The next morning,
Bruce wakes up early to go through his medical examination; the same process
that the rest of us already had the pleasure to experience. We exchange e-mails
and off he goes to start his own adventure here in China. Shortly after his
departure we get a call informing that I will be leaving to go to my school and
apartment early tomorrow morning and that I should be ready around 6:30. After
I hang up the phone I lay my head back down to catch up on some unnecessary
sleep. I wake up around 11:30 take a shower and change my clothes. All that is left
is me and John in the room. Since we have internet access, and I brought my
laptop we decided to check and see how the outside world was doing. I show him
the new world of what is called “Facebook” and bestow to him the knowledge that
was brought upon to me, on how to get around “The Great Firewall of China.” We
order room service while setting up his account, checking e-mails, and watching
some movies that I had stored on my laptop. It becomes evening and we get a
little stir crazy, so we decided to walk around the streets and explore
Chengdu. We walked the streets, and this is when I really started to notice the
difference between Chinese culture and my own. The things I’ve seen have been……
an eye opener to say the least. I’ve seen parents with their toddlers with
pants that were “breathable.” These pants had no crotch area. They were just
enough to cover the outside of the outer thighs and the lower legs. The best
way to describe them is to compare them with cowboy chaps, or whatever they are
called. You know like what old western cowboys would wear with the spurs and
the leather chaps. Yeah they were just like that except they didn’t wear
anything underneath them. That’s right they had no diapers on. So when the
children had to go they would just let the child go wherever. John explained
that this was because parents didn’t want to pay for diapers. Another thing I
noticed was their etiquette on spitting. They would spit anywhere, and I don’t mean
just a little spittle. I mean that they hock loogies. I’m not one that usually
gets grossed out but this was just out right disgusting to me.
I digress; we
walked through the city and saw multiple street vendors selling various snacks
alongside the road. We see many little shops selling various articles of
clothing both familiar and new; China phone service stores; electronic shops;
and an abundant amount of different restaurants. We eventually stumble upon a
market area where people had their own stands set up for selling fruits,
vegetables, seasonings, spices, and meats. Majority of the meats was pork. This
seems to make up a large portion of the Chinese diet. I could ensure you the
products were fresh because of the fact that not far from this area is where
they slaughtered the animals. “How would you know?” you may ask. Well the fact
that we saw them bring in live farm animals into one building and was able to
hear their last cries of life. I would think that is more than enough proof to
back up my assumption. While we were walking through the market we decided to
grab us something to drink. We walk into a nearby stall, where some ladies were
playing a game of Mahjong, and John talks with the ladies running the shop. He
buys a glass bottle of Chinese liquor and two bottles of sprite. All of this
only costs maybe 20 Yuan, and that is being generous, so in actuality he only
spent about 3 USD. This is another thing I have noticed since I have been here
in China. The cost of living here in China is nothing compared to America.
Everything is soo much cheaper that it isn’t even funny.
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