touring

touring is a very lonely business.

don't worry folks, i am okay, but sometimes it gets really hard. i think it is because i am in china, and talking to the lady in the grocery line behind you is impossible. saying hello is damn near impossible. yes, i know how to say hello in chinese, but then the conversation is over. i think i am getting too old for this shit. and it doesn't help when i read the paper from home, and all i really want to do is see my family, or go to a razorback game with my nephew. or even go to wal-mart. ugh.


on another note, i would like to reiterate, squatty potty's suck! and the street cleaning trucks here play music, like an ice cream truck, which i find very odd. and it seems i am incapable of taking pictures. i take my camera with me everywhere, but when it comes to actually getting it out and using it, i just don't. that's weird, isn't it? i am writing as if i am having a conversation, but nobody talks back. okay, off i go to eat chinese food, or as rachel says, food.

keep reading...

a family post

to my family at home

mom, brett, rachel, nancy, jerry, and the man, seth,

i miss you all very much. send me mail. send me pictures. send me anything.
and make sure the man never forgets his crazy aunt!!!!

i love you all, and can't wait to see you,
paige

i have to go to the bathroom

two words you'll never hear in the english language in a normal conversation:

squatty potty

let's all take a moment to reflect.




are we done? good.
a well raised southern lady does not discuss bodily functions. you had better say excuse me if you burp, and god forbid you should pass gas. in china there are no holds barred on any of it. burp where you want, and pretty much anything else. there is a concept here of a squatty potty. unless i am camping i feel there is no need to squat, but in china a lady is expected to do just that. in whatever she has on. a nice dress, jeans, shorts, whatever. and usually there is no toliet paper. so far the disgustingness of it is winning. all public restrooms are this way. hotels have real toliets though, thank the good lord. and the skill of a squatty is something most chinese women master. we, americans, not so much. i am not saying i have a problem, because i have camped a lot, but some of my co-workers are at a complete loss of how to master the skill. now i understand why some urinals are a challenge for men. and why sometimes after an asian person uses the restroom, there are footprints on the seat. i hate the squatty potty. it is an evil invention. and they never flush right. who is in charge over here? and why haven't theymoved into the modern century. i am just sayin'

keep reading...

out of shanghai

so we finally left shanghai, after a month. and the hours we worked were retarded, but it is my job. ugh. we're in hangzhou now, where the women's world cup was played. i have only been to work so far, so i have no idea what the town is like. marco polo said that hangzhou is the prettiest city in the world. i don't see that. oh well. we're here for a little over a week then off to some other chinese city, where i hate the food. yea me. i plan to come back to the states as a stick, and eat myself to about 300 lbs. just kidding.my room is nice here. i love NOT having a roommate, or even the threat of a roommate. thank you "company" i work for. i have heard rumors of our future travels...

christmas and my birthday in seoul, south korea. it's like 8 weeks in one place. wow.
it looks like thailand is on the agenda.
malasyia, and singapore too.

we'll see what happens.

keep reading...

still in china

so i have noticed some things about dear ole' china....

personal space. there is none. these folks will literally push you out of the way. no excuse me. i have not body checked anyone yet, but i have come very close. i am southern and i expect you to say excuse me, when i say it to you. here, that absolutely doesn't happen. i have been pushed and shoved all over shanghai. i think it's horseshit. i have though knocked an umbrella to the ground, because obviously they are shorter and i could have lost an eye.

manners, table manners to be exact. they DO NOT exist. i don't need to chew with my mouth open, but here, i could, and it would be okay. it borders on nauseating. thank you for showing me what my chewed up food looks like, i was curious.

spitting. as much as the pollution here causes phelgm, i would rather not see you spit out your oh so disgusting loogie on the street. if american men did that, they would never get laid. it is gross, and i am tired of walking through your spit.

litter. find a damn trashcan! is it that hard? i don't think so, but i am a very american girl, and litter is frowned upon.

and there is no pedestrian law here. it's like a giant game of frogger. and the chinese are winning the game.

thank god for skippy peanut butter, bananas, and something i thought i'd never say, mc donalds. and the occasional westerner.

ugh. keep reading...


oh, and i almost forgot, a typhoon here is like a small spring storm in the states. it rained, the humidity is crazy, and my hair looks like shit.