Too Much, Too Little

I've got so much I want to write about, but too little effort to write them. They just keep piling up, hahah.

1. First thing I'll mention is that I'm afraid of buying anything, because everything is so CHEAP relative to US prices. I'm even tempted to buy juice/tea/coffee/soda in those vending machines on the street just because they cost less than USD $.50 once you make the conversion.

Lesson in Economics: Well, not so much a lesson, but explaining a common mistake people may make. You can switch up the countries and conditions, but the idea's the same. If you go from the US to China, the dollar's exchange rate is currently about 6.8 RMB, so it'll seem like everything's cheaper in China when things cost only parts of what they did back in the US. For example, a can of soda may cost $.50 in the US and 2 RMB in China. If you convert 2 RMB into a USD amount, that's only about $.29, and the can of soda is thus "cheap".

Though TECHNICALLY this is true, you have to remember that the standards of living are different among both countries. Just because you get paid $500 a month in the US for some job doesn't mean you'll be paid the same here in China. It's kind of like converting the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius, then saying the height of the mercury on the resulting Celsius scale measures up to a low temperature on the Fahrenheit scale, so it must be cold.

2. There are SOOOOO many parks here; that was one of the first things I noticed when I was looking at the map of Shanghai from the airport. My parents said it's all part of China's going green program. Which also leads to the next point...

3. Bags in stores (supermarkets, shops, clothing, etc.) are all sold... Sure, they seem cheap, but they add up to a drink here and there. This is to help reduce the need to litter and increase awareness of taking care of the environment. I wish was implemented in the US already! Not that I'm such an environmentalist, but it's a pretty good idea. How hard is it to carry a bag to shop? You're going to need to carry it home, anyway.

4. Magic is really popular here. Liu Chien, a Taiwanese magician, apparently helped stir the interest in China. There's an "American Idol"-like show that judges street magicians and present them little gifts. Then there's another show which is more formal, and Liu Chien is among a panel of judges judging people's performances. Some of these performances weren't even magic tricks, and when criticized as such, the performers some times got ridiculously angry.

Among the two I remember, 1 was doing all kinds of crazy shuffling tricks with a deck of cards, but it wasn't anything along MAGIC tricks, and when Liu Chien said so, the guy got all angry and threw the entire deck of cards on the stage then walked off. As for the other case, this guy was dressed as a clown and doing tricks. When Liu Chien (and another magician judge) asked what does his outfit have to do with his act, the performer gave some answer they didn't like, and the performer went on to rant about how he saw through all of Liu Chien's magic tricks and went on to reveal ON STAGE how many tricks are done (all this was cut out by the show, though; they just fast-forwarded all that talk and typed words on the screen). Liu Chien then said it doesn't matter whether someone sees through his magic tricks, but anyone who dispells the magic of magic tricks has no right to be a magician. That seemed to make a lot of sense, even to me, someone who isn't a magician.

Anyhow, if you get a chance, go YouTube or find some way to watch Liu Chien; he's pretty good, alright. And a pretty funny guy.

5. On TV, there's this show (or shows) to help prevent scams. They interview "scammees" and "scammers", like this one guy who got tricked into paying "Shipping and Handling fees" for a "prize" he "won" on an online game. Turns out the link stating he won a prize wasn't from the game at all; it was just a scam that faked its ad to look similar to the game's webpage design. Pretty interesting show.
jay
6. There are Jay Chou potato chips here! I found it so amusing, I proceeded to call them "Po-jay-chou Chips!" Isn't that brilliant?!