| I learnt so much more about China through living in a village. (Panyazhai, Jiuzhaigou -- see my triplog http://www.mytripjournal.com/jiuzhaigoufieldwork) Heaps of the things my Chinese friends did seemed less strange to me. Why do they always have a shower at 4pm instead of first thing in the morning or last thing at night? Because you always wash your hair during a warm time of day since you have to do it outside (which I was totally hopeless at). Why do they spit on the floor and throw seed shells on the floor? Because in the village the floor and the courtyard are treated like outdoors. Many of these actions transfer across to their everyday lives in New Zealand, and don't make sense. But in the village, it's so clear (even though this was a Tibetan not a Chinese village, it's still new to me).
Except I still haven't got the hang of brushing my teeth before breakfast! |
Dan Washburn Arrived in Beijing