Chinese Grandmas are the best!
2014-04-27
I think this past Saturday was one of the best ones I've had in ages. You all know about my back issues. If not, check out my previous two blogs for more information...so a day where I was more or less back to normal, enjoying the lovely Beijing sun and oncoming summer weather was long overdue.I had my third session of acupuncture that morning. All was (more or less) normal: a nice 45 minute massage, followed by 30 minutes of acupuncture. The only difference was having some needles poked into my scalp. Very painful, but the guy was really nice and understanding.
Following acupuncture, I attended and volunteered at a school event for about two hours. It was nice seeing parents, eating delicious catered food from Schillers and hanging out with the kids at my school. I may have also gotten to enjoy a nice glass of white wine in the warm sun...
Afterwards, my husband and I decided to pay a little visit to Wangfujing. He is currently preparing for the Great Wall Marathon and needed to look for some new running shoes to break in before the big day. I had no real reason for going. I just wanted to continue enjoying being able to walk (although somewhat shakily) and maybe buy a few things to cheer me up. Nothing of great consequence happened while there. It was rather the bus ride back home that proved to be the most interestingly awkward part of my day. To be expected from me of course if you've read any of my previous blogs!
We got onto the bus, and I found one of those raised parts of the floor where the bus tires are to sit down on since my back was starting to hurt. In any case, I sat there for a while, not thinking about much, until my back started to hurt from sitting down for too long. I soon got back up on my feet and chatted away the time with my hubby. That's when the fun began.
Sometimes when you travel in crowded areas like the bus or subway, you're bound to have the occasional run in with people. They accidentally step on your feet, knock you on your side when buses stop too quickly, the usual. Sometimes, in my experience, dudes get a little fresh and take advantage of the close quarters and sneak a pinch. (To that I always answer with a swift elbow to the abdomen.) The bus ride home wasn't particularly this kind of crowded, so I was surprised to feel a small something rubbing across my bum, left to right, right to left...
I knew there was no one behind me. So my first instinct was that it was probably someone's shopping bag. That theory immediately went down the toilet when the left to right, right to left pressure got harder, more purposeful. I knew it wasn't a man this time around since I was fairly aware of the people around me.
"Please be a cheeky kid, please be a cheeky kid," I began to chant to myself as the wiping motion continued.
It was then that I decided to turn around and see what's was happening to my bum. I was met with the wide, friendly smile of a Chinese grandma. She was wiping stuff that I had apparently got on my bum from sitting on the floor.
I don't think any stranger has ever treated me that nicely. Anyway, not nice enough to wipe junk off the bum of a complete stranger. Needless to say she got a big "Xie xie!" from me for her random act of kindness.
I think those things are implied! Love eating some food cooked by a wonderful Chinese grandma!
That story did not end how I expected. I thought you were going to say something about their amazing food and kind hearts! Still amusing though.
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