Will they change the name to "Unity Fries"?

Fifteen years ago, my Chinese teacher tells me, taxis were rare, and the driving of them was a decent job. The government supported them - they were basically for the foreigners - and it was easy to make a girlfriend when you had a car in which she could be driven around all day.

These days taxi drivers work twelve hour shifts and the pay isn't all that good. They get lonely and bored. They'll always talk to you if you're the only one in the cab. I was running late for Chinese class and got to the bus stop just as the 48 bus was pulling away, so I got in the taxi that hesitated there.

The driver guessed I was from England. No? US? That's good, the US is good. France is bad. Why is France bad? They've talked about not participating in the Olympics. If China and France had bad relations we'd understand more, but traditionally we've had a good relationship. Now, when we're hosting . . .

He was so anti-France that I was surprised to find when I looked up the news that France hasn't actually said they're boycotting anything. Sarkozy just said they wouldn't rule out the possibility of boycotting the opening ceremony. I argued when he said Bush was great (something about Taiwan). Lots of Americans are criticizing China too, I ventured.

That's normal, he said. Everybody's got their own opinion, and they can express it. Chinese people understand that. We care about actions. He asked me what I thought. I told him that I know China is a great country; I live here. I said it's hard to know what's going on in Tibet because the reporters can't go in.

Reporters are being kept out for their own safety he told me. All Tibetans carry knives you know, sell them out on the street. They're allowed to. If any of us Han people had a knife, we'd be arrested in an instant. We both wanted to smooth the conversation up a bit, so I flattered Nanjing when he asked, and he told me about a temple we were passing that I should visit. You've helped me understand more how the Chinese people feel, I told him. The Olympics are their chance to 请客 (to host) and Chinese people are 很好客 (so hospitable). The fare was 11Y, but he wouldn't take more than 10.
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Justin left, and it's a let-down after an intense month of having a good friend around. The cool thing was that he left me a bunch of beautiful pictures of our play and of the city. Another cool thing was that it didn't rain on Sunday and we had a near-perfect last day. A sun-filled morning on the balcony of my house, then a picnic at the free park, with naps in the sun-warmed grass and a view of the lake. Lamb kebabs, grilled naan, and cheesecake. The traditional into-the-late-night playing of the CD.

There's not much that makes me happier than grass stuck to my sweater and my hands smell like bark.