Christmas Eve in China

So here's my Anti-Union soap box...... I think one of the reasons that the Chinese are so incredibly efficient at what they do is that there are no union politics screwing everything up. Sorry, I've never been a big fan of Unions though. They get the job done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The guys are out there grinding metal and sparks flying everywhere but they're not wearing a ton of safety crap. It's all optional. If the guy saws off his hand, it's his own fault. Not only does he lose his hand, but probably his job. There's no Union to sue the company for not holding his hand away from the blade. They also are willing to work 24 hours. There's no shortage of labor and supplies here so they are able to accomplish some marvelous things. The tile work in some of these hotels is incredible - but again it's obvious that they do it by hand. Hard to find a lot of places in the US that are willing to spend the time and energy it takes to build a lot of the craftsmanship that I am seeing here.

Tony and I left a bit early from work yesterday and took a Gypsy Cab to get a massage. We left early so no van to drive us home, but one of the Chinese Engineers called us a Gypsy Cab. No real cabs are allowed in the Free Trade Zone, but they have drivers that will pick you up and for a negotiated price, drive you somewhere. You just hope that they know where they are going and you don't get kidnapped or in a car wreck on the way. This guy was pretty funny but was driving 2x the speed limit. Swerving in and out of traffic..... after this ride, I decided the driving is more chaotic here than it is in Dublin. We go to our destination, but it was scary.

So for about $25 US I got an hour and a half massage from a girl that was probably 80 pounds but beat the crap out of me in the massage. She was amazed with how I barely fit on the massage bed and my feet hit the wall. She kept rubbing my belly and smiling - I still think she believed I was the Buddha! But it's amazing how strong an 80 pound girl was and the massage was as good as any massage I've had back home. I highly suggest it for anyone that may be traveling to China! I slept so much better because of it. Tony was on the other side of the wall and the girls were laughing at us trying to get them to speak English. They were speaking Chinese back and forth and Tony and I were trying to repeat after them with no idea what we were saying. That happens a lot here. The cab driver this morning taught us to count to 10 in Chinese but I already forget. I just ask them to write it down for me.

BTW - here are three of my more favorite Christmas Links for you to enjoy this Christmas Eve:

I love this one - Click on each reindeer to add something to the song, then even click off Santa at the end to hear just the deer. A good waste of 5 minutes.

White Trash Christmas - Explains itself.

And of Course - Ding Fries are Done. You'll never hear Carol of the Bells the same way again.... I promise!

It's funny how they can't speak a lot of English, but they will be listening to American Christmas Carols on the radio or wherever you go. So I just start singing along and trying to get them to sing with me. They think I'm nuts here. Had a guy almost fall off of his bicycle this morning as he was amazed when he saw me walking and he kept staring at me. I get that everywhere. I feel like a celebrity here! Seriously!

We went shopping this afternoon and I found the COOLEST Buddha for my mantel. He's all wrapped for the plane ride home too so I don't have to worry about packing him so he doesn't break. My mom got one for me last summer that was pretty cool, but pretty small (she had a ton of people to buy for... I'm more greedy!). But my Buddha is going to go in my International Living Room with all my other foreign objects there:) I still think it's more annoying to shop in Mexico than it was here at the mall. Traffic was pretty bad today so we took the subway as far as we could. I tried leading the crowd on the subway in some Christmas Carols but none of them would go for it:(

We're going out for a nice Christmas Eve Dinner and then tomorrow to Hong Kong. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE TO EVERYONE!!! Elliott and Al - you have one more day to be good before Santa comes so keep it up!!