How to Relax

90% truth, 10% fiction of course. : ) But the point is, they hurt like hell, but the next week you feel like a champion.

The Four Quadrants of Height and Weight

Obviously this is some extreme generalizing but, overall, this is how the four corners of China seem to be height and weightwise, according to my travels and some conversations with friends and their observations. The north eastern seem paler and really really tall and elegantly thin. Where I lived down south east, people are generally shorter than me, much more tan and incredibly wiry. On the south west, I felt pretty comfortable, with people being just a the shorter than me, and generally of the same weight and size. I have yet to go north east to Xingjiang....but as a lot of people are of a mixed race, some northern, some middle eastern and some Chinese....my assumptions about height and weight are these.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment or like!

Colors

 

This was a true story. I was later explained that the term huáng rén 黄人 (yellow person) is in no way insulting and is often used in chinese culture. Coming from politically correct Canada...it took time getting used to this. 

Aliens

 

The text means "Lao wai. 老外", which is the not so nice but oh so common way of referring to foreigners in China. It more or less can also mean alien, and if you look for information on applying for a Chinese visa, the official page refers to foreigners as aliens as well. This is probably the first word you learn upon your arrival in china...and it follows you EVERYWHERE you go as you can see. Some of us can choose to play along. : )

Tea Time

The "game over" usually refers to Starcraft. As for the "gumma", it's a local take on the word "shema", which means "what". The local language in my town occasionally got to a point of laziness where the sound "sh" was just too much trouble to pronounce, as I was explained.

Alcohol Matters

 

Please note that I have very little clue about brewing beer and alcohol in general, so the accuracy of this comic is a bit null. The idea is still there though, the same beer will taste different almost every time, and a few of my coworkers would joke saying "it depends on the kind of day they had at the brewery" that determines the quality.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day in China is a funny thing. First of all, they have their own Valentine's kinds of day in August, but since westernization and commercialism are very big, V-Day can be a huge thing. Who doesn't love love? What I found most funny was the popularity of what we call "junk food chain restaurants" to be the cream of the crop in the Middle Kingdom. You don't go to McDonalds cause you have the midnight munchies. That's just too pricey. (a regular giant ass delicious noodle soup will set you back about 6rmb, a crummy fast food meal though at least 20rmb, so...do the math) You DO go there on a date however, and V-Day, they are PACKED. Every western fast food joint in my town was full to the brim. I wouldn't be surprised if you needed to reserve a table.