a little coffee

Ah, spring seems to have finally come to Anyang. Pineapple, watermelon, and strawberries are at every body’s fruit stand, waiting to be sold. The weather as dry, dusty and windy as ever. Now with the addition of near 80-degree weather.

But the surest indication are the sidewalks. They have exploded with a mishmash of entrepreneurs selling everything from foodstuffs (bananas, vegetables, pastry-like substances) to clothes, shoes, socks, household items, mats, and blankets. They’ve crowded along the precious sidewalks on both sides of my street, forcing me to zigzag between bicycles, electric bikes, pedicabs, cars, trucks, and the occasional horse-drawn cart.

What space isn’t taken up by blankets of goods and makeshift tables, the old people got dibs on. The elders collect in droves outdoors, crouching on their ittybitty stools or a bench. They  lazily stare ahead before they’re momentarily distracted by my bouncing light hair. And they’re back to staring. Larger and larger groups of men collect around games of Chinese chess. Others idle by themselves or with someone just standing or sitting without doing anything. It’s a curious thing to see a line of 70 year-olds sitting on benches with their hands in their laps, hunched over and still.