‘I am Chinese’- The Story of Two Sisters- 02.12.10

I’m sitting in the library I just discovered. It is a 10minute walk from my house. Despite the scorching temperature outside I feel cool; there is a fan. Luxury. Everywhere I see books. French crime novels, Hindi language for Dummies and Great British Classics lay before me. Stacked on shelf upon shelf. Amongst the shelves lie tables circled by wicker chairs for people to read magazines and catch up on the latest gossip, of which I know nothing. Except that Princess Ann is in Mauritius and she arrived on Wednesday. I can’t help but know this- my neighbours repeatedly tell me, almost unable to contain their excitement.

I sit at my desk- one of four desks of four; sixteen places in total. I am writing to

my dear mother. She writes to me every week and has done for the past seven weeks. I have written to her three times (I am working on the fourth letter at the moment.) Suddenly chatter in a foreign tongue permeates the air and people around me clearly become agitated. They are trying to study.

A friendly man burst through the door, clearly of Chinese origin. He was followed by a large group of equally amiable looking pals and a couple of photographers. He had such a presence and such an expectation that everybody wanted to listen that the whole library stood (or sat) to attention to listen what he had to say. He didn’t start off his speech with him name, in fact he forgot that all together, he started with his nationality. ‘I am Chinese’, he beamed, all eyes on him. His paparazzi crew began to snap photographs of all of us who happened to be sitting at desks in our local library. We were stunned; it came as such a surprise. The people spread across the tables were united in amusement and couldn’t help but let wide smiles spread across our faces in this relatively unusual situation. He presented a speech to his pack who regarded us as if we were children in a zoo. Note: I didn’t get the phrase wrong, just changed it. I made eye contact with some members of the team and they responded with enthusiastic thumbs up in support.

Later, on leaving, I passed a sign outside which read ‘ City Sisters. Beau-Bassin/ Rose Hill, Mauritius. Changzhou, China. Unveiled on 02.12.2010 to mark the 12^th Anniversary of Twinning Relations’ Flying proudly behind were the flags of both countries. I felt privileged to have been witness to such a seemingly minor event!