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Okay, this is where I rant, as women tend to do when they’ve “had it up to here” and need to vent. So, if you don’t wan to hear it, you’ve been forewarned.

Here comes the vent…

There are things that I will not be sorry to leave behind.

1) I will not be sorry to leave behind the sound that people when they are about to spit on the street. The sound that seems to reach down into the person’s toes and come up and out and makes me cringe every time I hear it. It’s a sound I cannot seem to get used to or over.

2) I will not be sorry to leave people blowing their noses out onto the pavement. It’s something that hasn’t been completely irradiated here and may never. I can only hope that should I find myself back in China again that it will be much fewer and far between-er than it has been this time. I have hope, it was less of an occurrence this time than it was the last. Shudder.

3) I will not be sorry to leave small children and infants. peeing out into the street, or onto the sidewalk or in the grass. There has been a big push for disposable diapers, but you still see lots of babies and toddlers wearing the split trousers for easy elimination of bodily fluids and solids. I am grateful that there are more modern sensibilities present, but I look forward to the rest following. There are culturally historical socially acceptable things worth keeping. This one, in my very opinionated opinion, is not. Not least of all due to hygiene and spread of disease.

IMG_09994) I will not be sorry to leave behind the public toilets/WC (water closet), the Loo (apologies to the gents named Louis who have to deal with teasing) . It is not because they are more disgusting than western public toilets. Some are quite clean and tidy, even down right pristine. They are great for upper thigh strength and glute work, but I am tired of deep squats and I am tired of not being able to flush the toilet paper down the drain. I know, I know. The western world has sanitised much of our bodily functions to such a degree that we don’t talk of such things in polite, let alone impolite company. However, it’s not that I feel the need to gloss over the experience or be more “delicate” about such things. It is simply that I am tired of seeing everyone else’s business that came before me.

5) I will not be sorry to leave the “rock hard” mattress behind in the flat. I don’t know what the rationale is behind sleeping on the equivalent of a raised floor. I’m sure there is some deep seeded ancient tradition of health and wellbeing, but I am longing for my mattress. I long to sleep my by back once again without waking up feeling like every joint needs a good cracking.

6) I will not be sorry to leave the pollution or the cigarette smoke that comes with living here. I will say that there are better smoking rules in place, but the pollution is worse and my lungs can tell. Home may be polluted, too, but I’ll take it over this.

Whew! Thanks. I needed that. Now I can continue with the accounts of the last of our adventures here and speak of all the wonderful things that I will miss when it’s time to leave.