love and...don't love

i have kind of a love-hate relationship with china. hate is a strong word, but i'm tempted to use it in some of the following circumstances. below is a list of things i love and things i really don't love in china.

first, the bad:

1. i don't love my long legs...in china. normally, i like them. in china, NOTHING is made with an inseam of 33" or that will come close to hitting below my knees. i had to pass up some darling clothes because of these blasted legs. 2. smoking. i hate it. but 99% of china loves it. i'm so grateful for the non-smoking laws in california and utah. i think it is the most disgusting habit ever and i do NOT understand why anyone does it. it's gross. and i hate it. 3. chinese characters. don't get me wrong. they're beautiful and i'm sure some people understand them. and no, i'm not one of those people who goes to a foreign country and thinks they should speak MY language. i just wonder why they had to create a language based on 60,000 characters rather than 26 letters. come ON people. ryan says they were at the top of the tower of babel. 4. brooks adrenalines. again, don't get me wrong. i do love these running shoes...for running. i just really missed wearing my cute shoes. 5. typhoons. i understand they can be very dangerous...but it was bad timing. level 8 means everything in hong kong shuts down. kind of a wasted day. oh well...it'll be a good story later on. 6. squatty potties. don't be deceived. i'm smiling in the picture below because i wasn't actually USING the squatty potty i'm standing over...and it was a clean one. i just didn't know that yet. being a girl is so not fair when it comes to these things. i've been traumatized for life. my running legs did come in handy, though. 7. UMBRELLAS. my number one hatred of china. i thought i hated umbrellas at BYU. people get them out for two drops of rain and don't really know how to hold them without gouging others in the eye...but BYU doesn't even compare to china! first, the majority of people were about a foot shorter than me, which means their umbrellas really were gouging me in the eye. second, they got them out for ONE drop of rain. and third, they kept them out through torrential rain storms (like the one below on the great wall...you just can't see the rain...i promise it was there) when the umbrella no longer has a purpose. rain is coming at you from all directions and dripping off the umbrella and drenching you anyway. JUST PUT THEM AWAY! if i'm ever the ruler of anything, there will be rules about umbrellas. and now for the things i LOVE:



1. drinking clean water out of faucets. i couldn't do this in china, so i guess it's not something i love about china, but it's something that i came to realize i love a LOT. every morning. every night. i love faucet water.2. my nikon d80...even though i didn't get to use it...ryan.

3. my new canon sd750 elph. words cannot express my love for this technological device. it is AMAZING. if anyone is considering a purchase of a new point-and-shoot camera, this is the one for you. plus, who doesn't love that retro look?
4. watching julia do ANYTHING to get that perfect shot. lie down in tiananmen square, climb on baracades, go through blockades and fences. whatever it takes. thanks for the great pictures, julia. :) and, while we're on the subject, i also liked watching her dive on subway seats to save them for us (while confused chinese people looked on), yell at people butting in line and push over old ladies at the olympics. hehehe. don't hate me, julia. just too funny to not post. 5. kleenex. those travel size packs really came in handy for the aforementioned squatty potties. that's all i really want to say about it. still traumatized.
6. target. no, i did not see any targets in china. but, that made me all the more grateful for them. i walked through countless shops and markets, which were all very cool, but i still love that one-stop-comfort-shopping good old target offers. i've been there probably 7 times since i've been home.

7. the beach. ryan had never been in the water in china...let alone with a girl!
8. brooks adrenalines. i know i said i hated them...and i did. but i also secretly loved them. i vowed to NEVER wear tennis shoes unless running. i really never do...and sometimes i forfeit comfort for that vow. i almost didn't bring them to china at all. however, i broke that vow in china and, although it made for some ugly pictures, i'm so glad i wore them. they saved my little feet. 9. chinese stars. who doesn't love bruce lee and jackie chan?

10. chinese tea. no, i didn't try it. but that's why it's so great! going to a country that is famous for their tea and then proceeding to tell each and every person who offers it to you that you don't want any sure gives you some strange looks. they were completely befuddled. they definitely thought we were a peculiar people.