Etriean officials have stated that the satirical story about how Eritrean men have been ordered to marry at least two wives would not even have been believed by “a madman in [the Eritrean capital] Asmara.”  Unfortunately for the same Etriean officials, a news media site known as Crazy Monday in Kenya, news channels in South Africa, the twitter feeds of Kenyans, another media site known as the Sahara Reporters,  the twitter feeds of Nigerians, and several other sites, had all thought the fiction was true.  At least the Saharan Reporters have printed a retraction but not before people all over twitter have shared visa applications for Etriean.

Unfortunately these Etriean officials are still trying to put out the fire which has been traced back to a falsified government document stating that the hoax was going to be the new official policy.  It turns out that this story is a really old and vicious rumor which has been attributed to the governments of Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and now Etriean.  The first recording of this rumor attributed to other countries started in 2011.

This has to be one of the fastest traveling hoaxes in history.  The original fake document was uploaded in early January 2016 and has hit all over Africa and the rest of the world in all of a few weeks.  We need to send news media people to journalism school if they have never been and again if they already had.

Eritrea ‘appalled’ by hoax forced polygamy story – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35427654

The polygamy hoax that spread from Iraq to Eritrea – http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35430909

Another story from the BBC about how an Austrian tourist fell into the well and hurt herself.  Kudos to the quick thinking locals who tied together shirts to rescue the woman.  Unfortunately, I think India needs to ban selfies at this rate.

Tourist rescued from well with shirt rope after taking selfie – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35427821

Hi everyone,

Sorry if I have been acting moody, sad, irritated, and overall crabby.  At first I thought that I was just upset because I finally found some good friends in China and they were going to lose their visas because of a new enforcement scheme.  I also thought that I was just going through the stressed out bar exam blues as I do not know why my scores have actually gone down with the increase in studying.  Finally I thought that the mood swings were actually jealousy due to everyone else skipping town and heading for some nice places while I am stuck here studying.

In actuality my hormones might all just be out of order.  Forgot about PMS but rediscovered the joys of being female today.  On the one hand having a period = ability to have my own child to mold into whichever alien creature I can think of and yet on the other hand – this means my hot spring adventure might suck.  Sigh, sometimes I feel that the universe is conspiring against my want to relax.

Blah.

Love, Y Wong

I am happy that conspiracies and such may be unraveled and the truth revealed eventually is finally proven by a researcher at Oxford University.  However, when you read the article it actually is really alarming at the number of people involved in the conspiracies, the long length of time it takes to prove that the hoaxes are fake, and the number of people who still believe in the hoaxes after they were proven untrue.

Seriously, even in the current days of technology it still takes someone about 6 years to prove something is fake or a lie and it involved 36,000 people – see the Edward Snowden and PRISM example.

No wonder all those scientists ended up in prison, excommunicated from the church, tortured, and/or dead before the rest of us were able to prove that they were right – think Newton and Galileo, etc.

But the bigger problem is all those people who still believe.  See moon landing was a hoax section within the article.  So even if you can prove that things are fake what is the use when the masses still believe?

I wish I studied human psychology at this point as I still cannot for the life of me understand people.

Maths study shows conspiracies ‘prone to unravelling’ – http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35411684

I tried for the most part to spend little time with the expat community when I first reached China because I wanted to learn the language and the culture and who better to learn Chinese from than actual Chinese people.  However, sometimes there is comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone in a strange and foreign system.  So when I had complaints about my visa issues, I went to the expats.

Most of you know that while I do not always understand how people feel, I am empathetic so I feed a little – rather a lot off other people’s emotions.  Some of the expat community who teach English or within the English speaking schools are having issues because the Chinese government at least in Hubei are cracking down on those without proper credentials.  In this case if you are an English teacher then you should either be a native English speaker from a country where English is your native tongue or you must have a degree from a university in a country where English is your native language.

Unfortunately, nobody really informed the expat community of these rules until it was rather too late.  Now I say informed because it turns out that the rules have been in place for some time but it has not been enforced.  Sometimes it is our fault because we do not fully understand the written Chinese contracts and the English contracts are only 1/2 translated because people don’t know how to translate it and sometimes people are just unethical and take advantage. There are people who were leaving for holiday or had already left for vacation and now cannot leave or are stuck outside of the country.  This is extremely bad for the expat community who have basically settled in China and are now scrambling to find a job back home or find a way back here to get their stuff out.

