No More Cookies
2017-08-11
if you haven't been to to a place , you can't really get a full picture of it . you only get a gloomy scene that is painted by the media or the word of mouth. China has always been misrepresnted by the media or the people who falsely talk about China in general and Chinese food and culture in particular. My dear mother who has vener been to China was one of those people who were told inaccuratley about China.I did well in high school, and as a result I got scholarship to go to China to persue my undergradutes studies. I was 18 years old and I had no ides about China or even was able to say 你好. My mother didnt have much knowledge about China except that she had heard that Chinese people eat dogs and cats meats and all kinds of insects. As a loving mother , before my departure , she packed my suitcase with COOKIES for fear of going hungry and starve to death, only leaving a small space for a pair of pants and other bit and pieces.
I arrived at Beijing Foreign Studies University, and I wa received by the ladies in the reception and given a room in the school dorm. I dragged my heavy suitcase to the second floor, the next morning, the ladies in the front disk seemed very kind, they handed me six hundred RMB and a train ticket to shnaghai, the slow train that took about a day and a night. ON my way to the train station, I was scanning the streets right and left looking for ewsturants that serve cats and dogs meat but couldn't trace any of such a thing. I arrived at the train station, smelt something nice, I rushed over to buy some to fill my empty stomach, thanks to the six hundred RMB I got in my pocket. I took a bite of that thing that I didn't even know its name , and it was horrible. I coudn't swallow it so I threw it into the garbage and turned to the fruit store where i could get something that kept me alive on the train. I realized that bananas and apples are bigger in size but they don't taste that sweet.
On the train, I met an angelic lady, she looked like she was a college student, she talked to me in English, she asked where I came from and where I was heading. I asked her about her major and she told me that she was studing international relations. she was heading to another city, not to shanghai. The train seemed faster when i was talking to her and time passed very quickly. I tried to offer her some fruit but she rejected me saying that she had eaten instant noodles. It was the first time that i saw people lining up pouring hot water in order to prepare their most convenient kind of food.
I survived by eating the fruit I bought from the train station, everything seemed different, the people, the cars, the roads, the trees, even sunshine that penetrated the train's window appeared different. I forgot to ask her about the dogs and the cats meats, her beauty even made me to forget to ask her about her name. Names are not important, origins are pointless in the face of attraction. I arrived at shangai railway station , got off the train dragging my suitcase that conatined the only mean of my survival according to my mother. I saw passengers racing towards the exit so I followed them. I tried to stop random people in the street to ask some questions but I didn't succeed because all people seemed either rushing or couldn't speak english. I managed to get a taxi to take me to my intended school. Unfortunately, the taxi driver dropped me at the school gate where I had to walk for at least twenty minutes to get to the dorm. After a great effort of search for the dorm i settled in and i slept for 15 hours because of exhaustion and fatigue.
I woke up the next morning , went to the supermarket and grabbed a carton of milk. I tried to ask the sale assistant at the supermarket if there were cats and dogs meats but she said it didn't exist. I went back to my room carrying a the fresh milk in my hand , opened my treasure and took out some cookies. I started going out and explore China, I got to know things day by day and I found out that what I was told about Chinese culture, people and food was not accurate. Later, I fell in love with Chinese food, embraced Chinese culture and married a wonderful Chinese lady. Besides, the friends of my life today are Chinese. I have totaly changed my mind about China and I think that Chinese culture is misinterpreted in many parts of the world .
Thanks mom for your concern and the cookies but China is just cool...........
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