Down by the Water at Hong Feng Lake

Down by the Water at Hong Feng Lake

Gentle Reader,

After indulging in a meat-centric Chinese BBQ, several of us walked down to the lake.  Our seating for the BBQ is a little walk up from the water, where there are grills, mahjong tables to rent, and vendors selling fired up coals, vegetables, beer, watermelon, and a variety of other picnic accouterments.  

Once down by the water, I discovered that most of the folks donned some sort of life preserver:  blow up arm floaties, vests with inflated compartments, etc...  Having been raised in Michigan around so many lakes, I think I take for granted that most people know how to swim.  Not so here.  I talked with several of my students who had frightening experiences in the water in primary school and have vowed never to enter a lake again.  Many of the mothers down by the water had rigged up string around their wrists to connect themselves to their sons/daughters who were floating around in innertubes.  

Several of the women also shielded themselves from the sun with umbrellas or scarves draped over head and face.  The Chinese women want to keep their skin fair, but the Chinese men don't seem to mind getting a suntan.  One of my students offered several times to shield me from the sun with her umbrella.  I kept showing her my dark skin on my arms, letting her know that I was okay with the sun darkening my skin.  

It was indeed a pleasant day, as I was able to have several one-on-one conversations with my students.  Occasionally, a new student would just appear next to me, and we chatted while our feet dangled in the water.  I learned that one of my students is planning to marry in a year.  Her boyfriend is a police officer.  This student, Sinley, reminds me very much of Vivi, another student from our 2011 teaching here in Guizhou.  Sinley, like Vivi, is filled with a contagious enthusiasm for everything and everyone.  From another student, I learned that she has a boyfriend whom her family completely accepts, and that she plans to marry in three or four years.  "I am not in a hurry," she told me.  Another woman talked with me about being a single mom and raising her ten year old son.  The boy's father is a businessman who "doesn't have much time to see his son because he is very busy, " she told me.  She also let me know that she is very happy and doing just fine raising her son on her own.  She would like to find a partner who would be a good father to her son, but currently she is not seeing anyone.  Scott and I talked about this in the evening, and we may try to do a little matchmaking between Nicole and his student Jun.  Scott's student Jun, who is also divorced, has a primary school aged daughter, and he is yearning for some companionship  Perhaps I will be the Yente of Qing Zhen!!!!

Namaste,

Marianne/Bailing.