manners and meals
feeling at a loss, I’ve read up a (very) little about recent chinese history. I know the country has the capability to be a superpower, but now that I have a glimmer of understanding about its political past, I wonder if they’ll ever get there. I wonder if the leadership here will ever be stable enough, or humble enough to really achieve world domination. not that I think humility is what got the US where it is today... well, today I think the US is declining, but that’s another conversation altogether.
insight from mom:
Did you ever read "Wild Swans"? It gave a very vivid picture of what went on in China during and after their revolution. What wasn't destroyed during the fighting, was pretty much dismantled during the years that Mao was in power. The Old ways were considered subversive and anything old was either destroyed, cannibalized and recycled into something else or disappeared who knows where. Not too many old things survived and those that did were not maintained so are now being demolished to make way for something usable. Space is limited in Shanghai and millions of people live there so utility is the benchmark.
this just goes to prove it: moms know everything. (but who knew that mine knew stuff about CHINA???)
the other day a friend here pointed out a curious chinese manner. he has noticed that the chinese use the word “maybe” to console or diffuse situations that could otherwise be volatile. here was his story: his friend (no really, it was actually a friend) had gotten in a fight with a chinese man who was pushing him on an airplane. to the chinese man, he was just doing what is customary, pushing past someone who was blocking his way. no big deal. to the american, his personal space was being invaded and he was being given a clear—and rude—message. so in american custom, he punched him. and of course things devolved from there: the chinese man was taken completely off-guard and was knocked flat on his back. he was completely shocked and offended. they were both removed from the airplane and seated next to one another in an interrogation room in the basement of pudong airport. the chinese officials acted as interpreters:
“maybe he didn’t mean to make you angry.”
“maybe you overreacted and you are sorry.”
“maybe you will forgive each other and we can all go home.”
and so on.
__________
the past few days have been fairly mellow in terms of work. I keep waiting for the big one(s) to hit. but still nothing too involved. so far.
there’s sad news, however; my manager's father died suddenly sunday night. heart attack. so she's out for at least a week, maybe more, as she probably has to deal with the government and being able to get him home (he was visiting a relative, I think outside guangzhou, and it's my impression that he doesn't live in mainland china). I feel awful for her. she was just telling lis that she was hoping to get her father to come stay with her for a month after he visited his other relative.
last night we got out of work fairly early, but not early enough to make it to the museum or the famous yu gardens. we were a bit indecisive on what to do, and after a ridiculously expensive dinner monday night (40 RMB, or 5.14$ US for a HALF bottle of evian), we decided that we didn’t feel like manicures or pedicures. plus, our fancy meal habit needed to stop. so we ventured out to a street vendor, and after 5 minutes of needless talk between ourselves (the lady just patiently waited for us to give her the money), got some pork dumplings for all of 3 RMB (39 cents). (yes, I am sure they were pork). we topped off the meal with some warm wine and cookies from the convenience store. as we waited to pay, the tall westerner in front of us said “okay, you guys have to say something; I haven’t heard english in two weeks!” the poor guy! we realized when we got back to our hotel that he’s actually staying there too, so I have vowed to speak to him whenever I see him. he’s there for a good while.
as it turns out, the pork dumplings were great. they probably aren’t the best in town, but for being a random street find, I am very pleased. you have to understand how just ordering food from a meal cart—or anywhere here—is intimidating and well, a little scary, as you never know quite what you are getting. even if you think you know, you don’t know. and, you never know what kind of health standards you could be facing. so far, neither beth or I have gotten sick, so this one looks like a winner. maybe not so much on the cookies: they seemed to be unsalted ritz crackers with cookie filling sandwiched in between. oh well.
we had another great find with lunch today: we asked our chinese officemates what they had ordered for lunch the other day. it looked like noodles and broth and since quite a few of them were eating it, I figured it must be good. turns out it’s a local place and they speak only chinese, so we had to have one of our office-mates order for us. I was a little concerned, as the one ordering on our behalf speaks no english, but in the end it was really quite good, and came packaged with tiny plastic baggies filled with hot sauce and tied in clever little knots at the end. lis tried it first, and eventually added all of hers. I added about 4 drops and it was perfect. just a the right amount of heat on the end. at one point I looked over at lis and her eyes were watering and she was sniffling. she claims something went down the wrong pipe, but I suspect that *maybe* there was actually a blazing inferno in her mouth.
