Inspiration Words: Fishing and Japan
Mikael (mee-kayl), a Russian student, labored through the Chinese passage while his classmates listened to him read. When he came to a word he couldn’t recognize, he paused and waited for his teacher to offer the word. He knew the second character was yu (yu, yoo-wee), the word for fish. But what was the character before it?
“Diao yu (dee-ao yoo-wee),” his teacher said.
“What does it mean?” Mikael asked, glancing up from his textbook to look at the teacher who stood leaning over the podium with the book open in front of her.
“Would you like the short answer or the long answer?” The teacher took off her glasses and set them on the podium behind her, and Mikael grinned sheepishly at his Japanese classmate next to him.
Sorry, he mouthed in Chinese. They both knew, along with everyone in the class, that they were going to get the long answer no matter what they said.
While their teacher launched into the explanation of the importance of fishing for many Chinese people, Mikael’s Japanese classmate mimed the action of casting a fishing pole and reeling in a fish.
Mikael nodded and jotted the definition in his book. Then he focused his attention on the explanation his teacher was giving.
“Diao yu has many other meanings in the Chinese language. Has anyone played mahjong before?” Mikael looked around and noticed that only two students raised their hands, his Japanese classmate and another older European classmate who had lived in China for a long time. “Let me find a picture of the game for those of you who aren’t familiar with it. I encourage you to learn how to play while you are here in China.”
The teacher opened Baidu, the search engine that Mikael had quickly learned was the most common one in China, and located a picture of the board game. Blue and white tiles on a green carpeted board appeared. While the teacher continued talking, Mikael studied the shapes on the tiles. He recognized some of the traditional characters for the numbers on some of the tiles while others had various groupings of circles or sticks.
“This phrase can be used to describe someone who goes to a mahjong game with their friends, but doesn’t take any money with them. Mahjong is usually played for money, but this person is apparently hoping to earn money before he has to pay, so you can say that this person is diao yu.”
Mikael made another note in his book next to the phrase.
“But diao yu has yet another meaning. It can also be used to talk about a type of man.” The teacher grinned, and Mikael and his classmates perked up. This could be interesting. “If a guy talks to a girl and shows an interest in her, but doesn’t actually say he likes her, you can also use this phrase to describe him.”
Mikael, who was short in stature but large in charm, leaned back in his seat and stretched his feet out in front of him. He felt something sharp between his shoulder blades and knew his fellow Russian friend was poking him. And even though Sofya didn’t turn around from her seat on the front row, he knew she was thinking about him.
“Is it considered positive or negative to say that about a guy?” Mikael suddenly asked.
The teacher laughed and looked at him, “Of course it would be negative.”
Oops, Mikael thought. He wondered if he should tell Sofya that he thought of her as more than a friend. Or did he? He still wasn’t quite sure.
The teacher continued talking about other uses of diao yu, but Mikael had given up paying attention. He also didn’t make any notes about the third usage.
After class, the students headed into the hallways for their twenty-minute break.
“Mr. Fisherman!”
Mikael looked up from where he stood next to the vending machine after the first class, trying to decide which drinks to get. “Oh, hey, man.” Mikael gave his Ukrainian friend a quick handshake and shoulder bump.
“Watcha gonna get?”
“I think I’ll just grab a couple of Cokes.”
“A couple?” His Ukrainian friend raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I think my fishing days might be done.”
The eyebrows went up even higher.
“Did you see where Sofya went?”
“Yeah, are you gonna ask her out?”
“I was thinking about it. Most likely. If you don’t beat me to it.”
The eyebrows fell, and he laughed. “Definitely not, man. I think she’s sitting on a bench with one of her friends.” He pointed in the direction of a few benches in a grassy area behind the building.
“Great. Hey, could you, umm . . . distract her friend for a few minutes?”
“Absolutely.” While Mikael turned back to the vending machine, the Ukrainian headed off toward the two girls, most likely thinking of what he could say to lure away Sofya’s friend.
Holding both ice-cold Cokes in hand, Mikael headed towards Sofya. This is it, he thought.