This is really scary to me and I think that I am feeding off their anxiety.  Had to call home for a wake up call.  Friend told me to stop inventing problems for myself and to focus on the bar exam.  She reminded me that I am not in this particular category of teachers/professors and that I need to focus on the bar.  The idea of leaving for a nice vacation and coming home to find everything I worked for in the last couple of months/years gone is terrible.  I get upset if I lose 10 yuan to counterfeiters not sure what I would do if I lost everything I squirreled away for a bit.  Furthermore, I would be really upset at missing meetings, and overall losing my plans for things.

Tried to help and asked people about the immigration policy and getting lawyers to help but the answers seem unsatisfactory because usually the advice is you cannot help.  It makes me sad, frustrated, and think that life is so unfair sometime.

Current Mood:  Anxiety ridden and possibly subconsciously not trying to take the bar exam by distracting myself with loads of problems.

BRING BACK THE STREET FOOD VENDORS.  I WANT MY CHEAP AND AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS CHINESE FOOD BACK.  I NEED TO MAINTAIN MY FAT FIGURE.  Chinese new years vacation is very hard on my palate and digestive system.  Trying new restaurants are sending me to the toilet and giving me gastrointestinal pains.

Current Mood: Stomach pains from eating a soup that was 7 days old.  I need to learn to keep an eye on the fridge left overs.

Everyone knows I love chatting with the Taxi Drivers of any city because I feel that most of them have a better sense of what is going on in the city than other locals.  Taxi drivers interact with all cross-sections of the socioeconomic, but especially students, business people, and the middle class in China.

After a friend told me that she did not want to visit me in China because of her past bad experience with people calling her “fat” and another friend who was complaining about being unable to find the correct size clothing for herself – I was inspired to write the previous post and to ask my taxi driver about being fat in China.

I told the driver that when I was younger people in China loved being called fat.  Now this is going to age me but that was about 20+ years ago.  The driver told me that in the past being called fat in China was a really nice compliment because this meant that you were in a position of power and had money or relatives abroad who sent you money.  He told me that in the old days (1960s-1980s), most people could not afford to eat and you needed to not only have money but the coupon rations.  You got the coupon rations from being from a powerful or influential family and you got the money from relatives abroad.  So being “fat” back then was a good thing.

According to the same taxi driver, being called fat today is an insult because most people want to look thin and pretty.  Depending on the specific “fat” term it could be anything from a backhanded compliment to an all out insult.  If someone tells you that you are “pang pang” this can be a way to encourage you to lose weight.  If someone tells you that you are “fei” them are fighting words.  Apparently this is a sign of disrespect.  If you tell someone that they are “zhuan” (sorry might have the pinyin wrong here), it is a nice way to say that you are a little fat but also indicates that you are healthy but can lose a little weight.

Frankly, if someone really skinny called me “fei” I would just laugh because you would be retarded.  Seriously, if you are that thin then you really need to worry about your sanity. Bigger people do have tempers if you catch them at the right time and you would get your ass handed to you in a heart beat.  Not only that but you have never seen a panda fight – those things may be large, cute, cuddly, and seemingly harmless but watch how fast those things move and maul people when upset.

Now if a fat person called me “fei” I would still laugh and feel sorry for them because they obviously have self esteem issues.  Not a really good insult when the person can just tell you to look in the mirror to see the definition of “fei.”

Moral to the story – please do not feel bad about being “fatter” than the other girls in China because time changes the definition and meaning of fat.  For those of you who were not here in 2008-2009, I was considered an XXXL back then and needed to have my clothing made as this size did not exist in China.  Fast forward to 2015-2016 and I buy an XL in the regular Chinese malls.  Even this summer when I was 200 pounds, I still was not the biggest girl on campus or in the city.  Times are a changing and with the introduction of the western diet in China, they are going to be supersized just like the rest of us so chin up 🙂

Current Mood:  I think my thoughts on the “fat” issue are over.

There are certain personality traits that people are born with and those which need to be learned.  No matter how hard I try I do not seem to understand certain people’s obsession with weight or the insults associated with the weight issue.

I know that many of my American Born Chinese friends have a really difficult issue with their self-esteem and their weight in China.  Now I personally feel that if someone calls me fat in China, I think of it as a compliment and a fact because 1) I can afford to eat and 2) I am physically larger than most of the girls in China.  How can you be angry at a fact?

