maxiewawa

I was enjoying some traditional southern American food today (KFC) when I noticed that the pair of girls sitting next to me looking at some kind of pamphlet together. I was sitting directly next to them, close enough to see what they were reading. KFC is very crowded during lunchtimes, particularly during summer. Probably the free air-con. This meant that diners like me don’t have any choice but to sit next to strangers.

Anyway, I had a peek at what they were looking at. It was a tourist brochure about Japan. They were flicking through it, talking about what was written there (it was all in Japanese). They weren’t studying it but one obviously had some passing knowledge of Japanese, and the other, who knew it well, was helping her out.

Getting bored of eavesdropping on their conversation I had a look around. A young guy across the aisle from us had two textbooks and an empty Pepsi cup on his table. He had volume two of “Wilkommen auf Deustchland/欢迎学德国语” open, and he was leant over it, taking notes. His empty Pepsi cup was sitting on book eins.

Next to him was another young guy. He had a textbook called “3DS Logic” or something. It looked like something to do with computers. And it looked complicated.

And next to him was a young girl sitting opposite her mother. Mum had her head resting on the table, and a teatowel was on her head, blocking out the light. She was snoring. The young girl was diligently reading a textbook. But she was too far away for me to see the title.

Whenever people ask me what young people do in China for fun, I have to shrug. They study I guess.