- Walking on the sidewalk, a girl next to me simply throws her empty Sprite can onto a nicely trimmed bush without missing a beat, you know, because it's practically a trash can.
- A little girl squats on the sidewalk to pee.
- Dogs wear clothes, some even have shoes.
- There are three beggars on the overpass between the subway station and the grocery store. And also a man with a pet monkey that collects coins from those who offer them.
- As the sun has gone down, a man does not hesitate to pee on the the side of a building, of course on a busy street. I would expect nothing less.
- A few feet away from the sidewalk under the sparse trees, a young couple is making out out in the dark.
- A man yells at a crying boy and smacks him a few times on the face.
- Both girls and guys are wearing glasses without lens. Ok, I am a fan of the fake glasses as an accessory movement. But no lenses? Come on....
I kid you not, this was all within a span of 2 or 3 hours. I just don't know what to think sometimes. My mind is completely boggled at how different things are here. I know I'm doing a horrible job of embracing the culture and adapting. I'm kind of being that turtle who just puts all his turtley parts in the shell and stays there until he's no longer threatened.
Americans, I know it's super cliche, but you really don't know how good you have it to live in a free country. Wherever you go here, there are guards. The internet is extremely censored, and you would not believe how hard it is to find a church to attend. I feel like Big Brother monitors everything. Apparently there are only two state approved Christian churches in Shanghai, which of course are monitored by the government. It's definitely an adjustment, even compared to Korea!
I'm trying to stay positive. Yeah, I'm not crazy about the food, and occasionally a rat may come up out of the sink..... but it is cool being here. Just being on this side of the world makes us that much more apt to travel since we have insanely long vacation time. And... you know, it's so good to have a M-F job again. I loved working at Costco, but I hated having the opposite schedule as Josh. I'm so happy that now we get to walk, not drive, to work together everyday. I'm so lucky to have such a motivated language learner for a husband. But, I'm kind of been using him as a crutch. I've made two goals for myself.
New Goal #1: Stick in my head!!
New Goal #2: Learn to live in the moment.
