I had the most genuine conversation today on Bus #2 coming back from Tennis. I was already happy that i had happened across the chance to take the double-decker bus, scrambling to get up on the top where you can feel the air rush through your hair, observing the passing pedestrians and cars below. I was happy in my own little world when this person sitting diagonally across from me gets up and sits in the vacant seat in front of me. Now this is the weird thing, i couldn't tell if this person was a boy or a girl. Let's assume it was a boy for the sake of this entry. He started talking to me about the bus and the weather, i asked him if he should be in school (it was 1:30pm in the afternoon), he told me he was going to go to the train station to see his mom at work, i asked him how old he was, sixteen he said - wow, he looked about 12 with a short thick mop of black hair on his head, cropped in a boy-style. He was a bit overweight, wore these see-through blue-tinted sunglasses, and a wornout t-shirt that said "Thailand" on it.At first we were just chatting along watching the scenery go by. When one us said something, the other would respond naturally, and we ping-pong'd the conversation like that for a bit. Then my low-level of Chinese was too obvious to ignore and he asked rather innocently as that would have been the next question on his mind: "Are you a foreigner?" Happily, i told him where i was from, etc. etc., the routine explanation which i repeat more often than you might think each day. Still, it was his mannerism and his genuine interest in just talking to me that i appreciated most of all.
He then started talking about America and Italy. I think i bursted his bubble when i told him that not all Americans have blue eyes, that one should not believe everything he sees in movies or on TV. He asked my name and told me his, Li Shuang Jun. What an unexpected angel that just dropped in and out of my life, when i most needed it too. It sort of restores my faith of being here, something that has been wavering quite a lot lately. I have never in my whole time in China felt this comfortable talking to a stranger, it was amazing. Usually when someone strikes up a conversation and realize you're a foreigner, you had better watch out for their intention of befriending you as a language buddy (some of us call them Language Rapists), they are everywhere, but i must admit us foreigners trying to learn Chinese are just as guilty of it too when we want to meet Chinese or Uygher people to practice our language skills. Shuang Jun probably doesn't know the impact he's had on me today, in just the mere 25 minutes on the bus we spent together. But to me, it makes an impression that i won't be able to forget for a while.
It's a beautiful sunny Monday, I've just had a good solid 2 hours of exercise on the tennis court, and went market shopping for fruits and veggies. The season of fruits has begun and it's amazing what you can kind of variety you can purchase here, all at reasonable rates. Hami melons, watermelons, laichi, strawberries, mangoes, nectarines, these small sweet little berries, and of course your regular apples, oranges, bananas.I'm content today, enjoying the fact that i am sincerely very very lucky to be free from any huge significant responsibility except to take care of myself. I mean, who honestly can claim the same?
Sometimes i feel like i'm idleing (sp?) and stalling while chasing my tail in circles, ok IF i had a tail, but you get the picture. Some things take time to appreciate and i'm slowly acquiring that aspect in my life now.
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