Since our move to China, our family has attracted a lot of interest. We have the only foreign boy in Hunan Province, and often are not only the first foreigners people have met, but also the first foreign children anyone has ever seen. Because of this we are always surrounded by people. Our actions have also attracted attention. The publicity began during the winter when we were asked to be interviewed for the school newspaper. Of course we agreed, not knowing what they could possibly want to know about us. Over the course of the winter we had helped some of the poor people on our campus, just simple things like giving a little cash at Christmas to the people who sweep the streets, and giving a man money for his bus fare home after he was unable to find a job. There was nothing that we would call extravagant or important. When the reporter arrived we found that she had a complete list of all our actions since we had arrived. The list was accurate and very complete, though in one case exaggerated. It said that I had talked to the children about not playing with glass. In the actual conversation, as I spoke no Chinese, I had pantomimed how you could cut yourself with the glass and how it would hurt. The report said that I had actually sliced my hand to show the children what would happen, and that the blood had dripped off my hand. Of course I had done nothing of the sort, and told them so, but the report stands as written. They had also found out about us cleaning up trash around the apartment, and wanted to know why we do that. We explained that we felt everyone was responsible for the welfare of the people and the planet, etc. Then, the interview being over, we promptly forgot all about it.
A month later we received a call from the local educational TV station. They had seen the news article and wanted to do a short clip on our family for the local news. We agreed and two days later the TV crew arrived. They taped us teaching class, playing games, eating lunch, and of course cleaning up trash, with umbrellas, since it was raining. The children captured everyone's hearts and we all had a good visit. The program lasted about 3 minutes and was aired for the next several days three times a day. When it was over we heaved a sigh of relief and went back to our normal life.
Two weeks later a young man appeared at our door asking if we cooked our own food or ate out all the time. In reply to the affirmative, yes we did cook, he asked if we would do a cooking show, preparing some foreign dishes. The local station was trying to get a cooking program started with foreigners and their food. We agreed and several days later found 6 TV personnel in our apartment. It was an interesting experience. Our kitchen, as we have surely mentioned is about 5 feet by 8 feet, wall to wall. Take off the counter space and you have about 3 feet by 5 feet of actual walking room. As we cooked our dishes, we had the TV camera, cameraman, video taper, and translator all in the kitchen with us. There is nothing quite like turning around and finding yourself 3 inches from a very large camera, focused directly on you! Tim cooked a mushroom dish, ratatouille, curried potatoes, and a Chinglish stir- fry. I cooked apple crisp, and a sweet lentil soup. It was quite a hit. There were two announcers who had a great time claiming their dish was the best. The one announcer actually ate 3 bowls of the apple crisp. We tried to get everyone to eat lunch with us, but they went out to lunch and then came back to finish taping. I guess they weren't quite convinced the main courses were edible. We had a lot of fun, and left with warm feelings for each other. We don't know if the program was aired or not as we haven't seen it, or heard of anyone who has.
Later we were called again, to play on a game show with a Chinese family with twins. This time we declined. We had seen some of those game shows and they do their best to make you look ridiculous, not the impression we are here to convey.
After not hearing anything more, we heaved a sigh of relief and assumed our publicity stage was over. A month later, a family in Changsha called us. They are also foreigners, with the two red-headed girls, 9 and 6. They had been asked to tape a textbook for the English program at a publishing company there. The script needed several men, two girls, a couple of women, and especially a boy. Taalan being the only foreign boy within hundreds of miles, we were duly called, and agreed. The school sent a van to pick us up at 7:30 one Saturday and we trekked up to Changsha for the day. The building that the recording studio was in had 26 floors; we were on the 24th floor. Tariqa and I were not needed, so we decided to go to a nearby park. We got to the elevator and it was not working. No elevator until 11:00, we were told. We decided to go anyway, and proceeded to walk down the 24 floors, 16 steps per floor, except the last 3, which had 24 steps. (What the heck, counting helps to take your mind off of drudgery.) When we got to the ground floor, the door was locked and we couldn't get out. We tried to ask someone, but what they told us didn't seem to make sense, so we went down to the basement, hoping to be able to get out from there. We met more workers, one who kindly took us up to the second floor where the door was open, then down more steps, and then outside. Free at last! We had a lovely time at Martyr's Park, indulging in ice cream, pistachios, and banana chips, and had our pictures taken numerous times. The children get photographed so often that we could make a living in China just by charging 2 yuan per picture. When we arrived back at the building at 11:30 the elevator was, of course, still not working. Tariqa and I looked at each other, discussed whether we should wait half an hour until the others came down for lunch, or climb the stairs. We finally decided to climb the stairs. By counting steps and floors, and resting when needed, we were able to make it up without hysterics, and with little difficulty. It was a good thing we went up because when they discovered the elevator was out they simply sent a person out to bring lunch in.
