1. Pollution- I am trying to run a half marathon and in doing so I am probably contracting seven different kinds of cancer from the disgusting air pollution. I hack up a lung and get bloody noses from it. A group of students in Northern China were asked what color the sky is and they all said gray. They said its gray and every once in while it is blue. Here I thought Albany was bad.
2, Weather- I am astounded that Shanghai is on the same latitude parallel as Jacksonville, Florida. It blows my mind. Its the end of March and I still need to wear a coat inside my school.
3. Pushing- They even say allow passangers to alight before boarding the train but do people? FUCK NO. You may be the only other person waiting for an elevator and they will push you on so they can ride it one floor.
4. Staring- Yes I am white, yes both my nose and stomach are larger than a tiny Asian woman's features. Get the fuck over it. This is SHANGHAI--- population 23 MILLION, not bubblefuck land that was forcefully seized and made to join China with an expat population of zero. White people live here over 100,000 of them!
5. Freedom of nothing. I would like to go on Facebook, I would like a decent internet speed that isn't crippled by the Chinese government's Great Firewall. Access to Google documents would improve my teaching abilities tenfold. I would like to Google the word JASMINE. I am not trying to overthrow the government, I would just like to read a legitimate news source.
6. Scanners- WTF. These things deserve the top spot on my list. The xray scanners make me angry EVERY SINGLE TIME. Whenever I leave Shanghai I forget they exist and then BAM! I get the straight arm forcing my to put my bag on the scanner before going on the metro EVERY TIME. I legitimately lost a day of my life doing this.
7. Public restrooms: I run a lot, I pee a lot. These should require two things: western style toilets and TOILET PAPER! This is not an option, this is necessity!
8. Food: I don't dislike Chinese food. American Chinese food is actually quite good. All the stuff you get at an American restaurant is Cantonese food or Sichuan (the two tastiest province. These is a such thing as Shanghainese food and it will kill you. I gave up meat for three weeks because I thought it would prevent food posioning and gas. It actually did but going to Hong Kong, a place with santiation and food code laws, made Ebenezers tikka chicken kabobs irresistable, The Chinese love their oil. So much that they recycle it and chances are you are consuming "sill oil" reused oil taken from pipes.
9) Poorly made in China: Thus far I have gone through five pairs of headphones, 3 pairs of slippers, a few purses, a wallet, and a pair of shoes. The usage time of all of these items was extremely low. Anything I wash falls apart. This is just one reason why I can only shop at H&M and Zara. The other reason is...
10) Fashion: My god woman you're sixty years old and wearing rhinestones. And that man next to you, he has his pajamas on! I saw a woman wearing a full on orange catsuit to church. Also wearing shirts with poorly translatedenglish sayings is only cool when you know its wrong.
Note to self: never leave China until you are sure you are LEAVING China because if you ever come back, you will hate your life. I am suffering from post-Hong Kong (free world) blues. This list could be 1000 but after three days of a six day work week, I am too tired to continue.
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