A Short Letter Home: Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Monday, August 29, 2005

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Well, if we were feeling isolated the first few days we were here, that has changed this weekend. On Friday, we met our neighbor, Michael. He and his wife, Joan, are the other expatriate teachers here at the college. He had just arrived and introduced himself to us. (Joan's still in the UK for a few days. Her mother had suffered a stroke and she had to finish arranging for her care.) It was a brief encounter, him being jet-lagged and all. But we agreed we'd get together again. This occurred the next day, in style. Michael bopped over in the afternoon for a nice chat, and then he invited us over for supper! We had a truly delicious spaghetti dinner (vegetarian sauce, even!) and a wonderful time getting to know each other and learning more about the small expatriate community here. (I think we number about 17) My only regret is that our household is in no shape to reciprocate. That will have to be one of our priorities.

On Sunday, Michael asked us if we'd like to join him on a hike to see a couple of shrines. We eagerly agreed and I was happy to see that my impulse to bring my hiking boots was warranted. We ventured up the mountain, getting lost a couple of times in the process. On the trail we met a fellow big-nose, Matthew. He's just started teaching English at one of the middle schools here. He and Michael were strangers to one another, but they had common friends amongst the other expats. One of these was Flora, who worked at the local orphanage. The orphanage happened to be on our way home, so we stopped in to meet her.

Flora invited us in, gave us some treats (including Chinese Oreos!), and generally treated us all to a wonderful chat. I don't know if it's being so far from home that makes folks so friendly, or if they've just picked up some manners from our Chinese hosts. Matthew was in and out of the flat. Turns out he had visited before and had played some with the orphanage kids. As anyone who has ever taken the time to play with kids knows, doing so grants an instant obligation to do so again. Flora praised his friendliness, pointing out that the kids benefited from having another male role model. (All but two of the orphanage workers were female.) She invited me to come over sometime and adopt a similar obligation. Although I'm terrible at basketball, I suppose I'll have to oblige. Ah, from loneliness to having too many friends in just a couple of days. Life is good.