A Little Bit of Culture

I woke up at 8:15 this morning. It was a bit early for me as well, especially on a Sunday morning, but I had plans. I had a quick breakfast and tea, checked my emails, talked to my parents, and out the door I went. I had to get some cash first, and luckily, the ATM that I tried this morning worked. (The one that I tried yesterday didn’t work. But that ATM has been broken for a while, so I am just going to keep saying that it is still broken.)

I was going to the National Museum with my Chinese language partner Qiao Xue. I met her at a subway stop, and then we rode the subway over to the proper stop. I went to the Museum a long time ago, when I was doing the SYA program, but it’s been a while. It was nice to see Qiao Xue again. She is a really cool person. It was a little hot today, but the Museum was close to the subway, so it wasn’t very far to walk to get there. Once we got there, we got tickets, and started browsing. Well, obviously. What else do you do museums?

There were a couple of fun little places to go see. There was a gorgeous jade exhibit and a whole hall dedicated to Buddhist art. I’m not religious, but I love looking at Buddha statues. They are amazing. I kept thinking back to the Art History class that I took last semester. I really wish that I could remember more of what I learned. It would have been so helpful. If only I had time to learn everything in the world! Ah well, I guess no one is perfect. I’ll just have to imitate Mary Poppins.

We left after about an hour. I got the feeling that she wasn’t really having that good of a time, and I prefer to just kind of walk around and quickly look at everything. We decided to get lunch together. Well, actually, I mentioned that I was going to go to a restaurant for lunch, and she decided to join me. The more the merrier, I say!

The cutest thing in the world happened as we were heading over to lunch. We were riding the subway over to our proper stop, and on the way, two moms and their kids got onto the subway right next to us. The kids were two little girls, probably about 5 years old, and full of energy. They immediately starting climbing all over everything, and jumping around. The mom tried to test the girls character recognition, but it didn't work too well. One of them kept looking at me and smiling, and then jumping around even more. Then, she ran up to her mom, and started whispering. I heard the word "English" and knew that she was talking about me. Then she looked at me, and said "Auntie, hello." (Auntie is what they call older women, when you are addressing someone. Cultural thing.) I almost died, it was that cute. Then I told her that she could start talking to me in Chinese, because I could understand it. They then started taking turns, asking me in small voices, questions about where I was from and what I was doing in Beijing. Their moms were silently encouraging them. It was the cutest thing ever. I love Asian babies, I think that they are adorable. I would have stolen this one, but I felt that the mom might have had something to say about it. I have never been so sad to get off the subway in my life.

I actually almost got us all killed on the way to the restaurant. At first, I wanted to go to an old place that I used to go to, that had the best soup ever, but it was closed. As in, out of business closed. So that was a no go. Instead, we crossed the road and went to another place. I have always maintained that if you are a foreigner, you can cross the road in China no sweat, because there is no way that they will hit you, because you will sue them for all them are worth. Well, I was proved wrong today. We were crossing the road, and I was not being particularly careful, and almost got taken out by a truck. Qiao Xue did the smart thing, and jumped backwards, out of the way. I am clearly not as smart. Instead I jumped many steps forward. As in, I had to move infront of the car to get away. Well, I never said I was a genius. I did a matrix like move though. What an adrenaline rush.

Lunch was actually pretty good. Kung Pao Chicken, and Beef and Potatoes. As well as this good sweet bread. Hard to explain, but take my word for it, it’s super good. We had a nice little talk, and then it was time to leave. I paid for lunch, even though I had to fight for the right. You have to be exceedingly pushy here, I have found. Just another one of those cultural things, I guess. I’m good at getting people to let me pay the bill, but I can’t call the waiters over yet. Oh well. I’ll get used to it in time.

I went back to my dorm room for some rest. I was full and happy. I did my homework: read the text, made the flash cards.

I went to get a massage at 6. Originally, I wasn’t going to go, but my back was killing me from going to the gym, and I only have a week left here, so why not? I went by myself tonight, because that’s what all the cool kids do. My favorite person was busy, so I just got whoever they had left. As it turns out, I got a woman, who I had never had before. When I walked in, all my friends said hello to me, and then the massage started.

Holy shit, this woman was intense. She was going to town on my back, much more so than any body else that had ever given me a massage. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying though, her accent was super thick. I needed a translator to translate it into proper Chinese for me. She didn’t look very strong, but she was. There were times when I almost turned over and said something. But a couple of deep breaths got me through it. Who knew that would work?

When I was done with the massage, the lady told me that I should get a foot massage. I’ve never had one before, so I thought, why not? IT WAS AMAZING. First my feet soaked in hot water, and then the lady came back, and gave me a massage. Last but not least, she used a hot rock to scrape at my feet. Obviously, it was a Chinese medicine foot massage, so it still hurt, as they tried to fix my body, but afterwards, it felt amazing.

A couple of notes about this massage. There were a couple of Chinese guys that were getting a massage at the same time as I was, and they couldn’t speak a word of Chinese. The massage people kept trying to talk to them, and it ended in disaster. That made me feel good about my Chinese. Later on, we were both getting a foot massage at the same time, and I acted as a translator for them. That was a big boost for my ego. They were surprised that I had been studying for six years. I think that they had been hoping that I had only been studying for 6 weeks, so that they would be able to learn it faster. Dream on, kids.
Also, my favorite little massage monk kept telling me that I was pretty. Last week I was too skinny for cupping, and now I keep getting prettier. I could kiss him. That is what every girl loves to hear.

And that was my night. I walked home, watched a movie, and went to bed. So begins the last week in China!