Rats and McDonalds...not together.

So, late this afternoon we were walking along the road and I see a little boy running around with a stick. Not so abnormal here. What WAS abnormal (to me) was why he was hitting the ground and laughing. As he got closer to us, I realized he was attempting to hit a rat that was coming at rapid speed right at me!!! (Elise)
You know how when you see supposedly see a bear or a snake, you have a choice to run as fast as you can, or freeze, and hope it doesn't notice you? Well, I think I took on that idea. As soon as I saw him running at me as fast as his legs could carry him(which is increadibly fast) I froze. I couldn't move. Tim had to actually push me into the road to get me away. No, there was no cars at this time on the road..for all of you who were wondering. :) I don't think he would have ended up running right to me. He probably would have deverted at the last second....but it shook me up.
They say that culture shock comes in waves. Every 6 months you expereince a new type or depth of culture shock. Of course it doesn't come marked on the calendar exactely 6 months..but I'm noticing it to be true. Things that used to seem magical about China, can seem disgusting at times. Things that seemed so "Chinese" and cultural to this city, can now drive me insane at points.
We love where we are and what we do. We wouldn't trade it for anything. But, there are trying days to say the least.
That's why we treated ourselves to McDonalds today. I got a double cheesburger to take the edge off. Surprisingly, we love McDonalds here. We never used to eat it unless we were traveling or something, but now...it is a comfort food. There is something wonderful about knowing that when we order something, they aren't going to make our burger with pork in it all of a sudden, or change the receipe. It is the same thing everytime I need American consistancy in my life.