I survived finals, went on a few last minute Chinese adventures, ate, packed, and am finally ready to go. I'll be leaving this afternoon for Shanghai, my classmate and I will be spending the next two nights on the train. I won't be back in Chengdu until the middle of February, so I probably won't be updating the blog until then.
There's actually quite a lot that I want to write about, it seems as though my Chinese adventures never end. It's what makes life here both interesting and fun--well, that and the food. But because I still have a few errands to do before heading out to the train station, I'll keep this post short and to the point.
I've been waiting a long time for winter break to come. Don't get me wrong, I really like taking Chinese classes and am excited about starting next quarter. What makes this winter break so great is that my mom is coming to see me.
All of my American classmates have family coming at some time or other during the year. We often talk of where we are going to house them, take them, and feed them. It's one of those things that we've all been waiting for since the day we touched down. I'll be spending almost two weeks traveling in and around Shanghai, then I'll catch another train to Beijing where my classmate and I will split and go in our own directions. My classmate has a friend coming, so while she goes off to meet her, I'll be heading to the airport to pick up my mom. I can't wait. I absolutely can't wait.
Everyone in my house is leaving for break. My classmate Sarah has several trips planned, my Chinese roommate is returning home. I arrived home late last night intent on finishing my packing and cleaning house. We've all been busy lately, and with packing and planning have let the house fall apart. There were clothes strung out on the couch, the clothes line was packed, the dishes were dirty, the floor hadn't been cleaned in a long time, and the bathroom was a mess. I walked in the door, and was depositing my stuff on the bed when I heard the doorbell ring. I entered the living room to see who it was when I heard a key turning in the lock and a second later, the door swung open. I looked at the caller, a woman I didn't recognized. She smiled at me and introduced herself as my Chinese roommate's mom. She wanted to know where her daugher was. I told her she had left town the day before, and I didn't know when she would return. Mama, as she calls herself, sat down on one of the couches and spent the next hour on the phone trying to reach her daughter. I offered her some tea, and then tried to discretely clean the house. A couple of hours later, my roommate arrived and everyone settled in for the evening.
I woke up this morning to the sound of glass breaking. Praying it wasn't my coffee pot, I stumbled out of bed and wandered into the kitchen. Mama was in the middle of cleaning up the remains of some unlucky bowl. Her back was turned to me and I snuck back into the bedroom and put on some decent clothes.
After showering and getting ready, I stumbled back into the kitchen to see that Mama had already spread out some food on the counter and was preparing to cook what looked like quite the feast. She turned to me and asked, "Can I cook for you?" She didn't ask if I had eaten, was I hungry, or anything like that. It was just, "can I cook for you?" She doesn't speak standard Mandarin, so the fact that I actually understood that sentence is a miracle in itself. I fumbled a minute at her question, I didn't really need her to cook for me. I was perfectly fine eating a piece of fruit. She saw the look on my face, and then began to insist that she be allowed to cook me a meal. I finally agreed, and with that settled, started cleaning the house.
She cooked her feast all morning, and everytime she caught me cleaning something, would argue that I let Mama do it. She tried to take the broom away from me when I wasn't looking, blocked me when I tried to take out the garbage, and argued with me when it came time to mop. I was touched--in a very embarrassing kind of way.
The food she made was wonderful. She had hand-made some sausages that were delicious, fed me pig ear, and several vegetable dishes. When the meal was done, she insisted that I pack some up and take it for dinner on the train. She had earlier wanted me to invite a friend to lunch; after refusing that request, I felt obligated to take at least some of the meat. I think I'm going to try and secretly feed the pig ear to my classmate on the train. I'll update you later if it works.
I've been sitting here typing emails for a little over an hour now. Meanwhile, mama is outside scrubbing the patio. I feel really awkward watching her work, but I just don't know what to do. I've encountered situations like this before, and I'm beginning to chalk up my discomfort to mutual misunderstanding.
I once went to dinner at a friend's house. The host spent the entire meal cooking and cleaning, while the rest of us sat around the table and talked. Every once in a while, my Chinese roommate hires a women to come and do some deep cleaning. When she comes, it's all I can do to stay in the house. It's sooooo uncomfortable. I once went for a walk with a Chinese friend, when she noticed that the bottom of my pant leg was getting wet, she leaned down and started rolling them up for me. I heard one Westerner say that the thing that irritated him most about his Chinese employees is that they were always trying to do things for him such as clean his office, get him tea, etc. I think it's just a cultural difference. Westerners want to make everyone feel equal. Having someone do something for me that I could easily do myself makes me really uncomfortable.
Anyway, I'll be updating you all at the middle of next month. Until then, it's Shanghai or bust!
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