Tackling My To-Do List

I'm in countdown mode now. Four days until I fly out. Four days and four thousand things to do. I'm at that point where I feel so overwhelmed by my to-do list that I can't actually do anything. It'll pass.

I accomplished two things today. First, I met with a colleague who just returned from China, and she gave me lots of valuable information: phone numbers of the many people who can help me make my way in Xi'an, tips on the best restaurant in town for western food, the best hotpot restaurant, the best grocery store. Details about how to buy a big jug of water for my room, hire a cleaning lady if I want one, take a city bus, or where to buy minutes for my cell phone. Then she told me that there were no western toilets at the university where I'll be teaching. For those of you who don't know, our handy-dandy sit-down toilets are not a worldwide standard. In China--and in many other countries, I'm told--the toilet is sometimes a hole in the floor that you squat over. Well, I'm sure it's nowhere near as primitive as that sounds (there is flushing involved). This lead to my second accomplishment for the day.

Introducing the GoGirl (www.go-girl.com). The thought of my weak knees giving out mid-squat or misdirected urine running down my leg just before class concerned me. Thanks to my traveling genius friend, Debbie, I found the GoGirl. As it's described on its pretty pink packaging, "GoGirl allows women to urinate standing up. It's hygienic, portable, discreet and reusable.". Basically, I've masculinized my peeing. I tried it for the first time tonight, and it was perfect. I aimed and fired; no mess, no stress. To paraphrase the product's slogan, I won't be taking China sitting down.


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