The Magic Shop of Unknown Treasures

Yesterday was the third time I had gone to the artisan shop for name chops. I want one with my new name and another for a friend. It's magic because I don't really know how to get there. The last times I have gone, I've gotten on the 17 bus to the old city. I don't know where to get off the bus, but I have a receipt with the address stamped on it in Chinese. I get off the bus when I think things look familiar, then I ask someone to point me toward the address on the receipt. Luckily, I've always gotten off the bus really close to the correct street, and I've always been headed in the right direction before asking for help.

Yesterday when I got to the shop, it was closed. I stood in front, trying to use my cell to call someone who might be able to help. The shop owner rode up on his motorcycle just then. I spent a few minutes looking at the chop stones. The one I chose is a multicolored marbled stone with a carving of a lily pad and fish. I picked out the carving style, and then I was invited for Kongfu tea before leaving, as is the Chaoshan hospitable custom. I have ordered 7 chops all together, which probably makes me a good chop customer.

I used my limited ability in Chinese (Putonghua) to have chit-chat, over about 6-7 shots of Kongfu tea with the owner and his friend. They offered me cigarettes. They asked about where I was from, what I did, how much money I made, all polite conversation topics in China. Of course, I rounded my salary down to the nearest 3-thousands. He asked if I took the chops back to America. I said that the five chops he had carved were already in America, sent to my parents and friends. He seemed a bit emotional thinking of the idea that his work had traveled so far.

I asked which bus to take to get to Walmart from that part of the city. The owner and his friends decided it was the #24. As I got up to leave, the owner asked me to have one more cup of tea, and said he would take me to the stop because he didn't know for sure which bus it was. So I rode for 1.5 blocks on the back of his motorcycle, which was less horrifying than I had imagined. The bus I needed was #12. I didn't have change. I said maybe I could buy a bottle of water. He told me to stay there, he took my ten, and he came back with a bottle of water and change.

I made it to Walmart and graded at the Bread Diary. It was a successful day.

-吴佩芙

When Shoes Die

I had been trying to convince myself that I did not need to pack my Sketchers on the trip back to the US. I told myself that I could buy better shoes when I got back. Afterall, my Sketchers were heavy, old, and had lost all of their traction. These factors did not outweigh the fact that I loved them, and they still seemed wearable. I've always wanted brown shoes that look like bowling shoes, with stripes and different tones of brown, but I could never be sure that they would be as cute and as comfortable as my Sketchers. Still, I had decided to leave my shoes, when I went to put them on for the last time, and I realized that the sole was completely falling off.


Now I don't feel so bad. I got a lot of use out of those shoes, traipsing around Xi'an, Hong Kong, and Beijing and hiking over Shantou Mountains. So sad! But it definitely made my decision easier.

-吴佩芙

Sick and Tired

I got sick yesterday. It wasn't pretty. I threw up a few times during the night, and I had the worst aching in my joints, and I couldn't sleep. I ended up finding subs for my classes and having a student help me go to the hospital.

The doctor said I had an intestine infection. So far I've been taking the medicine and eating rice porridge. The joint pain has diminished, at least to the point where I can sleep.

My students were very concerned. Some students came after class and made porridge and brought flowers. Students from my later class made me a card.


Isn't that cute?

-吴佩芙

Life is a Bowl of Waxberries

I haven't seen waxberries (yang mei) anywhere else than China. I've bought them preserved, but yesterday I found them outside the Main Gate and Mr. Handsome's fruit stand. They are made up of tiny pieces, huddled around a large pit in the center. Intensely tart and a little astringent, they also have a delicious undercurrent of sweet.



Mr. Handsome himself is not actually handsome, but a pretty good and honest fruit seller. I asked how much the waxberries were, and I was completely surprised to see them there. He told me the price and added that they were hen hao chi, that is, very good to eat. He always says everything is hen hao chi.

-吴佩芙

Jiaozi Party

Some of us didn't go away for May Holiday. We found other things to do, like baoing jiaozi and grading at the Bread Diary. The best and most impressive was the jiaozi with carrot vegetarian filling. Although the first attempt at making jiaozi took 3 1/2 hours for my distinguished colleague, myself, and my Chinese tutor, they turned out awesome. The carrot filling took the longest, as we had to grate carrots, boil the grated carrots, squeeze all of the water we possibly could out of them, and then further chop them.



We learned three different shapes: triangle, round, and frilly. After shaping them, we boiled them, and, to everyone's surprise, none of them split open, and they were delicious.


Watch out, I'll be making jiaozi when I get home, but hopefully I will get much faster.

-吴佩芙