Perfect Day – Part 1

It seems that I’ve finally worked through the last of the flu-like symptoms (aches, chills, sore throat, cough, etc.) and although I had another bad night’s sleep, I woke up feeling much better and ready to face the world. I’d arranged to meet with Selia for breakfast at 7am, but when I got to our pre-arranged meeting spot, she wasn’t there. I checked my phone, and found a text from her saying that she’d not been feeling too well, and requesting to take a rain check on breakfast.

Usually if I’m venturing off campus for breakfast, I tend to have a student with me, but given that I was hungry and already halfway to Snack Street (a local spot full of street vendors offering tasty foodstuffs), I decided to go ahead on my own. I went back to the same stall that we’d eaten at previously, and got in line for some of my favorite dishes. I quickly realized that queueing is not really done here, and that the person who gets served next is usually the person who shouts loudest to get the server’s attention, or waves money in front of their faces (or preferably both). I persisted with the polite Brit thing and after a while, the server noticed me and asked me what I wanted. Given that I’m still in the early stages of my Rosetta Stone Mandarin Chinese, I resorted to pointing (if only she’d asked if I could see the boys run, the girls drinking orange juice, or the men reading newspapers, we could have had a deep and meaningful conversation).  As it was, I pointed to the spicy soup and to the bean curd and signaled that I’d like a mix of the two.

Next I turned my attention to the other goodies on offer, signaling that I wanted a combination of dumplings, pasties (filled with delicious green onions) and another type of filled steamed roll (see pic below). The server found my attempts at communication hilarious, but I ended up with what I wanted (or close as I was going to get without a translator). I sat down at one of the tables and tucked in to my delicious breakfast, as I watched the women making hundreds more dumplings and steam buns. After I’d finished, I went over and did my best Marcel Marceau impression as I asked whether I could take a photo of them working. I was hoping to get a candid shot, but they were very excited about posing for me, so I took a few pics. Afterwards, as I walked back to the campus, I spotted a family in one of the small motorized bike / truck hybrids (the main bed of the truck is about the  size of a coffee table, and you’ll sometimes see 4 or 5 people crammed in there).  Again I asked if they minded if I took a picture, and again, they were very excited to oblige. I showed them the picture I’d taken, and they all seemed very pleased with themselves.