Yep, my British family.... 4 Chinese, 1 Indonesian, 1 Palestinian... and me in a Thai restaurant no less. This is a landmark picture, we were all together in one place at the same time for the sole purpose of socializing together. So we took a picture of it in case it didn't happen again... I actually skipped my Irish dancing so that we could do this. (ouch, bad pun.... so sorry!) We are a quiet group, well mannered and unobtrusive. I never hear my flat mates, other than the main door opening and closing since my room is the closest to it. This get together was the brain child of Zahra who decided we needed to be more social with each other. The layout of our flat makes it hard to just have those 'how was your day', and whatever about classes and assignments unless you happen to be in the kitchen at the same time. Our bedroom doors are fire doors and you can't easily prop them open,not to mention we aren't supposed to, so you can't just stop by their room or wave as they go by. You have to knock if you want to interact and you have no idea if they are even in their room!
Let me tell you what I know about my family, besides not much....We are all on MA 1 year programs. I'm the only one planning to stay on and continue with a PhD, the rest will go back to their countries next Sept at the conclusion of their programs. So, sitting next to me is Agnes. She is from the South of China. She, Mavis, and Monic all study at the Winchester campus which is an hour bus ride from here. I guess the accommodations in Winchester aren't that great, so they opted for the commute. I think all three of them are studying Fashion Management. I'm not really sure what that is, but I get a mental image of Fashion police, which is not good, cuz they will probably arrest me at some point... ;) The most Agnes says is hi when she comes into the kitchen and bye when she leaves. However her and Monic are tight and much Chinese is spoken in our flat.
Next to Agnes is Mavis. (We won't talk about the different movies that go through my head with their names.... however I am grateful that they have 'adopted' English names cuz otherwise I'd be in real trouble!) She is from Northern China. Mavis is super chipper and cute. She is always smiling and willing to chat when I see her.
To the right of Mavis is Monic. She is from Southern China. She is quieter than Agnes if that is possible. She tends to be the cook for her and Agnes and is always cooking something in the kitchen. In the mornings she comes stumbling in with a headband that has a HUGE bow on it, her slippers and night shirt. I don't know if she sleeps with that thing on, or if it is to just cover "bed head". Not a real conversationalist, mostly hi and bye...
Across the table from Monic is Zahra. She is from Indonesia. She is a sweetie. We chat a lot and and enjoy the little time we see each other. She went around and got everyone's phone numbers and decided we needed to act like we live in the same flat. :) She is older than she looks (cuz she looks 14...) . She is studying something to do with Marine Biology, I think. Something science related in that kind of a field anyway.
Next to Zahra is Yolanda. Yolanda is from Northern China and is quite tall. (so is Monic for that matter.) She actually is married and has a 15 year old son. Her husband is still in China helping to support her coming to study. Her son is here at a boarding school. So when the school is on holiday, like the last week of Oct, he stays here with her. She is studying Statistics. She tends to mother the other 3 Chinese girls and in fact calls them "the girls". We have philosophical discussions over meals, since she and I seem to be the only ones who eat at the table. Yolanda attributes that to the distance from our rooms to the kitchen since her room is next to mine. We have many things in common and it is nice to have someone who is somewhat closer in age to me. At least she is old enough that I couldn't be her mother....
Across from me is Samar. She is from Palestine. She actually is a professional and works in a clinic. Their clinic needed an audiology expert and since she has an interest in it she was 'volunteered'. She has decided that I'm alright. We've gone to the city center a couple of time together. She will ask me cooking questions and we chat. The first several days in the flat she wore, don't know what it is called, but it was like a big sheet with sleeves and a place for her face. Once it was determined that our flat was all female (she wasn't guaranteed it would be even though she requested it,as did I) she now wanders around within the flat without even a head scarf. I think that shows a large level of trust on her part. However, twice this week her room door decided to lock her out. Meaning the door wasn't' locked when she went out to go to the kitchen, but was locked when she tried to get back in. (Yolanda has managed to lock herself out of her room twice already too.) So she came up the hall and knocked on my door. She explained her plight, so I handed her my phone so she could call the reception desk to send security up to unlock her door. The first time she was in her night shirt. She looked at me, I went to my wardrobe and handed her one of my wide scarves (I knew I kept them around for a reason, haven't worn them much yet, not cold enough) and my Japanese robe which is floor length. She looked eternally grateful. She hung out in my room (we had to call again, the guy forgot he was supposed to come do that....) and after he opened her room and left, she returned my stuff. This morning I had just put my coat on to go down and catch my ride to church when there was a knock on my door. It was Samar again. I told her she needs to put in a maintenance request because I'm pretty sure there is a problem with the lock. She was dressed, but no headscarf. So I handed her the scarf again and my hoodie. I told her to just give them back when I got back from church. She told me that as she was walking up the hall she was praying I hadn't left yet. That made me feel good, there are 5 other roommates, but well, she needed mom I guess.
So now you have met my family. The most unlikely group you'd expect to be living together in England.
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