... this blog entry goes out to all of you I've been visiting so far, but also to those I will still get the pleasure to meet with in the future. Let me tell you this.
I thank you so much for taking the hard decision of my shoulders I face everytime using a public restroom of weather to use up all the toilet paper that is left to cover the seat in order to be able to place my bottom on it, or to get some upper leg exercise by letting the extra liquid go by just holding my bottom centimeters (I try not to think of millimeters - the thought gets in my head that I might accidently touch the seat then anyway) upon the seat. Well, to be honest, most times option 1 wasn't even a choice for the lack of toilet paper. But still. When entering a stall here in China I am completely secure about what to do and how to behave.
I can also tell you're all trying your hardest to contribute to the worldwide paper saving by not even putting a single roll for people with an urgent need into your stalls. I think this is very smart, as you force every single person to think about their responsibility to choose between the possibilities to either bring their own paper, but that way to contribute to the global waste, or to totally go without toilet paper. Given by the amount of paper that I get to see in those bins places next to each toilet, most people decided to rather save the world than to use paper. Well, this is one step into the right direction.
Oh yes, talking about the bins, how very clever of you to keep your narrow pipes clean by forcing everybody to throw their toilet related trash into garbage cans. And I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness to not put a lid onto those containers, so I don't even have to put my hand on this very unappealing surface to get rid of my trash. With that in mind, I can easily take the picture of other peoples throw away. Like that.
But I have to tell you though, that if I ever considered wearing overalls or a leotard, I would get into serious trouble when it gets time to give you guys business. Because considering the fact that you are all installed on GROUND LEVEL without the slightest possibility to place your butt anywhere, I doubt that I would be able to pee in that crouch position without getting fully undressed or to get part or all of my clothing covered in something not so enjoyable. You might want to think about that. Or i should think about getting a catheder places for this matter. Yes, that might be an option.
Oh, and please don't feel to bad about the general absence of soap (FYI there are not even any holders installed where soap could possibly come out), as for this matter I am happy to bring my own hand sanitizer.
With all this being said now, I think I can manage living with you during the next 6 months, put please don't be offended when I got to tell you know that I do prefer your German colleagues. Just for the paper though, just for the paper!...
Sincerely, one loyal client

The last 2 days (Sunday and Monday) I spend my whole free time - as you know, I work Mondays so I used my time off when the kids were at school - to go and explore the city. Showing off being extremely hot and humid over my first few days here, Chengdu gave me its bad ass look for my free days, with constant rain and nasty wind. But that bit of weather challenge can't stop a real explorer like me. Thinking of : There is no such thing as bad weather, there is only bad clothes - I put on my rainboots, got that nice cappy (thank you again dearest brother for letting me take it to China - it does its job fabulously!) places on my head and was ready to see the city. Arriving with the subway at Tianfu Square, which is the biggest traffic point in Chengdu, being the center of the city and the meeting point of the 2 existing subway lines, gave me a first impression of the city. Big, wide, clean, police officers everywhere and of course tons of people all over the place. And you can't even imagine how many eateries a city can have. And it's not like half of them is empty. Noho, like I said, people everywhere, on the streets, driving cars, in buses, in restaurants, stores. It was packed. Maybe because it was Sunday? But my experience on Monday wasn't much different, so I think that was just the standard. Someone could really feel anonymous in this city, if he wasn't European like me, who seems to have a sign right up on his front reading: Please Stare At Me With Your Mouth Wide Open. Put hey, put on your poker face and smile. And there really Are advantages when looking like a foreigner in China. Security doesn't bug you for suspicious items in your backpack (because they can't really talk to you), Chinese guys hold their umbrella over you when waiting to cross the streets - and they don't mind standing in the pouring rain themselves for a couple of minutes (all with that tiny bit of home you might say after 3 minutes of smalltalk, Yes I want to be your girlfriend) and you get complimented all the time for your beauty. I really recommend going to China to those who need a boost of self confidence! You will for sure find that here.
So Sunday I made my way to a nice little district not far from the central Tianfu Sqare called Kuanxiangzi. It's streches over 3 streets and 2 blocks where the old Chinese buildings got preserved really well and give you the atmosphere of ancient China. It's great. As soon as you enter you have this immediate respect for the history expressed by the buildings and walls.
I expected a lot of tourists to be there, but to my surprise I was almost the only foreigner between all the Chinese people that came to visit. Very nice to see that there are still some areas that are not packed with tourists and all sorts of souvenir vendors. I was able to enjoy the atmosphere there to its fullest. I felt the same when I visited the Wenshu Monastery yesterday. Together with another Cultural Ambassador living in Chengdu, I went to see the big temple area. It was the first time I met with the girl, and together we had a great time. It was great to talk to somebody who understands every English word I said and who I fully understood :-) hard to find here. From the second we entered the temple area, we were surrounded by the hypnotizing smell of the incense sticks that people lit. There were many shrines distributed all over the temple area, each containing at least one Buddha statue. Most of them golden. It was fenomenal. Lots of people being there were in total trance while kneeling down on prepared pillows praying and praising their idol. It was fascinating to see. Picture taking was pretty destricted, but I also didn't really feel like taking any. You really have too much respect for the whole culture as you would run around the whole place photografing every corner of it. The whole area was pretty large, so by the time we finished making our way through the many little walkways and gardens, we were ready for some food. First, we treated ourselves to a popular drink, called COCO milktea, and as it was raining the whole time, this warm sip was just what we needed. Karolina then showed me a fabulous bakery, and you could tell it was authentic by us being the only foreigners standing in line and the signs all being written only in Chinese. It tool us quite a while until we decided on the treats we wanted to get, trust me, it is hard to choose when you have not the slightest idea how something might taste like, but I went after - No risk, no fun - and got myself 3 different baked goodies, one, a beanfilled sweet cake, one lotus filled cake and one filled with red bean paste. Each one rich and flavorful. Delish! Chinese bakery, you better watch out! I will be back!
Unfortunately, as transportation takes pretty long from my place, it was already time to head back to the subway to get on my way home to not be late for work. But I had a great time in Chengdu with Karolina, and we decided to head out together again soon.
For my work, it was a real fun day yesterday. The kids were both great, we drew huge and colorful houses on even bigger pieces of paper and sang songs with each other while drawing. It's great to see how the connection between me and the kids is getting better each day and how I somehow managed it to shoe me respect (which is not to take for granted here if you see how they behave for others). So the first day of a new week of work ended with one happy Ronja all fresh and clean from a nice shower, watching how the biggest purchaseable cookie is made on FoodNetwork Asia. Yup, I'm doing good.

