与陌生人共建"甜蜜的家"

很多很多的外国人现在回到中国来工作或学习，面对不同的环境有很多的不便。那下面就来看看几位在中国生活的外国朋友的生活吧！

Beijing is a huge city, and most foreigners arrive here alone and without a friend-or maybe even a clue about what China has in store for them.

Many people who wouldn't dream of moving in with a complete stranger back home reconsider when they arrive in China.

Driven by anxiety before making the move, or maybe by desperation after arriving on Chinese soil, many Beijing expats scour classifieds like thebeijinger.com in search of someone to live with.

American journalist Roya Stephens has lived in Beijing twice in the last few years. The roommate hunt is very different here from in New York, she says.

" I think that you are going off of a lot of faith when you look for roommates in China. A lot of times, in the States, you go off recommendations that you have from friends or from people that you know. And a lot of times, you don't have that same foundation when you are living in China. Basically all you know about the person is what you read in their classified ads and a little snapshot of the time you spend together before you start living with each other. In China, you're basically building a relationship with strangers. "

Stephens searched the classifieds to find a room before arriving in Beijing, since she knew she had to start work immediately. After emailing and video chatting with a few potential roommates, she found a bedroom.

Laurens Kasteleijn is from Holland and is a senior executive assistant for a financial consultancy in Beijing. He found his first roommates quite easily through his language school when he arrived in China over a year and a half ago.

But arriving alone in a foreign country presents many more challenges, he says.

" I think, in Amsterdam or in your home country, you already know some friends, you'll find a roommate in college or through some friends. Here, obviously, you don't have a lot of friends and not a lot of people get housing from their school or their job. So, people use thebeijinger.com, that kind of website; that's quite different. A lot of people I know who have roommates, they just put an ad on thebeijinger and see who's interested. "

Adam Edwards is an artist and curator from Norwich, England, who just moved back to China and is looking for a place. He finds classifieds to be the most efficient method, and finds himself to be more flexible here than back home.

" Here, especially if you just land then you have very few contacts and you have to really move out of your comfort zone when finding someone to live with. That's the biggest difference I found. "

Having shared interests, professions, friends or schedules may be important back home. But in China, some people settle for mutual respect for the living space and timely bill payments.

And sometimes, living with strangers can actually work out better than expected.

Sylvain Gharbi is a freelance journalist from France and has lived in both Beijing and Hong Kong. He stresses that it's not similar interests, but a similar mindsetthat is important.

" I want to surround myself with open-minded people who want to bridge that cultural difference between them and China. I want to share my environment with people who have the same kind of values, same profiles and habits as myself."

However, strangers don't always adapt to a new environment in the same way.

JP Stevenson is an American graduate in international business who just moved back to China. He points out that some people find difficulty adjusting to new surroundings.

" I think there are two types of people who are living in China, those who immediately love it and those immediately who hate it and then I guess the third type would be those who grow to love it. Most of my roommates in the past have all enjoyed China but if you're in the situation where someone isn't responding well to living in a foreign culture, especially here. I think it can be bothersome and can adversely affect the mood of the house. "

Adam Edwards adds that he's not so worried about how new people adapt. However, in his experience, living with newly-arrived foreigners can mean more work for him.

" I'm open to living with people who just arrived in China although when they just arrived maybe their level of Chinese is not so great. It means you are a bit more burdened when handling the household domestic issues that may occur. Just with little things in daily life, something breaks, or the plumbing. So it's nice when you're with someone who's also been in China for a while or has a little bit of experience and can help lighten the load a little bit more. "

Certainly, in the eyes of new and long-term expats alike, Beijing isn't for everyone. But with many experienced China expats and a constant flow of new people moving to Beijing, it's a recipe for some shared apartments seasoned with odd combinations of people.

Things are different from back home, to be sure. However, the lesson may be that perhaps the best roommate in China is a stranger with a completely different culture, language or lifestyle. Maybe even someone with whom you share absolutely nothing in common, except for the rent you pay and the roof over your head.

For CRI, I'm Andrea Hunt.