life adventure

the Chinese toilet —a squatty potty!!!

January 31, 2015December 18, 2016AuthorLeave a comment

Yeah. I’m taking about it. I didn’t know about it before I arrived in China and it’s something that I should’ve been told… I would’ve been more prepared — both mentally and physically!

Here goes, Chinese toilets are not like Western toilets. That’s it. Big shocker huh? I was shocked, my egocentric mentality thought that all toilets were like the ones that we have in the West. Nope. These toilet are appropriately named ‘squatters’, they’re flat on the ground and, as a lady, you have to squat to go potty. For guys the standard urinals are available, unless they’re caught needing to go no.2 —then the squat is on!

It takes some getting used to. I’m not going to go into details, there are actually plenty of other sites that will explain how to use these types of toilets. What I want to point out are the physical benefits that you get from using a squatty potty.

The squat gives your legs a great, probably much needed, stretch and it activates your core too!

There you go. That’s it, again. It’s so simple, you get a core and leg work out each time you use a squatty potty. Further, in a squatting position the muscles in your core actually work better together to help you along your business faster. Plus, it’s great for your feet too!

When you squat you have to root your toes into the ground, to actually stay balanced. This is a practice that taught in so many Yoga poses, among many things it really helps with blood flow.

Imagine, each time you use a Chinese toilet you actually enhance your body!

In-fact using a Chinese toilet is basically just like doing Frog Pose —you get the same benefits.

Sure, this style of toilet is different, even awkward or silly, but isn’t at all bad —it’s actually good for you!

It certainly takes some getting used to but if it’s beneficial for your body…then it’s worth it.

Getting a Chinese bank account…

January 30, 2015January 30, 2015AuthorLeave a comment

There’s a bunch of posts online that will tell you about how to get set up with a Chinese bank account. I found some of them useful though most of them just complain about how getting a Chinese bank account can be so difficult, so I’m here to break that trend.

Getting a Chinese bank account just takes patience. That is to say, if you don’t speak Chinese then you need to bring along your big supply of patience when you head over to open a bank account, but really aside from your passport and the cash deposit that is all you need to bring.

The Chinese are really friendly and accommodating to foreigners. I opened my first Chinese bank account at CCB (China Construction Bank) using my very limited Chinese speaking skills, and Google Translate on my iPad. I think the process was way more grueling — requiring of patience — for the representatives but they were very nice about it. Oh yeah, I say representatives (plural) because if you’re not in a big city like Shanghai, Beijing, ChengDu, or even Xiamen, or Shenzhen then foreigners are very foreign and they’ll gather up a crowd.

Going back to opening a bank account, there is a bunch of paperwork that the representatives will help you fill out. It’s all in Chinese so you gotta be extra careful and have them explain everything — one should always be cautious about what they sign, right? There will be more than a handful of forms that you’ll have to “sign” — actually you just write out your name, a real signature will not be accepted. The Chinese rep. will stamp your documents and give you copies in the end. They will also need to make a copy of your passport and visa page that you will then have to “sign” so that they can file it away.

I ended up getting another bank account at ABC (Agricultural Bank of China), I am still happy with CCB I just wanted to check out this other option. The reps at ABC were even more helpful since one of them spoke pretty good English. The steps were similar to what I did at CCB. Both banks have Chinese only forms to fill-out, they both require to see and photocopy your passport, they both have an annual fee of 10 yuan, however CCB charges 30 yuan for their Debit Card and at ABC it was free. Though that might be because at ABC I also got, and paid for, online banking (30 yuan). In order to online bank at both of these banks you need to buy a special USB that you need to insert into your computer each time that you log-on to the bank’s website, so that you can log-on to your account. It’s suppose to be an added security feature — for me it’s an added hassled, but oh well. I got the online banking for ABC because they actually have their online banking website available in English, CCB does not.

And that’s pretty much it… In the end I spent about 2/3 hours each time I opened a new account. So it takes a while, but it’s not something that you have to do over and over again. Once you have your debit card you don’t really ever have to go back to the bank. You can deposit and withdraw money at the ATM — which is great because the ATM is in English. You can also withdraw money at any other bank’s ATM for a 2 yuan fee (within the province/city that you opened your account in). Oh, and one last thing, you can withdrawal money from foreign ATMs, if you’re abroad, as long as the ATMs have a Union Pay logo, the fee for that is 1% of the withdrawal amount plus a flat fee of 12 yuan at both ABC and CCB — it may be different at other banks.

It may be the year of the Goat but for me it’s the year of meeting BIG goals

January 24, 2015August 8, 2015Author2 Comments

I’ve been living in China for over five months now and I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t really learned much Chinese — umm, excuse me, the correct term is Mandarin. Chinese people call their language Chinese so I’m calling it that too.

My excuse isn’t that I hang-out with a bunch of other expats. No, I’m surrounded by Chinese people all the time. Chinese people with very limited English speaking skills. How do I get by? Well, I’ve learned some words in Chinese, combined with the few words that they know in English, plus pointing, and lots of Google translate. But, it’s getting to the point where that’s really not enough, and I refuse to continue to be one of those foreigners that doesn’t learn the language of the country that they’re living in!

The truth is I’m a bit scared to learn Chinese, actually I mainly fear that I won’t be able to learn it. It just sounds so foreign! But, I’ve been around it long enough and I cannot continue to keep relying on my Chinese liaison (oh, yeah, there’s a person that helps me communicate with the school, so she helps me get by too).

