6:31 AM, July 17--Harry Potter (again!), Bowling, and Feet

6:31 AM, July 17

Before Duo and Ying picked me up yesterday, I took a little walk in the neighborhood. I was vaguely trying to get to the Carrefour to buy another kitchen sponge, but was happy just to walk around--which is good, because I turned the wrong way at my first opportunity and didn’t go anywhere near big Maliandao Ave with tea shops and the Carrefour. I’m attaching the two photos I took yesterday, one of a river a couple of blocks away and another of a high-rise building beyond that. In back of where I took the photos (and where I came from), the buildings are much shorter, squatter, and dingier.

Duo and I spent a lot of time together yesterday (Ying was at the University, getting things ready for classes beginning next Tuesday.) He’s getting more and more confident about his English, so he chatters away (when Ying, his sister isn’t with us. When she’s here, he lets her do the talking.) As we were driving to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in English (with Mandarin subtitles), he told me the movie would be shorter here than in the U.S. I asked why, and he said the Government Office removes all lines that could be interpreted as having a political context. I have no idea if anything politically sensitive was removed, since all the film adaptations (and this one in particular) seem to me to be just rather arbitrary, episodic glimpses into the magical world of Harry and his companions.

I’m not a great fan of David Yates’s interpretation of the tales, preferring any of the three previous directors to him. Although I know that the books get darker and creepier as you-know-who gains ascendancy in the Hogwarts and Muggles world, I think Yates has slicked up the movies so Rowling’s clever integration of bildungsroman, adventure, magic, and heroic tale is diminished. I don’t know how anyone who hasn’t read the books can comprehend character development or tensions between the characters and their conflicting needs in this glitzy movie. I found myself during HP6 wishing for the cute Harry of the first few films. Daniel Radcliffe’s slight stature, tense jaw, and thin-lipped lack of emotion interrupted my enjoyment. Rupert Grimes’s Ron Weasley is as delightful as ever, and Emma Watson’s Hermione is, as ever, totally convincing.

Back to China. After the movie, Duo and I went to supper at a mall near the movie theatre. I had chicken satay and rice with peppers. He had chicken wings and rice. Both were tasty. Poor Duo and Ying keep handing me napkins, though, because I do drop food out of my chopsticks a lot. I haven’t quite got the hang of bringing my face way down close to the bowl and slurping, and instead bring the chopsticks to my mouth and dribble on my chin. I’ll get used to the Chinese style before the seven weeks are up, I’m sure. We chatted about lots of things--the movie we had seen, the dozens and dozens of army (green uniforms) and air force (blue uniforms) we had seen wandering through the underground mall where the cinema is. Many were carrying brown bags, and we saw a bunch coming from one end, so we had gone to check it out: it looked as if there had been a party at a bowling alley. Yes, bowling alley. Large, colorful balls and tenpins. I tried to explain candlepin bowling to Duo, and he sort of crossed his eyes and made a face. “Why another kind of bowling?” There were also numerous athletic clubs on this level of the mall, including a women-only club with numerous handsome, young, muscular male attendants visible & squash and basketball courts with adolescents playing.

(Incidentally, I have seen remarkably few people my age and only one pregnant person, although quite a few babies and toddlers--often with grandmothers. Mandatory retirement age for everyone is 55, but some government offices and companies require people to step down at 50.)

Back to supper. After our main meal, Duo was really, really, excited to bring me to Honeymoon Desserts, a new restaurant from Hong Kong, which serves his favorite concoctions. The one he ordered for us (and why didn’t I take a picture?) came in a pretty square bowl: milky (coconut milk, I think) pudding, with a corner of smushed Dragon Fruit (looks like fish roe) and bits of melon floating through. First you mix it all together. Since I’m determined not to be a wimp (although I told Duo I just couldn’t eat pig intestines or bugs), I did what Duo did and scooped up a spoonful. It really was quite refreshing, with a delicate flavor and cooling effect. (Peggy Van & Sue Morash will be interested to note that another item on the menu was a Durian dessert, but Duo said he doesn’t like it because it smells too bad!)

I guess I’m long-winded this morning, so I’ll jump to the final event of the day: hour-long Chinese foot massages. We met Ying at a place quite near my apartment and were greeted by a lovely young woman in red qi pao (the mandarin-collared dress you think of as being traditional Chinese) who led us to a comfortable room with couches where Ying and I removed our shoes and reclined. Two healthy, athletic young men came in with little plastic tool kits and plastic-lined bamboo tubs. We soaked our feet while the men massaged our arms (lots of slapping and pulling and a fabulously relaxing effect). Then on to the feet--reminded me of the foot reflexology massage I’d once had, along with what I get with my regular massages--but much more intense. Felt great, actually. Lots of lotions and warm towels. All the time this was going on, Ying and I were watching the equivalent of American Idol--called Pretty Girls or something like that, and also another show which was a contest to see which Westerner could speak Chinese the best. When they were done, the guys reminded Ying to tell me to drink plenty of water (to remove the toxins) and also promised that I would sleep well, which I did except for my usual hour being up in the middle of the night.

Enough for today. Thanks for reading.