Life's Persistent Questions

Saturday, Nov 27.

Chilling at Dad's apartment in the morning. Watching Yao Ming and the Rockets sucking it up again against the Denver Nuggets. So much for the 1-2 combo of McGrady and Yao. There's actually a lot of sun on his balcony, 24 floors up, a rarity these days on the streets of Shanghai.

Lunch at my youngest aunt's place. All my dad's siblings and their spouses were there except my uncle and his wife, and grandma didn't come either. The table was decked out with cold appetizers, probably a dozen or more. And the main dish was the famous hairy crabs. I remember back in the day, it used to be such a big event. We ate it maybe once a year. The crab was such an extravagance for it costed a few RMBs each when most people's salaries were less than 100. Now these guys cost 40 or more RMBs, but the salaries of working people (as opposed to not working, XiaGang) are usually over 1000. I wonder if it's more shocking to the person that comes back to China occasionally or the ones who lived the incredible transformation. Still, I feel guilty eating four.

My dad taught my gf how to eat the leg meat. I never used to eat them. My mom usually take them out for me, or just take them away and let me eat the body. Dad made it really simple, and I cleaned off 8*3 legs in no time. Do I wish I could have learned the trick earlier from him, maybe. I guess better late than never, even if it's indirectly.

We ended up playing Majong in the afternoon, the traditional aftermeal get-together activity. Though I always wanted to play when younger, I feel utterly outmatched now that I'm sitting with the adults. Maybe it was the pressure of competition, or the non-stop mental calculation, or my eminent/gathering cold, it was very draining. And my dad was coaching me too. Unlike previous times, I'm okay with that too.

I had felt that my stay in Shanghai was too short this time. I had spent time with both sides of the family. They come from different backgrounds and have led different styles of lives and have had different experiences, but I can feel all of them are genuinely happy to see me. It would be egotistical to think that I alone have the power to bring them together to joke and laugh and drink and eat, but I'm glad that I could at least be an excuse to get them out of their busy daily lives and sit down for a relaxing time. Call it my chinese thanksgiving.

posted by hedgehog @ 9:22 PM