Why I love China....

I am REALLY not a blogger...but I'm sure you already guessed that based on my blog address....joypeabody.blogspot.com.    Very creative isn't it?   :)    Also, the name of my blog...  "Ni Hao" means hello in Chinese.   (And you have no idea how long it took me to come up with even that!)   So why in the world am I setting up a blog?     I am not exactly sure.....but I think it is because I have failed so miserably at sending updates through email.....and my organization of keeping track of email addresses is just awful....so somehow I think I will update a lot more through a blog.   We'll see if that is the case or not.   :)

I'll start by saying that I LOVE China.   I have liked being here, and  at times I have tolerated being here, but in the last few weeks I have heard the words "I love China" come out of my mouth many times. I know I will never be the same when I come back to Minnesota....part of my heart will always be here.    So what about China has captured my heart?    Well it is NOT the air quality.   It is NOT the crazy driving conditions.   It's not the land itself (I have not traveled or toured anything yet).  It's NOT the language.    It's NOT my sense of adventure (I don't have much of one:-).   It' not the food.    It's not the crowds......It's not....It's not....It's not.     But it IS the old Chinese ladies that come and pick weeds in my yard and smile at us as they peek in the windows.   It's the guards that are all over our compound that Andrew goes up to and hugs.   It's the stern faced guard that never smiles at anyone....but when we walk by and Sarah yells NI HAO, he can't hold the smile back.    It's the Chinese friends that we've made and had over for dinner.   It's our driver who feels more like a friend than someone who "works for us".   It's the garbage man who bikes to our house multiple times a day to pick up our garbage and put it in the trailer he pulls behind his bike.   It's the old men that also come and work in our yard, and play with the kids.   It's the old women that scold me in Chinese for walking around without a jacket, or my kids in short sleeves (they don't understand us hardy MinnesOtans!)   It's watching Daniel and Jonathan speak to people in Chinese.    It's the Chinese lifeguard at the swimming pool who always brings Andrew gifts.   It's all the Chinese women who crowd around me wherever we go and tell me that I must be "happiest mom" (because I have so many kids).   It's the.....well I could go on for awhile, but you get the point!   It's the Chinese People!  Even though language is a HUGE barrier, I feel that we have so many relationships with the workers/security guards/lifeguards/ etc.... in our community.   And that is what will be so hard to leave when our 2 years is up.     It will feel different than leaving Minnesota to come here....I left knowing that I would be back.    But when we leave China.....we will most likely be leaving it forever.   That is a hard thought for me.