The first morning in Yixing. Emme is back at sailing camp. A half-hearted flu half-holds me… I sweat all night, I struggle to fall asleep, but in the morning there seems to be some energy under my clammy skin. Emme is at sailing camp… and so is her friend Marisa. We are first reminded of that reality at 5 o’clock in the morning, when Marisa wakes Emme up by ringing her room’s doorbell and telephone. A moment later she is standing at my door, asking for an iPad.
As elsewhere and always, it all seems to go so naturally that here and today the youthful camp counselor just lets it all go. Having Jen also being present, Marisa’s mother, who has absolutely no control over Marisa’s morning escapades, only makes things worse. Who contradicts parental authority? So I’ll ring the bell myself – the proverbial one, in this case. I say to the counselor and Emme: “Don’t open your door. Take the phone off the hook.” I hope anyway that Emme can let this whirlwind be taken care of by the supervisor, and maybe even Marisa’s mother, tomorrow.
So glad I’m there! Yixing is an oasis of memories. Day 2 starts today and I think of last year, when two weeks seemed to go on forever, and I was able to lay the foundations for an analytical package for my Ambit module during a kind of sabbatical. Which still doesn’t work! Grrr!
A fresh hot noodle soup melts an opening in this rainy Tuesday morning.
Written on July 2, 2019