Living in a make believe world.....

WHAT IS IT LIKE LIVING IN CHINA?    That is the question I probably get asked the most.   First of all, the community where we live is not really “CHINA”.    I feel like I live in a make believe world.   Our Chinese teacher that comes to our house every Saturday says that we live in "pretend China"    Thw international community that we live in has people from so many countries…..just on our little street there are families from:  Hong Kong, England, Philippines, India, Italy, America, Taiwan, and New Zealond.    It is a gated community with guards at each entrance.  The houses are huge (our house is the smallest in the community and it is still big).   Everyone has their own driver and house helper (more on that later).   The garbage man is a kind, older Chinese man who bikes through the neighborhood and loads up a trailer he pulls behind with garbage.    He bikes through at least twice a day...picking up and sorting through our garbage.    Also, there are Chinese workers that are always picking weeds, watering, and mowing our yard, and Chinese security guards that bike by every hour to check on all the houses.    If you were to drive through our neighborhood this is what you would see;     a security guard following you to make sure you aren’t doing anything wrong, you would see Chinese workers walking around; planting flowers, picking weeds, watering, etc…..     You would see nice mini-vans in most driveways with a driver sitting in the van or standing outside of it…..just waiting for when their driving is needed.    You would see “Ayi’s”   (Chinese house helpers) coming in and out of houses, sweeping, hanging laundry outside,  taking care of children, etc…   All the houses are immaculate....always clean and beautifully decorated.   The women are almost always very sylishly dressed, coming to and from social gatherings or tours of some sort, .There are security cameras everywhere....I know that wherever I go in the community I am being watched....Do you get the picture of why this feels like a make believe world?    Not what you pictured China to be, right?!    Real China would be a small apartment (very very small).   Not much heat in the winter, and no air conditioning in the summer.   No heated water.   Wash clothes by hand. No oven.  etc.....

So, you may be wondering how I fit into this "make believe China?"  When we first moved here, I was worried about fitting in with the women.    For one....I am hardly ever stylishly dressed.   Number two....my house looks like there are 10 people living in it....hardly ever all clean at once.   Number three.....rather than beautifully decorated...my walls are adorned with smudge marks, crayon drawings, dry erase boards with chores written on them, and school maps.   Number four.....I don't have time to do social things with other ladies, and even if I did, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my kids with someone I don't know well.    I came expecting that I might be a bit of an outsider.    Shortly after we moved in, our street had a block party to get to know new neighbors.   All of the women were together and were talking about the best places to get massages, where to get nails done, the best place to buy clothes (naming all the expensive brands that I know nothing about),  etc....I'm ashamed to admit  that in my heart I was very judgemental of them, and did feel like an outsider.   Since then, I have gotten to know many of them....and I can honestly say that ALL of them have been nothing but nice to me, and I have become good friends with some that I never would have imagined before.   I was much too quick to judge.    That was a good lesson for me.    (FYI, I have also found friends that are more similar to me....wide range of women.   In fact, I have a German friend who comes to my house every week and we talk together and then pray together....that has been a blessing.)    

Ok, there is so much I could write about....but that is all for now.....