Shrooms

12/2/11

            This isn’t my story, but I feel you all will appreciate it anyway. Last night Andrew’s host family served mushrooms. Now these were the most delicious mushrooms he had ever tasted.  Andrew was gobbling them down, when his mother told him not to eat too many, or he would “see little people.” Today in class Andrew asked Charles (our Chinese teacher) if his family had had him shrooming. The way Charles explained it was, “Yunnan has 250 types of mushrooms. 80 of them are just a little bit poisonous.” We all got quite a kick out of that one.

            The mushroom conversation led to a conversation on drugs in China in general. Did you know that drug dealing is punishable by death here? Marijuana, however, is not considered a drug. Many just call it “the local cigarette.” Apparently it grows naturally here. It’s a weed, just as its nickname would indicate. Charles said there’s even some growing at the zoo!

            He was surprised that we hadn’t gone any place that served us marijuana tea yet. In Peru we were drinking coca (of the cocaine family) tea, and here we’ve got marijuana tea. What’s next? Heroin tea in India? Crystal Meth tea in South Africa?

            We learned so many random facts in Chinese class today! We were all horrified to learn that the police kill several street vendors every year. Right here in Kunming! They call it “keeping the streets clean.” We all took it very hard, because we all share a deep love for the street vendors. That and the atrocity being committed against humanity.  

            Last random fact, I promise! Charles says that men here are encouraged to smoke instead of eating snacks. Apparently eating snacks is a sign that a man is gay. I love Charles, but I’m not sure I believe him on this one.

            I thought that my homestay parents were pronouncing things differently from one another, but today Charles confirmed my suspicions. One of my parents is indeed causing me to develop a regional accent. As if Chinese weren’t hard enough! Now I have to figure out what’s Mandarin, and what’s part of the local dialect. I think it’s my mother’s fault. I know, always blame the mother. I’m not sure how to ask, but I think she’s one of the regional minorities. So the accent would make sense. My reasoning is that both she and her sister have curly hair, darker skin, and fuller lips. And well, it’s Yunnan.

            Tonight I attended my second Chinese wedding. That makes 33% of all the weddings I’ve attended in my life Chinese! It was the same deal as the first wedding. Same giant wedding complex, same quick ceremony, same hundreds of casually dressed guests. The only difference was that there was more entertainment and the food was not as good. During the meal, three girls (just like at the restaurant after the Bird and Flower Market) performed half-hearted dances. Afterwards, a man who I swear was the Chinese version of Agustin Magaldi took the stage, and began belting what I can only assume was a Chinese version of “On this Night of a Thousand Stars.”

Love,

Katherine