Chapter 12: Daily Life

            Going into China I had no idea what to expect. After living in China for 7 weeks I have come to a conclusion that might not surprise many people. China is a weird wonderful place where you will be challenged by their culture and your emotions. Going into this trip I was told to have an unlocked cell phone and a personal VPN. After these 7 weeks I realized how valuable an unlocked cell phone really is. The sim card I bought wasn’t expensive and my data has helped me avoid hours of me getting lost. I despise the idea of using a VPN in China due to the inconsistent situations that occur. I either can’t connect to a VPN or my computer takes 1 hour to load Netflix.

            However, Chinese food is incredible. The highlight of my day is when my boss takes me to traditional Chinese restaurants where we have family style meals. I’ve witness my boss eat a fish head, drink soup from a bone, and eat chicken feet whole. I also enjoy how you can purchase anything in China. You can buy cheap knock off of famous brands, or you can have access to shop at a real retail store.

            My brother has the opportunity to go on this trip last year and my dad always told him “If you don’t see them poor your drink, don’t drink it”. We would say this to Tyler over 10 times a day, but Rebecca has informed us that some clubs use fake alcohol. There are also scams of women who ask to practice their English and then bring you to a tea house where you have to pay a large chunk of cash to keep a hand. Personally, I don’t drink or talk to women so I didn’t have any problems in China. I did however get scammed by a taxi driver. But, you aren’t in China unless you get scammed at least once.

            The photo to the right is a restaurant my boss would take me for lunch. Yes the name is hilarious, but they had Family style dinners. My boss always asked me what I would like  to eat, however the Strothers taught me well to refuse to give suggestions and always sit down after your boss sits in the back of the room. Oh, I almost forgot, my boss also ate the fish's head below.