Second day in China

[aadler]

Susan woke before I did, but I determinedly stayed in bed, making sure I got caught up on sleep and put the vestiges of jet lag behind me. Then up somewhat after 7:00, and showered and shaved in Kevin’s tiny bathroom. I looked through his closet and found clothes I could wear while we waited for our tardy luggage to catch up with us; he’s markedly taller than I am, but I’m somewhat bigger in the body, so it roughly evened out. Susan could only manage one of his t-shirts, but that was at least something, and she figured out how to get his tiny washing machine started so we could clean (most of) the clothes we’d worn on the way here.

Then, a couple of hours later, we got further welcome news: he texted us to say our luggage had been found and delivered to Mei-li’s family’s apartment.

In order to be able to meet us at the airport on the 5th (which wound up not happening anyhow), Kevin had traded a work shift with one of his colleagues, so he had to work today to make up for that. He came down to take us for lunch, however, and we walked down the street to a place he knew about: actual Chinese Muslims, part of a Hui minority. He liked their shop because 1) it was cheap, but 2) because of halal (the Muslim version of kosher, for the few people who didn’t know that already) he could have some certainty that the food wouldn’t make him sick. We all had noodles, and talked and took photos. Then he returned to work, and Susan and I went walking around in a nearby department store to pick up a few things: facial tissues, batteries, small nail clippers (to replace the scissors confiscated in Beijing), a couple of bottles of Coke Zero. Then back to the apartment.

An hour or so later, Mei-li’s mother brought our arrived luggage to us. New surprise: one of the little cans of specialty coffee Susan had packed — foil seal and plastic seal, neither ever opened — had burst inside the big suitcase. So, except for my underwear and some shirts, all my clothes had to be washed. Plus I had the fun of dusting off and shaking and sponging clean all the various things (plus, eventually, the interior of the suitcase itself) that had found themselves permeated with fucking vanilla coffee powder.

Yeah, that left me in a really good mood.

Eventually Kevin’s work day ended (and he now has vacation time off — Chinese New Year — for most of the remainder of our stay). He came over to pick us up, and the three of us walked down to a good place to catch a taxi. At Mei-li’s family’s apartment building, her mother came down to meet us, and we walked together to a restaurant, where eventually the whole family (except Mei-li herself, this being her last day at work) came to join us.

Incredible food. Incredible. Multiple dishes, set on a central rotating platform so different people could get as much or as little of a particular thing as they wanted. Most of the dishes were things I’d never heard of, or prepared in a way that I wasn’t familiar with, or combined in ways that would be difficult to describe. All of it was fantastic.

Kevin had warned me that Mei-li’s father was an accomplished and powerful drinker. He had brought two bottles with him, one of cognac and one of a strong, harsh rice liquor, baijiu), and he had apparently decided that — for this dinner, at least — alcohol was limited to him and me. By the time I got done with my first glass of cognac, I wasn’t much interested in more, but we kept going on the baijiu. Served in tiny glasses, with toasts of “Gan bei” (bottoms-up) … I don’t even know how much we drank, but I felt an obligation to do my best to keep up. Even so, I think he probably was taking it easy on me. (When I later asked Kevin, his opinion matched mine.)

We all went back to the Yins’ apartment. Mei-li joined us at some point, back from work. At what he thought was a propitious moment, Kevin began speaking with Mr Yin about a future for him and Mei-li (that being, I understand, the primary reason he so wanted Susan and me to come at this particular time). Kevin had chosen a point when Mei-li was elsewhere, as is proper behavior in these circumstances and this culture, but Mr Yin almost immediately called Mei-li in to help translate. Different stuff went into the discussion, but the upshot is that there is a general understanding that they’ll be looking at a marriage in approximately a year. Meanwhile, both sets of parents will be looking at coming up with enough money to help them acquire a home (probably an apartment) of their own, which in Shenzhen is not a small undertaking.

Eventually back to Kevin’s apartment (I don’t remember all the details), and to bed.

Next Day

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I am so happy the "general understanding" talk went well.


Gabrielle