The Flatmates

Of the 3 flatmates, one is a German and 2 are Chinese. The German guy is Clemens, 26, and is also a foreign student here. He's a really good bloke, typical German apart from being easy going and friendly instead of uber-serious. Although I end up speaking more English than I probably should, quite often it's good having another European around to joke about things. There's quite a big gap between European and Chinese culture on a lot of things.

The Chinese guys are really nice as well, we get on well. Both 20 or so, learning English at university. In brief, they are good guys but so incredibly lazy, they make me look like German. They spend their whole day sitting around, watching TV, playing computer games and studying English in a woefully ineffective way.

My favourite of the 2 is XiaoMing. When you ask him what he's done today, he normally replies 'sleeping'. Everyday he (like most Chinese people) has a nap in the afternoon. He once asked Clemens, with a puzzled and worried face, how he managed to cope on only 8 hours sleep a day. He spends hours practising pronunciation, and yet it remains terrible. XiaoMing is from the countryside, and he has this quite suppliant mentality. He thinks its his 'yinggaide' (duty) to do all the housework. He's kind of like the butler (or public school 'fag') to the other one, in that he does all the clothes washing and cooking for both of them, while the other sits around sending text messages. One time we were dicsussing having a party or something in the flat, and he said he would be the butler. When he goes to English Corner with Clemens, he never joins in, instead he stands just behind him, like a bodyguard in fake Adidas training kit. Yesterday, I come home and XiaoMing is there with a random Chinese woman and an obese, Arab looking guy with a voice like Michael Jackson. I still have no idea what they were doing there.

FanQian is the other guy, he's also a nice bloke, we get on well. I normally speak Chinese to them, only sometimes English, which is good for me. One interesting thing is that he keeps saying how much he wants to learn German, go to Germany for foreign study, etc. Clemens has offered him free German lessons, and yet he just hasn't got round to taking up the offer. I really have trouble understanding this - he is probably the only Chinese person in this 8 million person city living with a German who has offered free German lessons, profeses his love of German(y), and yet spends his time sleeping and playing computer games.

We went out to a music thing once, and after half an hour, FanQian went home because he was tired and there were no chairs. A lot of the people I know (not all) get tired so easily, they need to have a rest after having a rest. I went to a university with some friends yesterday, and every half an hour they were asking 'ni lei ma?' (are you tired?).

There's also something quite fishy about them. I'm pretty sure XiaoMing isn't enrolled at university, he only seems to go there in the evening. When you ask him about it, he stutters over his words and looks at his friend for help.

Overall, it's good, the 'guanxi' (relationship) is so far, so good.