We had quite an interesting conversation with Shining, one of the Chinese girls we live with the other day. Habby is doing a lesson on superstition & luck, etc with one of her adult classes so we asked Shining about Chinese superstitions & customs & what have. Turns out, that pregnant woman are not allowed to touch cold water throughout their 3 terms & also, for about 4-6 months after the baby is born. Their reasoning for this is that it will cause brittle bones in later life......... hmm. We decided not to dispute this & simply agree to disagree.
Lazybones & Broken bones
Well, what a boring week. I've actually done very little of anything really. For example, today, my alarm went off at 9am, I looked out the window, couldn't see the building across the way due to the fog (!!) & so I went back to sleep. When I woke up again around 10:30, it was still foggy. So decided today was a good day to spend in bed watching DVD's! Some may say this was a waisted day. I prefer to think of it as a day in which I culturally enriched my life via film........ yes, that's my excuse & I'm sticking to it!
By the way, if anyone's interested, 'Black Book' is a really good film, bit long, but if you don't mind subtitles, worth watching.
In some ways, it's been quite eventful, however, as last Tuesday night, a crew of us went to the Forgein Student's Bar down the road & when leaving, Habby simply missed the step by mistake, tripped & then tripped over the curb as she fell & broke a bone in her foot twice. She's been in bed all week though she was back at work today as there's no such thing as 'extended sick leave' in China! She was practicing the stairs yesterday with her crutches though so she's taking it in good spirits, despite the 30 Chinese random herble pills a day! *shudders* I wouldn't take them!!
Road Safety
When I was at school, we had 'road safety' talks about looking left & right before you cross, etc etc. Then, when I learnt to drive, I had more 'road safety' talks from my instructor about looking left & right at junctions & not aiming for pedestrians & that sort of thing. This does not seem to exist in China.
I was on my way back from Medical College on Friday & my taxi driver drove straight into the side of a scooter, knocking the man to the ground! The biker sprang from the road to greet the cabby with shouts & violent arm gestures, which is not really that surprising. They taxi driver, however, was more concerned about the damage the scooter may have done to the front of his car despite the fact it was clearly his fault. As far as he was concerned, he had honked his horn & the scooter hadn't gotten out of the way, thus he was not to blame.
The meter was still running as they had their barny on the side of the road & cars were pushing their way past the taxi beeping in protest that the cabby hadn't moved his car. After a few minutes of watching the meter climb & I decided to blow this for a lark, jumped out & scurried into another taxi before he could notice. Perhaps it was wrong of me not to pay, but as far as I was concerned, he'd hit a bike & there was no way I was paying for him to stand there & argue on my time & money!
I also nearly got run over twice today on the way to & from Walmart as bikes randomly decided to drive down the side walk & then down the wrong side of the road which I wasn't expecting!
Not much else to report, however. I'm beginning to think about getting things ready to come home as I only have 2 & 1/2 weeks left now which is quite a strange feeling. Having been living in this 'bubble' as it were for the past 3 months suddenly it's going to be popped & I'll be home. I am looking forward to it; dognuts, cheese on toast, a comfy bed for the first time in 3 months... oh & seeing friends & family of course as well. Tee hee!
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