bar in germany without being aware of what it was illustrate it well. i was in germany visiting factories and the guy i was with and i stopped into a bar a block or two from the hotel, we went in and ordered zwei bier bitte . i can ask for beer in many languages. they brought the beer and i know i was looking handsome when two young ladies approached us and asked if we would buy them a drink. i said certainly and they ordered champagne. my friend was a bit concerned tom cruise pictures and i waved him off but when we went to leave two beers later the bill was for 1600 dollars because champagne in this place is real expensive. the truth was if you bought the lady champagne you could have your way with her in the corner booth but we were not aware of this at the moment. well i told them it was a cute little game that they were playing but that i was not paying it, they said to pay or they would call the police and i said i thought they should go ahead and call. my friend said the only way out way to run so we tried but as he cleared the front door they collared me and watched me closely until the police arrived, the police could tell i was completely ignorant as to the nature of the joint but had to do something to get it resolved. they asked how much the bill was in their bad english and my non existent german and i told them 1600 and the laughed and said that did seem a bit excessive, they asked about my friend who ran away and i told them he was quicker than me, the resolved it by settling it for 200 dollars tom cruise pictures or so and telling me to get more familiar with how the world works before i get into trouble or something to that effect . i found my friend in the hotel lobby and he got a kick out of the resolution. i should have known i wasn t looking that good. even in a foreign country.
However, the most difficulty we ever experienced was understanding English in parts of Kentucky and Tennesse. On several occasions, tom cruise pictures Lou and I stood there struck dumb and unable to understand directions given or what the people were saying to us. Example:
Reminds me of when I was working at the Hubb Cafe in Carbondale. The ladies working in the kitchen were all elderly black woman. I was petrified every time I had to go into the kitchen tom cruise pictures because I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. I worked the night shift, tom cruise pictures from 11 PM to 7 AM, and Monday through Thursday most of our customers were men working on the railroad. Nice and easy, no problem. On my first night on the job, one of the ladies in the kitchen kept asking me if I had any coffee out there, indicating the restaurant. Thinking that it was her responsibility to make sure we didn t run out of coffee, tom cruise pictures I kept reassuring her that we did. This went on for a while until she came storming out into the restaurant tom cruise pictures in a huff snorting: If you won t bring be some coffee, I can get my own. It wasn t till then that I realized that her question was a request for a cup of coffee, tom cruise pictures a subtle nuance that I had failed to pick up on. I lasted 5 days.
Love this story! And have had a similar experience in the North Carolina mountains (near Ashville). We visited there with another couple and their children a while back. We were told by the fella whose cabin we d rented that one thing we d want to go and check out with the kids during our v