Canadians and British

Last night we stayed up late hanging out at the hostel. The other 5 played card games while I sat and read a book. Our British friends Andrew and Sarah joined us and we sat around chatting for a while. There was a Canadian couple at a table near by that chimed into the conversation. The man was in his early 30's and she was about 28. James, you would have loved the conversation that followed. The Canadian ocuple had been traveling for about 5 months. We started out talking about politics but it moved more into a conversation about culture of sorts. The Canadian woman commented on how she found it, for lack of a better word, curious how the chinese women would be dresed so prim and propper and then go into a bathroom and crap in a trough. The canadian man talked for a while how his patience with certain things done here had slowly worn, like the spitting. He also said that half of the world's smokers liv in China (regardless of the fact that one sixth of the world lives here, that's still a lot, and believable from walking around). When things about America came up one could tell the other two couples tjip toes around saying what they thought on certain subjects. They obviously did not have a high opinion of President Bush. The couldn't understand our gun laws and why people felt they had a right to a gun It was interesting and sad to see what they thought of us. The conversation was much longer, touching on Vietnam and rasicm. Today I spent the day walking around Beijing by myself. Since I committed to Honduras for the next year I"ve been more aware of where I'm spending my money, or atleast trying to be. The others went to see the Olympic Stadium and possibly the Summer Palace. I walked the streets of Beijing. I was very careful to write the landmarks down so I didn't get lost. So many here drive scooters; I found you can buy one for 2,980 yuans. I went in this indoor marketplace. It was amazing how full of stuff it was. We think in America they are producing stuff for us here, one goes into markets like that and sees how much these 1.3 billion people are buying, that thought is put to rest. I went into a 3 story jewlery store that was probably the largest I've ever seen. I walked on a single road for hours and there was never any end in sight; this city is unbelievably large. On a said note, it's nice that I can say "the nice chinese man in the blue shirt" everyday to describe the guy who runs the hostel, as he never changes his shirt.