i’m not even close to being hungry yet, but I might just be up for dumplings again tonight. it’ll make me feel better about my incessant desire to go to spin, the pottery store.
insight from mom:
Did you ever read "Wild Swans"? It gave a very vivid picture of what went on in China during and after their revolution. What wasn't destroyed during the fighting, was pretty much dismantled during the years that Mao was in power. The Old ways were considered subversive and anything old was either destroyed, cannibalized and recycled into something else or disappeared who knows where. Not too many old things survived and those that did were not maintained so are now being demolished to make way for something usable. Space is limited in Shanghai and millions of people live there so utility is the benchmark.
this just goes to prove it: moms know everything. (but who knew that mine knew stuff about CHINA???)
the other day a friend here pointed out a curious chinese manner. he has noticed that the chinese use the word “maybe” to console or diffuse situations that could otherwise be volatile. here was his story: his friend (no really, it was actually a friend) had gotten in a fight with a chinese man who was pushing him on an airplane. to the chinese man, he was just doing what is customary, pushing past someone who was blocking his way. no big deal. to the american, his personal space was being invaded and he was being given a clear—and rude—message. so in american custom, he punched him. and of course things devolved from there: the chinese man was taken completely off-guard and was knocked flat on his back. he was completely shocked and offended. they were both removed from the airplane and seated next to one another in an interrogation room in the basement of pudong airport. the chinese officials acted as interpreters:
“maybe he didn’t mean to make you angry.”
“maybe you overreacted and you are sorry.”
“maybe you will forgive each other and we can all go home.”
and so on.
__________
the past few days have been fairly mellow in terms of work. I keep waiting for the big one(s) to hit. but still nothing too involved. so far.
there’s sad news, however; my manager's father died suddenly sunday night. heart attack. so she's out for at least a week, maybe more, as she probably has to deal with the government and being able to get him home (he was visiting a relative, I think outside guangzhou, and it's my impression that he doesn't live in mainland china). I feel awful for her. she was just telling lis that she was hoping to get her father to come stay with her for a month after he visited his other relative.
last night we got out of work fairly early, but not early enough to make it to the museum or the famous yu gardens. we were a bit indecisive on what to do, and after a ridiculously expensive dinner monday night (40 RMB, or 5.14$ US for a HALF bottle of evian), we decided that we didn’t feel like manicures or pedicures. plus, our fancy meal habit needed to stop. so we ventured out to a street vendor, and after 5 minutes of needless talk between ourselves (the lady just patiently waited for us to give her the money), got some pork dumplings for all of 3 RMB (39 cents). (yes, I am sure they were pork). we topped off the meal with some warm wine and cookies from the convenience store. as we waited to pay, the tall westerner in front of us said “okay, you guys have to say something; I haven’t heard english in two weeks!” the poor guy! we realized when we got back to our hotel that he’s actually staying there too, so I have vowed to speak to him whenever I see him. he’s there for a good while.
as it turns out, the pork dumplings were great. they probably aren’t the best in town, but for being a random street find, I am very pleased. you have to understand how just ordering food from a meal cart—or anywhere here—is intimidating and well, a little scary, as you never know quite what you are getting. even if you think you know, you don’t know. and, you never know what kind of health standards you could be facing. so far, neither beth or I have gotten sick, so this one looks like a winner. maybe not so much on the cookies: they seemed to be unsalted ritz crackers with cookie filling sandwiched in between. oh well.
we had another great find with lunch today: we asked our chinese officemates what they had ordered for lunch the other day. it looked like noodles and broth and since quite a few of them were eating it, I figured it must be good. turns out it’s a local place and they speak only chinese, so we had to have one of our office-mates order for us. I was a little concerned, as the one ordering on our behalf speaks no english, but in the end it was really quite good, and came packaged with tiny plastic baggies filled with hot sauce and tied in clever little knots at the end. lis tried it first, and eventually added all of hers. I added about 4 drops and it was perfect. just a the right amount of heat on the end. at one point I looked over at lis and her eyes were watering and she was sniffling. she claims something went down the wrong pipe, but I suspect that *maybe* there was actually a blazing inferno in her mouth.
i’m not even close to being hungry yet, but I might just be up for dumplings again tonight. it’ll make me feel better about my incessant desire to go to spin, the pottery store.
posted by danigrl at 2:35 AM
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