5 April 2008
Today’s adventure started with the quest for coffee and breakfast. The owners or caretakers of the villa, sent us off with gestures of eating and they laughed when Shannon motioned drinking – maybe they thought we were going to get drunk. Without much direction, we just walked out onto the streets and started looking. Our villa is near a park with ponds and many trees. The area for walking under the trees is often too low even for me at my meager 5’5” height.
People stared at us a lot, especially after we entered a side street and bought breakfast from a woman who was cooking food outside her home to sell. We bought this for 3 Yuan or 43 cents. Interestingly when we entered the queue, if there was such a thing, there were 6 Chinese people in front of us. Only one person came behind us. The others cleared out rather quickly. While we waited our turn an old man came up to us and started talking in Mandarin. He seemed to be saying something about Shannon’s nose and Trish’s face. As far as the food, it was delicious. A thin batter was spread across a stainless grilled and quickly cooked, an egg was spread across this and the whole thing flipped. Sauces were added as well as green onions and a sweet pair of bread-like cylinders joined side by side. This was wrapped almost like a burrito and served in a plastic bag. As we allowed our meal to cool, we walked further down the street and when we returned, the crowd around her little shop had also.
“Kāfēi” or coffee drove us to McDonalds as the tea seemed to be more prevalent in the local shops. We also returned to the “supermarket” (which is a Wal-Mart, judging by some of the brands it has, known as Trust-mart) we had visited yesterday. There were many interesting things, including individual eggs for sale and Beijing Olympics souvenirs. Trish bought an alarm clock that came with batteries. Shannon bought a watch that ended up not working. In the process of figuring this out, she had lost the receipt. We returned anyway and despite the language barrier, walked out with another watch. Pointing to “broken” to explain her problem and “lost” when asked about the receipt, and a trek upstairs and down to change the battery ensued. Realizing this wasn’t going as well as hoped, Shannon pointed to the word “exchange” and she walked out with a different watch which was about 10 Yuan more (that she didn’t have to pay) and a bit uglier watch.
Despite this fun, we still made it back in time for our 12:15 meeting with our previous day’s escorts, “Summi,” age 14, and her mother, who doesn’t claim an “American” name as does Summi and whose Chinese name is so hard to pronounce I cannot keep it in my mind. The plan was to go to lunch and then walk around West Lake. We had some trouble getting seats at a restaurant, partially due to the number of Chinese tourists who came for the weekend and partially, I suspect, due to our foreign presence. “Lăo Ma” or “old mom” as Summi calls her mother, sent us away to walk around the lake while she secured us seats. When I asked Summi about my suspicions, she told me not to worry about it; I wonder if this was an act of “saving face.” Recalling the morning’s activity at the woman’s griddle as well as Shannon and Trish’s story that they seemed to clear out restaurants in Shanghai the two days prior in addition to this, I am suspect that I am correct.
Lunch was great although a little different than what we perceive as “Chinese food.” A salt-pork like dish started us off, accompanied by rice. We had steamed chicken, that, though delicious, was very small compared to the chickens we buy. There was also “shrimp” that were fresh water and I suspect may have been what we call crawdads. “Lăo Ma” taught us to eat them by biting off the bodies from the heads and tails, allowing those to drop to the plate. The odd part is that where we peel and eat shrimp, we ate the shell; however, it was much softer than that of our shrimp. We also had shredded spicy potato and fish soup, the latter with which bones were a manageable hazard. We asked for miàntiào (noodles) as they seem quite palatable to us. All was very tasty, but VERY unlike anything I had ever eaten, except the apple that ended the meal.
Before we left for lunch, we encountered again the owners/caretakers and asked if we can use the bicycles in the common room. Apparently there are only 2 we can use, which is not convenient for 3. However, the old lady noticed the medal I wear around my neck that Nan gave me. She then signed herself with the cross, spoke a bunch of Mandarin and made motions of question if I were Catholic. I shook my head, yes, and she a flurry of more language came forth. She told Summi to tell me she would take me to church tomorrow and transmitted the time of departure at 0830 as well. As other conversation swirled about, she went off to gather a prayer card to show me. Mary adorned it and through Summi, she explained that it was Jesus’ mother. She seemed very happy that I would go to church with her. As we were leaving for lunch, I said “Zàijiàn, Wàipó. Wàigōng” or “Good-bye, Grandmother. Grandfather.” I’m sure my pronunciation was horrid, but they seemed to understand, repeating the correct pronunciation and laughing.
