ABC...(part 2) .....





Noodles…freshly made most often. It’s the other staple.


(A woman rolls small grooved noodles in her market stall.)

Outside…There are two aspects to this. Going to the countryside and being outside there is a treat. A day of mah jongg includes going to a farmer’s restaurant. But in town …. there is an aspect to life that is the outside inside. It’s that no central heating, windows open, wearing layers of clothes, shops with no doors, spitting bones on restaurant floors, etc.

Plumbing…First, the Chinese toilet takes some getting used to. Squatting is so low. And then there is the sewage system that cannot handle toilet paper? Bathrooms are sometimes separate from buildings and have an outhouse quality. Second, water is heated in tanks in the bathroom (Solar panels heat water on rooftops.)

or solarly on rooftops for those of us with showers. …We must also mention the Power outages…we’ve just had 4-5 days (8am to 6pm) without electricity in the past 2 weeks. No problem. Everyone takes it in stride and life goes on.

Quiet…This street is quite noisy during the day with vendors hawking, music lessons in the building across the street, car horns, children, etc, etc. But from 11pm to 5am it is virtually silent.

Rice…Plain white rice, the main staple with every meal. It is usually served after the vegetable and meat dishes, toward the end of the meal.

S….There are the snack seeds: watermelon and sunflower. The abundance of salesclerks. The beautiful scenery in the countryside. No seatbelts. The tiled sidewalks that are easy to take up so work can be done, but difficult to make level afterwards. There’s the memory of the silkworms. There are my Students. Bundles of energy and enthusiasm. 60 bundles per class.

(My 120 first graders, their head teachers and myself.)

Tea, of course…. Green tea. Black tea is difficult to find. Coffee is rare and often instant. Decaf? Ha! Green tea….it’s healthy. But there are also the Tones in the language. Everything you’ve heard is true. They are difficult for us to hear and say, but, oh, so important!

Umbrellas….rain or shine. They’re everywhere. And so colorful!

Visas…I’ve had mine renewed twice since I’ve been here. Each is good for 6 months. Wonder why the Aussies can get a year permit.

Workers…With 1.3 billion people there is an abundant source of laborers. You see them digging ditches with shovels, tearing down blocks of buildings with sledge hammers, on bamboo scaffolding laying bricks and then spreading the stucco, tiling, farming, pulling or pushing loaded carts, mending tea kettles, bikes, clothing and shoes, selling snacks, vegetables, fruits and meats, etc, etc.

taXi…Every other car is a taxi. They’re green or maroon in Ankang. There are also mini mini vans that act as taxis on specific routes. With all the taxis and the city bus system it’s easy to get around.

Yogurt…It’s not as thick as at home, but it’s just as delicious. There is also a yogurt drink that is popular. It’s much like drinking milk. Milk is ultra heat treated so it’s not kept in the cooler in the store. It only needs to be refrigerated after it’s opened. Yogurt, butter and milk are currently available in Ankang. Cheese is available in Xian.

Zebra crosswalk….a crosswalk? Yes, we have them. And generally we try to use them. But why? They don’t mean the pedestrian has the right of way. Pedestrians need to be on the alert at all times….especially for taxis….and for traffic coming from uncommon directions!

That’s my list. It was fun to do. The ABC aspect was confining as it determined what I could write about. But it was liberating too as it reminded me of things I’d forgotten…things that seem natural to me now.