Neighbors and Roommates

Every time I sit down to write a post I always have too many things to write about than I can think of. So today will be a mishmash of current events in Nanjing.

First of all, and probably most important, I have found a roommate. It happened really fast and kind of unexpectedly, but she’s really nice. It’s funny how things just fall together in life.

Long story short, Eva, my new roommate, called me around 10 Tuesday night inquiring about the room. I thought it a little odd someone would call so late, but then again... This is China. She was kind of worried on the phone and said she wanted to move in tomorrow. What? Tomorrow? Oh I don’t know... I was reluctant to agree to let some stranger just move right in to the apartment, but I also had been realizing and lamenting the negatives to living alone. Nonetheless, I told her it was OK to come, and we would talk about it. I had no idea what I was in for.

Much to my surprise a very sweet Chinese girl was knocking on my door about 15 minutes later. She apologized it was so late and it seemed she’d been crying. So I gave her a brief tour of the apartment and showed her the room. It was alright with her and she was very appreciative. And then she spilled her stressful situation. After a few tears and her story of her landlady kicking her out so that she could move to America to marry her boyfriend, there was no way I could tell Eva “no.” She’s a really pleasant girl, and considering the only other bite I had was some Indian guy in med school, I thought this was a much better match (not that I have anything against Indian guys in med school, I just didn’t want a guy roommate from a country I know little about). Best of all she’s teaches yoga on the side, so I’ve got my own personal yoga instructor (Ashley, I know your jealous of that!). So now I pay a whooping $220 a month for rent. Life is good.

Along the lines of home life in China, I had some very sweet surprises this weekend. I’ve mentioned that everyone in my complex is very friendly and now I have a Chinese family to call my own (sort of). When I got back after the trip to Confucius Temple, there was a cute little note waiting for me from my neighbor, Ellen (all these E names are really going to mess me up!). She wrote that she was excited that an American was living next door and wanted to practice her English. So long story short she came over Sunday night with a bag of fruit her mom bought for me and invited me to dinner at their home Monday night. I was so appreciative!

So Monday night came and I was excited to be dinning with my new friend and her family. Ellen, who is 17 and getting ready to start her 2nd year of high school (Typically HS is three years and Chinese people typically add an extra year to their age. Technically they are 1 when they come out of the womb), speaks decent English, but she’s young and smart. Ellen was thrilled when I came over and I was excited to help her practice a little bit of English and pick up some Chinese. Her dad teaches calligraphy writing and her mom is the “engineer of the home”... I’ll have to remember that one. I think my confidence in speaking Chinese improved in that one night as I learned new words (food words, go figure) and told Ellen’s family about my family, job and why I decided to move to China. It was so nice spending an evening with a very typical family. And while I couldn’t understand everything, they were entertaining to watch as they joked around and tried to communicate with me, the foreigner. It was a perfect way to start the week.

It’s incredibly reassuring to feel so at comfortable in my new home. Today I was proofing an article for one of our Web sties that covers the differences in Chinese and Western cultures. The article talks about that while sometimes China’s culture is often time seen as somewhat abrasive, Chinese take pride in their community and are exceptional hosts. I couldn’t agree more. And it’s a satisfying feeling knowing that my new friends have accepted me into their community.