So as a result of having spent about 3 weeks here, you start to become accustomed to the pros and con’s of being in a country that does things a little different than your own would. My company and I have begun to refer to things in China as “china-good” or “China-clean”. We aren’t trying to say that it is bad, but just different.
We use the term “China-good” to refer to food and restaurants. You expect to get a noodle or rice dish, so it is exciting to get Italian food or a steak. If it isn’t quite what you were hoping for, then it is China good. I was at a restaurant the other day, and ordered a “baked potato” and it came back as one of those fried hash brown things McDonald’s serves. Speaking of which… McDonald’s is “China-good”. I never liked McDonald’s to begin with, so when I leave this country I hope I never have to eat it again. But for now, it is about the only way you can expect to get a hamburger or something remotely that tastes like it should. And they serve cups of corn here, instead of fries (if you ask for it), why don’t they do this in the states?
So laundry over here is quite expensive, because the only way to get it done is per piece. You would think you could do laundry by the load, but nope. So our hotel has a laundry service that is 8yuan for a pair of jeans, shirts for 6 Yuan, and socks for 6 Yuan. After 3 weeks of clothes that is almost 50 or 60 bucks!!! Maybe some of you are saying, “Suck it up, and pay the money”. Well I think it is ridicules. So I talked to our local crew and found a place that will do it for about 15 bucks. Still steep if you compare it to getting it done in the states, but I don’t think I have any other options. And as for my socks, I have defiantly done the smell test on them (China-Clean), as to not have to pay a buck every time I want a pair of socks washed. A lot of people have resorted to doing there own laundry, and I am not far behind. In fact my good friend/translator Preston told me I was lazy for NOT doing my own laundry. He said it was rude to have someone else wash your underwear and that I shouldn’t allow anyone to see my underwear. I, on the other hand think that is retarded.
So Thursday I had my first half day off since I have been over here in China. A lot of people decided to drive 2 and a half hour to see the largest Buddha in China. I opted not to spend 5 hours on a bus and decided to enjoy my afternoon. I got a chance to sleep in which was awesome. And then I headed out to drop off my laundry. I was told exactly where it was located, but didn’t bother writing anything down in Chinese. Yea, BIG mistake. Let me tell you that I have learned my lesson at this point. If I get lost or expect to ask anyone how to find something like the laundry mat, you have to write it down in Chinese. I walked around for about 30 minutes trying to find where to drop off my laundry and guess what? Every store looks the same, and reading Chinese letters on them doesn’t help either. So I was totally “that” tourist who walked up to a local and pointed at my laundry bag/ made the hand signal for washing clothes/ tried to ask where/ and was promptly laughed at.
After I gave up finding the laundry place, I then took a cab to a Mexican place I have heard the cast rave about. Mexican food is very rare in China, but Chengdu happens to have one or 2 p
laces. So I took a taxi about 20 minutes away, which was about 14 Yuan, and it was a nice scenic trip of the city. I have got to start taking more taxi trips outside of town, because they are really cheap and it gives you a chance to take in the whole city. Unlike the laundry, I have learned that if you want to go somewhere in a taxi, you need a business card, and that eliminates the communication barrier. The restaurant called Peter’s Tex-Mex was wonderful and I met the owner. He filled me in on how long it was taking for Mexican food to catch on in China. He said that only about 40 percent of his business was from the Chinese, but that the Chinese consulate of the US was a regular customer. He told me that he and 2 friends saw all the Mexican recipes for there dishes online and just started making them. I asked if any of them had ever had traditional Mexican food or been to Mexico or the US. And he said no. I was so impressed at how good the food tasted and very happy to have something other than Chinese food. He wanted to know all about what I did, if I was associated with Hollywood, and lots of other things.
After that I went shopping for some cds and DVDs. I came across Showtime’s series of “Weeds”. Great, if you haven’t seen it. I found a copy of Season 1, 2, and 3 together, and bought it for 80 Yuan. (That is 12 bucks!!!!!!!!!!) And the funny thing is that Season 3 isn’t even coming out on DVD until June 10th in the states. Got to love piracy in China!!
