I always feel conflicted when we leave this apartment. It has been the only space where I can feel productive and "allowed" to think for myself. I find pleasure in washing my own clothes in the bathroom sink (the kitchen sink still doesn't turn on. I must ask Xiao Jing today if we have permission to open the pipes under the sink. Will it affect our rent here if we use it? It has been Years since I've been subordinate but consider it as a complete luxury most of the time EXCEPT when my lack of Chinese money brings me up short. I can't get used to discussing whether we need to buy anything. That's been up to me for a very long time...
We walk to Xiao Yee's keeping watch for a Kodak Express as I'm out of film-none to be seen. Michael's plan is to return to the apartment to burrow down to his work and I will stay with Xiao Jing so I bring my journal. Sunday's adventure will be a long entry.
Breakfast awaits us. Xiao Yee amazes me. She is close to the earth and prepares food in a spiritual way buying fresh produce from the market nearby, washing and preparing it herself. This fits seamlessly with her Chinese concept of being one with the universe. I know she is forsaking her Chi Gong while we are visiting though and Michael says "It
is a choice". The three of us know that she lashes out with rage at times. Shar Shen seems a perfect balance for their relationship.
She offered warm milk, steamed buns from the market, whole wheat pancakes sliced into fourths which we tear apart and dip into honey. I'll never eat syrup again! She also has soft tofu in warm soy milk to which we add a splash of sesame oil and some chili paste. I have a full bowl of this. I have a fleeting memory of my cold yogurt with fruit that I enjoy so much at home. I must ask her if that would fit into her view of a good breakfast dish.
Michael leaves soon after breakfast with instruction to return at 6:30. I roll up the pillow on the futon and lean back against it to allow me to sit straight as I write Sunday's notes in my journal. Soon Xiao Yee places a china tea tray in front of me. She pours by tipping the cover of what I'd always thought was the sugar bowl into what I'd always thought was the creamer. From the "creamer" she poured the tea into my tiny cup and a second one. I am reminded of my brother John's wife Suki and I feel sorry for having disdained an ornate china tea service she gave me many years ago. I didn't know the cultural value of the gift. She only spoke Korean and John didn't explain for her how I could use it. My sister also received such a set. We all left them wrapped and never used. How many other insights in Suki did we miss? How could she have helped us understand her more?
When I bring the tea to my lips I am to note its fragrance and sip it like sipping wine slurping it to enjoy the flavor and fragrance (olfactory senses important here).
The day is a quiet one. I do work on my journal while Xiao Jing and Xiao Yee do laundry. Xiao Jing and I go with Xiao Yee in the afternoon to the nearby market. Every kind of produce, meat, fish, herbs, flowers is sold. No blaring PA system, no music. Now I see how Xio Yee is able to prepare such fresh, flavorful foods.
We went to WalMart (I hesitating as always) because Xiao Yee says the film will be fresher! I am learning to object less. The culture demands that I be an abject guest. I buy 10 rolls (2 packages) of 400 max, 36 exposures. I don't want to run out of film again. I saw the "hot plate" that is used in every apartment I've been in. I'm told they are must-haves for Chinese cooking. The clerk does a demo. It would outperform my wok and would also be good for many other functions in my tiny kitchen back home. Again I am sorry not to have brought more money.
We return to Xiao Yee's and when we tell Shar Shen about the ceramic hot plate he says, "Too bad. They were two for the price of one till yesterday!" Xiao Yee will look for a cheaper price.
Now Xiao Yee and Xiao Jing start their project of preparing soaked raw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves for breakfast. It's a tricky process, the leaves are brittle. The first fold forms a cup into which they scoop the wet rice, sprinkle it with sugar and wrap the rest of the leaf reinforcing it with a second leaf and finally tying each "package' with string.They laugh through the project remembering how their mother was so adept at it and they were so clumsy that they would "Put a band-aid on a wounded soldier". I take a few pictures of them working.
There is a knock on the door at 6:30. We were about to sit down for dinner. The table is prepared. We expect Michael but it is a friend a man who is a friend of Xiao Yee. He helped her through"the troubled times" that Xiao Jing mentions occasionally. He is editor of Kun Ming Daily Newspaper and a published poet.. We sit at the table and talk till 8pm hoping for Michael's knock at the door. Xiao Yee is calm, serene even tho dinner waited before us. At 8 Xiao Jing says, "Well, I am feeling a bit weak. Perhaps we should have dinner now?" We no sooner begin it seems, when she says, "Xiao Yee and I are now going to check on Michael" But Xiao Jing went alone. Michael arrived soon after-alone. He had come by a different route and hadn't seen her. She arrived when he was finishing, the bowl of food she had set aside for him. The three men now discussed how the wives show their disapproval of these occurrences. Much laughte
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