A Chinese Island Getaway
Trip Start
Jul 03, 2006
1
8
11
Trip End
Aug 21, 2006
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Nanji Island, China
Sunday, July 30, 2006
"What do you mean, tools?" my teacher asked.
"You know...tools...to pick the crab apart...hammer...pliers, etc."
"You use your teeth," she said, and she pulled a claw off of her crab and bit down on it until it broke.
After dinner, a bunch of us students took a walk down to the beach to see what we could see. It was just about dark and the first stars were coming out. We took off our shoes and began splashing around in the waves. Before we knew it had gotten really dark (not many lights to speak of on Nanji Island,) and stars were just popping out until the whole sky was illuminated in a dazzling celestial display. I had never seen so many stars in my life. The Milky Way was sparkling in all its glory. I just stood there, waves lapping at my feet, head tipped back, mouth open, eyes ogling the sky. Then the real treat began. Shooting stars. There was one about every ten minutes. I saw five total. My classmates saw more. In my whole life up until now I have only ever seen two shooting stars. To see five in one night really felt like a special treat.
Because we were getting up early the next day to watch the sunrise, I decided to call it a night early on Saturday (of course, this was after drinking one beer under the stars with my classmates.) I got back to the guesthouse around 9pm, hoping to take a shower before bed. When I got into the shower, I discovered that the hot water had been turned off. I had suspected that this might be the case, because our program director had told us that the hot water would be shut off at 7:30pm, but I just figured he was lying. He wasn't. I took a very quick, cold shower, which I actually didn't mind because we had been asked not to turn on the air conditioning. Then I crawled into board. I mean bed. That's what it was, of course...a board...with a blanket over it. Nanji Island is not world renowned for its luxury accommodations. (It is, however, known for its breathtaking, pristine ocean scenery, that I dare say, was just as pretty, if not prettier, than the southern coast of Taiwan.)
When the alarm went off at 4:15am, I was more than happy to get up and go to watch the sunrise. (I have a theory developing that China's rapid economic development can be attributed to the hardness of their beds. Think about it...who wants to sleep when it's actually more comfortable to get up and go to work?) Those of us that made it out of board were herded onto rickety busses that emitted pungent fumes. I wasn't quite in the mood for the smell of diesel so early in the morning, so I rolled up my window only to discover that the driver was smoking a cigarette. So, I rolled down my window again, preferring the other fumes. When we arrived at the sunrise viewing point 20 minutes later, we had to wait another hour for the sun to make its appearance. There were stubborn clouds blocking our view, but eventually the sun emerged and it was beautiful. Thus, a day of wandering, swimming, frolicking on the beach, and eating, you guessed it, seafood, commenced.
We had lunch on Nanji Island's main (only) street, which is lined with "restaurants" (read: shacks that server food.) Rather then offering menus, the "restaurants" display all of their recently caught seafood (still alive) in large red bins out on the street. You walk by and specifically pick out who you want to eat. While this is the freshest possible way to eat seafood, it can be a little unsettling. My friends and I decided that we wanted to try eel, so we ordered eel, and then I watched the waitress walk over to a tank, dip both of her (bare) hands in, and pull out a two foot long (wriggling) eel. This eel was not so keen on being eaten by us, and he squirmed out of the waitress's grasp, leapt to the floor, and slithered under a table. The waitress chased him down and grabbed him up, only to lose hold of him again. Three times the eel broke free and slithered along the floor until she finally grabbed him good and disappeared into the back. Ten minutes later he was cooked and on our plates. Part of me didn't feel right eating him after that, not just because he had been swimming around on the muddy floor, but mostly because his futile struggle for life had touched me. Then again, I don't think he was having too great a time of it in that little tank, so maybe it's best we put him out of his misery. And into our mouths. Where he tasted goooood.
At five o'clock, our day on the island had come to an end. Despite applying multiple coats of sunscreen, we were all sunburned and ready to wrap up our midterm/resort weekend. After a one-hour boat ride back to Rui An, and a five-hour bus ride back to Hangzhou, we arrived at our dorm at the wee hour of 1am. Our teachers took pity on us and agreed to start class Monday morning at 9 instead of 8am. I guess that's one advantage of hanging out with your teachers 24/7.
With that, another week of intensive Chinese begins. I hope all is well at home.
~Your Yin Yin
