5 May 2016 Thursday Hangzhou, China
An interesting day. I was up early and working and then hungry by seven, but nothing was open except a convenience store. I wanted an apple, but all that was available were nori-wrapped rice rolls filled with some kind of Japanese somethings and pickles. And did not that work out perfectly, because I was able to keep going on that meal for much of the day. If I had had my apple, I would have fainted away by eleven, which would have quite been disastrous, as the day unfolded. INtereting how beautifully things can work out without our personal planning.
The car service was to pick me up at 9:15, and at 9:15 I was ready. But no car service appeared – some kind of a mixup, and so much the better. I met a young Korean with similar problem, and we decided to share a cab. But then, he suggested we take the public transportation; he speaks Chinese and knows how to get around Shanghai. And so we did just that, and I had somebody guide me through that maze and carry my suitcase down the stairs to boot; there are very few escalators in China stations. We had a delightful time, talking about shared interests, and now I have a good contact when i begin the Korea work.
He also pointed me in the right direction to get the bus tp Hangzhou. I arrived in Hangzhou in the rain. My raincoat is in the backseat of Lori’s car. But I have an umbrella, and anyway, the rain stopped when I got off the bus in Hangzhou.
A young graduate student currently studying in Tokyo, who speaks English and Japanese (he taught himself Japanese without using Pimsleur) along with his native Chinese, talked the only taxi driver there – a most disreputable-looking man driving a more disreputable-looking cab – into taking me to Zhejiang Hotel (which it turns out is FAMOUS), which is where the Colloquium is being held. Oh my! Believe me, this is where the wealthy Chinese go -or at least one of the places. I had no idea he Colloquium would be held is such splendid surroundings.
My room is much larger than Lori’s apartment. I have a bath and a shower, all new and spacious and upscale. Rich dark glowing wood.panels and trim and high ceilings and a bed that appears twice as big as a king. The flat screen TV is bigger than yours. A chaise lounge and a couch and side chairs, beautiful desk and and soft indirect lighting and towels as thick as sheepskin and some sort of manmade-material bathrobes with a $275 price tag (sorry – not as comfortable as the much less-expensive, real-cotton bathrobes at the Rayfont in Shanghai), bath salts by the beautiful tub. I took a long hot bath and looked, but did not read, a Chinese newspaper delivered by a sweet faced Chinese lass. Lass? Young girl who looked twelve but was probably a woman of twenty five.
Dinner was an experience. I elected to go to the Chinese restaurant. The Zhejiang Hotel has both a Western restaurant and a Chinese restaurant, and everyone seemed a bit upset that I wanted to go to the Chinese Restaurant.
In China, there is none of this cordial greeting stuff and smiling and bowing. None of this “Welcome to our Hotel” and “What can we do for you” or “Please enjoy your stay.” Oh no, no. The receptionist or the concierge sort of glare at you, and if you ask a question in English or bad Mandarin (or even good Mandarin), they laugh politely at you and reply in sometimes hard-to understand English, and you are on your own.
But this is not personal. It is just the Chinese way. At least they do not shout a you, as they do at each other. It is rather refreshing. It beats the excessive smiles of American broadcasting, and it lets you know where you stand.
But I am in China! I can eat the best Western food in the world in Ashland. The menu was in comprehensible, even with the English subtitles, which told you what but no idea if things were small appetizers or full entrees. I had had such luck with noodles on the street mso I decided to do it again for dinner. Not to be recommended. Here is the money ad the posh and the upscale, but
when I asked at the Chinese restaurant, “What do you recommend?” I received only a look of terror and puzzlement, and when I rephrased the question, thinning they did not understand the English, only complete bewilderment followed.
So I ordered noodles, which were about as good as the street noodles for many more times the price, in a delicious broth. How do you eat noodles in an upscale Chinese restaurant?
My noodles were delivered to me in a good-sized mixing bowl with a fork plunged into the noodles. What do you do with a fork in a mixing bowel with noodles? You cannot wrap the noodles around the fork. Believe me, I tried. The spoon that came with the table setup was demi-tasse size. Finally, I just lifted up the bowl and slurped away. And the noodles I slurped a bit too. Nobody was in the restaurant anyway, except four Chinese – apparently hotel workers from the way they were dressed – slouched at the table,a each man silently studying his smart phone. The Chinese and whoever else was at the hotel were at the Western restaurant? or maybe not eating until quite late, as they do in Spain?
I still have to rehearse my presentation. I hope everyone feels I am worth the price of this very expensive hotel room for five nights. And I forgot to describe the grounds that surround the Hotel – a rich green bank of trees and plantings that stretches the entire length of the bedroom wall and to the top of the tall ceiling in the window wall of this room.. Tomorrow, I will walk around and see them, not in the sunlight. Rain is forecast for the next few days At least I have waterproof shoes. If they can go in the washer, they can go in the rain.
