The other day, one of my students threw up his hand and said, “Excuse me Sheila, What is your favorite part about China?” I stood in front of my class of seventy-six students, the best and the brightest of Grade 1 (classes are ranked in China) and exclaimed, “the food!” Maybe it was the disturbing sounds coming from my stomach at that very moment that forced such an answer. I was just 30 minutes away from an amazing Chinese dinner!
I have been told my entire life that I am the pickiest eater anyone has ever met. Yes this is true however; I am impressed with my courageous choices in China. (Sorry guys, I still haven’t tried soda!) But all kidding aside, I told the class this, which they found to be an entertaining answer.
After I left class, I nearly kicked myself because I realized that the food wasn’t the best part of China at all for me. It is something much different than food. It’s the guarantee that each time I leave my apartment; I will see something new, be involved in a bizarre situation, or meet an individual that awes me. I embarrass myself every single day and spend most of my day in a mess of laughter. I honestly sometimes feel like a child who sees things for the first time and is constantly in a state of wonder.
It’s funny when you think you’ve seen it all, but in reality you’ve seen nothing. I go to sleep each night saying to myself, “Wow, today is another blog entry.” But lucky for all of you, I have picked just a few to share with you…some of the most interesting people I have met.
#1-Johnny Taxi
In order to get into the city of Tongliao from our school, you must stand at the North gate and wait for one of the many rule-breaking, life-threatening, and horrifying roller-coaster like drivers. I have yet to meet a driver who can speak an ounce of English, and many tend to gaze deeply into your eyes (unromantically) instead of at the road. And each time I adoringly stare back, I seem to understand what their eyes are saying. “Look at these fat foreigners who speak at ridiculous speeds in such foreign tongues. Why are they so white and why are they always smiling?” Yes, our group is a group of gigglers and we say Xie Xie (thank you) to everything and everyone. But it’s not our fault that the Chinese are ALL freaks of nature and are abnormally skinny.
There are what seems like thousands of taxi’s in Tongliao, but for whatever reason, we have been graced with the presence of one in particular, at least ten times. I named him Johnny, a nice man in his lat thirties, Johnny has become our personal chauffeur. When asked if he is married, Johnny says he is married to his car. We exchanged cell phone numbers and he is always just a phone call away from picking us up anywhere we want. Most days, he sits in the school guard room at the gate and waits for us, smoking cigarettes with the school guards (whom I’ve named Harry and Wayne). What makes Johnny so great is his inability to understand the concept of a foreign language. Often times Johnny will speak quickly to me, (I can decipher if it is a question or not) and as a result in my failure to reply, Johnny repeats the question at a deafening level of sound.
I believe I have a great sense of hearing (although, after four years of living with Chrystina, she will strongly disagree with that statement). I usually yell back, “I still don’t understand you Johnny!” But for some reason, we both seem to understand each other in the end- I point to things and he repeats them in Chinese for me. I owe him for teaching me little things like (eyes, ears, mouth, nose, arms), the days of the week, months of the year, and the weather. In return, I help him with common English phrases and always tend to provide him with an American giggle (I’m a good teacher). Sometimes it seems like language learning is overrated… crazy facial expressions can take you a long way!
Living in Tongliao is like playing a huge scavenger hunt. We have spent afternoons roaming the city in search of different shops (such as the $2 DVD store, a bakery, an appliance store that sells COFFEE MAKERS) but we have failed on many occasions to find a western bar that we were informed about called, “King Hansen’s.” We have covered every street in this city for this supposed western establishment. On our third and probably final try, we found it!
Walking into King Hansen’s you are greeted by a hallway of posters of hamburgers, fries, pizza, and every other artery clogging food you can think of (no wonder America is so obese). We were welcomed at the top of the stairs by the owner, Eva, a broken English speaking woman who was so excited to see the seven of us, we thought she was going to faint on the bar. She showed us our seats and brought us rounds of Corona’s and laughed at the crazy laowai (foreigners) who salivated with anticipation. We were already in a state of euphoria when we saw two men appear at the top of the stairs.
#2 and #3 – Terence and Jeff
Terence and Jeff are two South African men, teaching at the British Language School in the city. They have just begun their second year in Tongliao and were ecstatic when we discovered each other. They sat at our table, shared some drinks and exhibited a similar childish excitement in knowing that there were other foreigners in the city of Tongliao!!!!
This was already an overwhelming night of “Western-ness” when the truly most bizarre character I have ever met, entered our absurd lives.
#4 – Sabi (Sa-bee)
I am finding it quite difficult to describe Sabi. At thirty-six years old, Sabi is a Hungarian goose-farmer/veterinarian, fluent in German, Chinese, Russian, and Hungarian. He has been living in Tongliao for several years and plans on staying for another fifteen. When asked why for so long, Sabi answered, in Chinese with a chuckle and a wink, “Wo ai Zhong guo!!” (I love China). Sabi can understand oral English but his inability to reply makes conversation difficult. With Terence as our interpreter, the guys were told (within 10 minutes of meeting him), that the best way to find a (or a few) Chinese girlfriend(s), is to pretend you’re American, say, “I don’t understand you,” and smile. He then burst into a fit of laughter, pointed to the three guys and said, “Ni shi meiguoren!” (You are American!) Ohhh Sabi, the crazy Tonglian Bachelor. He then lit his fancy cigar, winked again and ran to the stage where a small Chinese band was entertaining the crowd. He grabbed the microphone and began singing (perfectly) a traditional Chinese song. Every single person in the bar knew him, including the owner who loved the fact that she now had ten foreigners consuming all of the Corona’s she had in stock. (Eva is in one of the pictures!)
Our great western discovery ended up being fantastic! We hung out with South Africans, a crazy Hungarian man, the great Chinese, and a few people from the Philippines. Terence and Jeff are great guys and I think a friendship will ensue. Sabi (the self proclaimed Mayor of Tongliao) is going to be a blast to hang out with. His crazy antics didn’t end at the bar. He brought us to a Chinese club (which they call a disco) and introduced us to the real night scene in China. We met three girls from the Philippines and were given VIP treatment the moment we walked in the door. The Chinese loved our presence, especially on the dance floor. But most just stared and pointed at the peculiar moves and faultless skill of yours truly from atop the stage! (I, of course spotted this familiar residence of mine and ran for it. Oh I miss college).
I am leaving tomorrow evening for our five day November vacation. We will be going back to Beijing to climb the Great Wall, visit the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. We will also travel to Tai’an and climb Mt. Tai Shan. We will stay overnight at the summit and wake up early enough to catch the famous sunrise hit the peak. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!!
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