No Buy, No Go Home

If I had to compare Changde to a city in the US…I would probably say Hartford, Connecticut.  It’s not even the main city in the Hunan Province. The main city is called Changsha. It’s about a two and a half hour drive away. I would compare Changsha to Cleveland, Ohio.

Last weekend my host family went to stay in their house in Changsha, and took me with them. Going on a road trip is a big step to take with a homestay family. You reaaaally get to know their weak spots, their pressure buttons. For my particular family it was parallel parking. My homestay father would get out of the car, and scream at his wife. My homestay sister would also get out of the car, and whine/scream at her father. My homestay mother would be silent at the wheel, proving all sorts of Asian stereotypes. The process could take up to fifteen minutes. Now I understand what it must have been like for Au Pairs who took vacations with my family. Sometimes you have to take a page from The Princess Bride and take your mind away.

The purpose of the trip was shopping. I bought a blouse they said made me look, “very white.” This is the highest of compliments in China. Betty’s (my homestay sister) only-child-syndrome came out in a major way. There was a pair of shorts her mother really didn’t like, and when Betty was in the changing room she exhaustedly turned to me and said, “I don’t like. But Betty fourteen. No buy, no go home.” That’s the biggest problem with the One Child policy (besides the rights violation): it creates a country full of only children.

Even more than the shopping, my family was excited about the restaurants. The first night they were thrilled to take me to a “Western” restaurant. There I watched people eating spaghetti with chopsticks and ice cream out of bread bowls. And the funniest thing happened. (I should preface this with saying that I eat A TON of street food.) For the first time since I’ve been in China, the food didn’t quite agree with me.  

The next day my family took me to an all you can eat buffet. Direct quote from Betty: It’s very expensive, so we have to eat a lot. And let me tell you, they took all you can eat as a personal challenge. Okay I stole that phrasing from Malcolm in the Middle. But they did! I did my famous/infamous disappearing act with steamed shrimp dumplings. I watched my homestay father eat six pieces of pizza, four pieces of lamb, and least eight salmon sashimis, and four bowls of Haagen-Dazs. And those are just the items I can remember!