(Author's Note: I will talk a lot about cultural differences here and things I notice, this is because it is really interesting to me, and sometimes it's because it's really funny. I say that because I don't want it to ever seem like I'm comparing Western culture to Chinese culture and saying theirs is worse, weird or not good. The reality is that it isn't bad or weird, it's just different. That being said, here's a little taste of a difference in culture.)
In China the number 8 is considered lucky (the Olympics are on 8/8/08!!!!) and the number 4 is considered unlucky (this is because the word for four and death sound similar). So when I went to pick out a phone number all the numbers I could choose from started either with an 8 or a 4, to my amazement as my friend and I looked over the list all the numbers that started with 8 were taken and NONE of the 4's…. Then we found one, so we chose that one, then the lady asked us “are you sure you want that one?” and we look at it again and realize it ended with a four. So we skipped that one and went for another, just a little taste of the differences in life here. For the record my number has 2 fours and 1 eight, Heather’s has no fours and 2 eights (she got hers another day somewhere else). So that sucks for me.
