Illness, Age and Death

No, no, no, you don't have to worry, I haven't become "emo." Actually, I have learned quite a bit about these three areas -- illness, age and death -- as it is understood with a Chinese frame of mind.

Last Friday, October 19th, was "lao ren jie," or "Old Person's Day" in China. On this day, many people will get together with their family members, especially with their elder members, and have some sort of meal and share a moment in time with each other; you know, pretty straight forward. At this point, I can't exactly remember what I did, step by step, that day. But, I do remember a few moments that might have led up to the illness that befell me on Sunday (I'm trying to sound like some old, ill-plagued Russian author here).

Okay, I remember now. Lily's dad and I began our morning with a jog in a nearby park. This was nice, because it gave Lily's dad and I one of our first man-to-man moments, where we were able to test our strengths and abilities. Actually, I just ended up jogging at a slightly faster pace than he, and it was a fairly laid back experience, with the park being filled with many "lao ren" (older people).

A bunch of old people like to chill out at the park, whether they're doing some form of "tai chi" (slow body movement), walking, or playing some kind of board game with each other. There was this one activity where everyone had a "sword" and they were practicing their upper-body movement with the sword.

This is a picture I took... on Saturday? It was taken in a nearby park area, found in the center of Lily's parents' neighborhood. Most living quarters have a small park, where you'll find trees, grass, benches and a lot of other stuff most people would have in their front lawn; except, this is everyone's "lawn."

I also learned one new exercise technique from Lily's dad. I found out that walking backwards (yeah, backwards) is actually a popular technique for many middle-aged/elder Chinese people. Lily's dad had told me that it is a good exercise for the lower back. After talking with Lily, I found out that Chinese people believe it is also a good mental exercise.

So, later that day, in the evening, we had one last visit to make -- to see nai nai, Lily's dads' mother. Like most Chinese people, nai nai quickly filled my hands with oranges and anything else edible in sight. Not wanting food to go to waste or to hurt anyone's feelings, I graciously accepted her fruit and we were on with our ways; we didn't stay too long, because it had already become late in the evening and Lily's dads' parents aren't so sociable. I mean, it's good enough to stop by, say "hi," and call it a day for some people.

Well, later that evening (I keep saying "evening" -- it was just one big blur in memory), my appetite got the best of me and I just had to bit into one of the oranges. Man, I have to say, that was one funky orange. I wasn't about to live on the wild side with this fruit, so I ditched the orange asap. However, the damage had been done (I'm laughing to myself right now).

No, I'm really not sure what led up to my stomach issues on Sunday (which is the next segment in my blog), but I have a feeling it was food-related. Maybe the orange, maybe a few hands that hadn't been washed in the process of making the food... I'm not really sure, but what I experienced on Sunday had snatched my appetite away from me for the last couple of days...