sofasurfers

So with Beth’s other half, Gareth, stumbling in the next morning at
10.30, having been drinking till this time, I console myself with the
idea that at least they’ll want to take it easy tonight. We meet in
their living room at about 7pm, and settle in for some Family Guy on
the telly. Both are swaddled on their respective sofas in their
(uncovered) duvets, I on an engulfing armchair. We chill. Now
admittedly, this may not seem like headline news, but for me, it was
the most exciting event thus far. There had been Chinese TV in
Beijing, but it only served as background noise to the couple’s rants
about China and those strange, silent tensions between girlfriend and
boyfriend and girlfriend and guest. Here in Xi’an, we chat, we do our
own thing, we play with the dog, we laugh at the TV. There are vague
discussions about going out locally to get something to eat, but I’m
willing it away – right here is perfect. But finally there is some
action, and Gareth and Beth take me to their neighbourhood. It’s a
total trip. First we meet their friends in the corner shop, and we
stay to banter awhile (they banter, I observe). We pass their friend
who used to own a restaurant but lost it: she plies us with strange,
processed meat balls boiled in spicy water and refuses to let us pay;
I am introduced to the whole family. G&B pick up some beer (that side
of things never seems to stop) to take home and Gareth charges into
the shop to muck about with the adolescent shop attendant (he tells me
later he was trying to pinch his nipples). They muck about some more
on the talking calculator, tapping in numbers that apparently also
say, “Dirty bitch!”, “Your nephew and your uncle will go to hell”. We
finally stop at a Muslim restaurant – when the waiters see Beth and
Gareth coming, they shout at them affectionately in the street. We eat
lamb kebabs outside (B&G buy a bottle of rice wine – they shot the
lot, and chase with beer) and talk about China. “The problem with
expats,” says Gareth, “is that they live in an expat bubble. I know
many who have been here for two years and now as many words.” You
could not say this of G&B – they both seem to speak excellent
conversational Chinese; they are the opposite of my Beijing hosts, in
that they are fully engaged in local life. They get what they give.
They have learnt the language, they have made friends, and they love
it here. “I don’t understand why people live here if they don’t like
it,” says Gareth. This bridge to local life is exactly why I’m
couchsurfing.