My time in Qingdao has ended, not without some more tidbits I’d like to mention.
I have eaten enough Big Mac combos to last me a lifetime. Between the awful cafe food (greatly deteriorated from the first posted picture) to the late-night munchies after clubbing, I’ve developed quite the food baby (a protruding stomach).
I’ve also lovingly nick-named my stomach the gluten-belly. Since I can’t read labels or menus, it is very difficult to avoid eating wheat products. Actually, I’ve given up completely .
In addition to “thank you”, “McDonald’s” – pronounced [my-dong-law]- is the only other word the awesome threesome has managed to learn. Cab driver’s do not understand a word of English nor can they read the alphabet (not that they should). Thus, taking a cab anywhere requires us to either perfect the pronunciation of a destination, no small feat in a tonal language, or find someone who is bilingual to write down the Chinese characters to show the cab driver.
Yellow Teeth
I swear my teeth have turned a darker shade of yellow since I’ve been here. Preet has made the same observation about her own teeth. We blame the water in the dorms.
Smoking
People still openly smoke everywhere in China. You will see (and smell) mostly men smoking in offices, elevators, bathrooms, restaurants and clubs. A little strange, and irritating, for me.
Naming a Daughter
One of the teachers I trained, Summer, asked me to give her daughter an English name. I picked “Santina”, the name I was to be given before my mother modernized it to Sandra. Santina is my grandmother’s name on my father’s side. I explained the back story to Summer as well as the fact that “Santina” means “little saint” and she was thrilled. She even wrote about it on her daughter’s blog.
China in one word
If I had to choose one word to describe China so far, it would be “random”. I have seen and experienced so many things that just don’t make any sense to me that “random” is definitely the word.
If I had to pick a second word it would be “bedazzled”. This refers to the sense of style Chinese people, particularly the women, have. There are a lot of sparkles and gems and bright colours like pink on everything including shoes, clothes, hair accessories, etc.
Sometimes, when I see entertainment shows, all I think is “bedazzled randomness”. For instance, I recall the fashion show during dinner where the models carried random objects such as a fish or a model boat. There is a lot of colour and pizzazz but nothing makes sense, hence, “bedazzled randomness”.
Lint Remover
Ball hair trimmer, a.k.a. lint remover. Random...need I say more?
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