Observations thus far

As promised in my entry earlier today this entry will be devoted to general life in China as I've seen it thus far.  For an update on what's been going on read my previous post.  I have no particular order for this post so it may be all over the place.

Driving: in short, it's nuts.  Sometimes there are lane markings, sometimes there aren't.  It really makes no difference as they are ignored completely.  My theory (and I think there's some truth to this) is that all drivers expect everyone else to do something incredibly stupid at any moment so they pay a LOT of attention.  Therefor it is rare to see an accident.
Also, the diversity of vehicles on the road is unlike anything I have ever witnessed and I've been to quite a few countries by now but nothing even comes close to China.  If there is a need for it, it will exist.  You see some semi-trucks, SUVs, BMWs, Audis, bikes, 3-wheeled bikes, pickups, 3-wheeled trucks, electric bikes, electric trikes, scooters, scooter trikes, 3-wheeled cars... etc.  Any one of these could have an entire family on it or a few dead animals either before or after being butchered.
When crossing the street you look BOTH ways regardless of all sane factors such as it being a one-way road.  Doesn't matter, you look and you look hard.  Bikes/scooters/all 3 wheeled contraptions often have their own lane.  This has no real effect on anything though as they drive where they feel like.
Parking is an interesting time as well.  It just sort of happens.  There is no other way to describe it.
Lastly for driving: on the highways it is a bit more ordered and people tend to stay in their lines.  Despite this when overtaking someone it appears to be normal to honk your horn for a long time and flash your lights many times to inform them that you're coming up in the other lane.  Makes for a fairly noisy drive.
At the school: this is a bilingual school.  There are actually 2 schools in one.  One is a public school, the other is the private one.  Both are semi-boarding schools meaning some kids stay, some don't.  All go home on wkds.  The real only difference between the 2 schools (apart from the private one being really expensive) is that class sizes are <35 compared to about 45 and the private school has foreign teachers.  So really us foreigners are what the parents are paying for which makes for an interesting dynamic with the Chinese teachers.  They know we aren't nearly as qualified as they are, we just come over here out of nowhere and are given better rooms and better pay for the sole reason that we speak English.  At the same time they know that without us they wouldn't have a job.
As I said: this is a bilingual school.  As such most of the signs around the school have "English" on them.  Someday I will have to go around and take pictures of these signs.  My favourite is a HUGE sign that reads something along the lines of "May the campus filled with growp scent".  You'd think they'd get us to read over these signs first but no.
I live AT the school.  This is great during breaks since I can easily come back to my room.  However there is a MAJOR drawback... every weekday morning around 7am they BLAST kids music for about 1/2 hour.  I still have "one little two little three little indians" going around in my head.  They also play Christmas music constantly for no reason.  You may have heard that in the past year there have been some really bad school shootings in China.  I'm fairly certain the music is the catalyst.  I may wake up shivering and muttering about indians many years from now.
Lastly the cafeteria: It's only been open one day but it appears to be really basic food.  Green beans and rice with some watery soup that tastes like they are just serving the leftover dishwasher water. Not great, especially when you can eat much better for so little but it's not too bad.

Food: food here is crazy.  It is really difficult to eat by yourself, especially for dinner as everything is a group affair with all dishes being shared.  To get a variety meal on your own you have to order 2 or 3 dishes which is enough for 5 people.  You can get the remaining amounts to take home but it feels really weird to sit by yourself with enough food for 5 people.  It's also very tough to order since I can't read Mandarin.  If there are pictures it's not too bad and I can even handle a real menu.  What I can't handle is when they ask a question.  I can point at a menu item and say I want it but if they ask anything more complicated I'm screwed.  Makes me hesitant to try sometimes.
All that said, eating here is awesome.  There is great food if you're willing to try anything (and I am).  It also costs almost nothing.  At lunch today I went to a "jaozi and baozi" place where is dumplings and some meat filled breaded things that kind of taste like Stromboli.   I wanted 4 of each but ended up getting 10 of each as the guy really didn't speak Mandarin, he spoke Donyese.  I was pretty full by the end.  Total cost for all 20 was approx $1.25.  When we go out to a "BBQ" we get more than we can ever eat (I've never seen all the food eaten and I've been to about 6 now) and often many large beers.  It's never been more than  $10.

Markets:  they're everywhere.  I can't tell if they're organized or just spontaneously happen.  I walked around one for awhile today.  Had a lot of funny looks and the usual where the parents are scared to say hi so they try to get their kids to say hello.  They're always really welcoming when I say "Wo shi jianadaren" (I'm Canadian).  Battering is interesting.  Of course you can do it but sometimes it just seems dumb.  Today I needed a knife.  I found one I liked and asked how much.  He said 5 kwai.  That's about $0.80.  Sure, I probably could have got it for 3 but it seems really dumb to argue over $0.20.  I also figure they can probably use that 2 more than I can.
At the markets you see EVERYTHING.  It's pretty awesome.  My favourite are the meat booths which are just a table with raw slabs of pork sitting on it.  Usually there is a canopy over those booths but not always.  Fun times.

Well there are a few aspects of life here.  If you'd like to know about anything specific please comment and ask!
Wiseguy1