Dumplings and Ginkos
Nov. 14th, 2016 07:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraLiRong and her family showed up unexpectedly yesterday with a huge sack of homemade dumplings in tow, which she and her husband then proceeded to cook for us:
She’d brought me gifts! And hugged me quite tenderly and said, “I miss you!” And I wondered: Does she really miss me or is this a phrase she’s learned that Americans like to say to one another in greeting?
I will reciprocate by going to a bookstore some time in the next couple of weeks and buying her adorable and incredibly precocious daughter Emily a bunch of books. Emily was hauling around an obviously much-loved up copy of Madeleine, and I surprised myself by quoting the first two lines from memory:
In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ...
Since I haven’t read the book since I was eight or so, I was impressed with myself.
LiRong and SiYuan are about to shell out half a million bucks for a house in Pelham. They put offers down on two coops in the Bronx but were rejected by the coop board.
“I don’t know why,” said LiRong.
“Racism,” I said.
“Yes, I think,” said LiRong. “We need more money than the white people.” She shrugged.
She is currently working two jobs, which comes to approximately 90 hours a week! She does more shrugging when I mention that this is a staggering number of hours. “Yes, but then we put half cash down for house. And 15-year mortgage. 3.4%.”
All the naturalized Chinese people she knows voted for Trump. “Trump is good for business,” she said.
I rather think she voted for Trump too, but was much too tactful to admit it in this company.
Emily is finally learning to speak Chinese. “But, you know, she is scared Chinese people," LiRong said. "You see she is very friendly with you, with Linda! But with Chinese people, she hides her face. She is very shy.”
Anyway, a jolly evening.
During the day, I went out on a loooong hike since the temps were over 60, and I’m not sure how many more opportunities there will be for loooooong hikes in 2016:
This, just so you know, is the largest ginko tree in Dutchess County:
I’m feeling restless, a tad disoriented. There are just so many alternate universes I want to visit, and I don't think I'll have the chance to visit very many.
She’d brought me gifts! And hugged me quite tenderly and said, “I miss you!” And I wondered: Does she really miss me or is this a phrase she’s learned that Americans like to say to one another in greeting?
I will reciprocate by going to a bookstore some time in the next couple of weeks and buying her adorable and incredibly precocious daughter Emily a bunch of books. Emily was hauling around an obviously much-loved up copy of Madeleine, and I surprised myself by quoting the first two lines from memory:
In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines ...
Since I haven’t read the book since I was eight or so, I was impressed with myself.
LiRong and SiYuan are about to shell out half a million bucks for a house in Pelham. They put offers down on two coops in the Bronx but were rejected by the coop board.
“I don’t know why,” said LiRong.
“Racism,” I said.
“Yes, I think,” said LiRong. “We need more money than the white people.” She shrugged.
She is currently working two jobs, which comes to approximately 90 hours a week! She does more shrugging when I mention that this is a staggering number of hours. “Yes, but then we put half cash down for house. And 15-year mortgage. 3.4%.”
All the naturalized Chinese people she knows voted for Trump. “Trump is good for business,” she said.
I rather think she voted for Trump too, but was much too tactful to admit it in this company.
Emily is finally learning to speak Chinese. “But, you know, she is scared Chinese people," LiRong said. "You see she is very friendly with you, with Linda! But with Chinese people, she hides her face. She is very shy.”
Anyway, a jolly evening.
During the day, I went out on a loooong hike since the temps were over 60, and I’m not sure how many more opportunities there will be for loooooong hikes in 2016:
This, just so you know, is the largest ginko tree in Dutchess County:
I’m feeling restless, a tad disoriented. There are just so many alternate universes I want to visit, and I don't think I'll have the chance to visit very many.
