Traveling with a chicken

I realized the other day I hadn't posted anything here in awhile. In
fact, I hadn't really let anyone know I as alive for a short time. I
got a bit busy.

Everything is still going smoothly. I go to work and I love it. I know
I need to eventually find another job, but I enjoy this so much I will
be sad when I have to leave.

I went to visit Zoey's family last weekend. I took a number of pictures
from our excursions there, and I have about 100 new stories from the
trip alone. The best involves me somehow ending up with a chicken that
I had to take with me back to Hangzhou for Zoey's brother. Chris Marco begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Chicken Delivery, that is what I was playing.

The chicken actually came in handy several times on the way home. And
by came in handy, I mean entertained me. At one point in the bus
station there was a Chinese Christian evangelical woman going from aisle
to aisle giving a rehearsed speech on Christianity and damning everyone
to hell if they didn't convert. She noticed me and got all excited. I
was teaching Zoey how to do the Rubik's Cube in Chinese, and she pointed
at me and said I was an example of how Jesus can help people, and that I
had been able to learn Chinese because of my faith. I was a bit
offended in general by being used as some type of prop to condemn
everyone around me, so I decided to have some fun. I spoke up that it
was indeed because of my faith that I was able to learn Chinese, but
that the chicken I had just bought was Buddhist. Despite my best
efforts, I was unable to convert my chicken and was very sad. I asked
her for her help in converting my chicken, but she instead got very
upset and stormed off.

After we arrived in Hangzhou, I had to take my chicken and my suitcase
to line up for a taxi cab. There were several beggars walking through
the line hassling people to give them money. Every time one approached
I told them in a very concerned voice to, "Please leave. My chicken is
very easily upset and having a stranger so close really makes him
nervous." The response from the 3 beggars that came up to me in the 10
minute waiting span was all the same: marvel at my Chinese, look at my
chicken, then realize they had met someone entirely insane and walk away.

To top it off, in line in front of us were 3 very American looking
tourists. Seeing a Chinese person with a chicken would be novelty, but
seeing a white guy with a chicken was something they weren't quite
prepared for. They kept staring at me, and obviously wanted to say
something, but I guess they couldn't quite figure out what.

All in all, I pretty much enjoyed the attention me and my chicken got.
I have to admit I was a bit sad to turn him over to Zoey's brother. He
in turn was not exactly happy to receive the chicken, I'm 99% certain he
has no idea how to kill and prepare it.