Backpacks and Shoes

---

---

I am officially one year older - I'm finally 24. Those of you who know me may be thinking. "How did you skip a year? We thought you were 23!" But here in China I was 23 when I got here so now I'm 24. However old I may be I am, and always will be, a day older. So what did I do on my birthday? I went and did a bit more shopping - as that's what Hong Kong is best for. But unfortunately I wasn't feeling good for the most of the morning. I checked my e-mail in the morning but haven't really had a chance to respond. I decided to go to Guangzhou even though I didn't feel good as I wanted to be there a day early in case anything bad may have happened on the journey. I bought a nice new backpack for some of my gifts and was carrying a big backpack on the back and a smaller on in front.

Backpacks are the best way for anyone to travel. People tend to think that they're weight on your back and must therefore be bad for your back but believe it or not they're weight on your hips - not your back - and your hips can handle weight. What your back can't handle is carrying a suicase by its handle up stairs. If someone were to take my backpack and carry it without wearing it then it would be extremely heavy. Plus when I have my backpack I have my arms and legs free to do anything I need to do - open doors, go over curbs or up and down escalators or stairs. If I have to buy something I can carry it and even eat while I'm walking. Same with food. If one has a suitcase with wheels it's good if they're on a flat surface but what happens if they go upstairs? Or are traveling through the streets? Anyone who has ever had one of those knows sometimes they end up turning over and are heavy to carry upstairs. WHat about traveling alone and having to carry food over to a table. What do you do? Take the suitcase first and leave it alone while you go back for the tray of food? Not exactly safe. So I believe many stand by me in swearing to backpacks and if you've never tried one there's more than one reason why those of us who travel a lot "carry" them.

I was thinking about this while on the metro, walking from one to the next and on the train. If not for my backpack it would have taken $50 to get to the train station instead of $15 (Hong Kong dollars) or $15 with a lot of hassle. The train ride from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was one of the most beautiful rides I've been on in China. Unfortunately the other beautiful ride I was on was from Zhaoqing to Zhuhai on a bus but it was dark most of the time as it was night. I spoke to a man from Guangzhou - who believed my Chinese to be much better than it is. It took a lot of strain to hold a conversation with him and there were definitely times when I lost him but it was probably good for my Chinese. We traveled through hills and over water. Through the two big cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan and over rice paddies - the first I had ever seen. It was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately with those kind of things one can't take photos the whole way. Now what I didn't realize until later was that I was racing towards the one place in Guangzhou that Camillo told me not to go to. The main train station. So I got there and was ushered through customs and then ordered to place my bags on the x-ray machine. Then yet another x-ray machine. Then comes the tourist traps - the men sitting at their booths trying to get you to exchange money. Offering to take you anywhere in the city - for, I'm sure, a hefty sum. Now looking back of it it reminds me of a haunted house in the states where no one actually touches you but they can come up and around you and try and scare you (into doing what they want you to do in this case). I was so intent on walking past and ignoring all of them that I almost missed it - the entrance to the metro system. Granted I knew it was there and was looking for it but it was facing the ohter way. I might have caught it with the corner of my eye or thought I'd dropped something. Who knows. Some how I found it and paid the five kuai to get to Sha Mian island.

When I got there there were two Indian looking men walking around. They asked me how to get to Sha Mian from the metro station and as I was going I let them follow along. Turns out one had grown up in South Africa and the other in Spain. They were cousins and their family was originally from India. Now the majority of them lived in Asia - mainly China and Japan. One had lived in the area for 15 years - 13 of which were spent in Hong Kong. They were extremely nice and I decided to check into the Youth Hostel and walk around with them. We walked across the river to see some people dancing and singing to different pieces of music in a courtyard. Camillo called to wish me a Happy Birthday in his weird backwards way. He never actually said "Happy Birthday" but he asked me about a cake for when I got back and said I was silly for coming home on the 8th instead of the 7th. To Camillo these are fairly loving ways of saying "I love you like a brother. Happy Birthday. Get your butt home." Without actually saying that. The Indians were impressed with my Chinese. The one, Samjeev, who had lived in Hong Kong said that his Chinese used to be really good but it had fallen short as he had taught a lot in English and not had time to practice. Unlike myself he couldn't learn by simply speaking to people. We had a toast to my birthday and in the end one gave me a newspaper and the other a pack of sweets - nice birthday gifts from people I just met.

