two and a half ren

welcome to two and a half ren.

this is a blog about international relations. it's the story of three guys who live together. these guys come from two different countries. They study different subjects. They look different. They smell different. But they get along.

 ren 人 is a Chinese word which means "person" or "human being." The deeper I get into my pursuit of the Chinese language, the more I feel like half a person--split between two worlds and two cultures. Sometimes I feel like just half good in a Chinese world and half good in an English one. 
Most of the time, being "half" means being half-full. My dream is to fill my empty half. Living with two of China's best is one step in that direction.

however, I don't think it's that simple. I don't think I'm the only half ren. I think that at any given point, each of us three could play the half role. My roommates are thousands of miles away from home, trying to fill their empty halves with increased knowledge of English and of their study path.

Consider this quote from a Chinese guy you've probably heard of: Confucius.

三人行，必有我師焉：擇其善者而從之，其不善者而改之。

When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them.

That's us. We are each walking along, sometimes teachers, sometimes learners. Often we're both at the same time. This blog is for the half rens of the world. It's for people that want to learn Chinese as a language or just want to learn what a couple Chinese foreign exchangers and their absent-minded American roommate like to do for fun.

Get to know us:

Wang Shuai, better known as "Handsome Shuai"

Liu Yuan, a.k.a. "The Boss"

me, Jonny D., who humbly submits to the moniker  "DQ," 

the fourth ren, Wan Keyu, "Ms. Wan" our kindly neighbor, 

resident photographer, and fountain of wisdom.

thanks for reading.

check back in tomorrow for the first tale of our adventures

(and every two weeks after that for more)/

you'll laugh, you'll learn, and you'll feel occasionally underwhelmed.

and you'll get to know a lot more than just 

two and a half ren.