they won

It’s 10:00, and we just finished the fifth chai of the day. They’ve been oddly spaced: 5:30 am, 12pm, 3pm, 5pm, 10pm. On the table were the usual for a late tea: cheese, white bread, cherry compote, sausage, chocolate butter, Korean salad – cabbage and kimchee - recently pasteurized milk, and a bowl full of stale cookies and half-eaten chocolates (it’s common to take a nibble of your favorite and then to re-wrap it for later.) Mmm.

The multiple chais (tea) are part of a campaign to make me stay at my host family's house. Of course, I love them and they couldn't have been kinder or more generous - the ideal host family. But I, thinking I might be overstaying my welcome in a small house where there are often guests, began the process of looking for a babushka with some extra space. I believe I sometimes worry my host mother. I worry my own mother, too, sometimes. Anyway, it seemed to be going smoothly, with no offense taken, and but when my host sisters found out, they began a long campaign to get me to stay. "We've gotten used to you! Stay! Stay!" They've taken me ghosting, invited me to as many things as they can think of, told me about picnics in the summers, etc. It seems I produce more anxiety when I act like I'm going to leave than when I stay. So, I'm staying until the summer at least.