A bit of the weirdness I've noticed in less than 24 hours on the ground ...

The "grounds" (maze) our hotel is located on are peppered with statues of topless women playing sports.

The grounds are also infested with the loudest cicadas on earth.

The hotel pillows are stuffed with dried rice. (Q: What's louder than one-billion cicadas? A: Rice-stuffed pillows)

The locals, especially those servicing visitors, seemingly were taught only "polite English", which makes me feel like I am in an Emily Post class. (See previous post.) Thus, they are all so eager to please that I feel like I am in a New York clothing boutique. At breakfast, a woman followed me around the buffet asking, "You would like this? This? This?" as we passed each item. How do you say, "Thank you, but I'm just browsing," in Chinese?

At the same breakfast, I was surrounded by international sports writers (grown men) walking around the breakfast hall in their hotel-issued slippers.

Stay tuned ...