Watered
Last weekend was the Dai Water Splashing Festival. This year we were in Kunming for two of the three days. We returned home on Monday morning to discover that classes had been cancelled for the day. That didn't affect me, so we just unpacked and began to go through our day. We decided to go get some noodles for lunch, so we strolled over to our favorite noodle restaurant. Earlier in the day, I noticed that there wasn't much splashing activities. On the way back from the restaurant, we noticed that a few "bucket brigades" were strolling about, just like last year. We kept alert as we walked home, mostly looking for boys heading Ga Dai's direction. They left us alone, though one group of kids gave us a sprinkle as we walked past.About halfway home, however, our luck changed. We met a group of Yau Neih's students, who were headed towards the park to indulge in aquatic mischief. They had no compunctions about "watering" us and gave us a few good splashes. I had a bottle of water with me, so I sacrificed some to give a few sprinkles back. The students didn't get us too wet, however, and it felt kind of nice in the hot, noontime sun. We crossed Qishan Road and headed down the street stretch to the campus gate--a splash-free zone. Along that stretch, we encountered another group of people who weren't afraid to splash foreigners. Three kids about five years old or so were squirting passers by with super soakers. They saw us and gave us a shot as well. Joining in the spirit of the day, I tried to retaliate with my water bottle. This was quite amusing to my assailants, and they attacked in earnest. The little girl wearing the raincoat (cheater!) was especially vicious. By the time I made it to the campus gate, I was rather wet.
On the campus driveway we encountered many students heading off campus, buckets in hand. I discovered, to my dismay, that the "no splashing" rules had been rescinded since last year. Or maybe they just weren't enforcing them. Whatever the case, my dampened state was interpreted by some to indicate that I needed more splashing. A group of guys--total strangers to me--really soaked me. One even dumping a half liter or so down my back. I made a few feeble attempts to empty my bottle, but it was obvious that I was outclassed. I sloshed into my apartment, regretting that I still had an afternoon of lessons to teach. Hopefully someone at the park was able to wreak vengeance on my behalf.
posted by John @ 7:40 AM
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