Snowflakes

I assume they think I am crazy. I sit in the restaurant still caught in the moment from a 2 hour massage. I glance around the restaurant looking at the people. It is a nice place, complete with overstuffed red damask chairs and table linens. I have been there once before and the staff seemes to remember me. I watch the people. This restaurant caters mainly to the tourist and the more affluent Chinese local. It's simply wonderful. A beautiful place to unwind and enjoy a delicious (inexpensive) meal.

As I sit at my table for two, the bus boy brings a table service set up for two. I explain it is 1, he seems sad that I am alone. I have learned to like eating alone, it affords me time to look, ponder the things going on around me and to write stories in my head. If there were someone with me the stories would not be in my head but conversation shared. For now they are storeis, wonderful happy stories to share with my family so they will feel like they are here with me.

It snowed like crazy all day long and still is as I write this. Sitting at my table in the restaurant I was glancing out the window, thinking about the red silk lanterns that were quickly being covered in snow. There was something oddly romantic about the snow and the lanterns. I can't quite explain it but it felt somewhat other-worldly. To see the walls of the Forbidden City (which lay 1/2 a block from the restaurant), the red silk lanterns, and the snow slowly increasing in depth on the branches of the nearby trees, well - it was reminescent of the kind of scene you would see in a movie.

The waitress allowed me my moments of solitude. She would smile as she walked by and when I asked for my check, (thinking I should surrender my spot) she smiled and said, "Can I bring you more hot water? It is cold and you have not had enough warmth, you can stay here as long as you like." It was endearing and I did take that second cup of hot water for my jasmine tea.

I watched the stories unfolding before my eyes. Did the fish in the tanks next to me realize that at a customers beckoning they would be plucked from their cozy little waters only to meet the hot side of a wok in the kitchen? I watched the restaurant manager scurry past me in his Miami Vice tight white pants. As he walked away I couldn't help but notice the stripes from his shirt were quite apparent under the white pants. I was hoping he did not have to bend over, I would have seen more of that shirt for I am almost certain the pants would split.

A business deal was 'going down' at a booth near me. The chef came out from the kitchen in his 18" paper chefs hat. In the 15 minutes he sat there he smoked about 6 cigarettes. He stood, they all shook hands, exchanged business cards, and then the chef had a beautiful dessert delivered to the table. I found myself wondering what they were talking about. In the same moment I thought, "Geeze that dessert looks good!"

Finally I left the comfort of the restaurant and entered the frozen world that was continuing to whiten, at a rather rapid pace now. I hailed a cab and the driver was so sweet. He practiced his english on me the entire way back to the hotel. He told me that the teacher is the Rich Man in China. I said, "Wow, in the USA they are not." That saddened me, our teachers work so hard.

I walked the 20 blocks to the huge market and bought a subwoofer and speakers to use with my computer or iPod for my class demonstrations. The school does not have such equipment (it was only $25 US ) but at the end of my course it will be gifted to them for future students to use. I also indulged and purchased some mandarin oranges and haw berries on a stick, the ones dipped in boiled sugar. I asked for it to go. He laid it on a paper, wrapped it and placed it in a long paper bag. Upon arriving back at my hotel I couldn't wait to taste it. The paper would NOT come off. I thought great, the plastic is stuck. I noticed it broke though, saran wrap does not break. I tasted a piece and realized it was rice paper. At least I am 'hoping' it is rice paper and not some high fructose melamine compound like they put in our dog food :)

I realize every day I am here there is a new story to tell, a new story to be written. I wish I could remember all the wonderful things that cross my mind in a day, but then I would be writing page after page. It's a wonderful land, a wonderful people, and a wonderful time to be alive. I find myself looking forward to each new day and each new experience no matter what it may be.

**** for everyone else this will look like any plate of rice noodles. For Jim and the boys however, these tasted just like the noodle we got in Xian. They were delicious and I wish so badly they could have shared them with me. ****