I’m making myself continue to study Chinese and this time to be diligent about it. I’m giving myself a thirty minute window, every day, to start with. I have the tools to do so, I’m signed up for a Coursera Chinese course, then I downloaded a bunch of Spotify playlists, plus I have a Chinese textbook, and, yeah, I’m surrounded by Chinese people. So, we’ll see how far I get in the next five months. I hope that I will be able to carry-on a simple conversation, or at the very least that I’ve quadrupled my vocabulary!

Quick list of the words that I know so far:

Hello: Nín hǎo

Good-morning: zǎoshang hǎo

I like: wǒ xǐhuān

Do you like: nǐ xǐhuān ma?

Thank you: xièxiè

Meal time: Chīfàn

Tomato: xīhóngshì

Seaweed: hǎidài

Cucumber: huángguā

Celery: qíncài

Apple: píngguǒ

Orange: Google translate doesn’t have the right transition for this!

Grapes: Google translate doesn’t have the right transition for this!

Walk: Sànbù

Carrot: Húluóbo

Vegetables: Shūcài

egg-noode soup: Jīdàn miàn tāng

Rice: mǐfàn

Chicken: Jī

Meat: Ròu

Pork: Zhūròu

Flower: Huā

I love you: Wǒ ài nǐ

Goodnight: Wǎn’ān

Stupid: Google translate doesn’t have the right transition for this!

Oh my god: Google translate doesn’t have the right transition for this!

Good: Hǎo

I don’t understand: kin Bù dǒng

yes: Google translate doesn’t have the right transition for this!

no: Méiyǒu

Water: Shuǐ

What is that: Zhè shì shénme

What is this: Zhè shì shénme

1—10: Yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ, shí

Yeah, I know, it’s not much so I gotta a long way to go…

30 things you need to do before turning 30

January 16, 2015September 28, 2017AuthorLeave a comment

1. Live in a different city, away from your hometown. You’ll be surprised to find out just how different cities can be even within the same country. Doing this will give you the chance to meet the person that you really are (outside of the mold your community and all of the people around you created for you), and you will grow as an individual.

2. Work a retail or food industry job. You’ll be buying things and food for the rest of your life; get the insiders knowledge of how things really work from behind the scenes.

3. Do 300 hours of volunteer work. Great places to volunteer for are Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity — but your favorite non-profit will also work.

4. Read these books: the Alchemist, Grow Up, the Four Agreements.

5. Watch these movies: Pay-It-Forward, Life is Beautiful, Zeitgeist, I Am, Happy, The Compass and The Opus.

6. Teach children something, anything as long as it’s enriching and positive. You can tutor your favorite subject, coach your favorite sport, teach them your favorite hobby.

7. Speaking of hobbies, learn new hobbies! Anything and everything new that interests you, or anything that you wanted to learn, or do when you were little but never got the chance.

8. Learn a life skill. Learn to knit or sew, code HTML, change your oil, etc.

9. Plant a plant. Grow it from a seed, nurture it and watch it grow — notice how it filters your air, brings you oxygen, and life.

10. Forgive the people that have wronged you in the past. This doesn’t mean that you have to be best friends with them, but holding on to grudges and resentment will only hinder your own growth and hurt your heart.

11. Travel to at least three different countries, and live in each new one for at least three weeks each. A great way to do this is through study abroad programs or wwoof — though I’ve never tried wwoof-ing myself.

12. Visit a farm or ranch. See where your food really comes from.

13. Couchsurf or rideshare. The world is full of wonderful people this is a great way to meet them. Plus, after your experience you’ll just wanna pay-it-forward which will bring you all sorts of good karma points.

14. Observe the world around you. Pick anywhere then just sit and watch. Observe the world and make it count, do this for at least three hours.

15. Visit a landfill. Have you ever wondered where everything you throw away goes? It doesn’t just magically disappear. Find out what happens to your stuff.

16. Sleep under the stars, literally. Go camping with just your sleeping bag — but bring a tarp, in-case it rains.

17. Talk to people you wouldn’t normally talk to. Have a thirty minute conversation with a homeless person or anyone you’d otherwise turn away.

18. Ditch your car for a year, or longer. Public transportation and bicycles are perfectly effective (and Eco-friendly) ways to travel. Plus you’ll get to discover a different side to the city in which you live in — and probably lose some weight.

19. Listen to non-lyrical music, and learn to love it. There’s already so much chatter inside of our heads, lyrical music just tends to increase the noise, so start listening to non-lyrical music.

20. Learn Sign Language. Because of all the noise pollution nowadays more and more people are increasingly losing their hearing as they get older. Your older, senile-self will appreciate you learning how to speak visually. Plus sometimes without words you can say so much more.

21. Write three POSITIVE and detailed online reviews — or more! It’s so easy not to write anything or to have the energy to write angry, negative reviews so make the time to share the good news!

22. Observe nature. For at least three hours sit somewhere in nature — where there are absolutely no other people around — and just observe.

23. Watch a thunderstorm (from a safe place – of course).

24. Learn to cook a new and delicious dish. Once you’ve mastered it have a dinner party. Invite at least three friends over to share it with you.

25. Begin your life-long daily meditation habit. Teach your mind how to relax and give it the chance to purify itself each day.

26. Create a daily exercise regiment, any exercise will do however Yoga asanas are the least impactive while providing optimal benefits.

27. Be vulnerable. Be real. Tell people how you really feel — no, emotions clouded by anger and resentment aren’t how you really feel.

28. Be kind and caring to yourself, become your own bestest friend.

29. Envision your perfect life, then write out in detail what that looks like.

30. Define your Ultimate Purpose. In the next 30 years what will you be working towards?

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