I’m talking about Ruth Silbermayr of the blog, China Elevator Stories. She’s a writer and blogger I met online in about 2014.
I started my blog in August of 2013 when I was getting ready to publish my first novel, Tiger Tail Soup, a novel of China at War. My blog posts at that time were all about China and about being married to my Chinese husband. That’s how I got acquainted with other Western women married to Chinese men. Ruth was one of them.
Her posts were some of my favorites. She often wrote about interesting and funny little conversations she had with the local Chinese people.
Here is an example of the kinds of posts she wrote:
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“Foreigners also need body scrubs”
I overhear employees at a bathhouse in Siping talking about me.
20/11/2014
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
In October 2014, I stay in my husband’s hometown, Siping. Located in Northeast China, Siping experiences winter temperatures that can drop well below -20°C. Like most apartments in China, ours doesn’t have a bathtub. Northeast China is famous for its bathing culture, and bathhouses (洗浴) are common.
One evening, we visit a small bathhouse. I soak in the hot water of a wooden bathtub. For hygiene reasons, the bathtub is lined with a large plastic bag that is replaced for each person. After my bath, I decide to get a body scrub (搓澡). The bathhouse employees mention that body scrubs can be done up to once a week.
As I’m getting my body scrub, one of the employees says to the woman working on me: “A foreigner!” She laughs.
The woman giving me the body scrub replies: “Foreigners also need body scrubs.”
Have you ever been to a bathhouse in China?
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I’m not sure how or when I lost touch with Ruth. It wasn’t on purpose.
Before Christmas, she contacted me in the comment section of my blog and asked if she could do a guest post.
Today is just a brief introduction to the Ruth I knew a decade ago when she lived in China with her Chinese husband and her two young sons. Since then, Ruth’s life has changed, and her blogs have evolved.
You’ll find Ruth’s blog at chinaelevatorstories.org. https://chinaelevatorstories.org
Tomorrow I’ll put up an example of what Ruth is posting currently. Don’t miss it.
I have heard that Asians are more concerned about cleanliness than Europeans, especially a century or two back. Since I take showers I can’t remember my last hot bath but it sounds lovely! Glad you reconnected with your friend.
I visited a Korean spa near here a few years ago. It was a little bit scary. First there were the pools, cold to various degrees of hot–no clothes allowed. Then there were the earth energy rooms, the herbal dry sauna, the steam sauna, massages, facials, and the scrubs. The scrubs seemed to be very popular, but I heard that the women who scrubbed were very rough, so I skipped that. I don’t know if Asians are more concerned with cleanliness than we are, but all the healthy rituals that go along with bathing seem to be more popular in many countries than they are here.
A nice snippet. I can’t decide if it would be better to understand what the locals are saying about you or not.
If you’re a writer, I suppose it’s better.
I’m glad to hear you’re back in touch with Ruth!
Yes, Jocelyn, it is. Thanks for mentioning it.
A group of us went for foot massages in Wujiang in China. They were shocked at how hairy one of our group was. Americans didn’t usually come to that area.
Another little snippet about cultural differences. I remember how appalled many Americans were to learn that many European women didn’t shave under their arms. That was a couple of decades ago. I don’t know what the situation is now.