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I'm sat here eating an orange that i picked myself on Saturday, the birds are singing outside, the sky is the brightest blue, it's too hot for a jacket, strawberries are just coming into season... and apparently it's the middle of winter and christmas is in less than two weeks. The only sign that it's colder than normal is that thermal underwear is for sale in the supermarket (and being bought!) and it gets a bit nippy at night.
I've really got used to life here. Its a country with lots of rules and a really strong moral foundation... which made it alot harder at first, but now we largely understand them (even if we don't always follow all of them!) I've become so much more conservative... it's so shocking if you see a girl in a short skirt or a strappy top (and you can almost always guarentee that she's a prostitute), I expect men to pay for my dinner, I know that once I'm in class it's far too shocking for the students if i take my jacket off, though I have learnt some chinese swear words they're too rude to ever be said in public (you cant even tell a member of the opposite sex that you've hurt your bottom whilst roller skating without causing giggles and looks of 'oh the foreigners are so funny'). However, this has a really strange inverse- it's perfectly acceptable to ask people how much their clothes cost, how much they get paid, to stare at people in the street, (especially if they are foreigners or beggars, in which case pointing and giggling is also acceptable), and if a fight breaks out (which happens regularly in a country where they prize strong alcohol and gambling) you would be a fool if you didnt stand up to get a better look.
As our Chinese has got better its become even more apparent that Chinese people really are the friendliest people in the world. They want to look at you, but more than that, they really want to speak to you, either to try out their english, tell us we're beautiful, find out where we come from... Older people here also really love to touch us. My hairy arms are an endless source of interest to the woman at our usual restaurant. The other day we went out with some students, and stopped at the side of the road because we were waiting for someone. A little old lady hobbled up with this very Chinese look of 'ooh they're foreign... I can't believe that they're foreign'. I smiled at her and said hello (mainly because she had actually stopped walking to look at us) and she started to talk at us, wanting to know where we are from, what we were doing in Simao, saying that our skin was very beautiful... all the time with this big smile and a slight giggle.
I think China is quite possibly the best place on earth.
It's been really lovely hearing from you all, either on here, or receiving post.. I'm very sorry that I haven't been as good with emailing back, and let me just say once again that trying to send post is an absolute nightmare here! I will email everyone just as soon as I can. Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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