Friday, June 26, 2009

Lunch with the Cleaning Ladies

The table in the cafeteria where the foreigners eat can hold about 12 people, and that's usually more than sufficient. Next to us is the food line, then 6 or 7 tables where all the Chinese faculty and staff eat.
But a few days ago we had a lunchtime meeting, so everyone's time to get lunch was a little shorter, and it was raining buckets, heavy even for Taiwan, so there were a tone of people eating lunch in the cafeteria. I was one of the last foreigners to get there and so I didn't get a seat at the foreigner table. No problem, I found a seat on the Chinese side, next to the crew of 4 cleaning ladies.
After lunch, one of the teachers asked if I ate by myself.
"No," I said, "I ate with the cleaning ladies."
"How'd that go?"
"Actually, not bad. We just chatted a little."
"What did you talk about?"
"Uh... how tall I am, and how pretty I am, and how good my Chinese is." I laughed and said maybe I'd eat with them more often- we never seem to talk about those things when I sit with the foreign teachers!

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