The cute culture

Everything here tries to be cute. Steve was even issued a cute bank card.

Christmas lights spell Danger... or wet floor?

Part of the alley outside of our apartment building is torn up. They've decorated the rubble with Christmas lights and put a "Caution: Wet Floor" sign in front of it. There is water lying in the lower lying area... quite close to the Christmas lights. Dangerous, indeed.

Elaborate Bacon...

For those special occasions when regular bacon just won't do...

One of the things that totally gets under my skin.....

I hate it when people smoke right by No Smoking signs. This guy is in a grocery store. It's just the way it is here. People smoke where ever they want to. I've complained to the manager in a restaurant when someone was smoking by me with a NO SMOKING sign on the table. She just giggled. (Giggling is a common response when they know something is wrong but are afraid to do anything about it.)

If you want read more about things Westerners find annoying about living here, check out the Arrrrrgh! section of WoAi's blog.

ROB-B-HOOD

I totally don't get it. There is a gun pointed at a baby!! Someone please explain....
(Thanks for pointing this out, Claire.)

Pay Attention to Your Life

This sign was for a home furnishings store. However, I think it should be on all streets, crosswalks, and sidewalks in China.

"Pay Attention to Your Life" is a very important safety notice.

Rain and Hail

In the two years we've lived in China, we've never seen hail. On Friday, the storm clouds rolled in and it poured down. Then, it started hailing! Marble-sized hail pelted down for quite a while. I happened to be walking in it and Jon was stuck in the metro station, umbrella-less, for about 20 minutes.

Driving

Jon got his Chinese driver's license!  First he had to get his American license translated, then go to the hospital and take a physical and pick up a book of 100 questions to study.  Then he went back, took the test on a computer, and was issued his license.  He can now drive a motorcycle, 3-wheeled motorcycle and car.  (NOT a van.  Apparently there is a big difference between the two.)

Blinged out fridges

Want some bling with your fridge?

Sketch

Recently when Jon was in Guangzhou, along with Aileen, Dan, Geoffrey, and Larry, a guy selling sketches approached them. They decided to see just what it would turn out like, fulling knowing this guy probably couldn't really draw. (He also couldn't spell the name of the restaurant they were at, even though it was right in front of him.)

Any guesses as to who is who? Put your answer in the comments below! (Hint: See the "women" on the far right? That's actually a man.)

Random shirt - American common sense

I spotted this shirt in Tesco. Can someone explain what it means? Is it actually supposed to be anti-American or is it just a poor translation or maybe someone just put some words together?

about 80%...

I think I have about everything back in my blog. Whoo-hoo! I am so thankful I could finally access my old FTP site at work (on US internet) to get all of the photos from my blog. The guys at my host just can't figure out that if their server is blocked in China, I just can't get on it. No matter what.

I also uploaded the missing food chart from a couple posts ago. Check it out if you are interested in the cost of living Western-style here.

Tomorrow.... a real post.

New host

My friend Dan rocks! He let me use his server space so I should be up and running in China again. If you do happen to get a strange error, or you can't see the photos, or something, please let me know!!!

Update: Yes, I know you can't see the photos. I don't know what's going on with that. I'm working on it. Please stand by.

blog

My blog is still blocked in China.  I also can't get on my server at work.  What a pain! I am working on a solution and hopefully will just move servers.  My website and blog address will remain the same. Soon...  I will be posting more! (I hope!)