Christmas in China

So Christmas time has finally come, and it's quite different from back home. Religion in China is not very prevalent, so there's not much care for it, but it is still definitely celebrated. Most places have decorations set up, and I've heard some pretty interesting techno remixes to Christmas music in certain stores

We had a Christmas miracle occur when Pat was trying to get his passport to go home just the other day. To make a long story short and not offend certain parties involved, Pat was told he wouldn't get his passport until about 2 hours before his flight, which just wouldn't work and an expensive ticket would be wasted. He was able to talk to a few people and go down to the police department where it was held, and somehow it was given back to him in time to take an expensive 3 hour taxi to Shanghai, not ideal but atleast he made it. I was feeling a bit worried myself, but was able to get mine yesterday as I was told, and am looking forward to a break at home. I think I'm going to weigh myself the day I get home and the day I leave, because I'm planning on eating as much Buff Joe's and Chipotle as possible. It's kind of sad how much I miss certain foods, and going to McDonald's to get something western out here is just not really cutting it for me. Anyways, can't wait for the break, but not exactly excited about having the same conversation about six hundred times about living in China.

Other remarks on China:
I was pulling up to my apartment the other day on my scooter, on the right side of the bike lane next to the sidewalk. A man came flying in from the sidewalk on a bike and clipped my right handlebar, sending him careening out of control and falling to the ground. I sat there a moment speechless, with a bag of McDonald's in one hand and my mouth wide open, not sure of what to do. It was one hundred percent his fault but I obviously felt bad, so I pushed forward to see if he was alright. He didn't really say anything as he got up, got back on his bike, and just rode away. It was weird

Chinese people place a great deal of emphasis on not spreading swine flu. I think the bird flu was a big scare for them, so there are many reminders of how to stay healthy and not spread disease. Lots of people wear masks, which I think look absolutely ridiculous and are completely impractical. One thing that I think might help, but is absolutely never acknowledged, is that people should stop coughing and sneezing on each other. Seriously, it's pretty amazing to see how much people just let loose on one another with no regard, in restaurants, in stores, on the streets; and the amount of times I've seen people retching their bodies to cough up snot and spit wherever whenever is pretty gross.