My Chinese Roommate

After the day I had yesterday, last night my mind and body felt like pudding. We climbed the Great Wall yesterday, which is actually quite a climb from where we started. I didn’t count the steps but it easily racks up to a couple thousand. One thing about climbing the Great Wall is that you are always climbing—once you think you’ve reached the top, you spot an even higher tower daring you to climb it.

Getting at the top though is well worth it. I’m not much for hyping up already famous experiences, but getting to the top was simply breathtaking (much like the climb was). It was overcast yesterday, and the mountains were dusted with the mists of high altitudes. The breeze and light rain were fantastic after an exerting climb. I wish I could go back…

I realized that I haven’t said much about my Chinese roommate. Her name is Ada (her English name), and she happens to have a twin sister who attends school in Shanghai. Ada proudly states that she is from the same hometown as Chairman Mao.

Ada told me that over 400 Chinese students applied for only 24 spots as roommates. I was surprised that so many would like to have a foreign roommate. But then Ada explained the Chinese dorm living situation. One dorm holds 10,000 Chinese students, each room is only slightly bigger than the one I have, but instead of two people living in one, five people do, sometimes even up to eight. Showers are like they were during those awful middle school experiences—public. Not to mention squat toilets, which I have managed to avoid since coming here (not for much longer though)—then again I suppose the Chinese don’t really mind squat toilets. That’s just my stubborn Western mentality.

It’s amazing how much Chinese I have spoken since coming here. I don’t want to hype up a relationship before it’s gotten its feet fully of the ground, but I feel like my Chinese roommate and I will have a very symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship. She wants to learn English and I’m majoring in it; she knows Chinese and I desire fluency. Her English level is higher than my Chinese level (which isn’t the same for all the Chinese roommates) so we seem to speak Chinese until I need to inevitably default to English. Though there are sometimes when neither of us understands one another, so we have to take longer to explain in simpler terms.

She is very curious about American society and asks many questions, which I think is representative of her society. (China and America have a mutual interest-bordering-on-obsession with each other.) We went to the mall last night, and even though I have been warned about this, I still felt extremely embarrassed.

I was with two Chinese students, one of which was my roommate, and three American friends who all happen to be Asian. We were looking at jackets to buy for the Silk Road trip, and halfway through the decision process, I look over and notice two Asian men staring at me. Just flat out staring at me. They had apparently moved from whatever they were doing to come and watch me…stand there? Now, I had been warned that this would happen: “they are very curious about foreigners.” But expecting something to happen and actually experiencing it are two entirely different matters. No amount of forewarning could have prevented my face from turning bright red, nor placated my sudden urge to leave as soon as possible. The two men got the hint though, and left shortly after I expressed discomfort and moved ten feet away from them.

There’s so much more I could write about, but so much to do and so little time. We leave for a 16 day expedition on the Silk Road on Saturday, and I still need to take the placement test, buy supplies for the road, and come up with a presentation (we have to present on an assigned topic once during the trip). Feel free to leave a comment–I loveee comments! They won’t show up until after I approve them (this prevents spam) but I will approve them as soon as I get back on the Internet (which is unbearably slow fyi).  To leave a comment that everyone can see, write something in the box below this text. If you use the Contact Me form, that will send me an email that only I can read.

Stay Fly.

~Chopstick Chick