New Neighbors

Possibly the most exciting aspect of our new home is the larger community we now live in. Before, we lived in a primarily expatriate community with some Chinese families living there mainly for a prestigious address. This led to a few effects, including what I will call The Beverly Hillbilly effect. Chinese families chose to live in a Western complex and shop at Western stores... but they weren't Western, and often made fools of themselves. Chinese companies tried to run Western restaurants and housing, but with no personal knowledge and so often made fools of themselves. I'll admit, these Chinese people out of their element gave me a bad impression of most people in Shanghai. Finding primarily Chinese versions of Western food and culture left me with a bad impression of China.

Our new neighborhood is much more Chinese. In fact, Xujiahui is where the rich Chinese people live. Most of our neighbors are Chinese. Many of them speak English. The grocery stores cater to Chinese people with Western tastes, meaning that they offer each well. The restaurants are primarily Chinese food, in clean setting and moderate prices. The people can afford some leisure, making them likely to smile as you pass and move out of each other's way. After only a few weeks, I like China so much more.

In our new neighborhood, I can strike up conversations with Chinese people. We spent the evening at the playground tonight. L-- and S-- wanted to swing. When we arrived at the two swings, one hung empty and an adult sat in the other talking to her boyfriend. L-- ran to the empty swing, so I suggested S-- ask permission for the swing from the current rider. She approached the swing and said ke yi ma? Translation: may I? They must not have expected a little blonde girl to speak Mandarin, and so did not hear what she said. I replied to S-- in English that they were enjoying the swing, and that she must wait her turn. They responded in English - would she like to swing?

S-- climbed on the now vacated swing, and I asked them how to properly ask permission to ride. They told me I was right, which led into a conversation on where they learned English (he worked in Las Vegas for 3 months), whether I need much Mandarin (he said I'll forget it as soon as I leave, since my husband speaks my language, so there's no need to learn any more than is necessary to get by), and whether Dave's company employs any Chinese people (they do - he is in the minority as a Westerner). A Chinese woman is in my Bible study, although she married into a foreign passport or else her attendance would be illegal. Both of our neighbors seem to be Chinese, and so is our new ayi.

Here's to hoping that by the end of this year, I will have more positive impressions of China than negative. At this point, it seems quite likely.