My grandmother's house has two gates. The front one opens to the street and is used by guests; the back one opens to a path behind the kitchen. (11) For years I thought this was strange. Then one cold afternoon a fisherman came to the back gate with a basket of fish and some bananas. He did not knock; he called her name, and she answered from inside. I realized that the two gates were not about doors at all, (12) about who needs to be welcomed and who is already inside. (13) my grandmother has moved to an apartment with one door and a bell. She says she is happy there, (14) she still leaves the kitchen window open every morning.
A room is really just air with walls around it, yet the shape of those walls changes how we feel and even what we can achieve in a day. (15) People in a room with a high roof think of larger ideas, while a low room helps them work on small careful tasks. Light matters even more. A window on the east side wakes a person in a soft way, (16) the same room facing west can feel hot and heavy by evening. (17), people who build houses in this town have long put bedrooms on the east and kitchens on the north. Few families today can choose the direction of their block, (18) even a curtain moved by one meter can change a whole afternoon.
Joy: I found a flat near the post office. Here is what the owner sent me.
| SUN BLOCK · Flat 4B |
|---|
| Floor 4, no lift |
| One bedroom, one bathroom |
| Rent 9,000 a month |
| Free: dryer and microwave |
Ken: Nine thousand is good for that town. But floor 4 with no lift?
Joy: I know. My mother could not visit. That is the only thing stopping me.
Ken: Ask whether the owner has anything on a lower floor in the same block.
Water will be turned off on Thursday, 9:00 to 15:00.
Workers will change the old pipes under the stairs between the second and third floors. Please store enough water on Wednesday evening for Thursday morning.
If your flat still has no water after three o'clock, call the office on the ground floor. We are sorry for the trouble. The same work was done in Block A last summer and finished on time.
Dear Mr. Kao,
I am writing about the bedroom window in Flat 3C. It does not close all the way since the strong wind in August, and cold air comes in at night. I told the office twice by phone, but nobody has come.
I do not think this is a large job. The window itself is fine; it is the bottom part of the wood around it that has moved. A worker could probably fix it in an hour.
Winter is close now. Could someone come this week? I am at home every afternoon after three, and I can leave the key with the family below me if that helps you.
Sincerely, Lin Hua
Ask people to draw their childhood home and most will draw one room, not the whole house. It is usually the room where food was made, and interest in this idea has grown in recent years.
For a long time, houses in this part of the world were built around the kitchen, and that was where family life took place. Everyone passed through it, so nobody could be alone for long. Later, flats were built with small kitchens at the back and a large room for guests at the front. The family ended up at the edge of its own home.
Now some people who build houses are turning back. They open the kitchen to the living room and put the table in the middle, so a family can share a pizza without anyone leaving the room. It is not because cooking has changed. It is because people discovered that a family needs one room that nobody can walk past.