Submitted by Bev: October 25,
2016
As
I opened the door to a student’s room to deliver a message this is the sight
that greeted me. (He tells me that his parents will know
immediately who he is so we’ll see who claims this creative soul.)
Creativity is needed when dealing with laundry and so many other things we take
for granted.
For example, there’s the
crush of people waiting to get on the subway and your fear that if you don’t
get on with everyone else you’ll never see them again. One worker here
said that she often plays a game trying to decide how many people are touching
her at once – it’s that crowded. The subway system in Beijing is very
clean and extensive which is why everyone in the city seems to be on it at
once.
Then there is the walk to
get to the subway. Oh my! A 10-minute walk may seem easy except the
sidewalks are busy with street vendors, bikes, scooters, people etc.
Those electric scooters have scared me many times because you can’t hear them
coming. Sometimes you have to forget politeness and just plow through to keep
sight of the group.
We are mastering the art of
eating with chopsticks but occasionally I’ll just use them to shovel some
delicious food on to my plate. Every meal is served family style
and the dishes keep on coming as they are ready from the kitchen. You
hope that the waiter will place the best dish in front of you so you get to try
some before it travels around the table for 10.
We love being in this
country. Everywhere we go we are greeted with smiles. Perhaps that’s
because there are no blondes here or just because they are a hospitable
people.
Today we begin exploring
Xi’an.
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