Lost in Translation

Mandarin is a very difficult language to learn. Lots of things get lost in translation usually because there is no literal translation between English and Mandarin. For example, "white wine" in English is translated to words that mean "white grape alcohol" in Mandarin; "yogurt" is translated to "sour milk"; and the Mandarin translation of "Diet Coke" is "healthy light cola" as there is no Mandarin word for "diet." So, you can see why, after this sign was translated from Mandarin to English, it reads very strange. This was found at a skateboard park near our house. I think they meant to title it "Skateboard Park Rules."

Weird Things We See

This is tame compared to some other bikes/scooters full of stuff that I've seen. Once I saw a guy with styrofoam and the load was at least 10 times bigger than the bike. Not quite sure how he got all of it on and how long it took!

These are decorations for the Moon Festival in October. If you ask me and the boys, they look like Easter decorations!

Little kids pee everywhere and usually they are not inconspicuous about it. This little girl was peeing right in front of a seating area for a snack shack. Yum, eat your ice cream and watch someone pee in front of you. Sounds appetizing, doesn't it? The Mom freaked out and grabbed her when she noticed us taking pictures. Well, what do you expect???

Chinese people love white kids. Especially little blonde ones. This is my friend's daughter. She gets lots of attention wherever we go!

A Shanghai Mystery

This is a picture of the house behind ours. A wealthy local Chinese family lives there. If you look closely, you can see the ayi (housemaid) sitting cross-legged on the ground through the branches. She is wearing black. She is washing her hair and her arms out of a large white bucket. Why is she doing this? Is she not allowed to use one of the 4+ bathrooms in the house? Is this a Chinese ritual? Is she communing with nature? I don't know. Another cultural mystery. What do YOU think?

"It's Different Here"

This is one of the first things that one of the first Americans I met here in my compound said to me. I kind of assumed that it would be, but differently than I thought. First and foremost, I'm learning to tolerate more and quicker than I thought. Now that I'm two months in, things don't bother me as much. I actually look for things outside of what I was the norm. I have accepted that this culture is very different than ours, even though I may not always agree with it! :-)