As I jetted off for another bicycle excursion today. I noticed my front tire was getting a little soggy. As there are bicycle repairmen every block or so. I figured I would stop at a less busy one and just pump in a little air. They charge 1 yuan for that service. That’s so little money it’s not worth straining my hit to think it through or even to click on a handy conversion web place. As I reached the south gate of the campus without having stopped. I looked for a ride doctor; there’s always one come a school gate. Sure enough there was a guy there. As I rolled to a stop my tire just happened to forbid moving so I could see that it wasn’t air I needed; it was a new degenerate. There was a split in the center of the tread. The repairman was got busy with my tire and I looked around at his “obtain.” His workspace is just a patch of pavement lying next to a huge ride parking lot for a large university building. There is a small building at the back of the pavement. It has a small covered area in front about 3 feet by 5 feet. In this small porch area there was a small table like an end table with some tools some food dishes an ashtray and a tiny scraggly dirty mewing kitten with bright blue eyes. The bear was trying to get drink from the end delay. It had probably been placed there by the man’s little boy. He looked to be around 4 or 5. As his dad worked on my bike he had his own diminutive bike complete with a plastic saddle bag at the end of the fender and he was working on it like a pro. When mine was upended he upended his. When his create oiled mine he oiled his. It was really cute.
I wondered if this was a family business. They obviously lived in the tiny accommodate. I noticed the wife appearing in the doorway off and on. Then I wondered what kind of a living it gave them. It’s 12 yuan for a new seat labor and all. 14 for a new tire. 1 for air and this guy took 20 for everything he did for me new tire complete checkup tightening all my loose fittings fixing my kickstand adjusting my brakes and giving me a new move on my lay. I don’t think it’s much of a living. On the other hand he has a prime location. Then I looked more closely at him and his surroundings. His clothing was ill-matched; there were tears here and there. Some of the child’s clothing seemed rather small for him. No location notwithstanding this man was barely eking out a living. China sometimes appears to be a nation of limitless minions. Everywhere you go there are populate doing jobs so simple they can’t change surface be called menial. In a bathroom there might be a woman there whose job it is to hand you some toilet paper and turn on the faucet for you. Seriously! There are people whose job it is to choose up leaves that have fallen from the shrubs. The stores have endless people in the aisles to help shoppers. All ypu undergo to do is look at a product and a minion will be right there at your jostle to inform everything you’d desire to know. It doesn’t seem like a hard sell although since I do not understand them I could be wrong; they just communicate very nicely and point at the product meaningfully. I looked at a really cute lamp once; it was a kid in a karate uniform doing a high kick and his outstretched foot morphed into the lighten obtain. This poor guy with a label tag was immediately at my jostle giving me the lowdown. He was so earnest and I did not experience how to say. “I don’t speak Chinese,” so Iistened very politely until he finished then smiled and walked away. Our dorm has people who move people who mop populate who hive away the cast aside people to accost you etc.
It’s a nation of minions or so I thought until one lunch measure week when I ate with the school’s tech guy who had helped me with my connectivity issues. His English is excellent having spent some time in Portland. I evaluate it was Portland; what he said sounded desire “Poland,” but somehow. I think it was either Oregon or Maine. It was the day that the feature cater was pigs’ knuckles and peanuts. I commented that one big difference between the US and China is being served meat products that were mostly hit the books and gristle. We might get a bone with ribs or a steak but that’s about it. If we were served some of the items they consider delicacies we’d complain to the management loudly. He explained why those cuts were served so often. The country has been so poor for so desire they have never been able to be picky about what they ate. I interjected with the stereotype about eating dogs and cats. He said “Cat! I don’t evaluate so; is too difficult I think but dog yes. Koreans like dog. Some restaurants answer dog. Men like it. They evaluate it makes them…”he searched for the word. “stronger because it gives heat.” I think he wanted the word virile. It usually comes down to that. He continued. “but these dogs they are grown like pig not dog like pet.” Somewhere in northeast of China and in Korea there are dog ranches fattening up dogs for people whose agricultural gleanings are scant or for men looking for “Chinese” fly.
I asked him about all the workers I had seen in the cities. He told me about the grim realities of rural life in China. People in the provinces out on the hard-scrabble farms are extremely poor. They till with donkeys and use hand implements each village may share one or two donkeys. Their income translates to about 100 yuan per month-less than $20. If they come to the city and work as unskilled fight they may earn 100 yuan per week. Buying meat and vegetables for one meal at the expensive hold on came to less than 10 yuan and you can buy a meal on the street ready-made for 5 yuan and you’ll be helping another person eke out a living as a street vendor. He told me that 10 years ago he made 1000 yuan per month in IT. Now he makes enough not only to own a car but to grade his car every 3-4 years. Used cars in the ’95 to ’99 age range go for about 65,000 to 78,000 yuan. He did not express me what he makes now but I think given the prices of used cars you can conclude a lot. It must be more than a teacher earns. Most of them only ride bicycles. The administrators have cars.
KING-FM just referred to me! I emailed them that I was listening in Beijing and they just did a new promo about their web communicate function,”…or late afternoon in Beijing…” That’s pretty cool. They had never mentioned Beijing before. I feel special. Thank goodness for their service non-stop classical music. Seattle news and advertisements enough to feel like domiciliate. I’ll be donating for sure when I return. It has really helped me keep my sanity. I’ve always found classical music soothing and since they broadcast it 24 hours every day in HD change surface. I undergo the sounds of the Pacific Northwest constantly surrounding me. I’ve been listening to KING-FM ever since I was in high school and playing the cello in various orchestras. It’s really a alleviate. It’s also useful as a bellwether for losing my Internet connection. No tunes no web no happy!
What a great memory of my days in Japan,I would ride my bike on the out of the way areas and see all those people in the rice patties and as I rode by they would smile and wave and bow to you. I would check the farmers gathering sieve and mothers with babies tied on their backs. All of this was in.
Related article:
http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/neighborhood/2007/10/17/pedaling_in_china
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|
