I had stayed in contact with my Chinese friend who had greeted me the first day in Suzhou. That late night mishap was now a standing joke between us. She, her fiancee, and their friends were having fun with this American man who had come to work in Suzhou. People are keen on trying to improve their English skills in China by conversing at casual dinners and such and she and I had met a time or two to have a little dinner and conversation. She and her friends were all recent graduates of the University and were very much interested in what I might teach them by way of our conversations.
One evening she suggested to come to her shared apartment for a meal which her boyfriend would prepare for us all. She explained that he was much more the cook than she was. I immediately accepted the invitation which would be for the following Saturday morning and into the day. She wanted me to experience the whole preparation of the meal; from buying the food, to serving it, and finally a bit of entertainment in the afternoon. So, I was set and ready to go with the directions which she had given me to show to the taxi driver.
Saturday morning arrived and I went down to the boulevard to flag down a taxi. She had given me her cell phone number and helped guide me to the destination through the use of our cell phones. The taxi drove me to the old section of Suzhou to one of the main streets. As I looked around I saw the tower of the university and streets crowed with people, but no friend. I had paid the taxi and now was abandoned on the street waiting for my friends.
Out through a small passageway came she and her boyfriend. We didn't stay there but for a few seconds. She led me, along with her boyfriend across the street into a little alleyway. The alleyway led back between two buildings into yet another alleyway at right angles with the first. Packed into this little space were people selling their goods. These were mostly food stuffs such as eggs, live chickens, baby chicks, live fish, vegetables of every type that I knew, and more that I'd never seen before. There were nuts, fruits, meat that was being cut for customers, etc, etc. This was a virtual underground supermarket at cut rate prices. This was how Chinese in this part of Suzhou shopped.
My friends were very familiar with this people's market and how it worked, but I was new to it and so I followed behind them gawking at all the variety of foods and how they were being sold. I couldn't help but wonder about things like meat and items that spoiled. Would the blood all on the ground and smell forever in that place? This must be free enterprise at its most basic. Does the government regulate this sort of thing. Furthermore, is this common place throughout all of China? For these people, is this their occupation, or is it a part-time thing which they do to raise a little extra money? It was a Saturday, perhaps this is the equivalent of a "Saturday Market" back in the US. So many questions, but who do I ask for the answers?
When they had finished their purchases we walked back out through this maze of people and disorder to the street where I had been dropped off by the taxi. We continued through the little passageway, which also had dealers everywhere selling things. What I notice in this section was that there were book sellers everywhere. We were walking toward the university housing. There was a canal which we crossed via a nice modern bridge, but even on the bridge were book sellers with a variety of books including text books which would be sold to students as they passed. On the banks of this canal were two fishermen, but they had no fishing poles. These two men had birds which they were letting loose in the water. This was Cormorant fishing, using birds to dive into the water to collect the fish and then retrieve the fish from their mouths. I had heard of this from geography books but I'd never witnessed it. What a concept! This was a time tested system, but beyond my American heritage.
As interesting as this was my friends were almost home now and they led to me to a grouping of apartments that were a bit more rustic than I'd seen in Suzhou Industrial Park. These apartments resembled the row houses that I'd seen in travelogues of England. The structures were all concrete and had some construction defects. In fact, I hit my head rather hard on the overhanging door frame which didn't quite meet up to my height. BANG! And it did hurt for a while.
Their apartment was on the third floor. They led me into a rather cool apartment and linoleum floors, rather rough furnishings, and a bedroom for the one couple, and two other bedrooms which were also occupied by two other couples. The entire apartment couldn't have been more than 800 square feet. But, these were recent graduates and they found this to be a fun life style, although crowded.
The boyfriend quickly began preparing the foods that had been purchased. None of these things were what I had ever seen in my lifetime. But, I was going to be a good sport and try all that was put in front of me. Actually the meal was memorable in a positive way. I think they enjoyed watching my face as I tried these dishes. They wanted to see my reactions. I don't really know all that I ate accept for the lotus root. When I first saw the lotus root I asked my friend, "what is that?" Her answer? That is "snake." I became very concerned, as you might understand. She saw my shock and said, "what's wrong?" I repeated what she said, "snake?" (with surprise) She thought for a few moments and said, "Oh, snack! This is a snack." My adrenaline subsided.....and I ate a piece with delight to know that it wasn't really a snake I was eating after all.
After this Saturday lunch the guy especially wanted to do something recreational. So, they invited me to play basketball with them. looked out the window and there no further than a stone's throw was a basketball court for students from the university. We finished with the dishes and set out for the courts. I think they were curious as to my physical abilities with this American sport.
It was the two Chinese men, the two ladies, and myself. At first we played Horse. They didn't know that game so I showed them how to play it. All of us played and it was very enjoyable. Then, one of the two men saw one of their male friends and it was now a two on two men's game. My team won! I seemed to be on fire for some reason. I hadn't played basketball in years, but I'm sure I felt compelled to do my best against these young men. They all gave me high-fives and the game was over.
