China Dispatch # 3 - Coffee Shops, Military Reviews, Teaching Assistants and Quanzhou

Inspiration Culture Commune

A fiction writer has a hard time of it in China because the truth there is stranger than anything that could be imagined.  Take our local bookstore, Inspiration, and it's upper stairs Friday night coffee club.  A place where the Foreign Teachers can go to chat with their English Major students while being served by a barista who looks like the as yet undiscovered star of the next Tim Burton movie.

Don't get me wrong the coffee was delicious and I've seen gallons of it made; but never in a Frankenstein lab by the reverse osmosis, French Press method.  Certainly, never in front of a room full of tea drinkers.

Even my young student, whose English name is Hilda?, (they all take pseudonyms for class) was game to try the black devil drink, but

ounces of sugar and quarts of milk wasn't going to make her like it's taste.

Then of course, the evening like all evenings has to end with a line-up shot of all the usual suspects.

A Day in the Life

Follower LQ asked for a post on what a day in the life is like.  Sounded like a good enough idea to perhaps become a regular feature.  However, as everyday is different for the stranger Gal and Guy in a strange land, it figures to be true that every feature by that name will be different as well.

Dawn breaks on the rose colored Girls dormitories.

Speaking of continuing features, here's one from the ever popular big Guy in a small doorway series.

Just as every American feels they must have, nay are entitled to have, the correct automobile in order to properly display their personality; so too do a majority of the rest of the world feel about scooters.  Something we saw a great deal of in parts of South America and that is even more in evidence here.

But, as usual, I digress.  How could a day begin without first sauntering over to Breakfast Street.  Where for less than a dollar one can have a delicious crepe filled with egg, spinach and pork rinds.

The Gal is partial to vegetable pancakes

whereas the guy likes Bar-B-Q dumplings to go with his giant Chinese burritos.

And then on their way to the ATM machine that never works they pass the truck that never moves, until...the demo crew needs to haul away the "We recycle and re-use everything" stuff. 

In the same way no square meter of dirt, like a city curb, goes to waste when anyone who wants to can till it up for a vegetable garden...and there's always someone who wants to.

Let's not forget, on our daily walk of life, to take notice of the ever present juxtaposing of women from the coolies (ku li) "bitter strength" to the class bell triggered migration of

umbrella protected, pearl white skinned,

young ladies of the private university

all decked out in the latest clothes, bags, accessories and 3 " wedges with smart phones chirping away.

On Stage

The Gal hasn't had any classes yet because she has to wait for the Freshman to muster out of the Army.  Oh, they're here already, but in basic training not in school.  Every day for two weeks they line up below us and drill in their full camos for 8 hours.  It's how we learned our first Chinese phrase, "One, two, three, four-this is what we're studying' for!"

Today's a very special day, however, and there'll be a full, military review with

honored guests like

the university founder and benefactor's widow,

the University President and 

the blond Gal from Anacortes, Washington - USA.

(Cue the palpable silence)

The Terrible Twins

We didn't give them this nickname, they came up with it themselves.  They being Tiny Tina and Chatty Cathy , our power house, make that powder keg, teaching assistants.  Not only are they a hoot, they are GREAT.  They are here to first Help us (we need it) and secondly, as English Majors, to practice their English.

Help us buy groceries without getting shortchanged

and help us get our flats fixed by patching tubes and buying new ones.

Quanzhou

(Shen*Jo)

The Gal took off on a little photo safari to the nearest big city with millions of people, as opposed to our little village of 60,000.  There's little for me to say, especially since I wasn't there but rather at school because of my classes.  Skyscrapers and temples, stone turtles and real turtles...

 

I could have written a thousand more words, but am sure you preferred enjoying the images sans.