Last Wednesday
After class last Wednesday, Monica and I were on our way to Yuan-yuan when Artur called. He hadn’t been to class in at least three days and I was a little worried but also knew it was most likely due to hanging out in the bars too much. He said he had caught the flu and was feeling terrible. I was about to offer to bring him juice when he asked if we were going to my favorite restaurant. It appeared his flu had released him just in time for lunch. I told him the address and Monica and I continued on our way. We arrived earlier than I have in the past – now knowing when they close for the afternoon – and there was more going on than usual. Monica and I found a little table by the window and were beginning to order when Artur called saying his taxi didn’t understand the road name. I handed the phone to Lawson who quickly told the taxi driver where to go. The next thing we knew, Artur was at the door.
Artur being a handsome, tall, Polish gentleman, the first thing Lawson wanted to know was, “Is this your boyfriend?” When I told him no, he asked demandingly, “Why isn’t he your boyfriend?” Artur has missed so much class that Chinese is more than a foreign language to him - it is a guilty headache. He sat looking helplessly while Lawson berated him for not being my boyfriend. I told Lawson that A. Artur had a girlfriend in Poland and B. he was too young. Lawson nodded approvingly at me, but noticing that Artur didn’t understand a word, started holding up both of our hands and shouting Chinese at Artur. At one point, he looked beseechingly at me and said, “Can we be boyfriend/girlfriend today so that I can get something to eat and a little peace and quiet?”. Luckily for both of us, Lawson gave up and started in on Monica.
Again we were on the verge of ordering when Lawson said, “I know what you want!”, wrote down a few things and ran off into the kitchen. Monica looked at me worriedly and said, “I’m not eating duck’s blood again!” However, I think Lawson was as much worried about food going to waste as Monica and Artur were worried about eating strange foods and we were given very normal and palatable dishes: beef and peppers, eggplant and gravy, and egg-fried rice. Artur kept going on and on about how great the food was, how wonderful the people were, and how he was never going out with the other foreigners from class again. He was fixated on a sandwich he had bought the day before that was 40 kuai and only had one piece of pastrami on it.
We managed to eat all of our food, with me taking the last bit of fried rice to go, and had drank at least ten beers among the three of us, with Monica calling to cancel her afternoon class and we each paid only 40 kuai. This really got Artur going, of course. On our way out of the restaurant, we met Lawson returning from the bank and he told me again that I could come for dinner whenever I chose. I hope to go for dinner with Monica and Artur and maybe Monica’s roommate before I leave SH this week.
Artur, Monica and I stood on the curb outside the restaurant wondering what to do next. Artur offered a bottle of vodka and it was decided. We’d return to my apt. and drink vodka and lemon over ice for the rest of the afternoon. It was high time for the Pole, the Mexican and the American to get to know each other better.
Wow, what an afternoon!
I drank too much, to be sure, but I really got to know my two classmates, and though I already knew Monica would be a friend for life, I can count Artur as a truly special individual as well…
We told our life histories. We told our dreams. We told our worst breakup stories. Monica hasn’t had one yet and Artur and I tried to one up each other, with Monica all the while saying, “Oh, it is too sad, too sad!” – even though Artur and I were laughing about our pasts. With these two, I don’t feel so old, which makes me think I can learn a lot from them. At other times, though, I found myself playing the quiet listener and wondering, “Do we ALL have to go through these doubts?!?!” It was a lovely, drunky afternoon and I will not forget it soon.
After a while, Artur having been drinking two drinks for each of Monica and my one, said he had to “go somewhere” for a while, and disappeared. Monica and I talked about inequality – me crying and beating my hand on the table, and then about men and the difficult decision of choosing between two potential mates, her almost crying and beating her hand on the table, and then Artur returned to find his bottle empty and we went out to dinner.
After dinner, all a little tipsy, we found a cab for Monica – at first the red cab didn’t understand any of us and we had to pull her out of it – and Artur and I bought ice cream and walked happily back to Shen Tian Di for the night.
