Howie

I have been getting a lot questions about Howie. So I thought I should let everyone know what's going on...

A couple months ago I was shopping with a friend of mine. Because we live near each other and we were all the way downtown we decided to just take the bus home together. After explaining to her what stop she should take I got off the bus at my stop. Now, riding the bus is a pretty normal occurrence for a lot of people. But have you ever ridden the bus during Chinese rush hour? This can be quite scary! Not so much the bus ride itself but getting off the bus.

Anyway, the stop for this bus from downtown is across the street from the community that I live in. This means that I have to cross 8 lanes of traffic with no cross walk. It's typically no problem but this was Chinese rush hour. A terrifying experience! Basic traffic laws are not observed here. Even if there are traffic lanes painted on the road, they are completely ignored. Some people don't like to use their headlights even if it's 3 am. And it is rare for anyone to use turn signals. The way one crosses the street here is by lane. If the first lane has no cars coming you go across that lane then wait for an opportunity to cross the next lane until you eventually cross them all. I had done this a few times by then but I still wasn't used to it at the time.

Back to the story: I told my friend how to go to her house from her stop then got off the bus. I crossed the first lane of the road. I then hear a guy next to me say, "You can cross next to me. It's dangerous now." I look over expecting another foreigner but it was a Chinese guy about my age.

When we got to the other side of the road we talked for a minute or two. He told me his name was Howie and asked where I was from, why I was in China, the normal questions I get here. But this time it was all in English. We then exchanged phone numbers and went our separate ways. This is quite normal when you meet someone new but you never expect to hear from them again.

A few weeks later was National Day Holiday here. Most people had about a week off of work so there was a lot of partying being done. I was at a bar waiting for some friends when I got a text from Howie asking how I was doing and how he would like to invite me to dinner sometime and introduce me to some of his friends. I was slightly leery of meeting him because of the way he phrased things so I politely declined and said I was really busy. (In all honesty, I was busy. Not busy working though. Busy going out with friends.) I didn't hear anything more from him for a few weeks.

One night my friend Julie and I went to a bar and I invited a bunch of my friends. Well, almost all my friends go to school here and they all had a big test the next day that they were studying for so they couldn't come. It ended up being Julie and I at the bar being bored to death. She kept asking me if I had anyone else I could call. I said, "Only one more person. A guy I met at the bus stop once." So I texted him and he was at the bar within half an hour.

We ended up having a great time. He turned out to be a really nice guy. Julie, Howie, and I all live within 4 or 5 blocks of each other so when it was time to go we shared a cab and he dropped us off at our apartments and waited for us to get inside our main gates before the cab drove off. And in typical Chinese fashion, he paid for everything.

The next week he was in Guangzhou (near Hong Kong) on a business trip so we didn't see each other at all. When he got back Patrick and I invited him to go to a club with us and some of the girls we work with. We all ended up drinking way too much and decided to head home even before the bar closed (a rarity for us, we are usually kicked out at closing). Again, he made sure that Julie and I were safe inside before he left.

About a week later Howie invited me out with one of his friends and his friend's girlfriend. Even though they didn't speak English we were still able to have fun together and play a game in Chinese. (Luckily my Chinese numbers are pretty good and Howie's friend's girlfriend isn't good at math so she usually ended up losing.)

The rest is just a bunch of the same. So longer story shortened a bit, Howie and I started dating. He has gotten the seal of approval from all my friends here. Whenever he comes over to my place Patrick always tells me how much he likes Howie and how great he is.

FAQs answered: He's 25. He's from a farming community in northern Liaoning province. He taught himself English. He works in international trading. And yes, he's pretty short but not shorter than me. He is an only child, but has a foster sister. He lives with his "sister", his sister's friend, and one of his friends who he calls "brother" and they are all very nice.