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Travel

Yunnan trip part 3: Shuanglang

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Shuanglang is at the end of a bumpy, dusty road.  But man is it pretty!

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Yunnan trip part 2: Dali

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Dali is a calm, calm town.
CATS
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Yunnan trip part 1: Lijiang

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Yunnan has the cutest stray dogs ever. We spent our first 2 days in Lijiang, a visited tourist hub in Yunnan, and an ancient town.
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Back from Yunnan

Girlie and I escaped for a week to Yunnan, starting in Lijiang, then Dali & Shuanglong to hang out with our friends from Flying Turtle Coffee. Check out the pictures!

I’ll write up what we learned and what we loved later this week.

Reflections on US culture shock

I recently returned from my first trip back to the United States since moving to Shanghai. When I arrived in China I was so completely shell shocked that individual moments of ‘culture shock’ didn’t really stick out. Returning to the States was an interesting exercise in reverse culture shock, re-experiencing some of the oddities of American Culture.

A continuation of comments started on Twitter:
1: Eavesdropping on stupid conversations just because I could understand them.

2: Appreciating good service at bars/restaurants, but frustrated I couldn’t bark 服务员 when I needed something.

3: Small town America knows that you’re not from around here about as quickly as China.

4: Store your RMB Elsewhere. “Sir, you can’t pay with Canadian money” is more embarrassing than I expected.

5: Top replies to “We live in China”:

“What an adventure!”
“Do you like it?”
“I know [someone] in [somewhere that isn't China.]”

6: Driving long distances at high speed. Sure, I’ve spent an hour or two in a cab hurdling dangerously to the Pudong Airport, but I’d forgotten how much that, in America, outside a few dense urban cities, everything is 30min drive from everything else.

7: Drinking water from the tap.