Photo by Randy Green
Continuing the story of a leisurely holiday trip to explore a leisurely tropical lifestyle… (This is how expats are born.)
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Later in the afternoon, following a short nap back in my third floor bedroom, Ellen, Angeline, Ellen’s mother, and I walked in the rain to the nearby Wanquan River. We saw boys and young men fishing with hand lines in the surging waters just below the dam and I was instantly transported back to the Lake Taneycomo dam in Missouri which this small dam closely resembled. There were no rainbow trout here, though, as the water was definitely on the warm side. With just enough rain falling to require umbrellas, a leisurely walk – everything seemed to be done at a leisurely pace in Qionghai – was a delightful way to see the sights and develop an appetite for dinner.
Hainan Island has become a major tourist destination in China, and Qionghai had its share of tourist souvenir stands. Walking past some of these stands, I saw beautiful handmade necklaces, bracelets, combs, and rings made out of various materials - coral, wood, seashell, and tortoise shell. Whenever I showed an interest in any of the items for sale, Ellen would immediately step in to haggle with the seller. On Hainan Island, they conduct these bargaining sessions in the most amazingly obtuse, fierce, and yet friendly way. No one, Ellen insisted, should ever pay the first price asked. Once, Ellen paused in mid-bargaining to speak sternly to me in English. She told me to stop smiling and nodding; I was weakening her negotiating position. I was merely to look serious and answer quietly in English if a price was acceptable. Thus reprimanded, I retreated to the background and she returned to the verbal passage at arms.
In the States, I had never developed the skill for such wrangling; but here, as practiced by Ellen, it was a blood sport. On Hainan Island, I was not going to be allowed to pay full price for any souvenirs – not while Ellen was around. Once, after prolonged negotiations, I was finally allowed to purchase a simple tortoise shell ring which Ellen assured me was genuine tortoise. (These tortoises are apparently raised commercially on Hainan Island.) The ring was a quite small acquisition but Ellen’s eyes were shining and she was smiling and breathing heavily. Pride was involved. She had emerged victorious from an important commercial transaction.
Dinner that evening was at home and casual. More fresh fish, more fresh tropical fruit and vegetables, more rice, more local beer, more rat poison and yellow poison… more friendly faces. We were joined by neighbors and relatives who wanted to meet the foreign visitor. As we sat around the table in the ground floor dining room for the long, leisurely meal, we discussed many topics and world events. Most of these Hainan Islanders might lack a college education and world travel experiences but they were intelligent and informed - and opinionated - about world affairs.
After dinner, we went for a short walk to the center of the city. A special treat that first night in Qionghai was to sip refreshing coconut milk through a straw which had been inserted through the coconut’s eye, all the while watching as the shop keepers demonstrated their skill in preparing fresh – really fresh – coconut, using only large butcher knives to cut the edible portion into paper-thin slices.
On the way back to their home, we passed the middle school where Ellen’s mother taught. This was not at all a small, rustic schoolhouse. It was more like a college campus with multiple buildings and a full range of facilities. They take their education seriously on Hainan Island also. Ellen told me that these were old buildings, old enough to have been occupied by the Japanese in WWII and that, every time a typhoon passed through the area, people were afraid that they would blow away. But, like the local people, the school seemed pretty solid to me.
Even though this was late in the evening – nearly 9:00 PM – every room in the school was lit and full of students. As we walked through the buildings and courtyards, I could sense a wave of excitement in the young students as we passed each room. A foreigner! Politely but eagerly, everyone wanted to meet and talk with me. I was torn because it would have been a pleasure to stop and visit with the many smiling faces of young students eager to meet an American and speak in English. However, I was also concerned that my presence would be a major disruption in the quiet study atmosphere.
Fortunately, at that moment, a bell rang. The flood of students leaving for the day looked like any American middle school. The difference was that it was now nine o’clock at night. These Hainan Island kids worked very hard even at a very young age because the competition to get into college was so fierce.
I call it the “Economics of Education”. In China, there are simply not as many college classrooms as there are qualified students wanting to enter them. The lower population of Hainan Island might mean that there was slightly less pressure than on comparable students in Zhengzhou but, even for these local youngsters, that shortfall in resources still meant studying hard every day and every night. These kids and their parents knew that the best vehicle to success was through the opportunities offered by a college education - hence the intense competition to be accepted into college. That is why these young students were in their classrooms night after night.
We walked home again, still in the warm rain. Under normal conditions, three people under one umbrella might be a bit crowded; but I will gladly share an umbrella with two slender, beautiful girls like Angeline and Ellen anytime, especially if it is while walking in a gentle Qionghai rain. At home, Alexander let me use his computer and internet connection to check for email and, soon enough, it was time for bed.
No one had to sing me lullabies that night. The simple pleasures, long walks, good food, tropical climate, and glimpses into the daily lives of these friendly folks filled my day and my soul completely. I still had seen no mosquitoes. In the warm, humid night, I blessed the small air conditioner in the window of my third floor bedroom as I prepared to sleep.
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Tune in next week for further leisurely adventures and observations. And now for my weekly plea…
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