Celtic Engagement Rings

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Irish Napkins

The World Cup and Chinese Efficiency For Things That Matter

Family, Friends and Folks,

 Just a some quick lines to express my delight and utter state of euphoria (however, I still CANNOT BELIEVE IT and certainly CANNOT COME to terms with the enormity of this event for Spain) at the Spanish victory in of all places "Victory Stadium".

 Just to give you a little sense of how I experienced and enjoyed the whole show, I offer the following: 

 Spain's semi-final game against Germany proved to be an exercise in logistics. Not so much for the Spanish-Germany game at 2:30 am here local time, but rather because of the earlier Holland-Argentina game at 10:00 pm local time. Everything was booked solid and MUCH TO MY SURPRISE the notecards indicating "reserved table / seating" at the different establishments we attempted to patronize were ACTUALLY being enforced AND RESPECTED by the Chinese. (Social progress can be measured  in many different ways you know). What is that constant gripe about Chinese not adhering to things like lines and other social norms we come to associate with developed societies??

    This was sudden and surprising news in and of itself. It was even more surprising to find that our (well my) minor attempt to grab and discard one of the aforementioned notices that clearly indicated we should not be sitting at the table we wished to overtake, was duly rectified by one of the Chinese employees. This is China and the "dumb foreigner" role a la "I didn't know" tends to work more often than not. Could it have been the Western, foreign influence? After all, we were at the "Shamrock Inn" (THE Irish Pub in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). Ofcourse not! The Irish ??? No way!  No, this time it was actually social progress and a very welcome sign of it too. We were duly and politely informed that regardless of no paper on the table, it was in fact "reserved". So off we went in search of another location. Like Ponce De Leon looking for the fountain of youth, it took several concerted attempts to locate a venue that could accomodate a small retinue of sports and beer starved fans.It remains debatable who had an easier time in their quest, us or De Leon. Alas we accomplished our mission, but not without a couple valuable lessons learned.STAY AWAY from the more sophisticated and swanky establishments. Why?? In a city of four million, give or take a few hundred thousand itinerant workers, someone is going to beat you to anything and then there is Chinese efficiency for things THAT MATTER....like the WORLD CUP. Especially on the night of the FINAL!

    So given this discouraging but nevertheless strategic piece of information, things seemed very uncertain for the FINAL MATCH between two national teams that had yet to acquire the most coveted honor in worldwide sports. Among the group, it went unmentioned but pretty much understood, the final would most likely be experienced in the quiet comfort of our rooms. Afterall, we rationalized, there is "great AC, no smoke, no crowds" and it would be "cheaper" to buy snacks and drink. My mind said, "True" while my heart said, "NOOOOOOOOOOO". So, AS MANY THINGS IN CHINA, it was left "UP IN THE AIR"......We'll see (咱们再说吧!!!)

    So final day comes and I spend the day cramming in reading and notetaking for one of the courses I am taking knowing full well that I will need to squeeze in a nap before rising to prepare for the FINAL. The logistics of acquiring the necessary amount of beverage and munchables had already been factored in. Well like most things in China, The future is hard, if not impossible to predict. The combination of the soccer and Chinese lords must have had a quick little politburo session, taken notice of and discussed this anti-climactic state of affairs, given the historical nature of the event and the unlikelihood that poor little me would be experiencing this in one of the country's I have grown to love. They clearly took pity. Sure enough the power makers had changed fate to work in our favor.

       A mysterious knock came about 9:00 pm. Right before I am thinking about going to bed for that strategic nap.  No one knocks at my door at that hour without some expressed intention; usually not good or ethical. Fortunately, it was one of my Chinese teachers, Teacher Zhang Nan. This does not really translate to Audrey Rainbow, nor is she some lost member of a Native American tribal nation, but all that is a different story. She informs that a place and table has been secured for us. Meet downstairs at 1:00 am. Take off time 1:03 am. Be there or miss out! Remember Chinese efficiency for things that matter! Like the World Cup Final.

    So I immediately re-calculate all necessary logistics and try to get some sleep. However, I am thinking, "How in the world did she pull off a last minute reservation just meer hours before kick off time?" THAT IS SOME SERIOUS "GUANXI" (connections). My head races with visions of what to expect. Silly, me! Never expect anything in China because you can certainly expect to be disappointed. So, I half get to sleep but could not get the thoughts from racing through my head on what venue, how many people, more foreigners versus Chinese and then what about all the smoke??? Social progress in some areas; yet not in others!!

