因为在神没有一件事是不可能的

I heard this phrase the other day and it struck quite a chord with me.

Before I went to Korea I was in the market looking for a small bag to pack my things in. I'm no idiot, everyone at the market will try to cheat everybody else. Myself being white, I will have people try to cheat me even more.

I find a bag I like. It's cheaply made, an obvious knockoff of a real bag, but it'd do the job. I ask how much it is.

Shop Girl: "I usually sell that bag for 300RMB but for you 250RMB (about 36US)."
(Ok, the bag's not that nice.)
Me: "I'll give you 100 (around 15US), no more."
SG: "No, that's impossible. I buy the bag for more than that."
(I lose my patience really easily when people lie to me.)
Me: "No you don't, I know you're trying to charge me more because I'm a foreigner. I've lived here long enough to know better."
SG: "Alright, but 150 is as low as I can go."
(Then this really sweet Chinese girl came into the shop looking at purses and listening to us argue. She wondered over and started taking my side.)
Chinese Girl: "He knows what he's talking about, that bag is only worth about 100."
(Then the shop girl got really angry that another Chinese called her on it. In my experience Chinese will cheat anyone, but when they're caught by other Chinese they lose face and have to back pedal pretty fast.)
SG: "OK, OK, 100."

After I bought the bag I talked to the Chinese girl for a while. Really sweet University student studying business or something. She said she hates it when people cheat each other. She said that everyone is the same and there is no need to cheat someone else just for an extra buck.

I haven't heard one person say that out here. For someone to admit to a foreigner that we're all the same is huge to me. Now it may be because Yantai is a fairly new city and was completely uneducated and just a farming community until fifteen or so years ago. No matter the reason, it's huge for someone in Yantai to say that to me.

She pointed out that most of the people who will cheat others are the ones who are selling things in little stalls on the street, not the people running big businesses. She had a vary karmic approach to the situation. Essentially she was saying that if you cheat people out of small money, you will cheat yourself out of big money.

Later that night I heard this phrase: Penny wise, nickel dumb.

There is a shop that a farmer couple opened up right next to the school. Teachers will usually stop by after lunch to grab a coke or some snacks.

When a few of us went in today we started cracking jokes about their dog. We figured it was probably going to be dinner some time soon. As the discussion progressed we decided to ask if we could buy the dog to eat. We figured it would be a pretty obvious joke and we would get a good laugh out of it.

Not so.

When we asked her she said that this one isn't good for eating — it was too small — but if we wanted she could take us to her house and let us have a look at their bigger dog. There was no tone of jest in her voice either. We kept talking about it trying to make sense of what was going on. She really didn't think we were joking! We told her we were only joking, but she wouldn't let it go. She wanted us to enjoy her dog! As we were leaving she saw us out and told us that if we ever were to reconsider she would take us over to her house to look at her big dog.

I couldn't believe it. If I joked about buying someone's pet to have for dinner in America I would be killed on the spot. If I joke about that here they offer the best tasting pet they own!

A few friends and I were talking about what might happen after living in China several years. Here are just a things we thought of.

• You will find yourself tossing your trash out the nearest window even if there is a rubbish bin right under it.


• During summer you will tuck your shirt up under your armpits proudly sticking out any gut you might have to keep cool.


• You will look into foreigners baskets at the market to see what they eat.


• You will point and stare at any and all foreigners without reserve.


• All table manners will be lost. You'll find nothing wrong with talking with food in your mouth, spitting bones out on the floor, or taking food off of other people's plates without asking.

My first or second week here I went to the zoo. Now before I came to China I went to the zoo in Albuquerque and was bummed out because of the condition those animals lived in. Think of how I felt here. The first animal I saw was a donkey. (By the way, I ate donkey dumplings the other day. They were alright.) He was tied to a stake in the ground with no more than 2 feet of slack on the rope.

Then I saw the lions. Their cage is smaller than my bedroom. Yes, there are two of them in there!


How about the arctic fox. All their fur is matted and there are patches missing here and there.


And I thought the humps were supposed to stand up...


These guys swam around in water that you wouldn't even find in a swamp by a dump.


I don't like how Chinese treat their animals.

Now, on to better topics.

By the sea there are several bridges and chains that people put locks on. When a couple is going to get married they will buy two of these heart shaped locks and lock them together on a chain or bridge by the sea. A nice symbol, but it's not really practical for anything. Really, when one of them wants a divorce what will the other say... "But we put the heart shaped locks on the bridge! You can't leave me!" It looks nice though...




I have also seen some really beautiful paper cutting. It takes months to make things like this.




And just for fun, here's a picture of the dog.