When in doubt....

I find myself embracing the culture more and more the longer that I live here. Embracing the culture might be a bit of strong word..... I am doing things that I would never do at home simply because I am in China.  The things I do are not weird to Chinese people in fact its quite normal. I am starting to blend in. (minus my white skin...)

When I go outside now I wear a face mask because its cold. I should wear a face mask for protection because the air pollution is so bad but I wear one to keep warm. They sell masks everywhere its a fashion statement. They have masks with all kinds of designs. But the main purpose of these mask is to keep you warm. I need a mask that does both protects from the pollution and keeps the warmth. (Especially since my chest is hurting tonight...)
 

I am also now a proud owner of Reindeer hat with a big fuzzy ball on top.  Now I don't know if Reindeer print is in style in the States but it is in style in Beijing. People wear Reindeer hats, scarfs, sweaters, leggings and gloves. I personally now want to buy said Reindeer outfits because frankly I think they are adorable! (And who cares I am in China I can wear what I want everyone stares at me anyway!)

I like drinking hot water now. I would never just drink plain hot water. To me that is disgusting. In fact when I first got here I was like why would anyone drink hot water. I Find myself being ok with the fact they give me hot water and actually enjoying it. There are several reasons for this. One being it is super cold here. Two I know the water has been boiled so therefore it is most certainly safe to drink. Three it warms me up and Four we all know its the cure for everything! (last part is said with sarcasm)

And lastly today I went to McDonalds. McDonalds here is not quite the same as back home. They have two beef selections Double  Cheeseburger and the Big Mac that's its. But it tastes exactly the same. The rest is chicken all kinds of interesting chicken. They also have pineapple pie and taro root pie. And the shell is flaky. They don't have salad there but they have corn and chicken legs. So when I went to McDonalds today I decided to get chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce (just like home) and corn. The corn was actually really good! I was shocked! 

So yes I am embracing China slowly. I will never fully embrace it. I won't ever spit in the streets, push people onto the subway, or fully understand the language. But its ok I like the weird things I have picked up in China. I like reindeer hats, masks, corn and hot water....