    Alarm clock rings at 12:30 am. I shower quickly and get dressed and am downstairs before the deadline of 1:00 am. Very un-Spanish, but this is Spanish efficiency for things that matter, like the the World Cup final. Heck, for any important soccer game.

    A small army of eight or so pile into two cars and drive to the venue! Another two follow in a taxi! And venue it WAS!! COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER or more wonderfully Chinese!! OUTDOORS, by the side of the road, sitting on stools, drinking cold beer and EATING, AND EATING AND EATING!!  Watching on a large, flat screen TV that still had the factory plastic on the screen to keep the street dust and car soot off. The eleven of us went through more barbequed, shishkabab chicken, lamb, fish, cauliflower and "mantou" (steamed buns), ALL perfectly seasoned, than I can count. Furthermore, SOME of us consumed Chinese escargot in spicy sauce, and platefulls of homemade, handmade fresh dumplings. One of the owners, the wife, is originally from the city that I spent three years in, Changchun, way up in the Northeast (the equivalent of Maine in China). So in learning that I spent three years there, she kept handing me open bottles of beer. Gotta love the northeasterners; they can sure as heck knock a few back. So, piles of shishkabab sticks, napkins, chopsticks lay on the table and floor around us and the plates of food kept coming straight off the barbeque grill. The place could not have been more rudimentary or run of the mill and more awesome at the same time. China of the street versus China of the bars, lounges and hotels! Given a choice, I'll go with the street anyday, anytime. LAOBAIXING RULE! Never predict in China as you can predict your prediction will not come true.

    So, as often is the case in China, things take on a carnival like atmosphere particularly on the street during major events. Not only for the amount of beer and food consumed but for the mini-carnival that appeared in front of us just before half time, somewhere around 3:00 am. An ambulatory vendor wheels her rolling 'show in one" cart right up against us. This triggers a little verbal spat with the husband owner of the establishment. He, after all, has sidewalk rights and demands that she not take over valuable real estate. This is the one night in four years that square footage takes on a new meaning. So in true Chinese compromise, she wheels her magical cart a meer three feet more away from us and continues to set up what turns out to be a "shoot and pop the balloon" gallery game on wheels. One of my companions, David, asks how much and decides that the three cents a try rate is too good to pass up. He proceeds to double down by digging into his pockets to find as much loose change as possible. Somehow at 3:00 am on the street in China it all makes perfect sense. So, David proceeds to anihilate nearly every balloon on the board regardless of color. The look on the entreprenurial woman's face  as she calculated earnings and losses ("So many balloons for three cents....the red ones cost more ofcourse than the green ones and the white ones I get in bulk....gotta bail before I have to sell the house and plot of land; IF ONLY WALL STREET learned and implemented what this street vendor was able to do using her abucus liked mind in mere seconds, we would not be in the financial mess we are in now.) Act swiftly as soon as you see earning potential diminish without any sign of things turning around. But David was having too much fun and was not out of "Mao" coinage. He must have taken pity on the poor woman,because the inside word is that he began missing on purpose upon seeing her reaction. She wasted not a second of business time, as it is money even at three cents a try, and poceeded to roll her way down a further twenty yards, safely out of range of the steady fingered foreigner. Maybe it was the amount of beer that compensated for the crooked sights on the rifle or perhaps that she never tampered with the sights at all. But someone needs to explain to her, "Chinese efficiency for things that matter."

     It was a great night in spite of all the yellow cards and dirty play, mostly on the part of the Dutch.That cleated karate kick to ALONSO in the upper chest really deserved a red card. That would have likely tempered things down. 

    So THANK YOU PAUL THE OCTOPUS, THANK YOU SPAIN, THANK YOU IKER CASILLAS and ANDRES INIESTA for inspiring a nation of hungry folk both here and in Europe.  THANK YOU SOUTH AFRICA and FIFA for putting on a spectacularly loud event. Certainly, THANK YOU CHINA for being such great hosts. Of the three World Cups (1990, 2006, 2010) I've enjoyed from here, this has been by far the best!!! Not least of all for the food and entertainment and victory. By the way, it seemed 99.9% of China was rooting for Spain.

 Cheers from Hangzhou, China

Fernando Marra-Lopez

About the Author

Fernando Marra-Lopez is a foreign language teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools. He is spending the summer working on a Masters in Chinese Studies through Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.

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