A Few Good (Chinese) Men

Just when I was in danger of thinking I was lost alone in this sea of people I do not understand and cannot communicate with, the G man placed a couple of people into my life to help me through.  My 'friend' Rob (I put friend in quotes for no other reason other than to say that it is weird to already be calling people 'friends' after such little time) invited me over to his house for dinner tonight.  I almost didn't go.  Not because of Rob, but because I had been having one of those days.  Everything was going wrong...every communication was a struggle and I thought that everyone was hating me.  It is hard to explain without really being here but I will do my best...so here's where the story starts.

I was in Merry Mart again (I consider it good exercise to walk down there...so I plan on walking there a lot) and in need of doing something to help my aching back on the rock hard beds (seriously the beds are the hardest thing I have ever encountered in my life...other than perhaps a certain friends cookies).  I was in the bedding aisle looking at stuff when a store staff person comes and starts talking at me.  I do my best to say I do not understand.  She goes in again, louder.  Sidebar:  Here is the thing about the Chinese language and the Chinese people.  It often seems as if they are yelling at you.  It is just the language...but in a situation it is hard to remember that and you feel like you are being attacked or that you are doing something wrong.  I thought I was agitating her so I left...but I really wanted to keep looking so I went and looked around the other side.  And another person comes up and starts talking at me...I do my best to say no thank you but she doesn't leave.  So I go around the corner to try to get some privacy...I just need a little time to look to find what I want...but then another staff person comes at me.  O.k. people what did I do wrong?  I'm JUST looking!  I can't take it anymore I need to get away...I'm off to safer ground, the wheat section of the market with all the breads and pastries and food I actually recognize and can eat in my little dorm room.

But...I really need something for my back, so eventually I find myself back at the bedding section.  This time a different woman comes up and quietly goes into the aisle beside me without saying a word...then she slightly pulls at an item and leaves it ajar, and leaves.  I can now see that this was her way of trying to help me.  She assumed that I was looking for a mattress pad for my bed (very close to what I was looking for) and pulled one out to point out where it was.  Interesting how she knew the other ladies were scaring me off because I didn't want to try talking to them...I already used up all my Chinese words.  So anyways, I left that experience kind of a mixed bag...it was good to know she was trying to help me...but it was so frustrating and hard with the others that it makes you get down on yourself (I ended up not buying anything for the bed...I will perhaps try again tomorrow...I need to get something soon though because it takes about half an hour in the morning for me to get myself upright after the number the bed does on my back).

Little incidents like the above kept happening today.  I looked at a fan and two store workers started yelling something at me.  I don't know, they could have been saying 'Half Price if you buy right now" for all I know...but it seemed like they were mad (again it could just be the language/culture) so I just left right away.  So all this stuff was happening and then Rob texted me and said...Dude, you should come.  So I did.

I got there right in time as they just finished preparing dinner :-)  Rob had two of his friends over, (American names Mark and Ocean) for dinner and we all briefly introduced ourselves before sitting down for the meal.  Mark cooked everything and he is a fantastic cook.  He made some sort of meatball soup, a pork dish that had lots of veggies and a great sauce, some other type of chicken dish, rice and flower tea and green tea.  Wow.  The food was all amazing, but it was even better to get to know these young guys.  They are both graduate students at the bigger University here on campus called Chinese Agricultural University (CAU).  They met Rob randomly one day in the cafeteria and have been friends ever since.  In the short time that I have known them, I have to say that they are perhaps two of the most genuinely nice people I have ever met in my life.  So hard working and courteous and nice, especially to Rob and myself.

Anyways, after dinner we had time to talk and get to know one another.  They insisted on exchanging phone numbers in case I get myself in a pickle.  They are the type of guys that I know I could call when in a translation need or in need of a friend to hang out with.  We finished the evening by walking home and planning an outing to the Birds Nest (Olympic Stadium) next weekend.  I am so incredibly thankful for having met such nice Chinese people and for them letting me into their lives.  I hope I can provide help to them along the way as well (which might be possible as one is hoping to go to the U.S. for his PhD studies).  I will end with a couple of pictures of my new friends.

Left to right are Ocean, Rob, and Mark (our fantastic cook!)  And below is me with my new friends :-)

The other highlight of the night was Rob letting me borrow his external hard drive with tons of movies on it.  No more China's Got talent for me!!

Zaijian,
Gary