November 16 — So much has happened since we talked. Is it only yesterday or the day before? At our open house this evening, I decided to share my plans with the students about exporting embroidery and other crafts made by women in the countryside. I brought out the two embroideries to show them. They all thought the mandarin ducks were exquisite, but Faye said it was too expensive for the quality. She said her aunt had an embroidery factory in Xiangtan, but it was fairly new and the quality was not the best yet. She suggested that I go to a famous street in Xiangtan where there were many shops that sold this embroidery. She offered to arrange for herself or someone she knew to take me there.
Anpao [an engineering student; a kind, thoughtful young man] has been over three times recently. He has asked for help with his application for a university in Canada, Winston Univ., I believe. He needs three letters of recommendation and wanted to know if you could write one for him, as you have known him longer than I and better than I. I told him that I would ask you and that you would probably be glad to do that for him.
We are doing well. The house is as clean as it ever is and all the laundry is washed and some even folded and put away. [!!] All the beds have been changed and more than half of my budget assignments have been graded. Life continues to be busy and full of astonishment.
November 18 (?) — Yesterday I went with my student Faye to look at embroideries with her uncle. We met Frank [Fang Yuan] at the same shop where we had gone before, which apparently is the best one in Xiangtan. I found the perfect embroidery for Freddie [my sister]. I am sure that she will love it. It is simple but beautiful, a bough laden with four or five fruits on it in delicate pinks, peaches, and cream colors. As usual, three other pictures drew me to them; one was a mountain scene with a lone pine growing on a cliff in front, with typically Chinese mountains in the background. It looks from a distance like you could walk right into the scene. Another was of an ethnic-minority lady before bathing, in amongst the leaves, and the third a village scene with boats in the foreground and the village itself barely visible through the fog.
In the end Frank insisted on buying the mountain scene as a gift to us. He said that he wanted to give us something really nice as a gesture of our friendship. I was so touched that I didn't know what to say to him. I decided that I would be content with those two, that I didn't need the picture of the lady, though I loved it. Just after thinking that, one of my businessman students, Carl, whom I have been teaching since July, arrived at the shop, to our mutual surprise. The fellows had decided that they wanted to give me a gift in appreciation for the lessons. After bargaining they bought the lady that I love so much. Again I was moved to tears by their gesture and caring. It was an amazing afternoon. Carl didn’t know that I love embroideries. Coincidence? I doubt it. All in all, I have spent little money on embroideries but have five beautiful ones to bring back. I will be happy with those.
December 10 — I am having a serious case of missing you right now. The children are in bed and the house is quiet. I just spent six hours discussing relationships, true love, and chastity with my freshman students. Needless to say, you were on my mind all day. Looking forward to seeing you in three weeks is what is keeping me going at this point.
Tomorrow I will spend with Frank and his botanist friend. Last week they took me over to the island in the middle of the Xiang River. It is a wonderful place, and so quiet. It is as China and Xiangtan were 50 years ago, with the traditional houses and lifestyle. The whole middle of the island is given over to raising vegetables. They do completely organic farming there. The ground is very fertile because every four or five years the river floods the island and deposits rich sediment on the lowlands.
Unfortunately the government wants to push all of the people off the land. The buildings are being condemned to make room for a lot of very expensive summer homes for the newly rich. Tomorrow we are going back with my camera to take pictures. I don't know if it is possible, I haven't talked to Frank yet about it, but if he thinks it might help I want to try to talk to Mr. Tan, the vice mayor and see if I can plant the vision of the island as a retreat and tourist attraction if maintained in its present state. For a small investment, they could fix up some of the old buildings for a retreat, develop a few nice restaurants, using mainly the local produce, and restrict the area to bikes or pedal carts. It could be a lovely tourist area that would bring in income for the government and let the local people continue their life mostly unchanged. I would like to at least try to have a talk with him and see if it helps. Otherwise the pictures we take may be the only trace left of the area in two years.
Here’s a description of my trip into town a few days ago. It began a normal trip on the bus. I heard everyone talking around me but understood so little, and it seemed like a cocoon of silence was settling gradually around me. By the time the bus reached my stop, I felt like I was in another world. There was a celebration of a store grand-opening, with the obligatory rounds of firecrackers popping off for ages. They lasted so long that the whole area was bathed in a dense grey smoke. As I crossed the street, dodging the bikes, carts, motorcycles, taxis, and buses, I noticed a crowd gathered around Bu Bu Gao, a large department store. A man had a loud speaker and a young woman was modeling the newest sales item. I thought nothing of it until I noticed that she was wearing only a dark-purple, full-piece, top-to-bottom set of long underwear. I can appreciate the salesmanship, after all it was only 4 degrees [40 F], but it struck me as bizarre.
