We're quickly learning that China is a culture of paradoxes. Some phrases our culture teacher taught us to live by while here:
"Nothing is as it seems."
"Plans cannot keep up with change."
"If your confused, that means you're paying attention."
These phrases scare me a little. I'm type A. I like plans. And I don't like them to change. I don't like to be confused. I like control. Guess I get to do some growing!! :)
Here is an example:
These are our dishes at a restaurant wrapped in plastic. Your first thought would be: wow, this must mean they are completely sanitized! Nothing is as it seems. No one--not even locals--drink the water here. If it's "sanitized" in tap water, is it really clean?
We're learning flexibility in a variety of ways. Some are harder to adjust to than others.
Josiah is afraid of the shower head. Most people only have showers here (and most of those don't even have an enclosed one..more explanation in a later post). So we improvised, and he's happy.
Doing laundry by hand is hard work that we're not used to. Michael is better than I am at scrubbing. Almost no one has a dryer here. Everyone has porches to hang their clothes to dry. No shame in their game; you'll see underwear hanging out everywhere! Unfortunately, we put too many on this rack, and by day 3 some started to smell a bit moldy. The purchase of a dryer is being strongly considered. :)