When we were done, we went to visit some other friends in Changsha. Believe it or not, we met them at a food court that had a large shopping center, a McDonald's, and various other types of food, including pizza. A vegetarian pizza had lots of the usual stuff, including cheese, as well as a few odd things like corn. This is the first pizza or fries, or milkshake that the children have eaten since spring festival when we visited Hong Kong.
After dinner we decided to check into a hotel for the evening. The first thing they asked us for were our passports. Since we were only an hour from our university, it had never occurred to us to bring our passports. We spent the next half hour trying to find various ways of satisfying their need for our passports, without actually having them, all to no avail. They finally threw up their hands and said, "We must have your passport or we cannot give you a room. I'm sorry, but it is the law." We apologized, and after more discussion spent the night on our friend's floor.
The next day we visited a museum to see some ancient weavings, musical instruments, and other articles discovered in a 2500 year-old tomb. There was actually a well-preserved mummy from the tomb on display. It was strange looking at someone who had been dead so long, yet still had hair, and skin. There were many articles of clothing, boxes, weapons, grain, food, etc. After the museum we got on the bus and went to railroad station to see one of our friends off. She was also visiting, and had to return to Yueyang that evening. She made her train with minutes to spare. We then headed back to the apartment to gather our bags. We hoped to take the boat back to Xiangtan; however, the bus would not let us off at the boat-dock stop. (Actually, we weren't sure where the dock was; we were just making our best guess.) When the bus finally stopped we were at a bus station several miles past the docks. After looking at the time we realized that if we missed the boat we would be too late to catch the last bus to Xiangtan. So, we decided to catch a taxi to the south bus station in order to make it in time for the last bus. Some 45 minutes later, we climbed on the final bus to Xiangtan. Two people got on after us; then the door was shut. The remaining passengers were left standing with no way to get to Xiangtan that evening. Minutes definitely count in China! We spent the next hour being jostled, squished, and smiled at. There is nothing quite like the local buses in China. Even though the bus was full leaving the station, local people along the route can stop the bus and climb on. Sometimes they get off at the next village, sometimes at Xiangtan. They just stand in the isle or push over into any space, however slight, that is available, all with greetings on their lips, smiles on their faces, and bags over their shoulders.
I think our public life is over again for a while. Tim is now editing a book of ethnic folk tales for a local businessman who traveled around collecting the tales from all over China. The book will be published and offered for sale to tourists as well as to more scholarly outlets. The tales are quite interesting, with great local flavor. Hopefully I will be able to use some of the stories in my advanced English classes in the elementary school. I'm looking forward to that.
We will be spending the summer in the northern part of China, below Beijing. We will work for a month teaching at an English summer school in Zibo, in Shandong province. This way we will be able to see another part of China for little expense. The school will cover our travel, hotel, and food expenses, as well as provide us with a salary, and on weekends will take us to the local sites worth visiting. We will probably visit Beijing before coming home. My tooth has been bothering me again, and we have the address of some good dentists there. We know that's not the best of reasons to visit Beijing, but it will suffice. We much prefer small towns and open spaces to the city life, but there are some things that can't be found in the countryside.
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