We were walking home from dinner on May 1st (Chinese Labor Day) when we decided to sit and people watch for a few minutes. They have a small concrete park with some benches and exercise equipment amidst the apartment complexes across the street from my room. The elderly spend their evenings stretching, walking, and chatting in these parks and have thus become my favorite location for people watching.
We sat on one of the benches and watched a family of three kick a soccer ball around. On a few occasions the ball came towards me and I kicked it over towards the small child. He stood and stared wide-eyed at me as the ball rolled slowly past him. I'm not sure he'd seen a lao wai before.
We were interested to see a woman in a wheelchair across the park from us. Because of the one-child policy, some parents will abandon or send their disabled children away. After doing so, they can petition the government to allow them to have another child. I am truly amazed at the few parents who take on the endeavor of raising a disabled child in a country like China when it seems so easy to abandon them.
She wheeled herself over to some of the exercise equipment, struggled to lift her body, and stretched her slender limbs. You could see her tenacity in each simple movement she made. After exercising for a bit, she wheeled herself towards us. I remember muttering "Oh shit, she's coming over here." to Jen. I wasn't afraid of her. I was afraid of my own Mandarin skills. In the comfort of my own room I am proud of my Mandarin skills. It is, however, completely different trying to express yourself to native speakers.
Wei Ren Hua was born in Hebei, but lives in Beijing with her parents now. She is 30 years old and has an older sister who is a teacher in Tianjin. She works for a company that manufactures dolls. Her mother is a farmer. Her father is a retired professor and her English skills are better than most of my student's. A small crowd began to form around us and Wei Ren Hua acted as a translator for some of the elderly men and women. At one point during out conversation, I noticed an older man taking pictures of the three of us talking. This man was Wei Ren Hua's father. He traveled with Wei Ren Hua to visit his other daughter who lives in the westernmost apartment complex.
The sky was getting darker and we regretfully informed her that we had to finish our walk home. As we stood up to leave she said that we gave her "xing xing" (confidence). She was a beautiful woman with one of the biggest smiles I've seen. I hope to never forget our conversation.
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As was mentioned in a previous post, I attended Sam's class as a guest speaker on sustainability and development. The student's reactions were quite positive and we had a very productive question and answer session after my speech. I was able to make some important links between sustainable development and economic stability that the students were able to understand. Better than most people, the students here understand what development looks like. They understand the tragic effects of wasteful development and have first-hand knowledge regarding the human impact of pollution. I have so much to learn from them.
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A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Erin that I would like to purchase a bicycle. She posted flyers around campus and after class last Thursday, we walked to the dormitories and I purchased a bike from one of the students. Friday, I spent the entire day riding around campus. At one point, I was smiling for no other reason than the unadulterated childish freedom I felt riding around. Saturday morning, I woke up with sore legs and found that my bike had been stolen from the front of my building. Heartbreak.
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On a much much lighter note, my brother asked his beautiful girlfriend, Amanda, to marry him a few days ago. I have been jealous of their love for over a year now and I'm happy to see them both take the next step in their relationship. Amanda was visiting friends in New York City and Josh surprised her in the middle of Grand Central Station. I am so happy for the both of them.
Seeing love like that gives me constant hope in the future. I wish I could have been there to congratulate them both.
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