When It All Started

From 9/8/07 -

It all started on the way home from a Saturday meeting. One van following the American lady commuters, its passengers staring more than usual. We turned a corner to encounter one whistle from a random Chinese man. Construction and lawn care apparently do not change from country to country. My roommate Jessica claimed it was my shorts debut and I insisted that it was her luscious curls. We continued our commute without another thought.

The evening continued in the typical manner of spending too much time on the computer (Erika) and painting cards (Jessica). Erika found that there are no cheap tickets to Egypt around the time of the Olympics and Jessica was disconcerted to find that her first painted pansy was far superior to all other attempts. So much for practice.

We finished a tough chicken dinner to observe two free fireworks displays, compliments of the apartment next store. These types of amusements are regular occurrences in Wuhan as apartments are being built. Never have we seen them this close, however. We took pictures and commented on fireworks as a cultural tradition - a dedication of apartment complexes both after they are completed and during the process. The pictures look a little like we are in the middle of a war zone, so we decided to send the pictures to select over-anxious people without commentary just for kicks. Or is that cruel?

Settling down to coffee, books, and skype, we heard a siren outside. Strange. We hopped onto our balcony to observe what appeared to be an ambulance and/or the China swat team. Stranger, was that as we looked over the balcony, the onlookers to the scene turned to stare at us. One proceeded to take our picture, or at least it appeared that way. We walked back inside, feeling a bit confused.

A few minutes later our door bell rang. Erika, peering through the peep hole discovered a strange man. Jessica, the self proclaimed logical one, suggested we ignore him. Good plan, except for the sharp knock on the door that followed. Four men in official uniforms appeared. Oh, wait. There were also the men in orange jumpsuits and hard hats. They carried a long rope. Thoughts of being escorted away crossed our minds. Jessica was mentally packing her bags while Erika considered her passport currently being held at the school for residence purposes.

Timidly, Erika cracked the door.

The first man spoke English. Thank goodness.

“My son is lost.”

Um. Right.

“May we use your….um…um.” Well he kind of spoke English, better than our Chinese at least.

We figured out that he was referring to the balcony and window. The group paraded into our apartment, rope in hand. A small boy with a balloon appeared, and hesitated to enter. Meanwhile on the balcony, one man was strapping himself to a hodgepodge of repelling tools, preparing to climb over the edge. Another man tied himself to the end of the rope - the safety.

We debated getting cameras, but opted to not be “that person”. The men finished their urban repelling and exited the same way they arrived without a word. The boy waved goodbye. We later discovered he left something like a Christmas ornament by the door. This was the same ornament that had been sitting on the staircase all week.

We really wished we knew what happened.

We can only figure yet another day in China. My writing students need an example of a narrative on Monday. Maybe we’re onto something.