lesson number 1: raising your shirt is an effective and socially acceptable means of relief from the heat.
Raising your shirt will not, however, necessarily allow you to blend in with the crowd. So far my shirt raising has been uneventful. Cameron, on the other hand, got swarmed by some school children at the birds nest the other day only moments after his first shirt raise. we'll post some photos when we get the chance. He's a bit of a celebrity where ever we go actually. Yesterday at Tianeman Sqaure (where it should be noted there are plenty of gwylos (white people)), someone asked to have a photo with him. So far I'm blending in pretty well. I attribute this to my deep tan and improving chinese mannerisms.
Technique is important however. shirt raising should really be called shirt folding. You don't tie the shirt. Rather, you carefully fold the shirt inside itself. A solid potbelly is a real asset. Cameron has been building an idea that someone should make a shirt with "some sort of clips". keep this on the dl.
Lesson 2: sunglasses are both useful and fashionable but they need not have lesses.
In fact no lens glasses are all the rage. Guys and girls are wearing them everywhere and there are several ads in the subway featuring the no lens look. Here in Beijing, afterall, the smog gently filters the suns rays for you. Some days the sun is hardly visible. This probably also explains why sunscreen is almost impossible to find, (although we did find it today, provided skin whiting cream is an equivalent product). I have yet to knock out my lenses despite my intuition that I could be ahead of the curve when I reach the UK.
Lesson 3: learn some mandarin before you come
Cameron and I have an ongoing competition to see how can say "thank you" better. So far I think we're both lossing since without fail people laugh whenever we get the chance to say it. I think we've improving though. Initially people would think for a moment and then laugh. Now they just laugh.
The language barrier also stands in the way of some important questions. How much are those stickybuns? When does the metro close? Or, as came up last night why are there a team of old chinese men swimming in that festering pond in the middle of the bar district just past midnight?
Raising your shirt will not, however, necessarily allow you to blend in with the crowd. So far my shirt raising has been uneventful. Cameron, on the other hand, got swarmed by some school children at the birds nest the other day only moments after his first shirt raise. we'll post some photos when we get the chance. He's a bit of a celebrity where ever we go actually. Yesterday at Tianeman Sqaure (where it should be noted there are plenty of gwylos (white people)), someone asked to have a photo with him. So far I'm blending in pretty well. I attribute this to my deep tan and improving chinese mannerisms.
Technique is important however. shirt raising should really be called shirt folding. You don't tie the shirt. Rather, you carefully fold the shirt inside itself. A solid potbelly is a real asset. Cameron has been building an idea that someone should make a shirt with "some sort of clips". keep this on the dl.
Lesson 2: sunglasses are both useful and fashionable but they need not have lesses.
In fact no lens glasses are all the rage. Guys and girls are wearing them everywhere and there are several ads in the subway featuring the no lens look. Here in Beijing, afterall, the smog gently filters the suns rays for you. Some days the sun is hardly visible. This probably also explains why sunscreen is almost impossible to find, (although we did find it today, provided skin whiting cream is an equivalent product). I have yet to knock out my lenses despite my intuition that I could be ahead of the curve when I reach the UK.
Lesson 3: learn some mandarin before you come
Cameron and I have an ongoing competition to see how can say "thank you" better. So far I think we're both lossing since without fail people laugh whenever we get the chance to say it. I think we've improving though. Initially people would think for a moment and then laugh. Now they just laugh.
The language barrier also stands in the way of some important questions. How much are those stickybuns? When does the metro close? Or, as came up last night why are there a team of old chinese men swimming in that festering pond in the middle of the bar district just past midnight?
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