China Days

When you are in China, sometimes you get what I call "China Days." China is unpredictable at times and sometimes, you just aren't ready for what she throws at you, or you are homesick, or just overly emotional. Most foreigners I've talked to have similar experiences. It's on those days that I learn and grow the most.                                                                                                                            

Today was a China day. But as one of the characters from a movie I love said, "When it rains, you put on a coat." We (Janny, Julie, Sadie, and myself) got into the city and we found a pet store. I asked the clerk if we could hold one of the puppies and it was SO cute! If I lived here permanently, I might have just bought it.

We also found a crane game. You know, like the ones where you try to pick up a stuffed animals with the claws and it's nearly impossible to win? Except this one was better. MUCH better. Instead of stuffed animals, it was filled with cigarette packs. Hm.... which one, which one?

And then we went to eat at a Lanzhou pulled noodles restaurant, which is my favorite food in China. This was the third one we've found within walking distance of our apartments, I might add. After eating, Sadie showed the owners some US dollar bills she had. They got so excited and kept asking us how much one USD is worth in RMB. The boy kept asking us if we wanted to trade RMB for USD, but I didn't understand that until I looked up what he said on Google Translate when I got home. We gave them the money and took their pictures with it. It was so cute!

And then something incredibly surprising happened. We took a taxi back to our school since we had walked pretty far from home and it was getting cold. When we arrived in front of the school and I asked the driver how much money, he just kept telling me it was free. I was so shocked I just stared at him as he repeated it to me several times. Finally I asked why and he said it was his treat. That has never happened before! I've met plenty of nice taxi drivers, but never any that just took us somewhere for free. By then, I was completely feeling the China love. Plus, a couple people stopped us to take our picture and told us how beautiful we are. If that doesn't make you feel good, what does?

China has been one of the hardest things I've done. It has been the best thing I've done. I'm grateful everyday that God has allowed me to live my passion three times in only two years and that he has shaped me into a person that has been able to cope through the difficulties so that I can enjoy the truely life changing and happy moments. I am a new person. Every time I come here, I come home a new person. I don't know what God's plans for me are, but I hope that China has a lot to do with it in the future. For now, I'm embracing what I have and that's to be in China teaching English in a beautiful city with my sister. 我很开心！