Kindness

I woke to an apparently different China this morning. After catching 10 ambien free hours of sleep I decided a massage was in order. Calling my massage parlor, The Dragonfly, the receptionist promptly made me an appointment. I left about 50 minutes early so that I could hail a cab and get there with time to spare. Upon reaching the curb (where over 20 taxi's had been lined up earlier) there was not a taxi to be found. I finally hailed one only to be told he didn't know the way there, and he left. This happened 4 more times over the next 30 minutes.

Knowing I was just going to the Dragonfly and then back to my hotel I did not dress in layers. I didn't want to have to shed all of that clothing once I arrived. I was starting to get very frustrated, knowing I would be at least 15 minutes late if I were to catch a taxi within the next 5 minutes. I stood there, arm outstretched, when a Chinese man approached the corner, threw his hand in the air and immediately got a cab. I looked at him with a disappointed face apparently, and he motioned for me to come and take the cab. First act of kindness.....

I opened the front door, showed the driver the business card, he studied it and then bid me get in. I sat in the front by him and he looked over and rubbed my arm, letting me know I did not have heavy enough clothing on. He turned his heater on and motioned for me to warm up. As we continued the journey he would reach over, touch my arm and adjust the heat. Second act of kindness......

As the cab ride continued, I received a surge in emails. Sometimes they hold up for hours and then all come through at once. Suddenly my phone was going crazy as there were over 20 messages that came through. Jim had sent me many photos of the baby goats and at each stop light I would lean over and share them with the driver. He would smile and I would tap myself on the chest saying, "My goats." He would just laugh.

I arrived 20 minutes late. The lady at the front desk (who speaks beautiful English) gleefully accepted my tardiness and apologized that I would have to wait 5 minutes for a room to be prepared. (At home, cancellation would have been made and payment expected), but she went out of her way to accommodate me, I even got Dennis, the same boy who has rubbed me the previous times. Third act of kindness.......

Arriving back at the hotel, it was mid afternoon and I hadn't eaten in almost 20 hours. I was getting very hungry. I decided to see if the hotpot restaurant was open thinking it might be easier to eat there during off peak hours. I walked in, the boy at the door loudly announced something and then seated me. I looked up and around the corner came the little waitress who helped me the other night. I was obviously NOT in her seating area but she joyfully came to help me, smile on her face.

I looked up and said, "Hello! I mean, Ni Hao." She laughed and said, "Hallo." She handed me the menu and saw that I was getting it figured out. I ordered what I thought was a set menu where you get 2 side items, so I picked 2 sides. She wrote them on the order slip for me this time so I did not have to struggle and when I pointed to beer on the menu she laughed and patted my arm, somewhat like, 'oh, I remember you. Beer drinking woman.'
She prepared my sauce for me and remembered my likes and dislikes. It was wonderful. After she brought my food she looked at me and said, (in very broken English) "Not so bad this time, huh?" Fourth act of kindness......

I learned that hotpot is an individualized dish for the Chinese much like BBQ is for the American.
There was a very handsome, stately older man sitting across from me. When he came in he had his own bottle of sauce to dip his cooked foods into. As I looked around the restaurant I noticed many had their own bottles of various sauces. I am attaching the dishes that I got with my hotpot today. I ate much of it but again, it was way too much food. I ate the weird little fish roll they had on my platter but I did avoid the pressed cakes of pork blood.

On the way home I was walking past the bicycle repair cart. I looked and saw a man in bright red baseball cap sitting on a chair with his head down. It saddened me, I had hoped it would be my friend, (he always wears a big furry Russian Army hat). As I approached, I slowly (trying not to be obvious) leaned a little to peer under the baseball cap to see if it was him. Just then he lifted his head, and as fast as could speak he muttered the words, "Hallo, Ni....umm, Ni Hao." I smiled and said, "Hello!" He just laughed and laughed. We tipped our heads and nodded at each other. As I walked away my heart just lifted three notches and I know I had a new added bounce in my step. Fifth act of kindness......

Reaching a new level of tired today I came back to the hotel and slept for a couple of hours. I just finished 4 hours of homework and have about 3 to go. I will work on that tomorrow. I have scheduled another massage in the morning and Dennis is on my request list. I will sleep well tonight and possibly go to the Temple of Heaven tomorrow. I find that I am not in a rush anymore. I take each day moment by moment. I am learning not to be in a constant hurry or try to force things to happen. For now my focus is on school and getting my certification and making sure that those I teach did not come to my lesson and leave empty.

Upon reflecting over the day, a thought came into my mind. I have heard it said that the richness of a nation is found in it's people. If that is true, China showed it's richness today, for this I am grateful