Friday, May 14, 2010

Some Things Transcend Borders

One of the things I like about traveling is getting to see how other people live, and compare it to the way I live. There are always a few surprises but pretty much, no matter where you go; everything's more expensive at the airport, McDonalds' french fries will always taste the same, and at some point, we all have to do our laundry.  Here are a few other universal truths that I learned more about in China!


Road crew supervisors always outnumber workers.
Doesn't matter where in the world you are.


Parents will always smile at you if you think their kid is cute.
(The only place I've ever experienced anything different was in the Grand Canyon with the Havasupi Indians.  They would smack their kids if they caught them being friendly with white people.)


The back row of Relief Society fills up first.
Rogue and blurry picture from the back row of Relief Society, held in the lower conference rooms of a nice hotel. Legally the branch can only include people with non-Chinese passports. Chinese nationals have their own branch, and never the twain shall meet. (But I'm pretty sure if they ever DO meet, they will have to arm wrestle over who gets the back row.)

Some signs are more helpful than others.
But this one wins! What else do you need, right?


No matter where you are in the world, you can most likely find a WalMart.
And we were very happy to see it!


Your WalMart has a seafood area too, right?


It's always hard to find a parking place.

Sometimes you have to go out of your way to get a good deal. 
This is the back alley we took to get to the purse shop. Down an alley, around the corner, ups some stairs, and through a dark hall. It occurred to me later that this was the equivalent of following someone through dark back alleys to get to a souvenir shop in Tijuana.


 Except that we lived to tell about it.


And I found one more universal truth:
 Women will do just about anything for a killer deal on a purse!

17 comments:

RoeH said...

I'm going with you next time. :)

Bethany said...

Very insightful! Love the road crew!

Janell said...

I love your captioning!

Vern said...

What is it about loving the things we hate when we are out of the country? I'm never happy to go to WalMart here, but I bet if I was in China I'd be like, "I NEED SOME CAPRI SUNS FOR A DOLLAR SEVENTY-SEVEN, STAT!"

I also hate McDonalds, but I LOVED the McDonalds I went to in Belgium. Can you imagine? Being in Europe and eating at McD's. Surely I lost my legit card with that one.

Amy Peterson said...

I'm so glad that somethings are the same! They are repaving the road in front of our house, so I got a HUGE laugh about the supervisors out numbering the workers. SO TRUE!!

P.S. how is Trek coming?

Barbaloot said...

Loving these China posts. Looks like you definitely made the most of your trip.

Isn't it weird how a place you usually avoid (McDonald's) becomes so comforting when you're in a strange place?

Rhonda said...

I love this post! Exactly how good a deal did you get on that purse! lol

Heather said...

You are the fountain of wisdom, in every country!

mormonhermitmom said...

You can keep my purse if I don't have to go down a back alley. :)

Dave said...

i wonder what the "hello" song sounds like in chinese

That Girl said...

Loved this. I'm so glad you're educating us all!

goddessdivine said...

Oh! Look at all those Coach purses!! I wish I would have done that in ChinaTown in NY last summer, but I didn't. Next time!

Super Happy Girl said...

OMGosh all those purses! You brave woman.

I love it that back row of Relief Society fills up first. and Walmart.
Yes!

rocslinger said...

One of our automatic stops when visiting Frankfurt was Mc.D's. I guess food tastes better when served in German.

What is it with purses and women?

The Mom said...

My husband said to tell you that he went to a McDonald's in Italy, and they fry their french fries in olive oil there, and they do NOT taste the same!

Yvonne said...

Yes, there is a WalMart EVERYWHERE ; )

I'm sure it was an amazing trip. And yes, women will do just about anything. You certainly are braver than me--I don't like those back alley places.

LisAway said...

Hey! No fair. No Wal Mart in Poland. :(