When in China..

We've officially been in China for one quarter of a year - hard to believe that right around this time three months ago we were pulling into a seemingly deserted residence and sleeping in storage rooms. Time flies!

It's hard to believe that we're heading home in a month. Walking home from supper last night (Korean!) Becca, Alicia, and I had one of those moments where you're like: Oh, I'm in China.. Things that seemed too different to overcome in the beginning now feel normal. In fact, there are some cultural elements that will be require some adjustments when we get back to the Maritimes.

Here's a sampling of the things we will need to get used to when we hit the homeland, as discussed at supper tonight:

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1. Crossing the road with only a slight fear of being run over, instead of a sense of impending doom - tied into this one is Alicia or Becca grabbing my arm before I step off the curb.
2. Being more careful with the topics of our conversations - we're pretty easy breezy here in Beijing, since most people don't really understand what you're talking about.
3. Getting back in the driver's seat of a car, or waiting for a taxi - Beijing life says that if you stand in the middle of the road long enough, you will find a cab to take you whereve
4. The price difference when eating out - comparatively, we're talking megabucks at home.r you want to go.
5. Talking like an adult - less pointing, less "one of those", less random hand gestures.
6. No more famous photoshoots - What? We won't be stopped during sightseeing expeditions for group photos? Random middle aged men won't take creeper pictures assuming we don't notice?
7. Not bartering when buying clothes, shoes, or nail polish remover - taking the price of clothing at face value is going to be a little hard to handle after $8 sweaters and $2 lipstick.
8. Watching movies without Chinese subtitles - originally distracting, now they're just a part of life..
9. Buying expensive vegetables - unfortunately, we've gotten used to veggie orders that go something like: two peppers, an onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and broccoli for $6.
10. Hunting for things to do on the weekend - no temples, no big walls to climb, no art districts, no fun markets with people asking "lady you want a t-shirt".. what are we going to do?

Next installment? Things that we're looking forward to.. a lot.