Saturday, July 31, 2010

Umbrella Culture


Yesterday I was riding my motorbike when drops of rain fell on my head. I looked up in the sky above me, and lo and behold, there was not a cloud anywhere nearby.

This brings me to a discussion of

Three Important Uses of Umbrellas in the Summer in China

Umbrella Use No. 1 - Block the sun from your face. Hats mess up your hair, so umbrellas are more appropriate for fashionistas (the guy pictured above, for instance?). Fair skin is valued, tanned skin is intolerable.

Umbrella Use No. 2 - Block rain from falling on your body. You knew this one already, I hope.

Umbrella Use No. 3 - Block dripping air-conditioners from dripping water on you as you walk by. I know, in America (or Australia if any of you are reading this blog), you almost never walk anywhere, and if you walk, you never walk so close to a building that you would know that air-conditioners drip water. They do.

Technically, there are other uses for umbrellas. For instance, when someone spits into the wind, it would be handy to have an umbrella blocking the droplets from hitting you. Of course, it never happens that you have an umbrella locked and loaded when this happens. Fortunately, this does not happen too often. If you make a lot of noise when someone hawks, they are usually polite enough to look before spitting. Yeah, I know, totally gross, but real.

Umbrella Pet Peeve

People who approach you on sidewalks with their umbrellas at your eye level are often rude and poke your eyes out, or pull your hair out of its ponytail. There is not much you can do about these people except growl after it happens, hoping that by hearing your growl they will learn their lesson and be more careful the next time. Of course, there are 1.3 billion people walking around, and you are not likely to ever again walk past the particular person you have trained by your growl. You can only hope your training will benefit someone else, preventing them from undue eye or hairdo loss.

Courting Advice

Dear guy in the above photo,

If you want that girl to look at you and take you seriously, you really need to get a more masculine looking umbrella. At the very least, put it over her head instead of yours.

You're welcome.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Happy Birthday Padre!

Today is my dad's birthday. He's in Texas. My mom said a German chocolate cake was in the works. My 19-year old niece Hillary is staying with them for a couple of weeks, and apparently she cooked breakfast for them. I would tell you his age, but I don't know if he would approve of that or not. I think he is quite young for his age.

This photo was taken by me, December 2009.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Busy Summer

The summer is busy with work and visitors, and when time is insufficient, the blog is the first to suffer...you may have noticed? I hope to catch up soon, so check back for updates in August.

In the meantime, here are a few humorous random shots.

She asked her mom (in Chinese), "Why are those two foreigners taking my picture?" She looked at us like we were the odd ones on the bus.

How can I be homesick when the Cowboy Country Club is just a bus ride away? :-)


Thursday, July 01, 2010

Fifty-Five Years Ago

Fifty-five years ago today, July 1, 1955, my mom and dad got married. Congratulations to them on this milestone anniversary!