New Friends

Not more than a block from our school/living quarters, is one of the coolest local streets in our Pudong, Shanghai area. Coming from an apartment area, and a school, that is sometimes a bit too full of westerners for living in China, this street is a breath of "fresh" air. It is lined with the types of little shops seen all over China. The ones that sell a conglomeration of different items ranging from household plumbing, to house slippers, to cell phone recharge cards, to pots and pans, to fake dvds. All of this is crowded into a space not much bigger than most people's front rooms, which is lined floor to ceiling with shelves. The pots sit next to the house slippers, the batteries site next to shower heads, and all of it looks as if, at the smallest movement, it would all some tumbling down creating a more jumbled mess than it already is. Intermingled with these catch-all shops are fruit and vegetables shops that lead back into wet markets selling grown goods along side unrefrigerated pigs legs, live fish, frogs, etc; hair salons, quicky marts (think 7-11), and small eateries.

At night this road becomes alive as meat-on-a-stick (the name says it all) sellers park their bikes along the side of the already narrow street, unfolding from the back a magically packed coal grill, complete with sticks, meat, and veggies for grilling. As the housing here generally has very small rooms, at night, after work, people migrate outdoors to relax, and hang out with friends. Fried noodle vendors and hot pot sellers park their wagons beside the meat-on-a-stick sellers, and before you know it, it's like a small street fair.

There are two small restaurants along this road that I particularly enjoy. One is the dumpling place (they sell dumplings), and the other is the Muslim Noodle place (they sell Muslim style noodle dishes). We name all the restaurants here by what kind of food they have, as we usually don't know their Chinese names.

The other day, two of the other Kindergarten teachers: Terry and Buffy, their friend who was visiting from Canada: Owen, and I, headed over to the Muslim Noodle place for lunch. It was a beautiful day, and eating at the Muslim Noodle place was a perfect chance to enjoy some cheap food (a full plate of noodles for about a dollar) and the great weather.

After snagging an available table outside, Buffy, Owen and I headed next next door to the convenience store to buy some drinks. When we came out, we found that Terry was now sitting at the table stationed beside ours (but belonging to the restaurant next door) with 3 other Chinese people. As we came over, one of the men motioned for us to pull up chairs, telling us (in Chinese) to join them, while at the same time waving down the waitress to order more food. When we protested saying that we had already ordered a full meal from the restaurant next door he waved off our words saying (again in Chinese) that it was okay, we could share, and that they had Hen hao chur --Very good food.

Buffy and Terry (whose Chinese is much better than mine) proceeded to have a good chat with the 3 Chinese people there. We found out who had kids, how old they were, where they lived, etc. These 3 strangers willingly shared all the food at their table with us, while talking cheerfully about the limited subjects we could. We talked about how China has so many beautiful places to see, and found out various places they had been traveling. Meanwhile, this whole episode also made me realize how dismal my Chinese was, and motivated me (again) to work harder at getting to a conversational level that was above "I am a teacher," "I'm from America," "It's nice to meet you."

Most of all, I was amazed at the kindness of strangers, and the willingness of these people to invite us into their lives, even if it was just for lunch. At one point in the conversation, more than halfway through the meal, Owen turned to me and said "Wait, so you guys don't know these people?" Nope, we didn't. And, not only did they share their food, and pay for the lunches we had already ordered from the other restaurant; but more so they shared a meal as if we were old friends. :)