I'm sure it makes sense from someone's point of view....

I have been kind of taking it easy while awaiting crazy banking issues 
to be resolved.  you'd think that having multiple accounts at the same 
bank in different countries would be a simple matter for transferring 
money, wouldn't you?  turns out that all you really need is another 
layman to explain it to you.

i feel like i should have described my hotel room at some point. when 
you walk in, you're in the bathroom.  the centrepiece to the room is the 
shower area and bathtub.  there's some screens that you can close to 
block off this room from the bedroom, and it turns the glass to white so 
that if you're staying with someone they can't watch you shower....i 
think the room was designed by a voyeur.  i have the usual variety of 
toiletries, a couple of robes, the softest and biggest towels that i've 
seen in my life, and 2 gas masks with detailed instructions on what to 
do if there is a chemical gas attack.  i kind of want to try them out, 
but there's a full hood and canister, and i'm a little curious as to 
what they'll charge me for trying it out, i suspect that it's included 
in the minibar somewhere.

i've been reading a book that my friend Aram suggested called "poorly 
made in china", i highly recommend it.  it has some very interesting 
insights, and i'm taking my time reading it.  the funny thing is that 
many of those insights into production in china translate directly to 
every day life.  if you get into an elevator where there is a chinese 
employee who was taking the time to just enjoy the ride, or whatever, 
they will immediately stop whatever they were doing or not doing, and 
start scrubbing at the walls or the buttons.  it seems odd that they 
don't want to be caught being lazy or not working, even during a 5 
minute elevator ride, i think sometimes, they just get off at the next 
floor to not feel uncomfortable.

i also find it interesting that everyone always asks me where i'm from 
and what i think of china.  i always reply that china is beautiful and 
so very, very interesting, to which they respond with various 
compliments about me or my country.  compliments are always met with 
multiple compliments towards you or what they think that you find important.

tonight, i'm going with some friends from the school to a chinese bar.  
it should be entertaining.  apparently all of the chinese bars in this 
area are managed by a foreigner of some sort.  the chinese also feel 
that entertainment is necessary, so they generally have someone go up 
and sing american pop songs, that should be amusing. thomas says that he 
can't get enough of it, and that it's absolutely hilarious.

i said before that you can't really laugh at another's mistakes, but 
that's not necessarily true.  you can laugh, just don't appear to be 
laughing at them, and all things are good.  i laugh alot here, and i 
don't think that that's ever going to stop.  i find it amusing that many 
of the chinese are so stoic, but the women seem to laugh and giggle at 
the drop of a hat.  the men just sit there and look at them, that makes 
me laugh even harder.

i wonder if chinese women are brought up learning how to walk in high 
heels.  every single woman i see is wearing heels.  i was talking to 
thomas and he said that they even wear high heels hiking, which seems a 
little crazy to me.  he said that it still stuns him when climbing a 
thousand or so stairs that he'll stop to rest, and look over, and 
there's a chinese woman, happily walking up the stairs in 6' heels, and 
they never seem to complain about the discomfort that they have to be 
in, they just smile or giggle and keep at it.

walking down the halls of the hotel, you'll notice that all of the 
privacy lights are on, if people are in their rooms.  i highly recommend 
when you come here that you get into that habit.  if you decide to lay 
down for a nap, or get into playing on your email or whatever, you will 
be constantly needing to answer the door with an employee asking if you 
need anything.  i finally realized that the stop for this is the privacy 
light.