So instead of just blogging about really dumb things such as emotions I thought I would start a different topic here and just keep going until something catches and I finally get a readership. Y’all out there may or may not read this. I don’t know yet. Still haven’t gotten any comments.

Well as I have said previously, I live in Shanghai. What a great city? Well today it looks a bit drab. Kinda like London out there with all the misty rainclouds. Yesterday and the day before were very breathtakingly beautiful. I hope it can stay that way until tomorrow. I really want to be able to put my sheets out this weekend.

So here is my first thread. Laundry in China. Did you know that we wash our clothes completely different than our Asian brothers and sisters? No kidding!

First I will start with a story. When I went to Wuhan, Hubei last January I lived with a woman named Hui Li. She met me from the taxi and settled me into their lovely apartment. (I found her on the Wuhan expat-ie. expatriate forums.) Then she showed me the small wash machine. I had used these Asian versions before and I knew of the small load size and having to hang the clothes up to dry afterward, but then she started in on something that I didn’t get at first. She said, “…and there is the bucket for the undergarments.” I was all like what the heck are you talking about woman?

Over the course of the next few weeks I discovered what she meant. The panties and boxers, bras and socks are all considered inside clothes! They are dirtier than our outside clothes and thus should not be washed with the rest of the shirts, pants, and skirts. Apparently they are to be washed by hand and hung up to dry in the sun so that the UV rays may remove the bacteria! Wow, I had no idea I had been doing it wrong all these years!

There is even a special yellow soap cake to buy to wash the undergarments. And a special brush and a small bucket to wash them in! There is a process to it. You first boil tap water on the stove. Then you add the water to the bucket with the garments in it. (You must wash the socks separately from the panties, boxers, and bras because socks are dirtier.) After you let the clothes sit for a while so the water can cool to a temperature you are able to handle you place the soap cake on each garment and rub so just a little soap will get on it. After you have made suds with the soap then you need to rub each one with the brush. It is a little wooden brush with stiff bristles. Then you pour more boiling water and let it sit a while longer. Then pour more water and finally wring out the clothes. Then you hang them on the special undergarment hanger and place outside in a breeze on a sunny day. Voila; the Chinese way to wash the underwear. You can do the same thing with socks.

I have been doing this ever since and I got to know one thing. My fellow women, if you have ever suffered from a yeast infection then your improper laundry habits may have been the cause. Start washing your underwear separate and then you can ‘feel’  the difference. LOL ok everyone ‘ta for now because I have to go to teach a class. Next up, how to order a bao-zi!