While life in modern Beijing is far from the stereotypical "out in the bush" missionary life, the Chinese culture throws in many different ideologies and foreign idiosyncrasies that be surprising when observed and even exasperating when not aware of them.
Periodically I will be blogging little snippets on how in the past 1.5 years we discovered and learned to make room in our lives for the culture of 1.5 billion people.
In North America we take many little "free" conveniences for granted... like toilet paper, paper towels and soap in bathrooms, dishes at a restaurant, acres of free parking, shopping bags, freeways.. Well it's not that way here in China! If you come without toilet paper into a public bathroom, you're out of luck. You will almost never find toilet paper in the stalls. And even in the most famous modern hospital in Beijing there's no soap at the bathroom sinks! At the grocery store you're left scratching your head at why they made you pay for the flimsy plastic bag that broke on the way out! And parking... let's not even mention that! Parking fines seem to be the number one source of income for the traffic bureau apart from the massive tolls on the highways. And finally, yes, at many restaurants you are charged for the dishes washing fee! Even at some places you are charged the equivalent of 20 cents for a pack of disposable chopsticks and a wet napkin.
Multiply all those little things by 10 in one outing for your big family and it can be quite overwhelming!
If you want to know about some aspect of life in China, feel free to add it as a comment and I could discuss it in an upcoming post.
Periodically I will be blogging little snippets on how in the past 1.5 years we discovered and learned to make room in our lives for the culture of 1.5 billion people.
In North America we take many little "free" conveniences for granted... like toilet paper, paper towels and soap in bathrooms, dishes at a restaurant, acres of free parking, shopping bags, freeways.. Well it's not that way here in China! If you come without toilet paper into a public bathroom, you're out of luck. You will almost never find toilet paper in the stalls. And even in the most famous modern hospital in Beijing there's no soap at the bathroom sinks! At the grocery store you're left scratching your head at why they made you pay for the flimsy plastic bag that broke on the way out! And parking... let's not even mention that! Parking fines seem to be the number one source of income for the traffic bureau apart from the massive tolls on the highways. And finally, yes, at many restaurants you are charged for the dishes washing fee! Even at some places you are charged the equivalent of 20 cents for a pack of disposable chopsticks and a wet napkin.
Multiply all those little things by 10 in one outing for your big family and it can be quite overwhelming!
If you want to know about some aspect of life in China, feel free to add it as a comment and I could discuss it in an upcoming post.