It's civilised to queue, it's glorious to be polite

China is still practicing for its world debut as host to the 2008 Olympics. Part of its preparation is to practice queuing. I kid you not - no one waits in lines here; it's very whoever-can-get-there-first. The BBC reported on formal "practice queueing" days, where volunteers help people learn how to queue (fun article about it). Unfortunately, not everyone in Shanghai has participated in this (or they flunked, one or the other).

I took the metro last night and was waiting in line behind someone at the automated ticket machine. Just as the woman walks away and I start to move up, some guy jumps around me at starts to use the machine. Without particularly thinking, I said (realizing that although I spoke no Chinese, I at least could come across as a mean person) "excuse ME, I was waiting here" and tapped him on the shoulder. When he looked back (surprised), I gestured wildly at me and then at the machine and then at him and then at the line of people now behind us in line (some people must have passed with straight A's). He moved away and let me go first. VICTORY went through my mind and I felt particularly proud, convincing myself that I was really helping him in the long run. And that's when the machine decided to stop interacting nicely with me. I had typed in all the details of where I was going, it had told me to insert 4CNY, and then it decided that it wouldn't take my bills. So I tried from every angle, each direction, both sides and finally gave up, completely embarrassed. And the man seemed duly amused. He didn't say anything, didn't look mad, but I know he was singing gleefully in his head.

I went to church at the St. Ignatius Cathedral on Sunday evening and they had an amazing choir, even though I didn't understand a word of what they were singing. But the rest of the mass was translated into English on giant screens around the cathedral (much appreciated!).

And lastly, I spent Sunday night trying on the first rough cut for my suit! They had taken large swoths of cloth and pinned them all together into my measurements. So I slowly got myself into them, and then they spent 30 minutes fine tuning the pins, with the end result being that I have a nice looking suit well on its way! The woman kept saying "you have a nice body", which I assume she meant that it's a good figure for a suit, although after previous experiences in Beijing, you can never be too careful :) Before heading to bed, I watched the end of the Red Sox vs. Yankees game on ESPN (what happened? All I watched was the 8th and 9th innings.. hope I didn't cause anything). The Seahawks also played (what happened?). And the Patriots played (at least SOMEONE had a good night).

No big plans for Monday evening.. it's my last night before work people start arriving. I'm sure the rest of the week will fly by..

(This article viewed 150 times.)
Previous article: Enjoying High Tea and the Virgin Lounge
Next article: I know you have a Business Class seat, sir, but...