Relaxing for a bit in Hue, catching up on adventures in China

---

Hello again!
After taking an overnight train last night from the crazy, loud, bustling Hanoi city, I am now in Hue, Vietnam. I will try now to take this opportunity to catch everyone up on all of the crazy details from the first part of my trip in China, starting with the list I made on my previous blog.

Spitting:
It seems that nothing could ever prepare a San Francisco Bay Area girl for the very different social standards of China. Spitting is one of the things I found to be extremely disturbing, to the point where I became a bit paranoid while walking around on the streets of China, waiting for the one moment I would be hit with a giant spit wad. The spit that would come flying from the locals' mouths was a bit like a series of grenades, and the only warning that a person would get would be the loud hawking sound that preceded every attack. At one point, a member of out group was struck with a spit wad, a giant one that landed on his foot. We all thought it was hilarious that someone actually spit right onto his foot without so much as a simple apology-though it was completely disgusting, and of course we had to feel sorry for the poor guy, an innocent bystander, ambushed by the spit of a stranger. As repulsive as this one instance was, it was actually one of the less horrifying spit encounters that I experienced. I felt that the worst instances were when spit was released from the mouths of the people INDOORS. Indoors!!!! How can people think that this is ok? And spitting is practiced by all members of Chinese society-dirty old men and pretty young ladies alike. I do not think I will ever understand this strange and disgusting practice...but can only hope that I will never get hit by a flying spit-wad.

Split-pants:
Another interesting thing about China that can normally only be known through personal experience-until now. All of you that are reading this blog will now have the insider's knowledge of split-pants-without ever stepping a foot into China. Split pants are pants that usually part of a suit worn by toddlers in China that have a large slit in the crotch-area, that allows them to empty their human waste onto the ground at any given moment. However, you will probably not notice the split in the pants unless the toddler is actually using it: squatting down to use the place wherever he or she may be as their own personal toilet. Usually parents use the split-pants to make it easier to take their kids into the bathroom to do their business without ever having to take off the kids clothes, but the use of the split-pants can be extended to having the child squat anywhere and everywhere to go inside, outside, over a trash can while held up, or wherever they are (including on the floor of an indoor train station) while the parent simply cleans up their mess after them with a plastic bag and tissues. It is quite a sight to see, and something I would never even imagine existed until witnessing several encounters with babies and their split pants. Often the parents also whistle, or make a sound to coax the child into peeing (or whatever they need to do), and the kid then responds, like a trained puppy. My strangest and most disturbing experience with split pants would have to be in the sink area of a overnight train, while I was brushing my teeth in the morning after a long night on the train. As I was brushing my teeth, minding my own business and wishing the train would make it faster to our destination, a woman comes up behind me with her split-pants wearing child and starts whistling. She then takes the child and holds it over the drain by my feet, and the kid starts peeing right where I am standing! Luckily I wasn't hit, I was appalled that she felt that it was ok to have her kid pee right where I was standing (although there was a toilet that she could have used) and especially while I was brushing my teeth! Up until that point, I had known that there is almost no concept of privacy and personal space and Chinese social standards often translate to what would be considered to be very rude in the U.S., but I felt that still, a woman trying to get her child to pee right where I was already standing was really crossing the line of decency. As I'm sure you can imagine, this trip has made me much more desensitized to rude and disgusting behavior-(and split-pants and spitting is only the beginning!)

Overnight Trains-
My terrible experience with split-pants now leads me smoothly into a discussion of overnight trains. Although at this point I'm sure that my writing has taken a turn from a discussion of the different cultural practices of China to a long-winded complaint of the disgusting habits and uncomfortable situations I have encountered so far on my travels, but this is really because these experiences are often the most interesting things that have happened to me, and possibly least discussed by other bloggers that care only to share the excitement and wonder and beauty they encounter, rather than the unpleasant and ordinary everyday situations that are really quite intriguing to someone who has never heard of such things. And so, I will explain the interesting travel method of the overnight train. Overnight trains are trains that are commonly used as a method of transport for many Chinese people when traveling distances that are too long for a bus or too expensive by plane. The trains are comprised of several cars, each car holding many "cabins". Each cabin generally holds six beds stacked on top of each other like bunks, with extremely limited space, and only enough room to sit up straight on the bottom bunks of each cabin. I am still unsure about whether the sheets given to each passenger are washed each night. The toilets of overnight trains are placed between each car, which is really just a hole, with (of course) no toilet paper, and often very unclean conditions. Generally the toilets are so disgusting that it is advisable to drink less water before going on a train in order to minimize the number of bathroom trips needed during the journey. Usually the experience of riding these trains isn't terrible, unless the journey spans over 16 hours, and is extremely uncomfortable on trips that last a full 24 hours, which I was subjected to only once during my travels, and hope never to experience again. After taking at least 4 different overnight trains at this point, I feel now that I am a bit used to the dirtiness and overall discomfort of these trips, but still prefer to only ride them with a maximum of 14 hours, so most of the trip can be spent sleeping, pretending that I am in a clean hotel instead. The time on overnight trains was made much less painful by the companionship of my other group members, with the games upon games of cards played, until the lights were shut-off automatically at 10pm, and the smiling faces of my fellow travelers as each of us became determined to be unfazed by such small details of the blaring Mando-pop that awoke us at 7am the next morning, the absence of a shower, and the smelly feet of our fellow travelers. As I find myself once again out of time, I will have to return later to complete the explanation of my many adventures in China, as I head out to explore my current destination, Hue, Vietnam. Goodbye!

---