Thursday, September 01, 2005

It spits in your eye and then embraces you

I was listening to NPR this morning, and a reporter who has been assigned to China for the past 6 years is leaving, so he was giving his "goodbye report". It was so interesting, because it was basically him showing all the great contraditions that come from going to China- the loving and loathing at the same time. The feeling that somedays you have it all figured out, and somedays you want to give up on the whole country. But at the beginning he starts it off something like this "it's 6:00 and I'm just leaving my office. I walk outside to the hustle and bustle of the busy streets and I hear a man clear his throat loudly and spit veraciously, just missing my shoe, and I thought, boy and I'm going to miss this place" and all at once I am grossed out, but strangly missing it, too.

Here is the link to his thoughts, I was ENTHRALLED. I def. think it's worth listening to:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4827736

2 comments:

Phil said...

I was just looking through my China pictures on Snapfish the other day...I miss it too.

Anonymous said...

have i ever asked for forgiveness for the fact that so much of your china experience I do not know, nor have I worked hard to find out about?
Consider this that, my plea for forgiveness. I was just thinking about this driving home yesterday, that there must be so much about that time that you've not been able to share with us. For that I am sorry. I love you.