Gratitudes Part 1

I have a friend who keeps a blog and weekly writes about things she is grateful for.  I thought that as we transition out of this home into another place that I would start this.  Right now there are mixed feelings going on for us as we are actively in the process of leaving but haven't had to officially face what that means.  When I sit here and think about it it makes me super sad to think of saying goodbye to these people.  Am I looking forward to being back in the US?  Yes!  I look forward to my family meeting Emma-Mae, allowing my children to grow up around their extended family, being able to jump in a car and go, Chick-fil-a, etc.  We will be moving back to Greenville, SC and working at Southside Christian School, where we were before we came to China.  We are so blessed to be moving back into a great community.  All this is true but I thought right now I will take the time to post the things I am grateful for and will miss about China:

#1 - This community.  This community has been fantastic!  I love that there are so many people in our age range and stage of life.  I will greatly miss my Shenyang ren!

#2 - Luxury.  Here we can live off of half our income and life pretty luxuriously.  I will miss that.

#3 - My national friends.  I am so grateful for the many Chinese friends I have made who have been super encouraging about my language study and always so happy to see my kiddos.

#4 - Tuesday Night Groups - I am thankful that a group of 10-16 people were willing to eat my cooking every other week!

#5 - The communal-ness of China.  Everyone is Aunty, big sister, little sister, etc.  I love the connectedness of it all.  People are always willing to help and love on my family and kiddos.  I have Chinese friends that go out of their way to be sure I am cared for.

#6 - Bright lights.  Shenyang is always lit up.  I will miss the extremeness of the lights on the buildings

#7 - My helper.  My helper cleans my house (my floors need to be moped daily because of coal and dust), washes my clothes, watches my kids, washes the dishes, etc.  She is amazing.  She loves my kids so much and is so happy when Maddy finally learned how to call her "Aunty".  She comes in and says, "Have you had time to rest or shower?  I will watch the kids so you can do that."  Wow!  Why can't I take her with me?

#8 - Fabric Market.  I will miss Nan Er, the place to go buy cheap fabric.

#9 - Tailors.  I will miss having an amazing woman that I trust who will take those beautiful fabrics and make any outfit I want with it just with a picture.

#10 - Culture.  China is so rich in culture.  I will miss all the weird cultural things that I often miss but love learning about anyway.

#11 - I think I will actually miss so many people starring at my children and expressing their joy at how beautiful they are (I love that!).  I will probably even one day miss the fact that they are always concerned if my children are too hot or too cold.  Right now their continuous concerns and input on how I raise my kid is often annoying but I love that someone cares.

#12 - Market delivery.  I am so grateful that my supermarket delivers milk to my house every day.  Because I have two kids they assume I am always exhausted so they are willing to deliver anything I need.

#13 - Cheap seasonal fruit.  I love that I can get strawberries for 50 cents a pound and it is fresh.

#14 - Cheap food at markets.  I love going to markets and just picking up my own fresh vegetables and fruits.  I always did canned items in the states cause fresh was so expensive.  That is not the case here!

#15 - Rooftop grilling.  I don't have a rooftop but I will miss going to my friends' homes and eating on their rooftops.

#16 - Freedom from time constraints, sort of.  In a culture where everyone depends on public transportation it is kind of nice to know that when I get into a taxi it doesn't help to look at my watch and stress over time because once I'm in I cannot control when I arrive.  This has been a good lesson for me.

#17 - Being able to read while I ride in a taxi.

#18 - I know many of you will cringe at this one but I have really enjoyed the time to have my children use me as a carseat.  I know it is totally not safe but in China when you don't use carseats it gets really enjoyable to know that you can demand cuddle time with your kiddo in a taxi :-)

#19 - I will miss living in a multicultural community.

#20 - I will miss having fellowship in at a bar because that's the cheapest place we can rent to have our weekly meetings :-)

#21 - I will miss hearing my husband speak at fellowship.

#22 - I will miss Mom's Group!

#23 - I will miss ordering McDs and having them deliver!

#24 - I will miss my friend Jenny coming over and ordering McDs with me so that we can vent and encourage each other about our weeks and let our kids play.

#25 - I will miss the amazing ladies here who have taught me or have encouraged me by saying they learn from me.

#26 - I will miss train rides.

#27 - I will miss being so close to such a great wonder of the world.

#28 - I am grateful for the way China has taught me to be so grateful for everything.  Western food is a luxury!  Also, seeing how much I miss my family and loving every chance I can get to use Skype to see and talk to them.

#29 - The beautiful flowers in our apartment complex.

#30 - The many lessons China has taught me.  I feel like China is a place I have grown up.  This is the place I learned to be a mom, a stay at home mom, a homemaker, better wife and cook.

#31 - I am grateful for an opportunity to think outside of my egotistical American mindset.  I love that living here has challenged me to rethink what I feel entitled to and has opened my eyes to what it is like being a minority.

#32 - I am grateful for friends who have licenses in China (they are heroes in themselves) and are willing to take me to places I need to go.

#33 - I am grateful for my job as Member Care director where I get to help people adjust to life here.  I love taking care of people!

#34 - I love being able to say that I watched the drama and music department develop while here thanks to Julie Johnson and Hannah Endres.

#35 - I am grateful for being able to be there for my friend Kiera as she went from single lady, wife and now expectant mom.  There are very few people I have been able to experience such a transition with.

#36 - I am grateful for a group of people who love my kiddos like they were their own.

#37 - I am grateful for ladies like Carol, Jenny, Lisa, etc. who have lived here for awhile and have a wealth of knowledge to pass on to me.

#38 - I am grateful for an international fellowship that is mostly African college students, where I can learn about such a fun culture.

#39 - I will miss REAL Chinese food!

#40 - I will actually miss the sun coming up super early so it helps me getting out of bed.

#41 - I will miss being able to buy cheap movies, even though they are bootleg.

#42 - I will miss being able to go see movies in the theater while sitting in a lazy boy and it still being cheaper than watching a movie in the states.

#43 - I will miss the extra breaks we get from school because we honor American and Chinese holidays.  No more Chinese New Year break :-(

#44 - I will miss the bay store that delivers diapers, wipes, rice cereal, etc. to my home whenever I need it.

#45 - I will miss Mr. Gong!  He is the fix it man that works at our school.  He has very little english but he tries so hard and fixes EVERYTHING with ease.

#46 - I will miss Mr. Guan, the driver who first met Maddy after she was born.  He was also the first Chinese friend from the school to meet Emma.  Every time he sees Maddy he bubbles up with pride and brags about the first time he met her, right after she was born.

#47 - I will miss all the little foster babies in our community, especially Jachin who is growing so much.

#48 - I will miss IS Cafe and their amazing and cheap steamed milk drinks.

#49 - I will miss kao rou (Korean BBQ)!

#50 - I will miss Wanda plaza and the diversity of it and it's location on Tai Yuan where you can shop, eat, and play.