ode to an eggplant

The medication doesn’t seem to help. Maybe I don’t have a cold at all. Could it be that I am allergic to something out here?

To walking…?

…

Anyway, I ordered some food and decided to get on the road again the next day, no matter what:

I forget what this dish was called, but there was eggplant in it, which is basically a guarantee for tastiness in this country.

On my third or second day in China, when I was standing at the counter of our school cafeteria, not sure what to pick, my Irish friend David pointed at something and said: “Get that one, the fried eggplant! If there is one thing that the Chinese can do, it’s eggplant.”

Eggplant has been my favorite ever since.

I bought a moon cake 月饼 as well today:

This is intended for the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 on September 22nd, but I figured I might as well sneak one in when I’m on the road.

Oh, and I learned a poem:

“Ode to a Goose”
Goose, goose, goose
Curved necks singing towards the sky
White feathers floating on green water
Red feet stirring clear waves
by Luo Binwang (640-684)

《咏鹅》
鹅，鹅，鹅
曲项向天歌
红掌拨清波
骆宾王（初唐）

Two things I find remarkable about this poem:

1. The author was apparently only seven years old when he composed this poem more than 1300 years ago.
2. The first line does not fit the standard 5-character parameter. Instead, it is made up of only 3 characters, which can also be understood as an onomatopoeia: é, é, é…

The cry of the goose.