This morning I woke up and decided to rest up a little before my trip to Dalian. I suppose in the end it meant I didn't do much today but sometimes we need that. As I sit now in the airport waiting in my new clothes I'm glad I finally decided not to be a cheapskae and buy syself some new things. I finally have nice shoes that aren't hiking shoes and aren't falling apart. They are, of course, my favorite brand. As soon as I saw the Merrell sign in the Hong Kong shop I could do nothing but stop and try some on. Merrell is my brand. I tried some other brand shoes on and they totally didn't feel right at all. I apologized to the woman who was working with me and said I shouldn't look at anything but Merrell's. I bought two actually - one pair of tennis shoes and one pair of sandals. I also bought more clothes. A good bag and a really nice windbreaker - not that I don't love my father's but it's getting a bit old.

I saw a woman walking with her new Chinese girl earlier. The girl was asking for a pair of sunglasses as it was too bright for her. But the woman, not understanding the Chinese the girl was speaking, wouldn't give them to her. I thought to myself how hard this must be on the little girl. It's different adopting a baby - they can't speak and can learn another language very quickly, although I'm sure they too would love growing up speaking some of their language. For an older girl - she must have been nine years old or so - it must be so much harder. She can't learn another language quickly. She can already speak. She not only has to get used to a new mother but a new culture and a new language and maybe quicker than may be good for her. For a mother to adopt a child and not learn a little of her culture and language is first selfish and - to me - shows that they care very little for the child. But then again I'm someone who can't handle going to a country for a short period of time, or not learning their language.

The sight of my skin scares people sometimes. I ask them something in Chinese and they may be half-way through answering me in Chinese when they switch langauges as they look up at me. Sometimes it's not a problem but other times the people that insist on speaking English are those who I don't understand at all in English. It would be much easier, as I would understand them more, if they would speak Cantonese.

The probability of me talking to a Chinese man sitting next to me is about 20 percent higher than me talking to a Chinese woman. I'm not exactly sure why. I think it has to do with my comfort level. One of the worst things ever is watching a dubbed movie. I don't care whether it's a language I know or not. I would 100%!r(MISSING)ather watch it in that language even if I do need subtitles. So much of the movie is lost if it's dubbed.

I think he was the first person who'd ever assumed I spoke Chinese. The flight attendant. Without even blinking an eye asked me as if I were anyone else, if I wanted anything to drink and if I wanted a chicken or beef dish. Maybe he had seen my book open studying the characters - or maybe he hadn't. Whatever the reason it was really nice.

He runs from the bathroom as the toilet flushes. I remember when I was scared to flush the toilet just like him. I'm not exactly sure why. I don't think my parents knew. Sometimes late at night I was too scared to flush it and they would ask me in the morning why I hadn't. I think the noise scared me.

"You're the first person I've ever met who didn't think it was absolutely awesome." What could I say. Maybe it was the fact that everyone was always talking about it or the fact that I was going to see it for them and not for me. Maybe it was that it wasn't what I thought of when I thought of India even though it was what everyone else thought of. The Taj wasn't that great. To me the shop I saw and the family I met that had been making and restoring the marble on the Taj that was far more interesting because that was what I thought of as India.

The rainbows in the sky
There's an eye
Constantly keeping watch
From a place we'd never expect
Only once did I see the eye
Showing it's wonderful grace
As we flew, perhaps a little too close
Just like a fox to protect itself
One can watch but not come
Too close
As we left we shook a little
From it's power
And I noticed another
Not next to it like a face
But down under its' chin
Showing a little beautiful
Chubby face
That even the world loves.

There's only one time in the whole day when I get to experience it. In the Salon. That's the only time when I get the benefit of the doubt that I can speak Chinese. The only time when they expect it. No matter how much Camillo teases me about not being able to speak he still expects me to be able to. And that, I do believe, is why I spend so much time there. It comforts me to be in that environment.

Camillo was extatic to see me tonight. I went over and was sitting talking with Alex and Bensony for a little bit before Camillo realized I was sitting there. Then he came over and gave my hand a big shake. I'm sure if he were American or Hispanic he would have come over and given me a huge hug. Later Camillo told me that I'm only 24 in certain parts of China and Hunan isn't one of those places. So to most of my friends I'm 23. Camillo took me out for a birthday party tonight. He bought me a cake but then we figured out there was no one to really go out with as Cat wasn't back yet and Craig was going to sleep. I didn't know where Kelvin was. Yonson's not back yet, Alex and Eason were preoccupied and of course Paul is in Daliang. So Camillo told Michael, Gary and Ollie that if they'd come he'd pay. Which almost always works. I ended up hanging out with Michael a bit and they ended up playing an almost sort of baby-sitter type roll as Camillo danced with me. But we all sat and played some rounds of drinking dice games (as one normally plays in a Chinese bar) so that was cool.

---