This was the end of the day for me. I was a bit exhausted, but exhilarated. Again my friend took me to the main street where I'd been left off in the morning and flagged down a taxi for me. This had been a very memorable day.
One evening she suggested to come to her shared apartment for a meal which her boyfriend would prepare for us all. She explained that he was much more the cook than she was. I immediately accepted the invitation which would be for the following Saturday morning and into the day. She wanted me to experience the whole preparation of the meal; from buying the food, to serving it, and finally a bit of entertainment in the afternoon. So, I was set and ready to go with the directions which she had given me to show to the taxi driver.
Saturday morning arrived and I went down to the boulevard to flag down a taxi. She had given me her cell phone number and helped guide me to the destination through the use of our cell phones. The taxi drove me to the old section of Suzhou to one of the main streets. As I looked around I saw the tower of the university and streets crowed with people, but no friend. I had paid the taxi and now was abandoned on the street waiting for my friends.
Out through a small passageway came she and her boyfriend. We didn't stay there but for a few seconds. She led me, along with her boyfriend across the street into a little alleyway. The alleyway led back between two buildings into yet another alleyway at right angles with the first. Packed into this little space were people selling their goods. These were mostly food stuffs such as eggs, live chickens, baby chicks, live fish, vegetables of every type that I knew, and more that I'd never seen before. There were nuts, fruits, meat that was being cut for customers, etc, etc. This was a virtual underground supermarket at cut rate prices. This was how Chinese in this part of Suzhou shopped.
My friends were very familiar with this people's market and how it worked, but I was new to it and so I followed behind them gawking at all the variety of foods and how they were being sold. I couldn't help but wonder about things like meat and items that spoiled. Would the blood all on the ground and smell forever in that place? This must be free enterprise at its most basic. Does the government regulate this sort of thing. Furthermore, is this common place throughout all of China? For these people, is this their occupation, or is it a part-time thing which they do to raise a little extra money? It was a Saturday, perhaps this is the equivalent of a "Saturday Market" back in the US. So many questions, but who do I ask for the answers?
When they had finished their purchases we walked back out through this maze of people and disorder to the street where I had been dropped off by the taxi. We continued through the little passageway, which also had dealers everywhere selling things. What I notice in this section was that there were book sellers everywhere. We were walking toward the university housing. There was a canal which we crossed via a nice modern bridge, but even on the bridge were book sellers with a variety of books including text books which would be sold to students as they passed. On the banks of this canal were two fishermen, but they had no fishing poles. These two men had birds which they were letting loose in the water. This was Cormorant fishing, using birds to dive into the water to collect the fish and then retrieve the fish from their mouths. I had heard of this from geography books but I'd never witnessed it. What a concept! This was a time tested system, but beyond my American heritage.
As interesting as this was my friends were almost home now and they led to me to a grouping of apartments that were a bit more rustic than I'd seen in Suzhou Industrial Park. These apartments resembled the row houses that I'd seen in travelogues of England. The structures were all concrete and had some construction defects. In fact, I hit my head rather hard on the overhanging door frame which didn't quite meet up to my height. BANG! And it did hurt for a while.
Their apartment was on the third floor. They led me into a rather cool apartment and linoleum floors, rather rough furnishings, and a bedroom for the one couple, and two other bedrooms which were also occupied by two other couples. The entire apartment couldn't have been more than 800 square feet. But, these were recent graduates and they found this to be a fun life style, although crowded.
The boyfriend quickly began preparing the foods that had been purchased. None of these things were what I had ever seen in my lifetime. But, I was going to be a good sport and try all that was put in front of me. Actually the meal was memorable in a positive way. I think they enjoyed watching my face as I tried these dishes. They wanted to see my reactions. I don't really know all that I ate accept for the lotus root. When I first saw the lotus root I asked my friend, "what is that?" Her answer? That is "snake." I became very concerned, as you might understand. She saw my shock and said, "what's wrong?" I repeated what she said, "snake?" (with surprise) She thought for a few moments and said, "Oh, snack! This is a snack." My adrenaline subsided.....and I ate a piece with delight to know that it wasn't really a snake I was eating after all.
After this Saturday lunch the guy especially wanted to do something recreational. So, they invited me to play basketball with them. looked out the window and there no further than a stone's throw was a basketball court for students from the university. We finished with the dishes and set out for the courts. I think they were curious as to my physical abilities with this American sport.
It was the two Chinese men, the two ladies, and myself. At first we played Horse. They didn't know that game so I showed them how to play it. All of us played and it was very enjoyable. Then, one of the two men saw one of their male friends and it was now a two on two men's game. My team won! I seemed to be on fire for some reason. I hadn't played basketball in years, but I'm sure I felt compelled to do my best against these young men. They all gave me high-fives and the game was over.
This was the end of the day for me. I was a bit exhausted, but exhilarated. Again my friend took me to the main street where I'd been left off in the morning and flagged down a taxi for me. This had been a very memorable day.
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