what's abnormal: my "soft" bed

since my bed is the place that i find myself most the past several days due to sickness, i thought it be appropriate to blog about it.

all things are relative in comparison to where you are.

in america, my china bed is considered to be fairly firm but with a slight memory foam feel to it. in china, my bed is considered to be the softest bed my students have ever sat on!!! how do i know? because i had students and other teachers in the city sit on my bed to see what they think of it and they all sink in with awe and amazement! haha

here's a picture of all the layers it takes to get the "softness" complete: a hard chinese mattress, a foamy thing, a cushion thing, 2 sheets, and a comforter on top :)

wish i had a student dorm bed to compare it to, just use your imagination of a piece of wood with a thin hard mattress of 2 inches width... oh and a sheet :)

so so SO thankful for a "soft", comfortable, cozy (king size) bed to rest in :)

what's normal: standing in the middle of traffic

"look both ways before crossing the street" is what i was taught as a child in America... use the crosswalks or at least wait for no cars before you attempt to jay-walk!

in china, it is not so. you look AND cross the street at the same time- regardless of cars.. inch by inch and lane by lane you cross the street, whether they are moving cars or cars waiting at stop sign. cars won't stop for you like they do in America (no such thing as pedestrian's right of way) and they won't run you over either unless you run carelessly across. (chinese drivers are very fluid and flexible when driving so it's pretty rare that you see an accident- i feel like i see a lot more in America!)

our friend Cherry said "if you can cross a street in China, you can do anything." it takes courage and practice. i recommend crossing with a group for starters and then gradually you'll get a feel for the sport.

i couldn't help but snap a few shots of Robin and Cherry and i crossing the street today- we kept on missing the red lights and would cross during the green lights while the cars were zooming right past us... it was great. :)