it's hard to believe, but chinese hospitality can be painful sometimes; on the mind and the body. today i met up with leyang, my host brother we hosted two years ago. i thought we were just gonna get together for lunch with his cousin, but it turned out to be an all day affair. i used to think my surprise at gatherings such as these (b/c this kind of thing happens a lot) was due to my linguistic insufficiencies, but i'm beginning to realize and expect that getting together in xi'an is always loosely defined. it's probably due to the fact that a good host plans everything out and feeds his/her guests till he bursts. beijing is as much like this, xi'an, however, might be more on the traditional side.
anyway, i went outside to meet leyang and his cousin, but it turned out it was leyang and his mom picking me up in their car to go out to lunch with his cousins famliy and meet up with leyangs dad. anyway i didn't bring any gift or anything cause i thought it was gonna just be us kids so that was kinda of embarassing. and then came the typical guest meal when dealing with upper upper class xi'an-ers. we had every delicacy: beijing duck, pigs feet, pork ribs, fresh fish, etc. there were only 6 of us, but there was enough to feed 25. some dishes went untouched. and they kept ordering. by the end they had order a heaping pile of dumplings. i squeeze one into my mouth and it popped back out before i could chew. really, while the intention is flattering i'm also a little put off by the excess; even americans would call this excess. especially, cause yesterday i was talking to my cabbie and he was telling about how wasteful chinese people were spending thousands of yuan on for a 5-person meal. he described how crooked the whole system was cause it was all these governemnt officials eating eating meals that cost the yearly wage of the poorest chinese. and here i was today the guest of honor at one such meal.
anyway, today took a tool on my body (i.e. stomach) and mind (i.e. i just want to sleep and never speak chinese again).
it was nice seeing leyang. he's grown up a lot. and i'm constantly thankful for his family's hospitality. i really have quite a network going for me here in china. i have two days left in xi'an and then its back to the capital to work, work, work. how long until x-mas again?
anyway, i went outside to meet leyang and his cousin, but it turned out it was leyang and his mom picking me up in their car to go out to lunch with his cousins famliy and meet up with leyangs dad. anyway i didn't bring any gift or anything cause i thought it was gonna just be us kids so that was kinda of embarassing. and then came the typical guest meal when dealing with upper upper class xi'an-ers. we had every delicacy: beijing duck, pigs feet, pork ribs, fresh fish, etc. there were only 6 of us, but there was enough to feed 25. some dishes went untouched. and they kept ordering. by the end they had order a heaping pile of dumplings. i squeeze one into my mouth and it popped back out before i could chew. really, while the intention is flattering i'm also a little put off by the excess; even americans would call this excess. especially, cause yesterday i was talking to my cabbie and he was telling about how wasteful chinese people were spending thousands of yuan on for a 5-person meal. he described how crooked the whole system was cause it was all these governemnt officials eating eating meals that cost the yearly wage of the poorest chinese. and here i was today the guest of honor at one such meal.
anyway, today took a tool on my body (i.e. stomach) and mind (i.e. i just want to sleep and never speak chinese again).
it was nice seeing leyang. he's grown up a lot. and i'm constantly thankful for his family's hospitality. i really have quite a network going for me here in china. i have two days left in xi'an and then its back to the capital to work, work, work. how long until x-mas again?
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