Politeness Police

I met up with my first year bio TA on saturday - AL.  He's in China teaching bio and chem in English right now, and came to Beijing to see it and to visit me (??) .... i wasn't a very good host, cuz all sunday i was in too much pain from the blisters i got on saturday to accompany him.  i hate beijing. 

anyway, for a month now, i've had to live like a Chinese person cuz i look Chinese.  and for a month, i've had difficulty getting OFF of subway trains because the Chinese morons wouldn't let me off before they themselves wanted on.  Even though there are tons of signs in and around the subways that teach this little aspect of mannerism.  there are also tons of PA announcements stating this.  there are also cartoon advertisements on the TVs in the subways train.  and during rush hours (which are a wee bit scary), there are even actual politeness police on the subway platforms that tell ppl to let ppl off first!!!

But walking around with AL, it was fucking amazing.  People parted like he was Jesus and they were the Red Sea (or whatever the fuck the bible says).  People actually started to acknowledge this "let others off first" rule.  for the first time in a month, i was actually able to get off the train without shoving!!  well, i had to follow closely behind AL.... and no, this wasn't a one time thing where we encountered one nice group of people... we actually had to switch subways FOUR times that day!!!! 

(also lotsa ppl stared at AL.  a 4yo girl pointed at him while we were on the escalator and said "mama.... there's a foreigner!!!".  after adam said hi, she said hi five times and then bye a couple of times.  she was so so happy she was jumping up and down!  very cute.  the other ppl who were staring weren't so cute.  also, they must've all thought that i was one of those Chinese hoebags that were only with AL cuz i wanted his canadian status so i could leave the country.  ... altho right now, leaving the country sounds great... but ya, i can do that on my very own thank you very much)

PS. why the fuck is it hotter in Beijing than it is in Shanghai?!?!?!?!  and why does the Beijing weather station ALWAYS lie????  I check the weather 30minutes before going out and it says bright sunny skies.... as soon as i step outside, it starts thunder-storming.  also, they KEEP saying that "tomorrow, it will cool down", but it NEVER cools down!!!!  What the fuck kind of game are they playing?!  are they just that INCOMPETENT, or is this a game to make the overseas ppl think that Beijing has great weather cuz they can't see what's really going on????  I hate not knowing what's real and what's not.  another reason China sucks ass.  This is just ridiculous.  fucking ridiculous!!!!!!