she smacked me.

let me preface this post by saying, it was warm out. almost to the point of saying it was hot, but i will go with warm. and i was wearing sandals...

i was minding my own business, listening to my iPod, reading Lost on Planet China (awesome read by the way for anyone who has lived here!), waiting for good ol bus 96 to arrive at my stop. i just wanted to get home for my lunch break. usually, i just walk, but today i was meeting Tim for lunch and i wanted to cut my time in half (walking = 25 min, bus = 10 min + waiting). of course, i had to wait forever today and the time i waited and rode the bus i could have been back at my apartment. frustrating! but back to the story,
i was waiting for the bus and this old chinese lady (maybe about 60 or so) sits down beside me on the bench. she proceeds to start talking to me really fast in chinese so i take out one of my headphones quickly. i'm thinking "does she think i am chinese? i obviously can't understand her" but before i can even begin to comprehend what's going on... she SMACKS my foot. yes, smacks! i'm so taken aback by this i can't even muster out any words but somehow begin to try and translate what she is saying the absolute best i can. she begins rattling on and on about something to the extent of "it is not warm enough to be wearing sandals" first off lady its about 80 degrees. and "you are going to have bad health if you don't put on some better shoes". i am beginning to laugh. she moves closer and puts her hand on my knee and starts bending it.

side note: in china, they believe you should wear many layers in the cold and then when it begins to warm up, you slowly remove the amount of layers until summer comes. so people are still wearing at least 2 layers or long sleeves and pants in 80-85 weather. it had something to do with your joint and overall health. even the classroom ayi stared at my feet today and laughed. go figure i am also currently sick right now... that doesn't help my case.

the lady continues to go on and on and on but finally says... (in chinese of course) "oh you don't understand what i am saying do you?" but i reply to her "i understand a little of what you are saying. and i think its ok to wear sandals. its warm out!"

she giggles, asks where i am from and we talk a little. she gives my foot one more little slap and gets on her bus.

i shook my head, looked around, put my headphones back in and smiled to myself for another absolutely ridiculous china moment :)