We use the term “China-good” to refer to food and restaurants. You expect to get a noodle or rice dish, so it is exciting to get Italian food or a steak. If it isn’t quite what you were hoping for, then it is China good. I was at a restaurant the other day, and ordered a “baked potato” and it came back as one of those fried hash brown things McDonald’s serves. Speaking of which… McDonald’s is “China-good”. I never liked McDonald’s to begin with, so when I leave this country I hope I never have to eat it again. But for now, it is about the only way you can expect to get a hamburger or something remotely that tastes like it should. And they serve cups of corn here, instead of fries (if you ask for it), why don’t they do this in the states?
So laundry over here is quite expensive, because the only way to get it done is per piece. You would think you could do laundry by the load, but nope. So our hotel has a laundry service that is 8yuan for a pair of jeans, shirts for 6 Yuan, and socks for 6 Yuan. After 3 weeks of clothes that is almost 50 or 60 bucks!!! Maybe some of you are saying, “Suck it up, and pay the money”. Well I think it is ridicules. So I talked to our local crew and found a place that will do it for about 15 bucks. Still steep if you compare it to getting it done in the states, but I don’t think I have any other options. And as for my socks, I have defiantly done the smell test on them (China-Clean), as to not have to pay a buck every time I want a pair of socks washed. A lot of people have resorted to doing there own laundry, and I am not far behind. In fact my good friend/translator Preston told me I was lazy for NOT doing my own laundry. He said it was rude to have someone else wash your underwear and that I shouldn’t allow anyone to see my underwear. I, on the other hand think that is retarded.
So Thursday I had my first half day off since I have been over here in China. A lot of people decided to drive 2 and a half hour to see the largest Buddha in China. I opted not to spend 5 hours on a bus and decided to enjoy my afternoon. I got a chance to sleep in which was awesome. And then I headed out to drop off my laundry. I was told exactly where it was located, but didn’t bother writing anything down in Chinese. Yea, BIG mistake. Let me tell you that I have learned my lesson at this point. If I get lost or expect to ask anyone how to find something like the laundry mat, you have to write it down in Chinese. I walked around for about 30 minutes trying to find where to drop off my laundry and guess what? Every store looks the same, and reading Chinese letters on them doesn’t help either. So I was totally “that” tourist who walked up to a local and pointed at my laundry bag/ made the hand signal for washing clothes/ tried to ask where/ and was promptly laughed at.
After I gave up finding the laundry place, I then took a cab to a Mexican place I have heard the cast rave about. Mexican food is very rare in China, but Chengdu happens to have one or 2 p
laces. So I took a taxi about 20 minutes away, which was about 14 Yuan, and it was a nice scenic trip of the city. I have got to start taking more taxi trips outside of town, because they are really cheap and it gives you a chance to take in the whole city. Unlike the laundry, I have learned that if you want to go somewhere in a taxi, you need a business card, and that eliminates the communication barrier. The restaurant called Peter’s Tex-Mex was wonderful and I met the owner. He filled me in on how long it was taking for Mexican food to catch on in China. He said that only about 40 percent of his business was from the Chinese, but that the Chinese consulate of the US was a regular customer. He told me that he and 2 friends saw all the Mexican recipes for there dishes online and just started making them. I asked if any of them had ever had traditional Mexican food or been to Mexico or the US. And he said no. I was so impressed at how good the food tasted and very happy to have something other than Chinese food. He wanted to know all about what I did, if I was associated with Hollywood, and lots of other things.After that I went shopping for some cds and DVDs. I came across Showtime’s series of “Weeds”. Great, if you haven’t seen it. I found a copy of Season 1, 2, and 3 together, and bought it for 80 Yuan. (That is 12 bucks!!!!!!!!!!) And the funny thing is that Season 3 isn’t even coming out on DVD until June 10th in the states. Got to love piracy in China!!
3 comments:
Of course Matt, you'll want to check the region on your bootleg DVDs there...a lot of time European and Asian DVDs will not play in our "US Region 1" DVD Players. Of course, you could just pick up a region-free DVD players on the cheap there...
Darrel and I are sitting backstage in Naples and I just read him the laundry part out loud. We both cracked up because we can HEAR you writing "retarted".
MISS YOU!!
u r cracking me up!! I could just see you miming out "washing clothes"!!! The pics are great, too! Is the production in english or mandarin? shasha for the updates. Are you getting any of the news on the protests of Chi8na and the oly8mpics?
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