Honk Honk Crash

Right now I'm eating some large and delicious grapes, and spitting the seeds out onto one of the incalculably many small, entirely useless pieces of paper that I have collected while in China. Everytime I buy something, I get another small useless piece of paper. Sometimes I get four or five of them. Most people in the civilized world call them reciepts, but I can't imagine ever needing so many. Everytime I leave the supermarket on campus, a nice man (or woman) blocking the only exit will stamp my newly acquired small useless piece of paper. They aren't checking to see if my reciept matches what I've bought, and the stamping chute is only about 3 feet from the registers in any case. I've also seen some people walk by and ignore the stamp man. In short, I don't know what the stamps are for, and neither do any of my classmates. I suspect that the person who is doing the stamping also doesn't have a clue. I'm not sure if I'm comforted or profoundly disturbed.

In other news, my roommate might be a machine. I say that because I only see him maybe four or five days out of the week, and I think it may be because he needs to be plugged in and recharged for the remaining days. I can't actually prove it, though, until I see a little indicator light start blinking on his forehead...In all seriousness, I don't really mind having a single most of the time, as my roommate is a little aloof. However, part of me also wishes he was around more, because I feel that I'm missing out on an opportunity to improve my Chinese.


To me, the following picture is particularly striking:
Why is it striking, you might ask? Because a boot on the wheel is about the only way you'll ever see a car in China that is stopped. The list of things that are more terrifying than traffic in China is a short one that only contains such things as "being on fire" and "being mauled by a bear". Honestly, it is as if someone showed up last Thursday in China with a few hundred thousand cars and told the people of China to 'enjoy themselves' and 'the brake is the one on the left, but you don't really use it much.' American roller coasters have nothing on driving in a Chinese taxi. Honestly, it is difficult to explain unless you go. Here's the best analogy I can think of:

In 1981, a Japanese company called Konami created a game called Frogger. The object of the game was to guide a frog to his/her home, which just happened to be on the other side of a busy highway. The game is today considered one of a handful of 'classic' videogames, and also serves as the inspiration for the Chinese national pastime, jaywalking. Jaywalking is more challenging in China because the cars, buses, motorcycles, and bicycles give you every indication that they are not going to stop. And really, except for some taxis and the occasional bus, they won't. While deep down you feel like you can call their bluff, the only real option is to get out of the road as fast as you can. The rules of the road in China are simple: traffic laws have only the power of suggestion, and right of way is determined by size. That's it. You can (and I have seen someone do this) drive a car on the sidewalk if you've got a small enough car and big enough balls.

Speaking of small cars, Chinese cars look like toys. I don't have a picture of one yet but I will try to get one. Besides the jin bei brand, almost every Chinese made car I've seen has looked like a rectangle with wheels on it. It is a wonder they actually function without exploding or just plain falling apart.

Okay, that's all I'll spend on traffic in China. Quick hits before I go..

• My one on one professor carries around a Playboy purse. I'm not kidding. Apparently it is a somewhat legitimate looking brand here.
  
• I'm not entirely convinced that most people here understand the English that's written on the clothing they're wearing. Yesterday at dinner, I saw a guy wearing a baseball cap with "PIMP" in huge letters on it (my friend took a picture, I'll try to get it), and our waitress at the resteraunt had a shirt that read "ONE BIG LIE" on it.
• The other international student dorm at HIT's campus is much, MUCH nicer than ours. I'm sort of bitter about that.
  
• There is construction going on on campus, which involves ripping up every road on campus, replacing all the wiring underneath it, and rebuilding the entire road. This makes actually walking around on campus kind of harrowing.
• One thing I forgot to mention is that there are two Canadian diplomats studying with our CET group. They're pretty much awesome. I get the feeling they enjoy getting to be sort of students again. Sadly, they're only here for half the semester.
  
• Last Sunday night we lost electricity in the dorm, but only in part of the dorm. The rooms all had power, but the hallways and everything else were pitch. Apparently this is something that happens often. Why an entire building doesnt lose power is completely beyond me. This is China's premier tech university, why was the electricity designed by a six year old?
• Last night I watched the first half of Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke. It was completely and utterly stunning. Films do not usually provoke any emotion in me, but I was almost moved to tears by the end. I'll post my more complete thoughts on it when I finish the film.
  
• Favorite picture that I've taken so far:

Alright, I'm out. Until next week.