2005-01-25 - 8:14 p.m.

I am spittin mad at Diaryland. They lost my pictures of Hong Kong. Or maybe they are holding them ransom. I told them to fix it. They will be back soon.
Only 2 more weeks until I get to eat again!!! I'm only half-joking. I can't wait to eat Western food, loads and loads of it. I want to eat until I have to undo my pants and lay down for about 5 hours (sorry Jason, I stole your joke).
It's so nice how the human brain adapts to brand-new bizarre sensory input. So many things in China that made me do a double-take I don't even bat an eye at anymore. For example, Mike and I went into a DVD store and were greeted by 4 clerks. The store is the size of a walk-in closet, yet they need 4 clerks. Why. Sometimes clerks in stores are really interested in Westerners. They follow people around, not because they think we will steal; they just want to see what we get. Personal space is a foreign concept in China as you probably know, and DVD stores are no exception. I had a guy stuck to my side, walking with me, stopping when I stopped, browsing when I browsed, and occassionally offering me movies. "You like?" he said, as he held up a Dolph Lundgren movie. No thanks. I looked over at Mike and he's in the same boat, only with a nice DVD lady doing the honors. Music is blasting at ear-piercing levels, and I guess everyone's favorite song came on, because all 4 employees began belting out the tune like they were on American Idol. I like to exaggerate sometimes because its fun, but I am telling the honest truth. They even made those faces singers make when they hit the high notes or are really 'feeling it'. And they pumped their fists the way singers do too. If that happened in, oh, say, Cabot, Arkansas, I would demand to know what hidden TV show I was on (after I got up off the floor I laughed so hard I fell). Not in China. I didn't even realize how special it was until much later. Those people were so moved by that music(or bored by their jobs) that they just sang to their hearts content. And this is a Communist country. If I did that in the States, someone would call the cops. Incident #2 of bizarre sensory input--This is the neighborhood I catch a cab in every morning,

and this is half of the number of bikes on the street during rush hour.This morning I was almost hit with a snot rocket by one of these bicyclists, and again, it did not faze me. A few hours later I thought to myself, "HOW RUDE! A total stranger tried to blow snot out his nose and onto ME!!!!" The guy sort of leaned out over his bike, put his hand over the top of his nose (to keep the projectile from spraying all over himself I suppose-how thoughtful of him to think of himself) and blew out as hard as he could. It, thankfully, landed at my feet. I stared at the loogie (sp.?) , made a "hmm" noise, and kept walking. Incident #3- My friend Anne, who taps with me, moved back to Germany, and we had a going away party for her at a salsa club. Here's Adeline (Belly-dance teacher from France), me, and Anne having a good ole time.

On our walk to the bar, we passed a massage parlor that appeared to be closed. You know how women look at themselves in anthing with the tiniest bit of a reflection? I never do, but all my friends were looking for themselves to think 'I am sooo cute', but they found a naked man sitting at a desk, talking on the phone instead! Since I never sneak peeks at myself in glass storefronts, they got my attention and made me look. We laughed so hard I almost peed in my pants. We got half-way down the street and decided we needed a picture of this man. He must have sensed us coming, because he ran away. Look closely, he's picking at his booty.

Goodbye for now from the land where everyone's a singing sensation, it rains snot, and people work naked at their desks in offices with glass fronts. xoxo, Julie

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