{"id":2711,"date":"2025-08-02T14:49:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T06:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/?p=2711"},"modified":"2025-08-02T15:34:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T07:34:16","slug":"%e7%ba%b5%e6%a8%aa%e7%be%8e%e5%9b%bd-12-a-new-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/?p=2711","title":{"rendered":"\u7eb5\u6a2a\u7f8e\u56fd \u2013 12. A New Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"350\"  src=\"\/\/www.bilibili.com\/blackboard\/html5mobileplayer.html?isOutside=true&#038;aid=714777490&#038;bvid=BV1jX4y1G7sk&#038;cid=314537673&#038;p=59\" \" scrolling=\"no\" border=\"0\" frameborder=\"no\" framespacing=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Day six: San Francisco,here I come. Nancy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca! Is that you? Yes,it&#8217;s me\u2026Hi,how are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s so nice to see you,after all these years. It&#8217;s good to see you! My,my\u2026you certainly look like your mother!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome\u2026welcome to San Francisco. It&#8217;s good to be here,it was a long trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What exactly happened to your car? Well,my car broke down in the desert and I didn&#8217;t have the time or the money to fix it,so I sold it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What a shame,that was the car your father bought you,wasn&#8217;t it? But at least you made it. Now let&#8217;s go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That sounds good. Now,where are your bags?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uh,they&#8217;re over there. Are all those yours? Good grief! I don&#8217;t know where we&#8217;ll put them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well,we&#8217;ll figure something out. Do they have baggage carts here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes,I&#8217;ll watch your luggage,why don&#8217;t you go in and get a cart? I fit all the luggage on the cart,but I can barely see you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh,this way,I got the trunk ready. Wow,this is quite a car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s old,but it runs just like me\u2026Here we are. Be careful,this is heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll help do this..all right,ok. It&#8217;s hard to believe I&#8217;m really in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well,you are. See that building? That&#8217;s the TransAmerica building. Some people like it,but not me. It&#8217;s too big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How&#8217;s your father? He&#8217;s doing pretty well,his leg bothers him every now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m sorry to hear that. And your little brother? How&#8217;s he doing? Kevin? He&#8217;s not so little anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He&#8217;s almost six feet tall,and he just graduated from high school. Is he going to college?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the moment he has a job,but I hope he&#8217;ll consider it. A college education is so important these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to find a decent job without it. You&#8217;re telling me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The house isn&#8217;t very far from here,I hope you&#8217;ll feel comfortable there. I&#8217;m sure I will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What a beautiful house! It&#8217;s been in the family for generations and we love it,but it costs a fortune to keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve got these bags,you get those. Put those bags down there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh,this house is really a <strong>jewel<\/strong>. I see why you&#8217;ve kept it. Yes,it&#8217;s very special to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make yourself at home,it&#8217;s your home now,too. Oh,by the way,there&#8217;s no smoking and no drugs in the house. And no guests upstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t think you have to worry about that. I didn&#8217;t think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Melaku,sorry to disturb you,I&#8217;d like you to meet my goddaughter. Yes, of course, Miss Shaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca Casey, this is Melaku Tadesse. Rebecca? Am I pronouncing your name right? It&#8217;s a pleasure to meet you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uh,It&#8217;s nice to meet you. Is it Melaku? Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Melaku is from Ethiopia,he&#8217;s a graduate student in business administration. When he gets his degree next year<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>he&#8217;ll retum home to his wifeand two children and start a business in Addis Ababa. That is correct,Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh. Rebecca will be studying at the San Francisco College of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, very good. Perhaps you will play or sing for us. What do you think, Miss Shaw?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As long as it&#8217;s not that loud rock music. Oh no, don&#8217;t worry. All I have is an <strong>acoustic<\/strong> guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ll leave you to your studies now. I hope you enjoy it here. I do,I&#8217;ll see you at dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you. This is the living room,my uncle&#8217;s favorite place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me introduce you. Uncle Edward, this is Rebecca Casey, Margaret&#8217;s daughter. Here, let me help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please, don&#8217;t trouble yourself. No trouble at all, Rebecca. It&#8217;s a pleasure to meet you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s very nice to meet you, Mr. Shaw. Please call me Edward. I met your mother once, many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You look like her, if memory serves me. That&#8217;s what people tell me,I&#8217;m very happy to be here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re very glad to have you here. I, uh,I think I&#8217;d better sit down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m afraid these visits here are rather tiring. <strong>They take the wind out of my sails<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can I get you anything? No, I&#8217;ll be fine. Just let me rest