Culture Shock

I found a question online recently about culture shock in China.  I thought it was interesting.  Though I don't have too much anymore, if at all.  Here are a few things that I find odd, disgusting, or maybe shocking.

Bathrooms- You must carry around your own toilet paper.  Roll up your pant legs because you don't want to drop your pants in all the liquids on the bathroom floor.  Women don't like to close the doors on the stalls when they are occupying them.  No soap or hot water in public bathroom sinks.

Street Fighting- If someone is attacked, no one will help.  I saw a man getting beat in the middle of the road by three other men who were using fists, feet, and beer bottles.  The cars on the road just sat there and honked for them to get out of the way.  Pedestrians just stood there and watched.  A different fight I saw (I later learned that a man was killed during it) was at a popular park with carnival rides.  Even the security guards stood and watched and started to run off when the fight moved over towards them.

Bodily Fluids on the Streets- As it is getting warmer out, people are more and more willing to relieve themselves on the street.  I couldn't even tell you how many men I have seen urinating out in the open.  Most of them don't even try to conceal themselves.  Men and women, old and young, spit constantly... anywhere.  On the street, in stores, in restaurants, and hospitals.  One day I stopped at the small market near my home to see two little girls carefully placing cardboard on the sidewalk right by the store door.  They then pull down their pants and hover over the cardboard and begin to defecate.  This is followed by, "Mom! Mom! I'm done! Mom!".

Babies-  Split pants.  They are pants for babies with splits in the crotch.  These babies usually don't wear diapers so they get a nice breeze wherever they go.  When the parent decides that the baby should go to the bathroom they simply hold them over a trash can or bush and make a hissing sound so the baby knows it's okay to pee now.  I once saw this in the VIP bathroom at the train station.  The mother was waiting in line for a stall until the cleaner came up to her and told her she could just hold the baby over the sink.  On the bus one day I saw a woman sitting down holding her baby on her lap.  Nothing out of the ordinary there until you notice what the baby is wearing.  A bib.  That is all.  I kid you not, and that is fairly normal in the hot summer.

Restaurants-  There is a saying in Chinese that the servers' thumbs are always cold.  This is because their thumbs are quite often stuck in your rice as they carry the rice to your table.  I have seen dogs and cats and naked babies and urinating dogs in restaurants here.  Don't have an ashtray at your table?  No problem, put it out on the table or the floor.

Tableware- Dishes are washed in cold water (even in private residences).  The dishes are then put away wet or given to you at a restaurant dripping with water.  Make sure your cup is clean by swishing beer around in it then poor it in your bowl or on the floor.

Street Markets and Open Markets- Need a whole chicken for your dinner party tonight?  You can buy one at the market.  Choose the live chicken that you want and they will kill it right there for you.  (I have also seen and heard dog markets.)  Go to the meat counter and point out what slab you want.  Make sure you wash it before you eat it.  It's been sitting there all day in the heat under a lamp with the butcher handling it over and over with the same gloves that he/she wears to take your money.

Those are just the things that I can think of at the moment.  Very few of these ever really get to me anymore.  Oh and you can get out of almost anything with money or your connections to people in the government.