I just had a remarkable lunch. This morning I walked to a nearby park and took some pictures while Wenguo went to a beauty salon to get her hair cut and straightened. I will post some pictures of the park as soon as I figure out how to make the images smaller in the Chinese version of the image editing program on Mama's computer.
But back to lunch - First of all Mama poured a pretty large glass of brown rice wine. I really like this sweet rice wine served with meals. Lunch included stomach in vegetables stir-fried with lots of oil, tendon also served in vegetables, part of a small duck, delicious egg rolls, soup made with tofu, tomatoe and seaweed, cold chicken which is dipped in a soy sauce and oil mix, and lamb also using the same sauce. Of course there was also a small bowl of rice, mama put the stir-fried vegetables on top of the rice. Baba offered more wine, so I added another half glass. I really enjoyed lunch and ate too much.
Now I'm ready for a nap! However, I wouldn't dare because I want to reset my clock to the local time and try to minimize the effects of jet lag. So far I'm doing fine but I expect it to be more difficult this afternoon.
I feel so lucky to be able to experience Chinese culture like this. Immersed in the culture, living with mama and baba, eating and drinking what they eat and drink. Walking the streets saying Ni Hao to everyone that engages me with a look of interest or a smile. In the park I met many young people, apparently on a field trip with their art class as they were drawing pictures of the old buildings. Many of them said "Hello", "Hi", "Welcome to China" and "How are you?". I was impressed that so many of them could speak any English while all I could say in Chinese was "Ni Hao" and "Si jiang" (goodbye). And I traveled to their country. I'm embarrassed.
Everyone was so nice to me! I am humbled by this exprience. I have never experienced such grace and kindness and generosity. One young lady I met while I was walking back quickly offered her umbrella as there is a very light rain. I explained that I didn't need it and that I had a hood to cover my head if the rain got heavier. She walked a very long block with me and we had a very nice conversation. She spoke English very well and explained that her job in Shaoxing required her to prepare people to speak English for business. She was very kind and before we finished the block she inquired if I needed an umbrella. I think she thought that I would not share with her because I was married, so she would have offered to buy an umbrella for me at one of the street vendors stalls. It really wasn't raining very hard and I was almost back to mama and baba's house, so I politely declined.
When I got back, Wenguo was still at the hair salon so I went to the indoor/outdoor market down the street. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to make anybody uncomfortable but I wanted to because it is so incredible in that it is different than anything I have ever seen elsewhere. I was really impressed by the live poultry in cages and with feet tied together. I was really impressed with the incredible assortment of fish, eel, sea snakes, crabs, snails, clams and other seafood. It was so cool. The live eel in the tubs were really wild. There was octopus and squid on ice. And there were tons of really, really good looking fruit and vegetables. I saw bitter melon which I swear is terrible. I have only had it once and I couldn't eat it. Wenguo says we will have to try it again in Guangzhou where they have a great recipe for it and she swears I'll like it. I can't wait. :-(
I'll try to get some pictures of the park on Flicker now, and I hope to post again after dinner - to describe dinner. Every meal is remarkable.
-posted by Dan
