Telling you how I really feel, China

Hello...
We're making our way through China and should be shortly going into the Tibet region. China has proved to be hard country to travel in and the cultural differences and the heat have made it down right shitty most times.

China, it's like this
I've realized you can get swallowed and eaten by a country. We were swallowed by Japan but in a good way. We were slurrped through it's mouth like a hot bowl of udon noodles or maybe like a cup of rosted green tea. We travelled warmly though it's inards finding nice places to stop along the way. We were then finally deposited like a healthy BM into a clean toilet with comfortable ass warmers on the seat. China isn't like that. China is sucking us like we are shrimp meat through a half open carcass. Then chewing us, mouth wide open for everyone to stare at our struggle. Or better yet, like we were a big ball of flem, China is hacking us into it's mouth with that gut wrenching "hocking" sound that EVERYONE in this country has perfected. Then it will spit out us out onto any old place at any old time. Yeah. China is a bit like that.

When travelling in China, we've realized that you have to check certain things at the door when you come into the country. For instance, forget about anything we know of in the west as manners. Forget about proper lines or queuing, forget about blending in as everyone stares at you unabashedly, forget about little old ladies not pushing you out of the way to get out of a train, forget about people not spitting or coughing everywhere and on everything. Forget about English, forget about clear instructions on any train or bus ticket, forget about friendly customer service forget about not fearing for you life everytime you ride in a cab or attempt to cross the street.
It's probably the heat that's doing it to us; the 35-40 degree weather we've been getting has been adding this "What the fuck are we doing here?" kind of layer to all situations. The constant staring is also another factor that can get on your nerves. For the most part it's not an issue, and it's sometimes even fun when a child is looking and you wave and they smile and eek out a small "hello", it's kind of nice. But when you're walking around frustratingly trying to find something or just trying to eat and people are staring, it gets a bit annoying.

There's another side to it all though; as Gay and I try to fit in to how things work here, I get a certain satisfaction out of playing the game. It feels good on some level to push people out of the way as I exit a train, to physically shove someone's arm away when they attempt to cut in front of me in line. Cab and bus rides are now a thrill ride to me and I've even noticed Gay and I eating a little quicker and our mouths are a little more open when we chew and, hey, why not just stare back a little longer than you probably should. When in Rome...right.

Personally, I feel it's the really frustrating and difficult moments of travel that end up making you a stronger person. It hasn't all been bad really and we haven't been in any considerable danger, it's just the little annoyances thay can get to you.

Alright, I'm done venting for now..Pics coming soon...
Jon