Some cultural musings....

Just a couple different/unusual/mind-blowing things I've noticed in the past 12 days....

• You know the expression, "the world is your oyster"? Well, when you're a Chinese kid being potty-trained, the WORLD is your TOILET. Forbidden City? Sure, no problem...almost walked into a little girl's, um. pee stream (???sorry, that's kinda graphic) when I was traipsing through the monumentally historic palace. You know, it's the place that was FORBIDDEN to the Chinese for centuries. I just don't think the Ming and Qing emperors would be too thrilled with that. Same goes for Tian an Men Square. And any sidewalk/street corner in the city. Certainly takes some getting used to...and also a little more wary of puddles
• Chivalry is NOT dead in China. We constantly see husbands and boyfriends carrying their wives/girlfriends purses. And we're not talking a neutral man purse that Joey liked to carry on friends...we're talking sparkly, shiny, flowers, bows....some of the girliest purses I've seen. And in another show of chivalry, we saw a girl stop walking, kick off her shoes and demand her boyfriend pick them up...which he did!
• These people are PUMPED about the Olympics. Everywhere there are signs for the Olympics...I even saw some guy at ONS training wearing a shirt that said "The world gives us 16 days, we give the world 5,000 years." On the CCTV station (state-owned and operated) they ALWAYS have the countdown (19 today) running on the right side of the screen. Everyday, throughout the day CCTV has programs on ALL the Olympic sports--today was equestrian; and even a segment on "Olympic English." Today's word was tour guide.
• They are pretty mesmerized by us. Everywhere we go, whether we are in a pair or a large group, people are staring...and I'm pretty sure I've made some babies cry. Basically, we are just taking it in stride and trying not to let it bother us. I was talking to my friend Crysty about how funny it is when we see another Western-looking person, it's almost like Bingo! We have an unspoken nod or acknowledgement of some kind. Even last night, my friend Helen and I were wandering through the Sanlitun district and there was an American family (mother, father, pushing baby carriage) and I just wanted to walk behind them to hear someone else speaking English!