People, it's official. I could put myself on one level with Melissa McCarthey or Johnny Depp. People keep staring at me on the street, in stores, they come over to say Hi to only giggle totally ashamed as I reply, they come up ASKING FOR A PICTURE! No kidding. It seems like Kaukasians are some sort of exotic specie to the Chinese and as soon as they meet on they have to make sure to capture this moment for eternity. Haha, it's hilarious. A whole group of teenage girls, maybe about 6 or 7 of them, came up to me as I was riding a totally silly bike in a theme park I visited together with my hostfamily and friends yesterday. Together with the housekeeper I was strolling along all the rides and eateries when those girls all greeted me overexcitedly. If I would allow them to take a picture of me. Looking totally exhausted and sweaty from riding this heavy bike around for already 2 hours, oh yes, please have my pretty picture! Those girls were totally into it - each one wanted a single picture and for sure a group picture, but please with the own Iphone so it can be shared immediately. They were really cute though and I had fun posing with them for some pictures. Asking them why they wanted to take a picture of me one (whose English was pretty poor but still by far the best of all of them) replied - because you are beautiful. Aww. Let me give you a hug for this! What a push for the ego.
Now, the second time I was strolling around a huge shopping mall in Chengdu close to the central Tianfu Square, when 4 ladies from a cosmetic shop on the right came up to me complinenting me on how beautiful I looked and how pretty and big my eyes were. Then I started to realize. Maybe it's really the eyes that Chinese keep admiring so much at Kaukasians. As the typical Chinese have narrow eyes, people with what I would consider as with "normal sized" eyes, are really special to them. So this might be the fame factor. I guess I found it. But I will keep asking all the people asking for a picture. I will present you my statistic on the Ronja fame factor in 6 months :-)

Okay, hands down. The part of Chinese culture I was most excited to learn about is the food. Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan Province, which, even in China is known for its excepional cuisine. There is a lot of flavor, most of the dishes have a ton of spiciness and hotness to them, which can occasionally knock you out for a minute trying to get your mouth back under control (hint: I found out having a piece of tofu after something crazy spicy helps!)
There are some things traditionally different when it comes to meal time in China. Eating at home, Chinese people don't have drinks at the table. No water, no glass of wine, nothing. So you gotta gulp that food down by itself. Luckily most of the dishes are swimming in a sauce of spices and other things I couldn't disguise yet, so it goes down quiet well without the help of water. Still I was used to drink almost half a liter at every meal, which I now split up on 1/4 liter before and 1/4 after dinner. That way I still get my liquid input for the day :-) my family really only uses chopsticks, which makes mealtime a real adventure for me. It's like going on a hunt, sometimes I'm successful, sometimes I'm not. But I definitely see improvement! But honestly, I want to see you trying to fish those crazy long Chinese noodles out of the soup with chopsticks! Special fun with 8 other people watching. Thank you Nainai for coming to the rescue!
But the real fun is that you could ask me after almost every meal about what I ate, and I could maybe tell you about 2 dishes I was able to recognize, but the other 6 dishes - hey, it was delicious, but no idea what I just ate there! It get's especially flaky when it comes to meat when it gets served in this massive sauce. Trust me, you can't tell which body part of the animal once held this meat. It could literally come from anywhere. So I bet over the last week I've been eating pieces of meat I would have never touched back in Germany, but to me there is no way to disguise them. And grandma telling me the Chinese name of it doesn't really help yet ;-) but just so you get an idea, most of the meat that is served here is on the fatty side, wabbly and chewy. Haha, luckily the Chinese don't have a hard time spitting out food pieces they don't like. I can adapt pretty good to that ;-)
Eating out at the restaurant you do get served a drink though. But it's no water, it's no tea (teatime is not til 3pm), and definitely no alcohol. It's freshly pressed fruit juice. In my case watermelon juice, served in a huge wine glass. And I have to say, with the temperatures here these days it's exactly what you want.