In China, with Materialistic Comforts and a Lack of Street Harassment

Some people are in favor of going back to a simpler place and time, occasionally in conjunction with getting on a midnight train to Georgia, but these are probably not people who have ever had to wash clothes in a bucket.  It is surprising how fast I got back to taking water, electricity, and hot showers (I don't even get shocked when I touch the faucets!  Or blow a fuse by turning on a hot water heater which isn't even that effective anyway!) for granted, but I am still ridiculously excited about doing laundry.  I can put clothes in a machine and press a button and clothing becomes clean without me having to stir from the couch in the air-conditioned room!  It's amazing!  As is air-conditioning.  Also, apparently, when you call the right phone numbers, people bring you food in exchange for money!  It's an inspired business model.  In this is civilization, that we can sit on our comfy couches with fluffy pillows while machines wash our clothes and people bring us food, and did I mention air-conditioning?

On those occasions when I have to leave the comfy couch with the fluffy pillows, it's not that unpleasant to go outside!  I may have lost my magic white person talent of making small children cry, but I can get them to stare at me so hard they run into things and perhaps fall down, and then I laugh.  More importantly, strange men on the street don't ask me to marry them or be their girlfriends or try to look down my shirt!  My general impression from about two weeks in a country I know very little about and don't speak the language of is that the gentlemen of China are very courteous and respectful.  I was in the pole room of the gym, practicing the few pole tricks I can do, and some men who were present doing stretching things were careful not to bother or even really look at me.  At work, the flock of young male engineers who build cables and wire things for me (I love having a flock of engineers at my bidding) are courteous and respectful and kind of shy and carry things for me.  Such the pleasant change from Tanzania!

Today's dinner: mango sundaes and iced coffee.  China is great.  Not really from a human right or environmentalist perspective, but other than that it's great.