Call me unadventurous, non-progressive, unexciting, or whatever but I've got no desire to visit China. The last time my mother in law went, she reported having to take a dump in a hole in the floor on more than one occasion. At this stage of my life, I'm not keen on that nor getting food poisoning on a frequent basis. I don't mind an outhouse while I'm at a ranch somewhere because I'm not expecting a lot in the way of comfort. I'm just not keen on handing over a lot of cash for the opportunity to fly across the Pacific for the privilege of dropping trou in some really awful facilities. There you have it--just not Peace Corps material at the moment.
3 comments:
Mrs. Nimdok visited China a few years back, and her words upon returning were "Glad I went, never, ever want to go back."
She had similar experiences with the ol' hole in the floor, but in retelling the horror of those experiences she added that in most cases, the restrooms consisted of several holes in the floor, all in a nice row on either side of the room, but without the luxury of stalls. Everything was wide open. Lovely thought.
The world population is approx. 6.8M, or about 35 people per square mile (excluding the oceans in the earth's surface area raises this to 119 people per sm). The US has a population of 309M, less than 5% of total earth and a surface area of 3.7M sm, which is less than 2% of the earth. The US has 84 people per sm. (Although NJ is over 1,000. Texas is pretty close to the US average with 80. Alaska is at 1).
China has a population of over 1.3B, or almost 20% of the total earth. But, China's surface area is about the same as the US, or 3.7M sm. So, China has 361 people per sm.
Personal modesty gets trumped by the urgency of where to put it (maybe that's why those NJ housewives seem so irritable).
I've been to China several times and I am going back the first week of June. It's not that bad, it's just the air that bothers me. I come back with bronchitis every time. It's like breathing toxic waste.
Rules to live by in China:
1. Learn how to say "Bu Yao," which is basically "I don't want."
2. Always relieve yourself before you leave the pleasantness of the Ritz Carlton.
3. Go to Hooters in every city you can. Bring a camera.
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