host family

Ni hao! My name is Meng Anhua, and I can even pronounce it.

My host family is a grandfather and grandmother, who, it seems, are younger than me.  Neither of them speak English.  Their apartment is huge by Chinese standards, on the top floor, and is 2 stories.  The building only has 6 floors, no elevator, and I’m wondering how they got all the furniture and stuff up here, especially the biggest refrigerator/ freezer I’ve seen.  The apartment has many small balconies with lots of potted plants, including some vegetables.  I have my own large bedroom, with one of the small balconies, and bathroom with a western toilet, (yea!).   The laundry room next to my bedroom has a squat toilet. 

The apartment is in a gated community with all low buildings, walking paths, open spaces, trees, a pool, playground, and many other nice features, and is right next to the campus where the Volunteers meet for classes from 8:30-5:30.  This must be a very upscale area because it is surrounded by high density, very tall steel and concrete apartment buildings.  I hear birds!

The grandmother does all of the cleaning and washing.  When I got home from school yesterday, I saw she had done my laundry, and it was all hanging to dry on a balcony. 

making dumplings

it's possible to eat noodle for every meal, every day

The grandfather does all of the food shopping and cooking, and he prepares 4 or 5 delicious dishes every night.  He makes things he thinks I will like, and not too spicy.  So one big concern, being uncomfortable eating with a host family, has turned out to be nothing, so far.  He has a wonderful light and happy giggle.

Their grandsons, Mike, age 10 and Michael, age15, are out of school for the summer and are frequently staying here too.  Their English is good, especially the older one who wants to go to the US to study.  I’m the 6^th PC Volunteer to stay here.  The boys are my new hang-out buddies.  More on them later.

Their mother works as a manager, but I don’t know where, and lives near by in a small apartment. She and her sons eat at this apartment everyday.   I asked about where I can find internet access yesterday, and today I have wifi in the apartment.  I offered to pay for it, but they wouldn’t take it.

I made a terrible impression on her husband today by meeting him in shorts and a t-shirt and saying good-bye instead of hello.  1^st impressions count huge here.  He works out of town, but that’s all I know.  The other huge mistake I made today was saying I know how to play Ping-Pong, totally forgetting that I’m in China.  An hour later, I was eating those words.

One other woman lives here, about the age of the boy’s mother, but they are not sisters, and Michael doesn’t have the language to explain who she is.  She just came in and handed be a sting of 6 small, fresh, sweet smelling flowers.  So kind!

I feel extremely lucky to live here for the next 2 months.  The location, apartment, bedroom, and family far exceed my expectations.

Language learning is slow; I’m wishing for a lot more brainpower.  I can say for sure that being surrounded by people talking loud, fast, and simultaneously makes my brain shut down, kind of like a screen saver.

chicken feet snack, right above the pickled peanuts