SERIES: Pengyous of Beijing: Snapshots from Xi’an, Shanghai, and Beijing
“Do you guys want to learn Kung Fu? I can teach you.”
“Sure.”
“Then, put your phones down and stand up! I learned these moves from watching TV.”
“Wow you’re pretty talented.”
“Of course I am!”
“We are all from Waseda University in Japan. We met during orientation and realized we all came to study abroad in China for similar reasons”
“What reasons?”
“Our university back home is prestigious but it isn’t as interesting. Our second language is Chinese and rent here is a lot cheaper.”
I (Kim) was about to miss my train from Tianjin to Shanghai. But, thankfully he let me share a taxi with him. He works in Tianjin and goes home to visit his family in Shanghai once a month. He was in the middle of telling me about famous places to visit in Shanghai when his mom called him on the phone.
He said to her: “I’m showing a foreigner around, so I may be home a little later.”
“Do you have a 4?”
“No.”
“What about a 4?”
“I said, NO!”