The Earthquake and Rollerskating Dominate the Weekly China Roundup

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The Earthquake and Rollerskating Dominate the Weekly China Roundup

Written by Robert Vance on May 24, 2008 – 12:42 am

The Weekly China Roundup from Sino News on TeachAbroadChina.com

Time of Mourning Over in China: The three days of mourning for the earthquake victims came to an inauspicious end on Thursday afternoon at 2:28 PM. There were no horns or sirens heard, where I live at least, to mark the end of the period. Although rescuers are still pulling out the occasional survivor, the end of this three day period most likely unofficially ends the rescue operation. Recovering bodies and cleaning up the destruction will now become the top priorities.
Have You Eaten Yet?: The question “Have you eaten?” is as common a greeting in China as “hello” is in the United States. My students tell me that this phrase goes back to periods of famine and starvation in China’s long history. Friends and neighbors would ask each other this simple question and would often share the little food that they had. Today, the phrase is simply used to say hello and even if you haven’t eaten, you probably will not be offered a free meal.
Skating Dangers: I went rollerskating recently with a friend and her little niece. Let’s just say that I ‘feared for my life’ on multiple occasions. The small rink, which was probably designed for more than 50 skaters, was overrun by at least 250 people. There were no rules and no order; people rollerskated in whatever direction they felt like. There were too many reckless skaters who seem to think that they were the only ones on the floor. Worst of all, people were smoking as they rollerskated, and at least once, my little friend’s niece got a cigarette butt flicked into her hair. If you are going rollerskating in China, make sure that you have some skill and please don’t bring your kids.
Selling Cell Phones: A few weeks ago I wrote about the 10 worst jobs in China on TeachAbroadChina.com. I included salespeople in my list; I would definitely say that selling cell phones has to be one of the most boring and monotonous jobs in China. It is also hard work. In my city, the cell phone vendors have to pack up every night before they leave. This involves removing every single cell phone (sometimes hundreds) out of the glass displays and packing them up neatly. Of course, the next morning, they have to put all of the phones back on display.

See you next week!

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