Not in Kansas Anymore...

While I can, I'd like to share a few quick examples to show that I'm "not in Kansas" anymore (because soon, I will be):

1. "Robot" was the name of the cashier who served me at McDonalds on Monday.

2. My normal dinner time this week has been between 9 and 10 p.m.!

3. Tonight I was at the night market with some friends picking up some last minute souvenirs to take home, and we decided to grab some dinner before heading home. We seemed to have finished just in time, because our server came to announce that we needed to leave very soon because the HK police were coming. Hmm....at this point we were not sure why the HK police wouldn't be happy to see us at their restaurant: Do they have something against sweet and sour pork...or was it the Beans with XO sauce? We were not sure what we were doing that was against the law. But, we were finished, so we paid our bill and stuck around to watch the "HK police make their grand entrance"! Workers were running everywhere to clean up the tables and take them down; it appeared that they were just taking up too much of the sidewalk and street....not so exciting after all!

Well, as mentioned before, I will soon be returning to "Kansas"...or Wisconsin! I'm filled with various emotions at this point...very few of which I've been able to sort through at this point. I'm just on overload and cope mode right now...so, more to come in the next few weeks.

Oh China, how I'll miss thee...

Tonight I made a quick border run up to Shenzhen after school to pick up some clothes that some friends and I had tailor-made.

Beforehand, I decided to go treat myself to a hair wash/head massage in the midst of a very stressful week. So, I went in and they spoke no English, so I motioned getting a head massage and with no questions asked, they led me to the sink...I thought I better ask how long it'll take. So, I pointed to my watch and the lady put up one finger...okay, one hour...perfect! I wanted to ask how much it cost, but that didn't work out so much, so I just forgot about it. One hour later, she had washed and blowdried my hair straight, given me a head, shoulders, and neck massage, a facial and an arm massage! One word...amazing! I got the bill and had to circle the amount for the "tipsy". :) The total said 20, so I looked bewildered and made some motions to clarify that the real price for that queen-like treatment was the equivalent of $2.5 US!!!! Yes...it's true! Well, I gave them a nice tip, because that seems quite ridiculous!

Feeling quite relaxed I went to pick up the clothes in the mall. Below are some pictures that you may find interesting. Here you can see just part of the HUGE fabric market they take you to where you can pick out your material. It's so fun!

If you make it out of the fabric market alive, :) you meet with the tailor and let her know what you want...
And voila...1-2 weeks later your clothes are ready! It's a good thing I didn't really discover this until I'm about to leave! :)

This is the mall in Shenzhen. I was actually really scared there tonight, because it's usually very calm, but as I was walking out, I saw a couple of guys chasing another guy up the escalator. Literally everyone in the mall began running...up the escalators, around the sides of these balconies, everywhere. I was scared out of my mind, b/c it looked like everyone was running for cover! So, I pretended to be calm (NOT!) and asked a shopkeeper what was going on. She played it off like it happened every day..."just a fight", she said. Wow...it was craziness! Chinese people are usually so calm!

A tea shop