Dear Xanga,

      Ok yalls, so I've been in China for about 2 1/2 months now and all I've been doing is posting pics. of how beautiful China is.  But there's A LOT more to China than gardens, pagodas, mountains, bootleg DVD's etc.  As with any foreign country, you encounter something known as "CULTURE SHOCK."   And China is one of those countries where if you're like me...from the "Sweet land of liberty" the U.S.of A., you're not going to be just SHOCKED...you're going to be "Culturally RATTLED & ROLLED!"  So let me tell you about some of my experiences...

1a. First day I come to China, my fellow W&M students tell me "you're gonna need a bike."  bc in China, a bike is your car...you need it to get to class and anywhere else (unless you walk, cab/subway it).  Well...since everyone on campus has a bike, and there's about 30,000+ students on campus, it's not rare to be caught in "bicycle jam."  It's to the point where you have to get off your bike and walk with it bc there's too many ppl. with their bikes on the street.   
1b. It's possible to get into a bike accident...dear GOD i wish i had my helmet.  Chinese ppl. aren't just CRAZYYYY in cars, they're CRAZYYYY on bikes as well.  Everyday, I'm inches away from running into another biker or pedestrian...thank GOD for the invention of bicycle brakes.

2. This leads me to another point...Chinese drivers are absolutely INSANE!! And you thought NYC cab drivers were bad...you ain't seen NOTHING yet if you haven't been in a CHINESE cab.  I don't know why China has traffic laws or driver's licenses at all!! It's not like anyone follows them.  OH yeah and another thing.  In America, the pedestrian ALWAYS, ALWAYS has the right of way BUT in China, you're dead meat if you think to cross the street...cars don't slow down ONE BIT and who cares if the cross walk sign is lit up...cars keep driving anyway.  When I was in Shanghai, my arm got hit by the side view mirror of a moving car!  OK, it was only going like 2 mph but STILLL!!! Who does that happen to??  I was like  what just happened? 

3. Chinese men like to walk around with their shirts lifted up...leaving their pot-bellies and man-boobs to be seen by everyone!  And Chinese men & women just hawk loogies everywhere on the street...I'm surprised I haven't been hit with one thus far.  Let's just hope it stays that way!! I want to be loogie-free

4. China lacks the plethora of food choices we Americans have back home.  I've been eating AUTHENTIC, Chinese food...none of that kung pao chicken, lo mien stuff...(ahem liv) and since everything is pretty much FILLED w/ MSG, everything tastes really yummy!  But I've been eating it for 2 1/2 months now...I just want anything BUT Chinese food.  To satisfy my craving, I went off campus to eat non-Chinese food.  First thing I see is a KFC.  I go inside...there's no CHICKEN!!  Everyone around me is eating either dumplings or noodles.  So I'm like  but then I think, well they'll at least have soda but NOPE...they only have soy milk and tea.  So I look outside thinking I'm in the wrong bldg. but sure enough...there's Colonel Sanders and the big KFC letters right next to him.  Ohhhh CHINA!!!  But all this talk of food has made me crave for the following: a NICE,  FRESH salad from Foco de Ciao, Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich combo w/ frosty, Moby Dick House of Kabob-chicken & rice, Sweet Water Tavern-baby back ribs and ozzy rolls, 4 Season's-Sunday morning brunch, New Orlean's Steakhouse-juicy, rib-eye steak, Woo Rae Oak-kalbi & mae eun tang, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal & MILK, my mommy's cookin, etc. etc.  writing it all out makes me feel like I just ate all these things so sorry if it was a lot to read  

5. People spit their food directly onto the table at the cafeterias.  If they don't like what they're eating, it just ends up on the table.  They need a separate "fuwuyuanr" aka: worker, to walk around with a bucket and rag to get all the ronchy in the ponchy junk off the table. 

6. You have to carry around your own toilet paper and napkin bc these things are not provided in public bathrooms or restaurants...well some rest. will give you a napkin but it's most likely only one thin, square sheet. 

But other than the people, foods, small things I miss back home...I'm still loving China!  I love Chinese and I enjoy the new experiences I encounter everyday.  And now, instead of thinking ??  I just chuckle and say..."Oh~ CHINA!"