yup, i'm in china

I went to use the restroom at a supplier's office today. I started doing my thing at the urinal and then suddenly noticed a gurgling sound beneath me. You guessed it--the urinal drained onto the floor, which slanted slightly into a floor drain. One of the more disgusting bathrooms I've ever used. Oh, and the cigarette smell coming from the pile of butts in the next urinal over was divine as well.

Other signs that let you know when you've landed in China:

- Complete and utter chaos at the airport. People headed in every which direction, no lining up or any other form of organization with regard to managing where people go. This is all topped off by people noise and the PA going off to announce a flight boarding about twice a minute.

- Being pushed, shoved, sideswiped, manhandled and disrespected in just about every other way possible when in public places and especially public transportation.

- Blue skies are a fading memory from a distant past.

- Merely uttering a few words in the local language stops the entire room and requires that you be uniformly declared a genius by everyone present. People in the room will likely also lie to you and tell you that your Chinese is far better than theirs, despite the fact that it is their native tongue, not yours.

- Everyone stares at you and some people will even yell out the semi-derogatory word for "foreigner" in Chinese, thinking that you don't understand. Actually responding to these people immediately crowns you as the funniest, cleverest white man to ever set foot on Chinese soil.