The crackdown is affecting my life!
For those who haven't noticed, the Beijing Olympics start in about 3 weeks. The Olympics are HUGE in China, everything has the fuwa (mascots) on it and t-shirts and other memorabilia abound. For GPs birthday, I bought her a mobile phone dangle with the fuwa characters and a pack of stickers with each character doing a different Olympic sport :)
Anyway, the import/export, visas, etc have gotten very tight because of the games. Our company's imports have to go through extra screening which results in 2-3 weeks of delays. Imagine how all the companies in China are handling that. Tourist visas are very hard to get; I joked with our OB how she would be very busy for Aug 8 (8/8/8 is *very* popular date to marry and/or have baby in China) and she said, "No, not really. The foreigners can't get visas, so they are going home to have their babies."
I knew all this was happening and it did influence my decision about visiting the US in the next 2 months (baby-on-the-way influences it more), but it never really hit me until yesterday. I stopped at all of the foreign groceries looking for deodorant and found NONE. No deodorant, antiperspirant or combination is to be had. It isn't popular for the Chinese (the crowded mall elevator Saturday was testament to that), so it's mostly for the foreigners. I paid about $12 for the last Right Guard I bought, and I'd do it again if I could just find it.
Don't offer to send me any, though I would appreciate the offer. It would just get stuck in customs for 3 weeks. Maybe I can find some in Guangzhou this week.
Anyway, the import/export, visas, etc have gotten very tight because of the games. Our company's imports have to go through extra screening which results in 2-3 weeks of delays. Imagine how all the companies in China are handling that. Tourist visas are very hard to get; I joked with our OB how she would be very busy for Aug 8 (8/8/8 is *very* popular date to marry and/or have baby in China) and she said, "No, not really. The foreigners can't get visas, so they are going home to have their babies."
I knew all this was happening and it did influence my decision about visiting the US in the next 2 months (baby-on-the-way influences it more), but it never really hit me until yesterday. I stopped at all of the foreign groceries looking for deodorant and found NONE. No deodorant, antiperspirant or combination is to be had. It isn't popular for the Chinese (the crowded mall elevator Saturday was testament to that), so it's mostly for the foreigners. I paid about $12 for the last Right Guard I bought, and I'd do it again if I could just find it.
Don't offer to send me any, though I would appreciate the offer. It would just get stuck in customs for 3 weeks. Maybe I can find some in Guangzhou this week.
posted by Matt aka Maxiu at
8:29 AM
3 Comments:
Can't you download deodorant? Maybe you need some kind of special printer.
Here's a couple deo substitutes:
Rinse yourself off every morning and wash your pits really good. Use soap and some shower gel if you have some. Then put some lotion or perfume/cologne on your fingers and rub it onto your pits.
apply rubbing alcohol to pits then baking powder
good luck with your stench issues!
KBF
Ray, I tried. Now I have HP 27 black under both arms.
I hope it doesn't come to that,KBF, but thanks for the tip. If people would guess I'm French instead of English or German, I could just go without :)
Yes, most Chinese guess I'm German when they look at me or English after talking with me. Hardly any guess American; partially because I'm too thin! (yes, they say that)
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