We walked A LOT around West Lake and crossed several “famous” bridges, though the story of what made them famous was “too complicated” for Summi to explain. Still people stared, especially when we spoke. As we were gazing in wonder at how high people were flying kites, a brave young woman, who introduced herself as “Snow,” nervously came up to us in a hurry, asking to have a picture with Trish as she “had always dreamed to have a picture with a foreigner.” Trish obliged and since the woman did not have a camera, we took the photo as well as her email, with promises we will email it to her when we have internet access. Other people asked for a photo with Trish and again she was indulgent in their request. Another young man stared so much while she was doing this, we offered him one, too. He explained to Summi he did not have a camera, but we arranged for him the same deal we had for “Snow.” He is so serious in his photo. Afterwards, we learned from Summi that he is studying to be a policeman. We suspect Trish is a hit as she is the blondest and fairest of us.
After this, another young man, looking rather European (as many young Chinese people do) in dress, raced up to us and to our surprise, his voice rang out beautiful American, though quite formal, English. He introduced himself as “Daniel” and told us he is majoring in English at the #3 university in Hang Zhou: the name starts with Zhejiang, but the rest I could not understand (Zhejiang is the province in which we are). He seemed somewhat hasty at first, as though worried we would send him away, and was trying to quickly impress us. Hearing English and seeing a openly friendly and eager face was too welcome of a comfort to send him away, however and he ended up tagging along the rest of our walk around the lake. He asked many questions about American culture and I asked him many about the Chinese. He also helped me teach Summi what “slang” words were as I had been trying to do so without success. When she noted her feet were tired, I told her the phrase “My dogs are barking.”
Daniel, too, was very serious in his photos. We had to encourage him to smile for it. He did, so eager to do as we do. It’s funny as I was trying to be as formal and polite as the Chinese, though we are not so in America. He wishes to take us on a tour of his University and much to his chagrin, we will be in Beijing next week, could not tell him where we are staying for our lack of knowledge and really have no way of communicating until Monday. We did however, give him our emails and he gave us his phone number. He wishes to visit Washington, D.C., which surprised me as I thought he would like NYC best. Hopefully, we will see him again in our travels around Hang Zhou
All around the lake the trees are in blossom. Daniel explained that this only lasts about one week per year and the rains will start and wash them away. There are temples and pagodas all around the lake, none of which did we visit today. Across from a Hyatt that apparently, President Bill Clinton stayed in, there was a fountain that changed routine, making a show, to Chinese music. The sky was quite hazy all day and the late afternoon brought sprinkles which evolved into rain in the evening.
We got on a bus at the fountain, who knows which bus, where the gawking became moreintense at such close quarters. The staring has been unrelentless and has been a bit unnerving. In response, I think we smile more and I’m sure that makes us even more of a curiosity. The bus ride was very tight and more and more people got on. The ride was 2 Yuan. Children are the funniest with their gaping. They are quite surprised, but so serious in studying our faces. One on the bus soon discovered me hovering over him and his grandmother out of my need to hold on. When I said “Nĭhăo” or “Hello” to him, his eyes widened and then he buried his into his grandmother’s shirt, stealing shy glances at me after that. I smiled. Poor child must have been frightened by my continuous smiling!
Dinner was also great. I think we ate so much, though it is much healthier food than we eat in the States. There was a cold chicken dish, spicy octopus, cucumber and blanched lettuce in what tasted like sesame sauce and a spicy tofu and Chinese vegetables which are yummy. The spicy comes at the request of Shannon. Last night’s spicy did not settle too well with my stomach, and since my bags have yet to arrive, I have no pepto-bismol to allay the discomfort. There was also fish soup, which is very tasty, though I had to quickly get over the fact that my first serving had the fish’s head with its eye staring at me.
That is something of note, I learned tonight, too. The table setting is at least one plate, but maybe one stacked on another at nice restaurants, a bowl, ceramic spoon as we have seen, chopsticks and chopstick holder. The Chinese generally eat from the bowl, whilst throwing the trash (bones, etc) onto the plate. The napkin corner goes in between the two plates and falls into your lap. This does not make sense to me as if food falls, it can roll into your lap. Hot water or hot water with tea is served along side this and at higher end places, also a steaming hot damp cloth (at first anyway)with which to use to wipe your mouth and hands throughout the meal. In the more expensive restaurant, your party has its own room with its own bathroom. Two waitresses waited on us there, and they were the same as last night. They seemed amused by our poor table manners, and were fast to offer a fork and knife.
Summi and her mother left us at our villa around 7:30pm, with news that tomorrow we are on our own. The rain has thwarted any aspirations of going out to see the night life tonight, which is alright with me. I’m still jet-lagged and last night’s rest was not great. Tonight I close at 1 am in China, while my husband is probably finishing lunch “yesterday” in New York.
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