a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you going to stay for supper? I wouldn&#8217;t miss it. Go on now, and show her the rest of the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I&#8217;ll see you at supper, Rebecca. That&#8217;ll be very nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My uncle Edward lived in the house his whole life. But his physical condition <strong>deteriorated<\/strong> too much<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>and I had to move him to one of those retirement homes for the elderly. It was a very difficult decision for both of us<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>but at least he comes home once a week,today&#8217;s the day. He s a very <strong>distinguished<\/strong> gentleman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And he was a very good musician, too. He used to play the piano beautifully,but he can&#8217;t anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He&#8217;s just too <strong>frail<\/strong>. Let&#8217;s see the kitchen. And this is the kitchen,who left this mess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We each buy our own food,we all share the refrigerator so please put your name on your food. See, like Melaku does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excuse me,does Melaku live here? Oh, yes,he&#8217;s one of my renters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is going to <strong>go far<\/strong>, that young man,he&#8217;s always studying. The pots and pans are up here,the glasses are here,the dishes are here<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>and the <strong>utensils <\/strong>are in this <strong>drawer<\/strong>. Now you must be thirsty,would you like some iced tea?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, I&#8217;d love some, please. This is the house phone. Local calls are free, but don&#8217;t stay on too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, we each pay for our own long-distance calls. We keep a list. I didn&#8217;t know that you had renters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn&#8217;t write to you about the renters? Oh, Rebecca,I&#8217;m sorry,I&#8217;m so embarrassed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I guess I&#8217;m not quite used to the idea myself. It was just kind of a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, of course. Ever since my uncle moved to the retirement home the bills have been coming in so quickly,I had to do something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Renting out rooms seemed like a good solution. I&#8217;m sure the rent money helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I just couldn&#8217;t take care of Edward by myself any longer. To bathe him, dress him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And he fell down once when I was out and he couldn&#8217;t get up by himself,it was terrible. I can see it&#8217;s a big responsibility,the house, your uncle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What choice do I have? Would you like to see your room? Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh,please,let me help you with those. Oh,thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca,you have enough baggage for an army! I didn&#8217;t know what I&#8217;d need so I brought everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m the same way,better safe than sorry. Melaku,would you put the suitcases in Rebecca&#8217;s room,please?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course,Miss Shaw. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Melaku lives on the third floor,you and Angela are on the second. Angela?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mm-hm. Oh,hi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Angela,this is Rebecca Casey ,from Boston. She&#8217;ll be living here,too. Hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh,terrific! I understand you&#8217;ve had quite an adventure! Yes,I\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is it true you drove all the way across the country by yourself? I drove almost all the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh,unbelievable! Well,I&#8217;m afraid I have to rush. It&#8217;s nice to meet you,I&#8217;ll see you later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes,see you later. She&#8217;s studying to be a nurse,and working part-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She&#8217;s kind of wild\u2026Well,here we are,this is your room. It&#8217;s a little dusty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh,it&#8217;ll be fine,it&#8217;s very charming. Oh,what a nice view,the bed looks comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca,can we talk? This is very difficult for me to say. You know,I wanted to let you stay here rent-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes,I appreciate that. No,please\u2026Listen. This is <strong>extremely <\/strong>difficult for me. I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;ll need to ask you for some rent money,to help pay the house expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I feel bad about this,I&#8217;ve tried everything but if I can&#8217;t pay my bills,I&#8217;ll have to sell the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That would be terrible. The cost of the retirement home is unbelievable,much more than we expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I understand. I wish I could help you a little more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;mean you are my goddaughter,<strong>for heaven&#8217;s sake!<\/strong> I understand,I wanna pay my share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wanna contribute,how much are you thinking of ? Can you manage two hundred fifty a month?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell me if you can&#8217;t afford that much. No,it&#8217;ll be fine\u2026two hundred and fifty dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you sure? I&#8217;m sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s good to have you here. Well,why don&#8217;t you wash up and settle in a bit? Dinner&#8217;s at six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,28,41,42,29],"class_list":["post-2711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","tag-english","tag-28","tag-41","tag-42","tag-29"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2711"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2714,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711\/revisions\/2714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}