Macau (Again!)

This morning, a brisk wind swept me to Macau for a day of exploration, and the whirlwind of sights has left me hopeless that I will ever write it all down. Back when I was in Greece, I used to write just a hint of all the things I wanted to say before I would start writing. That way, if I could not write everything in one sitting, or if I lost my train of thought, I could refer back to those as cues to write more about this and that and every other thing I saw. (By the way, when I looked back at those notes later, even in entries I never finished, I remembered exactly what I had wanted to write when I noted my ideas. I often wished I could say the same of my class notes in college...)

- Man on the Ladder
I had one of those "I love being in China" moments when I walked down the stairway of my apartment building and realized that, at the door of the cage that was just installed for my protection around the bottom of the stairwell, there were two men working on the other side of the outward-swinging door. The one on the top of the ladder that was conveniently placed to block any attempted entrance or exit through said door looked as though he was deeply engaged in his work and not at a terribly interruptable moment in his work. However, as soon as the two men saw me coming down, the man on the ladder -- rather than climb down from his post -- did a little dance on the ladder that sent the ladder backwards in humanesque steps away from the door. The other man opened the door to let me through, and, after passing through, I stayed to watch the dance that would send the ladder back to the cage door.
I wish I had been able to videotape the entire scene because that would have done a lot more than my pitiful description in terms of conveying how really cool it was to see this guy break some uncountable number of American safety violations to engage in a common courtesy.
And, after watching a video my brother sent me of an interview with David Foster Wallace, I feel the need to add that the smile the men gave me as I passed through was not a Professional Smile, but a smile that indicated they were as entertained as I by the situation, though likely for different reasons...

- Squatter
On the homestretch getting back from Macau, I was walking along the main road of campus when I saw a university student pause on the sidewalk, then, very randomly, squat. I was, of course, drawn to stare at her in hopes of figuring out what she was up to. She wasn't ducking for cover (as people are apt to do sometimes) or examining anything on the sidewalk or in her bag. She was just squatting and looking around a little bit. Then a small stream trickling past the cuff of her pants, into her shoe, and onto the sidewalk below revealed the purpose of her respite.
I felt terrible for her. I can think of more than a few instances when I thought that I would be in her (apparently hydrophilic) shoes -- and one of those took place in China and was described in one of my early entries. That was before I knew how long a 1.5-hour bus ride took around here.
While feeling pity for the poor girl, I also thought, "Why in the world is she squatting?!" I realize that children are trained to squat in the street when they feel the urge to release their miniature horrors on the world, but they also have generous openings in their pants suited for that purpose. This girl's outfit had no such sartorial advantage. I knew immediately what I would have done in her place (since I had schemed to do it once before in a pinch): make a small commotion while I spill the fullest bottle of water down the front of my shirt and pants, then rush with an embarrassed smile to the nearest set of clean clothes I can get. Obviously I put a lot of faith in the entire "hiding out in the open" thing. At my height, there aren't many other options.

- crutch
- pickpocket
- bread shop
- mold seal
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No time even to finish my notes! Well, I will fill in the blanks later.