1. Carry tissue with you everywhere--public bathrooms often don't have TP
2. Learn to squat, because the toilets look like this:
Sometimes the public bathrooms there will be one regular toilet and the rest "squatters"--totally worth it to wait for the one regular one in my book.
3. Don't care that you sweat. The hospital and our rooms both had AC, but most places don't. You are constantly sweaty. All the time.
4. Expect a bad hair day every day. Along with the heat is humidity, which for me means frizz. So if you were wondering why I have a ponytail in all my pictures, it's because that's all I could do.
5. Learn to love firm mattresses. The people believe that firm mattresses are better for your back-- which may be true, but I'm a soft mattress girl.
6. If you hear something that sounds like an ice-cream truck. It's not. It's probably a garbage truck. No joke--they play music. Although I haven't figured out why. I haven't seen anybody come running, garbage in hand, when they hear it!
7. Beware the red bean. The Chinese love red beans and think that it's sweet. They put it in desserts. I've seen it in cakes. I've even come across a red bean popsicle.
8. Wear slip-on shoes. It's polite to take your shoes off whenever you enter someone's home. I got really tired of un- and re- tying my white nursing shoes ten times a day.
9. If you want to go to the 4th floor, look for the 'f'' button. The number 4 is similar to the word for death in Chinese, so they think it's bad luck.
These are the beds in the dorm we stayed in most of the time--and the thickest mattress I slept on the whole time.
6. If you hear something that sounds like an ice-cream truck. It's not. It's probably a garbage truck. No joke--they play music. Although I haven't figured out why. I haven't seen anybody come running, garbage in hand, when they hear it!
7. Beware the red bean. The Chinese love red beans and think that it's sweet. They put it in desserts. I've seen it in cakes. I've even come across a red bean popsicle.
8. Wear slip-on shoes. It's polite to take your shoes off whenever you enter someone's home. I got really tired of un- and re- tying my white nursing shoes ten times a day.
9. If you want to go to the 4th floor, look for the 'f'' button. The number 4 is similar to the word for death in Chinese, so they think it's bad luck.
10. Practice your chopstick skills. I only saw one fork the whole time I was there.
Finally... an important phrase: Shay shay boo yah--it means no thank you. I was glad I knew it when offered a few foods I wasn't ambitious enough to try.
Haha! I loved this post. Why on earth would they install squatter toilets and think they're better than the regular ones?! I'd always feel like I was camping. Lol. Not sure if I could do that. I also thought it was hilarious about the garbage trucks playing music. Who knew?! Lol. Looks like you had a fun time though, despite the weird quirks.
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