'"How many people share this kitchen?" I said. "Fourteen. Four families. Most Shanghai like this. That's why we apply for new apartment. Everyone want to leave."'(130)
The novel goes on to further describe the status of the cramped apartment. For instance, the kitchen and the bathroom are together in one room, and how there is only one refrigerator for fourteen people. After reading this section I realized how incredibly lucky I am to live in the house and city that I do. My house has three bathrooms for only five people, where as in Evelina's aunt's apartment, they only have two for fourteen people. In my family we also all have our own bedrooms while in Shanghai they have to make do with only two beds for five people. I think that sometimes I take my life for granted and don't really realize how good I have it. This chapter helped me open my eyes to see how thankful I should be.
I think that this experience also shocked Evelina. She came to China expecting life to be similar to America and found a completely different culture. She was at first stunned to witness the living conditions of her aunt and began to question her own life. She began to wonder if she could live without all of her possessions that she before would consider a necesasity, such as a microwave or a coffee maker.
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