Proud and Not Proud

When you move to a new place, meet all new people, start a new job, live in a new apartment, try to learn a new language, and try to adapt to a new way of life, you develop some new habits. Aside from the still almost daily epiphany of "I live in China," I am catching myself doing a lot of things that I never thought I would do. I mean, none are too drastic- it's more that they are drastically different than my life at home. It's an interesting process for me to try to let go of how I do things and what I do at home and realize- hey, I'm in China. And yes, some of these habits are better than others. For simplicity, I have divided the list of things I never thought I would regularly do into two categories : Proud and Not Proud.

To start, Proud:

1. I have learned to hulla hoop. I really thought it was a lost cause but I finally got it.

2. I floss my teeth. Well, I shouldn't really say that this is a habit yet- but I have incorporated flossing into my routine. Again, I really thought it was a lost cause but I finally got it.

3. I can consistently pronounce the name of my apartment complex such that taxi drivers can drive me home. I haven't had to use my cheat sheet for at least 3 weeks.

So, that's three things. Gotta start somewhere.

The Not Proud is longer:

1. I go to Starbucks. The miraculous transnational corporation is infiltrating Weifang. A second location just opened up here yesterday, and we all flocked to it. Comfy couches, fast internet, clean bathrooms with Western toilet, English speaking baristas and shit coffee. At least I still know the coffee is shit.

2. I'm a tea drinker. It's the economical choice both in terms of finances and time spent wasting trying to encounter or make a cup that even tastes half decent. Plus this tea thing, ain't so bad. There are a lot of amazing teas around here. I practically have a cup on the go all the time.

3. I ate at McDonald's yesterday. It started out with a cab ride where I tried to say "Maidonglou" which is Chinese pronunciation. Of course, I failed and the driver just looked at me confused. So I quickly drew up some Golden Arches and pointed at them in my notebook. He burst out laughing and drove me there... Apparently, the teacher tradition is Saturday McDonald's breakfast. Being an ardent breakfast tradition supporter, I am not gonna scoff at the opportunity to meet for caffeine and cholesterol. We met for McMuffins and I have to admit, I enjoyed it. Egg breakfast is not part of my routine here. Okay, I have a confession. I ate at McDonald's twice yesterday. There, I said it. I hadn't been into a McDonald's (except to take a shit in Mexico) since I was in grade 10. Then yesterday, all hell broke loose and I ate breakfast there. And if that wasn't enough, I went back after a night of festivities. Egg McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin, Coffee, Spicy Chicken Burger, Fries, and Coke. All those things happened within 24 hours. And yes, if you are wondering, I do feel like shit.

4. I get up at 5:15 am and eat oatmeal. And drink tea. I liked the Laurel that got up at 7am, made a bodem of coffee and poached eggs. This oatmeal thing is okay, but there is only so much cardboard you really wanna eat in a lifetime.

I'm pretty confident that, as early as the end of tomorrow, I will have to update this post to add more to the list but for now I'll leave it at that. I guess the good of it all is that you have to adapt and I'm adapting. When I think of it like that, I am proud of all of it in that it's change. It's fun to see how my Chinese life is taking shape even if it includes McMuffins and shitty coffee from Starbucks.