Feeling at China-Home in Pittsburgh
There's a neighborhood in Pittsburgh where we spend a lot of time, before, during, and after our time living there. It's called Squirrel Hill. We often shop there, go to the Blue Slide Park there, and Myles and Brigid spend the occasional night with their older sister that now lives there.
Squirrel Hill is known for being a locus of Jewish life in Pittsburgh. About 40% of Squirrel Residents are Jewish, from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and levels of observance. Many businesses cater to this large segment of the population, from the kosher vegetarian dairy bar to Judaica shops. For instance, this is the sort of sign I'm accustomed to seeing in a Squirrel Hill shop window.
This summer, though, I noticed there were now signs in Chinese in Squirrel Hill. For instance, in front of one restaurant, the specials boards were in Chinese.
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There was also a help-wanted sign was posted in both English and Chinese. In the Chinese part of the ad, there was text that did not appear in English. Inside the parenthesis it said that ID and experience are required.
Squirrel Hill has always been popular with students. It is close enough by bike or bus to the largest universities in Pittsburgh, Pitt and CMU, and there are plenty of apartments available for rent. In the past few years, Squirrel Hill has seen a marked increase in Asian residents, and Pitt and CMU have likewise reported steadily increasing numbers of Chinese students. On Craigslist this week, there is a posting for an apartment, with both a local 412 area code number and a Chinese phone number.
Just before we returned to China, I saw something that made me do a double take, wondering if I were already back in Changping. In China, women carrying umbrellas on sunny days is very common, but I had never seen it in the US before. I'm sure it happens often, but this was the first time I saw it myself. As an occasional sunny day umbrella person myself, I was happy to see that we might not look odd continuing the practice in Pittsburgh, or at least Squirrel Hill.
Seems that if we were to move back to Pittsburgh, we may feel more at home in Squirrel Hill than any other neighborhood.
Squirrel Hill is known for being a locus of Jewish life in Pittsburgh. About 40% of Squirrel Residents are Jewish, from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds and levels of observance. Many businesses cater to this large segment of the population, from the kosher vegetarian dairy bar to Judaica shops. For instance, this is the sort of sign I'm accustomed to seeing in a Squirrel Hill shop window.
This summer, though, I noticed there were now signs in Chinese in Squirrel Hill. For instance, in front of one restaurant, the specials boards were in Chinese.
.
There was also a help-wanted sign was posted in both English and Chinese. In the Chinese part of the ad, there was text that did not appear in English. Inside the parenthesis it said that ID and experience are required.
Squirrel Hill has always been popular with students. It is close enough by bike or bus to the largest universities in Pittsburgh, Pitt and CMU, and there are plenty of apartments available for rent. In the past few years, Squirrel Hill has seen a marked increase in Asian residents, and Pitt and CMU have likewise reported steadily increasing numbers of Chinese students. On Craigslist this week, there is a posting for an apartment, with both a local 412 area code number and a Chinese phone number.
Just before we returned to China, I saw something that made me do a double take, wondering if I were already back in Changping. In China, women carrying umbrellas on sunny days is very common, but I had never seen it in the US before. I'm sure it happens often, but this was the first time I saw it myself. As an occasional sunny day umbrella person myself, I was happy to see that we might not look odd continuing the practice in Pittsburgh, or at least Squirrel Hill.
Seems that if we were to move back to Pittsburgh, we may feel more at home in Squirrel Hill than any other neighborhood.
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