Another Foreigner

I thought I knew most of the westerners in the area, but I was wrong.

My roommate and I were out on a walk, deep in a conversation when a swarm of Chinese students came out of a building about 50 yards in front of us. Nothing unusual. But then I saw a western guy in the middle of the crowd. He was also deep in a conversation with a Chinese friend, but he saw me too.

No matter where I am in China, it's strange to see another foreigner. And to see a young western guy that I had never met, right here on campus, is extremely unusual.

As we walked toward each other we tried to pretend that we weren't staring at each other. But we kept looking up at the same time, so that didn't work too well. Finally he passed me and I turned my head once to look at him again.

Yep, he was looking back, too.

I know what he was thinking, because I was thinking the same thing. We westerners try to analyze each other and guess why we're here, what we're doing, and whether we like it here. I can't get over how much I have in common with people I don't even know just because we're westerners in the middle of China.


Two end notes: I would have said hello except that we were both in the middle of conversations. And please don't think I'm a creep- I'm writing about this because it's an example of how strange it is sometimes to be in China. Just seeing another foreigner is weird to me!