"Welcome to China, here is your bike." Mike Stern handed it over and grinned. I love that grin -- full of loving sarcasm. Mike is Evergreen's language coordinator, and my life coordinator. He's also my library, soup kitchen, guide, guru, personal trainer and mom. "Time for the grand tour, you ready?" This was my first day in China, of course I was ready. We set off. "Over there's a good restaurant... and that's the, whatcha-call-it, market... and here's where you'll get your fruit, and..." My head was spinning faster than the wheels. It was a phantasmagoria of red flags, vendors, vans, dust, ads, vegetables, fireworks and people. Hello China.
Now, a month in, we're acquainted, me and China. I pass the familiar and it doesn't even register. Still, there are plenty of mysteries; take for instance the men on main street. Nearly 60 of them sit for hours, listless, lining the park-front curb. They're wearing five layers of cloths, maybe even six. Some are talking, some are staring, some are spitting, most are smoking. And then some are stooped in a tight circle ringed with onlookers. These are the energetic ones, and these are the mystery. Is there a snake? A fight? Or maybe it's Chinese chess (my competitive side starts salivating). One day I venture closer and see dice and money -- it's gambling. Later I find out the men are waiting to get picked up for work. And that's what they do: make money and then gamble.
This is actually a huge problem. Not all men hazard their income on lucky dice, but many play even longer odds with their careers. They start businesses intent on actualizing the Chinese dream. They want to get rich, and fast. What happens, though, is this forces their wives to take steady, low-paying jobs, while they skip from one failing scheme to the next. Haste makes waste. And that's what's happening.