Continuing on the normal route to my yangqin teacher’s apartment, I saw a grown man lying on a low trolley, similar to what you would use to slide under cars. He was on his stomach, with his legs and feet bare and wrapped in pieces of rubber, beating the ground with his fists and moaning and wailing. I have seen children forced to beg in similar ways, but never a grown man. I walked a little farther and noticed the familiar beggar who sits outside the hospital entrance. This time, instead of sitting or kneeling with his begging bowl, he was leaning against the fence. He had his sweater pulled up over his head so you couldn't see his face. His pants seemed really low and as I glanced closer, I do believe he was masturbating. I guess he thought like the ostrich — if I can't see you, you can't see me!
About a block farther on, I was really surprised. Two trucks were pulled up outside an empty shop. They were loaded with what had obviously been the contents of a small restaurant: steamers, chairs, pots, and the like. A man was shouting abuses at some unknown individual, probably because he was unable to pay the rent. Confiscating all the property and public humiliation hadn't satisfied the man who I presumed was the landlord. Now he was standing over a long pole of bamboo on the ground outside the shop and was systematically smashing it into splinters with a sledge hammer. Whack, whack! When he was finished he threw the hammer into the rear of a truck, hopped in, and both trucks drove off. The bamboo was left lying in the street.
On my way back from my yangqin lesson I stopped at the little sidewalk stand where an old couple sells eggs deep-fried in batter. I often stop there for lunch. For one yuan I get a crispy egg surrounded in batter, with just enough peppers to give it a little spicy flavor. I have become friends with the old lady who runs the business. Today as she was putting two of the eggs into separate bags for me, a young woman came up behind me, reached around me, and made off with one of the fried breadsticks the couple also sells. She just tucked it under her arm and walked away. A man sitting across from them noticed and began to laugh and told them that they had just lost a breadstick. To my great surprise, they just laughed, shrugged their shoulders, and shook their heads. When it came time to pay for my eggs, I gave them some extra money and explained that I was paying for the bread that had disappeared. I felt that since I had seen it happen and done nothing to stop it, I had some responsibility to them.
I then made my way to the number 13/14 bus stop, climbed into a waiting bus, and sat down. When the bus was about half full the driver boarded and we got underway. A man got on and sat down in front of me; a few stops later, two college students sat down in front of him. One was reading a paper, and the man in front of me decided to read it, too. Leaning over the student's shoulder, he practically climbed over the seat to see the small characters on the paper. At the next stop another man got on and wanted to sit down next to him. He was sitting on the aisle and the man had to pass him to sit down, but he was so engrossed in attempting to read the paper it took several taps before he let the man by. When the ticket collector came around, the man by the window simply looked away, ignoring the lady. I could tell she was new at the job. I hadn't seen her before on our route, and she looked confused when the man didn't respond. I knew he hadn't paid for a ticket, but I didn't know what to say. A while later he got off the bus and escaped without paying. As we neared our stop, I sat down behind the ticket collector, tapped her on the shoulder, and gave her a yuan to cover the cost. When she finally understood what I was saying, she gave me a grateful smile.
It was a singular trip for me, like seeing a side of China that had been hidden before, or like I had strayed into an alternative reality and I was a guardian angel, righting wrongs as the day unfolded. The next time I took the bus, the feeling was gone; it was just another trip into town.
December 23 — Sorry that I missed you this afternoon. For the third time, I walked in less than five minutes after you had called. Taalan will have a small birthday party here. So far all he is getting is a pair of soccer cleats and the book you sent book. I hope he won't be too disappointed.
I’m ready to turn in my final grades, and tomorrow I will give my last classes. I am pulling the children out of school, so as to have time to get everything done. I can’t get the records of the children's immunizations. I was told that the team that gave the shots has returned to Shanghai and all the records are there. I don't understand, but this is China, and there isn't much more that I can do. I will give the school our USA address and maybe they will send the kids’ class records to us, though what the Florida schools can do with transcripts in Chinese is a mystery to me.
I guess that is all for now. Have they made your job permanent yet? Have you been paid recently? No matter, mei guanxi... I am looking forward to seeing you soon.
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