Long Lost Relatives and the Hamburglar

So today is the Chinese Christmas. Happy Year of the Rat! We are spending the time here in Guangzhou. Today there are dancing lions and dragons, fireworks, and smiling faces everywhere!

We arrived a couple of days ago. I struck up a conversation with the taxi driver on the way into town from the airport. He asked us the standard questions: Where are we from? What do we do? Do we like China? Then he grabbed my knee and told me that my clothes were too thin (I was wearing thermal underwear!) and that I was going to freeze outside. All of this is very normal here. Then he told us about the Chinese New Year, customs, and events that happen. He asked my age and then proudly told me he was twenty years older than me. He then asked if we would come to his house for dinner. I thanked him profusely, but told him that we were very tired (We had just spent the night sleeping on chairs in the Kuala Lumpur airport.) and would just sleep tonight. We exchanged phone numbers. I told him my Chinese name (Li Zixiong) and he told me his (Li Jianlian.) He was very excited to when he found out we had the same surname. He said, "We are family!" It was a great welcome back after being away from China for a few weeks.

Yesterday was like Christmas Eve here. People get together and have a large meal either at their homes or in a restaurant. So there were people bustling around everywhere, carrying food, buying last minute gifts, decorations, and other holiday things.

We decided to do some sightseeing while the crowds were all preoccupied. After visiting the memorial to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen we were heading over to a large Buddhist temple when I glanced behind me to see a guy right behind me. I moved to the right and he did too, so I moved to the left...he did too. Finally I slowed down and let him pass, then I forgot about him. Michelle and I began walking again, next to each other, when suddenly she jumped away from me, whirled around, and yelled "HEY!"

She pointed at the same guy as before and said, "He's trying to get in your pocket!"

Sure enough, he had what looked like a pair of long, pointy metal tongs hidden in his hand. He took off away from us and I followed after him. John, another Peace Corps Volunteer we are travelling with, heard what happened and we followed the guy until he flashed the device or a knife (not sure), as if he was going to try to stab us. I sprinted across the street, found a police officer and we took off running after the guy who had darted around the corner. We lost him, but the officer was very worried about me. He kept asking me if I was okay and if he had managed to get anything. I told him I was fine and thanked him.

We went back to the girls and Shell told me that she noticed something silver trying to snake into my left jacket pocket, which is what alarmed her. The man must've noticed that I had a bulge there and tried to steal what was in there. The funny thing about it is that the bulge in my pocket was a double cheeseburger. We had gone to McDonald's earlier in the day and the counter girl had made a mistake and charged me for two burgers. I had taken the extra one and put it in my pocket for later. The man wouldn't have gotten more than a cold burger. I had a little cash, a camera, and a cell phone in my jeans, but the pockets were hidden by my long coat.

Maybe the taxi driver and the hamburglar worked in some sort of strange karmic way to welcome me home and remind me that there are dangers here that are always at work, even during the happiest of times in China. Maybe not. Either way, it was strange to have two interactions that were such polar opposites within 24 hours of each other and immediately upon my return. It isn't something that I am going to forget anytime soon.