Friday, July 13, 2007

When We Were Kings

Your buck goes a lot farther in China than in the USA, particularly with regard to labor-intensive products. Such as massages. This evening Ryan, several teachers, and I treated ourselves to a mid-range massage that included a brief back massage followed by intensive foot massaging followed by ginger treatment. Two hours later, as the burning ginger sensation from our legs was wearing off, we paid our 70 kuai ($10) and returned home.

Massages are certainly one of the perks of life in China for foreigners. Next time I plan to experiment with some of the more elaborate massage offerings. I may decide not to bring along Ryan, as his pale and smooth skin attracts all of the compliments from the massage ladies. His masseuse suggested he get an advertising gig that would allow him to model his legs. She did not say, however, whether she thought he would be modeling women's high heels or men's running shoes. Highlights of our little cultural exchange in the massage parlour included trying to explain UVA's mascots (Cavalier and Wahoo) to our teachers and to the masseuses. We didn't get much farther than Oliver Cromwell and drinking beer.

Prior to this outing, I was invited by my earlier homestay-family to the Shanghai Symphony's season closing performance of Mozart and Bizet. In bow tie and my newly made linen jacket I arrived approximately 40 minutes late, though fortunately Mrs. Chen had given me the concert ticket yesterday and I strode in with the late comers during the first intermission. Why so late you ask? I had made the mistake of assuming that Friday evening traffic was better than Friday rush hour traffic. Thus after 30 minutes, I exited my taxi half a mile from where I had started and began jogging to the metro station where I launched my sweaty self onto the next train heading towards Pudong, nearly the opposite side of Shanghai. After arriving at the designated station, I flew up the stairs and was conveniently propositioned by a dozen motorcycle taxi's. As we blazed down the wide boulevard's of Pudong I deftly secured my bow tie around my neck and at long last made it to the Shanghai Art Center's concert hall. The performance was quite enjoyable, although I was certainly the only one in the audience with a buttoned collar, let alone jacket.

2 comments:

Eduardus Benedictus said...

Fruitcake.

Anonymous said...

Decadent big-nosed, western ghosts! (I've enjoyed the reading your posts - much less angry than my own during my time at East Normal I'd have to say.)