Mail Call

When I was in Sichuan last week I mailed myself a postcard. While, yes, this may be something that a crazy person or someone who is starved for attention would do, I had my reasons. I wanted to see what getting mail in my hutong apartment was like.

Usually, the letters I have seen sit in a little cubby hole in the wall just inside the main door. That's where I thought my mail would end up, too. But there's never that much mail there... and in fact I have never seen mail get delivered.

Well, this morning at about 8:30 I hear my name "Mu KaiLe!" shouted out on the hutong outside my house. "Is there a Mu KaiLe that lives here?" And I go down my ladder shouting "I'm Kaile! I'm Mu Kaile!!"

I open my door to find everyone, the mailman, children, the other families, all standing around inspecting the post card; all five households had come out to inspect this little letter, that I had sent myself. 

My neighbors know my name. I'm not sure why they all had to come out and inspect it, they could have slid it into the cubby. Can this scenario be attributed to the "mixed courtyard house" style of living?

At one time, several generations of the same family would have occupied the courtyard style house I live in currently, granted this would have been well over forty years ago, before the Cultural Revolution and probably even more prevalent pre-1949 China. At that time, everyone would have been responsible for the other family members in the house. Now, these houses have become home to three, four, and in my house five different families, all living around one courtyard. In Beijing they are called "big mixed coutyards" (大杂院 dazayuan).

It was interesting to have my name shouted, and it's interesting that everyone came out to inspect this letter, even though my neighbors know my name and where I live. The house that I live in doesn't have an actual mail box, like I said, there is only a cubby where mail is usually left, the mailman might not know about the cubby, so it might be a necessity for the mailman to shout for mail call. It's hard to say whether it is the protective nature of the courtyard house or simply "that laowai is getting mail?" that brought everyone out for mail call. But a good part of me is leaning towards the latter.