Gratitude

There is nothing like international travel to make me profoundly grateful. On the one hand, I am so thankful to have a career which enables me to experience things like the Taj Majal and the Great Wall of China. On the other, I am always glad to be home and I never fail to feel fortunate to be able to queue up in the "Citizens/Resident" line in customs. Why? Well, for starters, I love our toilets.

I know how off the wall that sounds but once you have been forced to use one of the Chinese numbers, you will never again take our little slice of heaven for granted. We have seats...to sit on. We are also usually provided with at least a square of toilet paper, soap and running hot water. Unless one is a total imbecile, it is likely that she will be able to use the toilet without peeing on her pants. In China, the dominant potty is a hole in the ground. They may line it with porcelin replete with fancy foot marks to show you where to stand but there is just no getting over the feeling that you're back in university squatting behind the bushes after a night at the pub. You are not provided with toilet paper and the running water is cold. Soap? Forget about it. Oh, and there is this one special thing about traditional Chinese toilets. You cannot put any TP down them. Instead you are required to dispose of your paper in a nearby trash can. You can smell a toilet long before you locate it. I didn't snap any pictures myself but here is one that I found on the web.

My question is, what do the elderly, with their osteoporosis and their arthritic joints, do? The Chinese drink A LOT of tea.....

This trip marked my first as a blogger and thus, I was surprised to find that I was unable to view my own blog while in China. I could post to it but I was unable to see it. I did a bit of research and learned that the "Great Firewall of China" is in place. It seems as though the popularity of the blogosphere (and the unrestricted exchange of ideas) poses a unique issue for the Chinese government so they have closed off most of those channels. Apparently, you can get around this censorship with paid proxy services but it still had me shaking my head. Again, I found myself acknowledging how fortunate I am to live in a place that values freedom of speech, in spite of the current administration's efforts to erode it.

Oh, there is so much more:

• -I love the fact that we have gobs of space. Our homes and vehicles are massive by Chinese standards. Of course, so are our waistlines and rear ends so I suppose it's all relative.
• -I love that my children get thirteen years of free education. In China, there is no such thing as public school.
• -I'm grateful that I am expected to work only five days a week instead of six or six and a half.
• -I am allowed to have as many children as I like. In China, a couple that chooses to have more than one child is financially penalized through various means.

I could go on forever but I'm sure some of you are already nodding off. Let it suffice to say that I'm aware of how lucky I am to live on this side of the globe.