Xingqi Wu (Friday)

Originally Posted June 26, 2009

I had plans to meet a Chinese girl named Amy in front of Pizza Hut for dinner and a Chinese tutoring session at six o'clock. I arrived a few minutes early, and stood outside feeling a bit awkward. Six o'clock came and went with no sign of Amy. As I waited for her, I took in my surroundings.

On the sidewalk in front and just to the right of me was a beggar. His feet and hands were crippled, and he had a cardboard Nike shoebox to collect his earnings. He bowed his head incessantly, asking for money. Some passer-bys contributed, some didn't. We smiled at each other, both just waiting in front of Pizza Hut.

On the street corner ahead of us a man sat on a box playing the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese instrument which can sound either lovely or screechy. Jiangsu University students rounded the corner with various meats on sticks from the nearby vendor. A young father and his son walked by. The son pointed at me and his father excitedly said, "Hello!"

"Hello!"

I looked back at the erhu street performer. He had stopped playing, and an older couple and he were arguing not-so-quietly. The woman was furious, actually.

I glanced at my watch. 6:10.

A public sanitation worker who collects trash around the downtown area approached the crippled beggar. (I have a special affinity for the downtown santitation workers because I suddenly realized one day that I could read the slogan on their uniform T-shirts--"every day more beautiful.") This particular worker was a middle-aged woman with greying hair in a short ponytail. She offered the beggar a bottle of cold water, which he accepted. Slowly, skillfully, the beggar drank from the bottle. He must have sensed I was watching him, because after he drank, he looked at me, setting the bottle on the sidewalk and sighing contentedly, "AHhhh..." like Dad after he drinks a big glass of Big K diet root beer. We exchanged smiles again.

I looked up to the street corner where the erhu performer had been. He was gone and the older couple now sat on their own boxes. The old man was playing a wooden flute with an empty can set out for donations. Apparently that street corner did not "belong" to the erhu artist.

By now I supposed that Amy was not coming, but I decided to have Pizza Hut anyway. And you know what? The pizza wasn't as good as I expected it to be. I would have preferred potsticker dumplings from the street vendors, which would have been fifteen times cheaper. Literally. I am becoming Chinese-ified.

I had my leftover pizza boxed up. Now that I had "chi bao le", eaten my fill, I decided to walk home. I first passed the main square where a group of fifty-or-so elderly ladies were doing dance aerobics. There was also a red tent advertising glamorous wedding photos, since the lucky month for weddings, August (the eighth month, eight being a lucky number in China) is coming up. I walked past numerous clothings stores and milk tea shops, which also sell delicious icees and fruit juice. Past restaurants in the Friday night craziness. Past one of my students who rode on the back of a motorbike--"Anna! Good morning!" he said.

When I came to Beigu Shan Park, a woman who had just ended a conversation on her cell phone rushed up to talk to me. "Hello. Where are you going?" she asked me.

"I'm going home," I said.

"Really? Your face is very pretty," she said.

I did another very Chinese thing--sang to myself as I walked along. I think it's great how people aren't self-conscious about singing or humming.

Finally I came to Jiang Bin Xin Cun (I think this means "new village boardering the river"), the part of town I live in. There were the nightly barbecue and the fruit stands. Some young men, bare-chested because of the heat, were unloading watermelons from a huge truck. Watermelons are the top fruit item for sale on the streets now. In February, it was oranges, in April, strawberries, and last month, peaches, but now, it's all about the watermelon.

I was stuck for a little while behind a truck which had ducks and hens in the truck bed, their feet tied together. After passing the stalls of electric fans, sunglasses, flip-flops, pajamas, and ice cream, I came to another group of aerobic-dancers, and then, I was home.

The gatekeeper and his family and friends were sitting in front of the kindergarten talking and laughing. The accordion gate was open so I walked in and turned towards my apartment.

And here I am.

I still can't believe that I'm living in China. Every day is an adventure and I'm so grateful for this experience. Nonetheless, I miss you all and will be glad to come home. Love you always!