Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Emails from China - 3



May 30th morning:

leela,

i knew david would walk as soon as i left! ha! tears.

let's see where did i leave off. i think i told you about tennis. ate lunch on a street. fish and assorted vegetable. then we came home. the tennis player's name was futichen. we also played doubles with a gal (name too difficult). when we took her picture she said she looked ugly because she was too brown.

skin color is a big deal here. especially for girls. just the opposite than the usa. the paler you are the prettier. strange how stuff like that goes. i played with two other fellas. and my father of course. my email writing is turning into the english that i speak here in china. it is choppy and short and clear. maybe not so clear. it will probably take me days to get back to regular.


about fifteen people came over in the afternoon. they were very likable. two girls were the most likable. jolene and free (above photo). i think i am going to try to connect them with some college students when i get back so they can start an american friendship with folks their age. there was a couple who came with a little boy the age of david. it may me miss the little fella. his name was shuay.


i played guitar with this guy named charles. he said it was one of the greatest moments of his life. ha! something must have gotten lost in translation. he told me about the most popular song in china. it is called Take My to Your Heart. by this band called Mike Loves to Rock i think (actually Michael Learns to Rock). it is pretty classic. you'll have to listen to it. seriously, every person in china loves this song. (i've done a bit of research. this is a danish band that sings in english. they are connected somehow to bmg in taiwan. i think it is some kind of conspiracy by the chinese government. i don't want to say more because i'm afraid they may revoke my visa).


it was time for dinner. we went to my mother's tai chi instructors apartment. her husband is a chinese teacher at the school. her name is jai ping. the way they described this woman to me was that she was the lady whose dog bit my mother. turns out my mother was bit by her little yappy dog a week after the Peace Corps had sent a memo warning about rabies in China. mom spent a week at a hospital in Chongqing. we went to her house for dinner. the first time mom has been back since the incident. i heard the dog yapping as we entered.


turns out, jai ping is one of the most delightful human beings i have ever met. her laugh was classic. and the way she spoke english was the way we should all speak english...loud, deliberate and full body. i could not stop laughing. which made her laugh. which made us all cry because we were laughing so hard. her sense of humor was remarkable. she calls her husband teacher liu. to his face. all the time teacher liu teacher liu. he is a football fanatic. i am going to play on his team tomorrow in a game! he is 46 years old. and came home remarkably drunk. it may have been the alcohol but teacher liu is possibly the funniest human being on the planet. he called me his little brother. i called him my little brother because he is only something like 5'1". he said "i am your big brother, and you are my big brother!" and he laughed so hard i had to hold him up. he was remarkable. the whole night was remarkable.


he autographed his book of poetry for me. he described it as love poetry though none of the poems were written about his wife. we had a rendition. we did tai chi in the computer room. they made me play guitar. it was virtually impossible to leave their apartment. but we finally made it home. i was very tired. but after all the stuff of the day it was difficult to sleep. plus, the biggest mistake of this trip was that i forgot earplugs. china is very noisy. i don't think people have any real sense of how their actions appear to others. everyone butts in line. no one waits turns for anything. the women hock loogies. and there is a rule. it may even be written, but it is certainly followed that you must be quiet until 6am. but at 6am you can be as loud as you want. some guy played saxophone outside my window for 45 minutes. no lie. they have a wake up bugle for the students at 6:20am. no lie. it's ridiculous!

the town and campuses (my parents live in one and teach in two). they are both beautiful. i don't know if i'll get pictures of them but they are very beautiful. but there is so much construction in the town that there is dust on everything. you breath dirt all day. and the haze is something to get used to. ok. that's all for now. breakfast time and another full day awaits. i love you.

ned

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