Now for those girls who are having the weight blues in China, I want them to see the benefits of being larger than most of the other women in China.  Please see my abbreviated but pointed list below:

1. Generally larger women also have larger breasts which seem to be a national late night obsession on Chinese television, advertisements, and drug store products.  See you do not need all those medicinal creams, moisturizers, pills, and bits of plastic inserts in bras if you are fat because breast tissue consists of fat.  So if you do not have fat then no boobs for you.  While I think that it is odd that a massage therapist kept questioning me about my bra size and how she thought it was a good shape and size, apparently my fat has generated a much sought after bra size in China.
2. Generally those who are fat also have a butt.  Butt implants and inserts are also rather common products available at dress stores in China.  Now what are the glutious maximus region made of?  You guessed it – FAT.  So the next time someone tells you that you are fat, you can point to the fact that you have a rear end that can clear the table for the servers in some of the amazing but unfortunately, limited space, hole in the wall restaurants in China.  Furthermore, you save money on the butt implant, cream, and insert accessories.  See even body fat can be an economical, cost-saving mechanism.
3. While most of my Chinese friends are on a diet for health and beauty reasons and I am as well for health reasons only – my friends envy the fact that I eat 3000 calories a day and still manage to lose 30 pounds and drop 3 dress sizes in the last three months in China.  Now partially, the loss in weight is due to chronic illnesses which I attribute to the air quality as my sinuses are dying but the other half is the amazingly fresh Chinese food.  Now I do pack away the food and most people just watch in amazement as I eat my way through a banquet and then complain that I am still hungry 10 dishes later.  Now does this maintain my fat?  Sure.  However, I like to think of this as a compliment to the Chinese chefs and the Chinese food.
4. My favorite reason for being a fat American in China is being less likely to be trampled.  While trying to get on the bus in Guang Gu was really scary because of the crowds, stampeding, and trampling, the added weight was helpful in avoiding a potentially dangerous fall.
5. Also, I never have a problem meeting up with people in crowded places as I am actual tall compared to the average Chinese girl and wider.  So you see, nobody who is looking for me will need to accost several thin Chinese girls before finding me.  Just head to the tallest and widest girl around, think Blue Spruce Christmas Trees and not Lolloby Pine Trees (the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree), and you are most likely to find me.

So for those of you who are still feeling blue about being a “fat” girl in China, especially compared to the locals – please remember that the Mona Lisa and all those Renissance girls were considered beautiful and there are no songs dedicated to ultra-thin girls while “Fat-Bottomed Girls” by the band Queen was a chart topper 🙂

Current Mood:  My brain says, “Study for the bar exam and stop wasting time! Y Wong, why do you do this to yourself?”

Happy Belated World Toilet Day Everyone 🙂

I promised most of you that I would post on the necessity of toilet paper in certain areas of China.  For the most part even at the universities in larger cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou there is toilet paper in the bathrooms.  Unfortunately, this luxury has not reached Wuhan.  Therefore, 27 mm and target baby wipes are extremely important.

For those of you who think that I am nuts, the baby wipes that are available here and in the US are too big to be carried around on an everyday basis.  There are issues with space in every backpack and then there is the issue of waste.  Somehow the Target hypo-allergenic baby wipes are perfect for wiping down those grimy surfaces from restaurants to your hands and butt 😛

Now for the 27mm and waste byproduct generation –  I have found that the M size of Vinda paper is perfect for wiping your butt and the S size of Vinda is perfect for the sniffles. Seems odd that 27mm of added paper is so useful but it does mean the difference between a properly wrapped waste package or the extra use of those oh so necessary baby wipes…

For some strange reason the toilet paper rolls seem to create a huge waste of toilet paper, maybe because I tug at the roll too hard and therefore cannot judge how much I am using, but definitely there is a waste issue because of the cardboard roll.  See the Cottonelle commercials with the rolls flooding the streets etc.  Thought about converting to the Vinda method of toilet paper usage when I head back to the U.S. to improve my environmentally friendlier footprint.

Current Mood:  Feeling pretty rested and happy.  Walked along the Yangtze River last night just to see it at night and also to avoid the increase of any more gut fat.  Trying to remain healthy in 2016.  The trip to the Starbucks bathroom reminded me of the forgotten toilet paper post.

Climate change and its effect on your life.  In Wuhan, one of the four furnaces of China there are certain things that you can experience during the summer such as dripping in sweat the moment you leave your air conditioned apartment, sitting in your own sweat while eating a meal at the school cafeteria, and   apparently growing mold on a one yuan bill…

No I am not trying to scare anyone away from Wuhan either.  During the summer there are also pretty sites in the city like Huang He Lou or the Yellow Crane Tower.  Eventually I am going to post the other photos I have from the city on the website.

Current Mood: Money maybe interesting but I am now finished with the currency posts for now.  There might be a Walmart update later 😀