Friday, June 17, 2005

Another Shitty Day of Smiles

Today I taught a class at 8am again. It was actually quite a lot of fun. Then I took a taxi back to watch the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Detroit's back in it. There was actually a lock that covered the keyhole and I didn't know how to open it. So I tried to ask someone, but they all waved me off, which was frustrating.

Luckily for me, Mr Huang and I had seen each other on my way home in the taxi. He yelled at me in Chinese and then rushed home and opened the door for me.

I had a lunch appointment at 12:10 and it was already around noon when the game ended. I had to take a cab, but I didn't have the address of the school written out in Chinese. I tried to explain this to Mr. Huang and around ten minutes later I got what I needed.

Lunch was delicious. I took a nap after and had dinner at Jane's house. The meats that I ate today were sheep, duck (the best two), beef, chicken, shrimp, and dog. Yes, I ate dog stew!

At night a group of us went for a walk. I talked with Jane for quite a long time and she told me about her childhood. She didn't know her father's relatives because they were killed by the Japanese. She was very poor, but now owns several flats, which she rents out, and pays for her daughter's lessons in everything from pingpong to musical instruments that I never heard of.

It was midnight, time to go home. Sherkhan had his bike and I was to run. This was fine for a few miles, but then something in my stomach reached up my hole and grabbed me. At first I thought it was a stomach ache. Then I realized that I had a bathroom emergency. I looked for a dark spot. I found one not far from the sidewalk. It was near the creek. On the other side of the bushes was the street, but the bushes gave me good coverage. So I took a big shit in public. Then there was the problem of toilet paper. Together, me and Sherkhan didn't have many tissues. So I asked for my wallet. I took out what I call a "Wu-Tang." One Yuan is the same as about 12 cents. So a "Wu-Tang" is one tenth of that, or 1.2 cents. I wiped my ass with the two "Wu-Tang" that I had. My dreams had been accomplished. Back in Shanghai, I had taken a shit in the public shower at the hostel, because when I asked where the bathroom was, that's what they showed me. It was only later that I found the real bathroom, discovering that I had shat in the shower. But last night, I shat in public!

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