Roses at the water park have suddenly come into full bloom, and are already becoming crumpled and decayed, Miss Havisham-style. They are evidently a popular photographic backdrop for fashionable young things, who pose and giggle in the flower beds, trying for the perfect picture. I wandered up to the flower bed, sniffing the roses furthest from the ground, glad that small dogs are popular here. I was sure, for some reason, that they wouldn't smell, but they did: a deep, luxurious scent.
The park was full of the denizens of Shijiazhuang, taking their evening constitutional, and strangely people only seemed to be walking around the park anti-clockwise. I was walking clockwise and stopping to sniff roses. Which made me the odd one in their eyes. I heard one woman say to her friend, 'foreigner', in a tone that suggested that I should be pitied rather than judged for my peculiar behaviour.
Rambling slightly, I always find it hilarious when people see me and then turn to their friends, telling them that I'm a foreigner. Even more hilariously sometime they say it to my face, not in an unfriendly way, just stating the fact. Like perhaps, this white skinned, fair haired, blue eyed woman could possibly pass for Chinese, or become terribly confused about her nationality.
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I believe one should be proud to be a foreigner cos you are getting an opportunity to learn about some foreign land:)
ReplyDeleteYour way of describing your experiences as a foreigner in China are hilarious, even when you are describing frustrating events!
ReplyDeleteGlad the proxy server is working out.
ReplyDeleteFunny about being called a foreigner when it's so obvious.
The rose garden does look lovely. I'd be leaning down to check the scent, too.