Lately I have been hanging out at KFC more than usual, because it brings back lots of good memories of good times in the Middle Kingdom.
I suppose you are aghast at the news that KFC holds a special place in anyone's heart. But you should know that KFC in Asia is a zillion times better than KFC in America, not only in my opinion, but in the opinions of other Americans who travel here also. It is extremely clean, modern, efficient and clean (I said that twice on purpose). The food selection is somewhat different than in America, and I generally like it. But it is less the food, more the ambience, that makes KFC's in China memorable.
KFC is a sign of a modern city. When I ask someone about a city in China, and I'm trying to find out how developed it is, the first question I ask is if it has KFC and how many. Because KFC is always the first to go in to a developing city (followed MANY years later by McDonalds and/or Pizza Hut). Any city with a KFC is a pretty okay city. Any city with all three is a city to be reckoned with.
When I lived in Bedrock, I almost fainted in shock when I saw the first KFC go up many years ago. In a city of a couple of million people, all we could eat was Chinese food until then. KFC was far too expensive for the average person to go to, so only the wealthy people in town would go there. Fashionable moms would take their children to the play area. Wealthy and educated people who wanted to show they were internationally minded would go there to meet others like them. I can't even count how many acquaintances and friends I made at a KFC. It was exciting, fun and clean!
Sometimes I would go there 2-3 times a week. If I worried about the effects of fried chicken on my heart health, I just drank coffee. It was my home away from home.
I miss those days, when everything was new and exciting. I still like to go to KFC, to remember the old times, but these days most people are too sophisticated to walk over to a foreigner to start a conversation. So I am happy to sip my citrus tea (pictured above) and reminisce.
There is a vicious dog in the neighborhood. She is not very big, but she is mean, baring her teeth and growling like she wants to kill someone. I think Mimi and I are on her menu.
Unfortunately, we ran across the little brown mutt yesterday. She came running over a hill and was MAD, about to take a bite out of one of us. I swooped Mimi into my arms to protect her, kind of like this:
(Apparently this is common behavior for dog owners. It looks somewhat less silly when I do it though, because Mimi's no bigger than a baby.)
With Mimi slung over my shoulder like a burping baby, and loaded with all the information that I saw on National Geographic's "Dog Whisperer" TV show this past Sunday, I stood my ground, pointed my finger at the mean brown dog, and in my best teacher's voice told that dog to cut it out and go home.
After a minute or two of this, the dog tucked her mean teeth back inside her mouth and seemed to calm down, but didn't go away. My goal was to send that dog packing, back to her home (her unattentive master lives in my apartment complex). I was going to win this battle.
I continued wagging my index finger at her, telling her in English to go away and leave us alone, when all of a sudden a Chinese man, a neighbor, walked up with the most incredulous look on his face. He looked at the mean dog, then he looked at me and said, "She understands English???!!"
It felt like I had cotton in my ears, because surely he didn't just ask that. He knew the mean brown dog was not my dog and that we were having an unfriendly standoff.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Does that dog know English?" he wanted to know.
All sorts of inappropriate answers swam through my mind. 'Yes, I hold a weekend class for all the dogs in the neighborhood.' Or maybe some response like, 'Yes, dogs are bilingual, didn't you know?'
But I didn't want to make him feel bad, because he was dead serious. He was probably also feeling really defeated, thinking these dogs knew more English than his own child. So I broke it to him gently and explained that the neighbor's dog doesn't know English, only knows my meaning by my tone of voice.
He nodded like he kind of understood, but as he walked away, I think he still thought I had taught English to the dogs in the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure he was wondering why I would bother to stand there and talk to the dog in English if the dog didn't understand English anyway. He found the whole scenario rather perplexing. I guess they don't talk to dogs in this country.
After the neighbor had gone, I pointed to the mean dog, told her one more time to go home, and she tucked her tail and went back home over the hill.
National Geographic will probably be calling soon.
_______
Footnotes:
1. The photo is random. I don't know the person or the dog in the photo.
2. Mimi understands basic commands in both English and Chinese, because she hears them all the time. She doesn't speak any languages though, thanks be to the Creator. :-)
3. I would call animal control on this dog and owner, but the dog looks like she just had pups, so that would be mean of me to call her in right now. She was mean way before she ever had pups though, so it is not just the protective instinct kicking in.
4. Living overseas is pretty doggone interesting.
It's the national day holidays this week (October 1-7). It's like the 4th of July without the cookouts and heat. It's a week in which everyone gets off work at the exact same time. Next to Chinese New Year, it's the biggest travel week of the year.
