Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet: On a Slow Boat from Shanghai to Texas PDF
Preview Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet: On a Slow Boat from Shanghai to Texas
UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page i Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page ii Terrace Books, a division of the University of Wisconsin Press, takes its name from the Memorial Union Terrace, located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Since its inception in 1907, the Wisconsin Union has provided a venue for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to debate art, music, politics, and the issues of the day. It is a place where theater, music, drama, dance, outdoor activities, and major speakers are made available to the campus and the community. To learn more about the Union, visit www.union.wisc.edu. UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page iii M r. D i n g ’s C h i c k e n F e e t On a Slow Boat from Shanghai to Texas Gillian Kendall Ter r ace Books A trade imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page iv Terrace Books A trade imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press 1930 Monroe Street Madison, Wisconsin 53711 www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/ 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England Copyright © 2006 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved 1 3 5 4 2 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kendall, Gillian. Mr. Ding’s chicken feet: on a slow boat from Shanghai to Texas / Gillian Kendall. p. cm. ISBN 0-299-21944-5 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Kendall, Gillian—Travel. 2. Americans—Travel—China—Shanghai. 3. Intercultural communication. 4. English language—Study and teaching—Chinese speakers. 5. Ocean travel. 6. Texas—Biography. I. Title: Mister Ding’s chicken feet. II. Title. CT275.K453A3 2006 910.4´5—dc22 2006007361 UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page v This book is dedicated to my mother, who encourages all adventure and finds it everywhere. UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page viblank UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Prologue: Salary—Generous 3 An English Rat Chases Her Luggage 16 Shanghaied 31 The Tan Suo Zhe 53 One Arm’s Distance 72 Ma, Not Ma 89 Two Miles to the Bottom 112 Enough Beer to Float theTitanic 131 Dolphins Are Not Fish 147 How to Remember 162 Unfit Company 187 Bridge of the Americas 203 The Face of a Friend 226 vii UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page viiiblank UWP: Kendall: Mr. Ding’s Chicken Feet page ix Acknowledgments Although this work is based on real-life events, I have changed names and other identifying details of ships, businesses, and people. Thanks to my friend Margie Wachtel for reading the manuscript and telling me what was wrong with it, and for doing so with grace and manners that amount to diplomacy. Thanks to Susan Shanshan Qian for giving me Chinese acupunc- ture to heal my repetitive stress injury and Pinyin words to heal my translations. Thanks to Raphael Kadushin and Sheila Moermond at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin Press for treating me, and this book, so well. Finally, thanks and love to my partner, Nicole, for respecting a closed door and humoring a writer’s moods. ix
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