Not only did I not expect to hear, “Oh, that’s just yak
butter,” but I really did not expect to have it all over my hands when I started
my day.
Let me back up and fill you in on the details. I was invited to go on a tour with a group of
ladies from the US Embassy to a Tibetan furniture and carpet warehouse, (this
is their website if you would like to check it out, http://lftibetanart.en.alibaba.com/aboutus.html,)
and after reading about the Tibetan family that runs the place I was really
looking forward to the trip, and it was a good excuse to get out of the
city. The weather has really been
heating up, about 98 degrees with 100% humidity, and a trip to the country side
sounded refreshing. Well, it turned out
that it was NOT refreshing; rather, it was just hot in a different part of
China!
I had checked out the website and knew what I wanted to get
and also made sure to bring along the cash, in RMB, of course, for my purchases. Most places do not take credit cards yet, so
we have to adjust to a cash only society while we are here. It is really odd to be carrying so much
money around. But as we were advised by
our friends at church, never leave home without at least 1000 RMB (~$160) on us
for emergencies. 
In total, there were eight women in two cars. My car was driven by an active duty Air Force
lady working at the embassy (sorry I did not get her rank—they wear civilian
clothes) and boy, she could drive! She did not let anyone cut in front of her,
which is very common and expected. The rule seems to that he who has the
right-of-way is the one who keeps shoving his car in between yours and the
person in front of you. It does not
matter if the car is merging onto YOUR road.
When on the freeway and when traffic can move at a good pace (very
rare), about 30mph, it is best to close your eyes (if you are not driving) and
just go to a happy place. I usually think of the Olympic Mountains in the
winter time with NO people.
Their warehouse was more of a combination of a
warehouse/museum. The warehouse really
consisted of a series of smallish rooms stuffed with furniture. The rooms would twist and turn and some would
dead-end and some would just work you back to the beginning. We got turned around a few times and had I
the thought of what would we do if there was a fire? That question was answered when we exited the
building and ran across the fire station along with its bucket brigade that
looked like it was straight out of Andy
Griffith’s Mayberry RFD.
The museum part was really fascinating with a great display of
saddles (they must be the teeniest people,) clothing and other personal items. But,
unfortunately, the furniture that we came to see was really not constructed
well; lids would not close properly, latches would not latch and everything had
a sticky residue on it. Now, that last
part is common in China, because most items like this are coated with lacquer,
and that was what we thought it was. I
did not end up getting anything, but two ladies that were heading back to the
states got a nice silk rug. The rug
selection was nice but the owner would not bargain, and I have time to wait and
get a better deal somewhere else. But if
you’re heading back home, they know they got you!
Once we all had reassembled back at the entrance, my friend, Mary,
asked the owner what all this sticky stuff was on the furniture? By now we all had it all over our hands and
were trying to wipe it off. He just
shrugged and said, matter of factly, “Oh, that’s just yak butter.” To see the looks on all our faces was
priceless! No one said a word. We all just looked down at our hands and had
looks of horror! Eyes wide, mouths
pulled back in the “eew” gross position.
Remaining unruffled, Mary slowly pulled out her had sanitizer, and we
all gathered around for a heaping dose.
We regained our composures (not wanting to offend our host,) until we
got back to the car. Not being able to hold it in any longer, we all had a
really good laugh at the whole thing.
There was many a reference to, “Oh that’s just yak butter,” the rest of
the afternoon.
That brings me back to what to expect in China is the unexpected,
and I think it is best just to go with it, and to really try to not let my feathers
get ruffled. It’s interesting that we
are now six months into our sojourn here, and I’m coming to this realization,
right when everyone said the transition would start to ease!
