Answers?

Answers to the past week’s questions:

Beth:

• Pedicure has not been repaired yet.
• In my humble opinion, the hairdresser is as good as Shannon.
• Baby’s ride clinging to whatever they can hold. Mostly it depends on what else they are carrying along with the baby.
• The vehicles definitely saw each other at the toll booth. Traffic here is pretty much like you are always in a construction zone. Drive in a lane as long as you can before you have to get over and then just cut in front of someone. Yes, once again, it is whoever pushes hardest and fastest gets there first.
• Wives in China are definitely the weaker vessel. Their job appears to be to sit back, shut-up, and do as the men say. Not all relationships are this way. Most of the younger people are starting to see things differently, but it is definitely something that has taken time to get used to seeing.

Angie:

A rice cooker looks like a bread maker/crock-pot. Basically, you just put in the rice and water and start it. Once the water has steamed off, it keeps the rice warm. It is not like the rice you would find at home. It is very sticky, which makes it easy to eat with chopsticks.

Mom B.:

• Automobile insurance here does not exist as far as we know. You get out, assess the damage with the other driver, and settle on the spot. It’s actually kind of fun to watch. A crowd forms and the fight ensues. Eventually the police come to help settle the dispute. If you still can’t settle, you go to jail until you can agree on a settlement.
• 1 USD is equal to 7.7 RMB. So, 10 RMB is $1.30. I could have done it myself, but I don’t have the tools. The walls are concrete, so it’s not easy to hang stuff.
• As far as having everything done by someone else, this is a service-based society and everyone has a job. You and Hong are going to have a fun time trying to be at our house together. She will not be happy when you start to do her job. She may even yell at you. Or, she may just tell you, “Mei guan xi (It’s all right).

Betsy:

• Good to hear from you, I was beginning to worry if you were okay…
• No, the feng shui hair cut was not less than 10 USD. Women’s hair is expensive to style, men’s is less. A men’s haircut is around 6.50 USD.
• There are many reasons why things cost less here. Some of it is supply-demand, some is govt. ceilings on prices, some is the lack of product testing and licensing fees, and some of it is just plain people need to do whatever it takes to feed their family. Therefore, depending on the day and time, some services and items are less expensive than others. If you want really good deals, you shop late in the day during the week. Business has usually been slow for the day, and people need the money.

Today we went to Yu Gardens. It is a marketplace and then an oriental garden that has Chinese architecture, rock gardens, and tree gardens. It was really neat to see many of the dynasty settings and how their gardens looked. I have two highlights for the day:

1. I saw a man at Dairy Queen with a baseball cap. The saying on the front was, “Hemorrhoids can be fun!” I don’t know if he got the hat as a gift and didn’t know what it said or if he understood. Either way, stop and ponder on this for a little bit and try to figure out how many different ways this can be true…
2. Natalie was buying stuff with the kids at a street vendor and I was standing off to the side. Another vendor started talking to me and wondered if I wanted to buy anything. I told her no, but she continued to talk to me. I told her I didn’t have any money, and pointed to Natalie and said that she did have the money. The girl looked at me and said, “She the boss; you the bank!”

Have a nice day! Mark