No. 6

Pink-tailed demon.

Date: April 15, 2016

Status: Thinking about home

              Having lived in China since September of 2015, I seem to alternate between days of habit and days of: "Where the heck am I, and what the heck am I doing?" Today was a weird day. It started off feeling like habit: go to the teachers' workshop meeting, chat with coworkers, and teach my evening class. But the day felt like anything but habit when I went to KFC for dinner. I was met with a Chinese line. (Some would call it a writhing mass of pushing people.) An older gent pushed ahead of me when I was clearly next. And while I ate, a fluffy dog with a pink tail ate fries off of a nearby table with its owners looking on.
               This sudden shift in the tone of my day has gotten me thinking about the habits I'll most likely drop upon returning to the ol' US of A. So here are my top ten China habits: 

1. Asking, "In English or Chinese?" when seeking clarification about a friend's interaction with someone outside of our friend circle.

2.  Making sure my glass water bottle has fresh tea leaves in it before I leave the house.

3. Speaking freely in public about the public.

4. Responding to "hello"s from strangers on the street.

5. Specifying that I'd like a bag when purchasing significantly more than an armful of groceries.

6. Assuming that strangers are talking about me if I overhear the word for "teacher" or "foreigner."

7. Eating full slices of pineapple with chopsticks.

8. Trusting anything sold by a street vendor.

9. Maintaining a neutral, unsmiling face in public.

10. Assuming that the smell of a backed up sewer is really just stinky tofu.