Little Dragon Soap
Our ayi or housekeeper’s surname Long means dragon, and we call her Xiao Long: Little Dragon. She is one of my main sources of information about day-to-day life in Chengdu. In fact if I’m honest she is my major interface with Chinese culture, as I spend a large part of every day with her and talk to her far more than any other Chinese person. Luckily she is not bad company and she speaks good Mandarin, so I have no trouble understanding her. Conversation is challenging with people who only speak Sichuanese dialect: our neighbor’s former housekeeper used to make critical observations whenever we met in the corridor, but I couldn’t get upset because I was never really sure what she was talking about. Xiao-long on the other hand considers herself something of an expert on the weirdness of foreigners and doesn’t let our strange habits faze her at all. She worked for an American family before and several of her sisters-in-law do also, it seems to be something of a clan occupation and I know they compare notes on us all.
Anyway Xiao Long seems very happy working for us and we are happy to have her. She is a competent, cheerful person and she adores Sam. However she loves to gossip and she does have a bossy streak. She keeps me up-to-date on how much I am overpaying for everything (20 cents a pound for pears instead of 10!) and how inadequately dressed Sam is for the weather conditions. When she takes Sam out to play in the gardens she catches up on the local gossip and reports it back to me with real enthusiasm and concern for those involved. For example, a recent upheaval in the building occurred when the sixth floor neighbor’s ayi returned from a visit to her family in the countryside to find all her belongings piled up outside her employer’s front door. She had stayed away a few days longer than had been agreed and had been given the sack. Xiao Long came across her weeping in the hallway and was filled with righteous indignation on her behalf. “That’s what Chinese people are like”, she told me, “they’re tough. She has raised their son day in and day out for two years and they dump her without a second thought”. But a few days later I saw the 6th floor ayi was back again in charge of little Dou-dou. When I asked Xiao-long she reported with satisfaction that the boy had screamed for his ayi all day and all night until his mother had relented and called her to return.
Xiao Long also shares some of the ups and downs of her life with us and I have to say there are plenty of them. So far this year her husband was hospitalized with heatstroke, her mother had major surgery, a close friend had some kind of stroke or brain hemorrhage and her best friend jumped off a bridge. She survived, thank goodness, as she was pulled out of the river by an elderly watchman who happened to see her take the plunge. Xiao Long was worried for her friend but a little amused as she told me the story, “it’s terrible” she said “but it does have a funny side as well. She was saved by a little old man older than her Dad!” We already knew that the friend, Xiao Wu’s life was difficult because Xiao Long often compared it with her own, shaking her head in disapproval at Xiao Wu’s husband’s gambling and drinking habits. Although he drives a taxi on the night-shift, he contrives to bring home only 1,000 yuan per month (about $120) while his best friend, Xiao Long’s husband, brings home more than 5,000 (about $620) despite working the same hours. 1,000 is a stretch for two people to live on so Xiao Wu is under pressure to go out to work, whereas Xiao Long often tells me that she does not really need to work but she likes to get out of the house. “What am I going to do at home all day? Play Mah-jong? What a waste of time!” While I can see her point, I am still mystified that she chooses to come and wash our dishes for $100 a month.
However I am very glad that she does and maybe the fact that she is choosing to do it is what keeps her so cheerful all the time. Most of the ayis in our compound live with their employers and only go home for a few days once a month. Their husbands are often migrant laborers as well, so if they have children they are left in the care of relatives. By contrast Xiao Long and her husband are upwardly mobile. They both have residence papers for Chengdu, they have recently bought their own apartment and last year they moved their 8 year old daughter from her grandparent’s home to the city to live with them. Selfishly, I’m happy that we are not employing someone who is separated from her family and desperate for the wages, as it would make me feel guilty. Instead I am happy to sit and chat with Xiao Long and take her advice about what price to pay for fruit and how to cut up a pineapple.
Anyway Xiao Long seems very happy working for us and we are happy to have her. She is a competent, cheerful person and she adores Sam. However she loves to gossip and she does have a bossy streak. She keeps me up-to-date on how much I am overpaying for everything (20 cents a pound for pears instead of 10!) and how inadequately dressed Sam is for the weather conditions. When she takes Sam out to play in the gardens she catches up on the local gossip and reports it back to me with real enthusiasm and concern for those involved. For example, a recent upheaval in the building occurred when the sixth floor neighbor’s ayi returned from a visit to her family in the countryside to find all her belongings piled up outside her employer’s front door. She had stayed away a few days longer than had been agreed and had been given the sack. Xiao Long came across her weeping in the hallway and was filled with righteous indignation on her behalf. “That’s what Chinese people are like”, she told me, “they’re tough. She has raised their son day in and day out for two years and they dump her without a second thought”. But a few days later I saw the 6th floor ayi was back again in charge of little Dou-dou. When I asked Xiao-long she reported with satisfaction that the boy had screamed for his ayi all day and all night until his mother had relented and called her to return.
Xiao Long also shares some of the ups and downs of her life with us and I have to say there are plenty of them. So far this year her husband was hospitalized with heatstroke, her mother had major surgery, a close friend had some kind of stroke or brain hemorrhage and her best friend jumped off a bridge. She survived, thank goodness, as she was pulled out of the river by an elderly watchman who happened to see her take the plunge. Xiao Long was worried for her friend but a little amused as she told me the story, “it’s terrible” she said “but it does have a funny side as well. She was saved by a little old man older than her Dad!” We already knew that the friend, Xiao Wu’s life was difficult because Xiao Long often compared it with her own, shaking her head in disapproval at Xiao Wu’s husband’s gambling and drinking habits. Although he drives a taxi on the night-shift, he contrives to bring home only 1,000 yuan per month (about $120) while his best friend, Xiao Long’s husband, brings home more than 5,000 (about $620) despite working the same hours. 1,000 is a stretch for two people to live on so Xiao Wu is under pressure to go out to work, whereas Xiao Long often tells me that she does not really need to work but she likes to get out of the house. “What am I going to do at home all day? Play Mah-jong? What a waste of time!” While I can see her point, I am still mystified that she chooses to come and wash our dishes for $100 a month.
However I am very glad that she does and maybe the fact that she is choosing to do it is what keeps her so cheerful all the time. Most of the ayis in our compound live with their employers and only go home for a few days once a month. Their husbands are often migrant laborers as well, so if they have children they are left in the care of relatives. By contrast Xiao Long and her husband are upwardly mobile. They both have residence papers for Chengdu, they have recently bought their own apartment and last year they moved their 8 year old daughter from her grandparent’s home to the city to live with them. Selfishly, I’m happy that we are not employing someone who is separated from her family and desperate for the wages, as it would make me feel guilty. Instead I am happy to sit and chat with Xiao Long and take her advice about what price to pay for fruit and how to cut up a pineapple.
posted by Cat Platt at 10:51 pm
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