Remembering the farewells part One...Dawukou

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The Final Countdown



I imagine that the city of Paris, France is an impressive city. I can only imagine because I have never seen that city, by my parents and sister have. I can say with confidence though, that the Black Forest, or Schwartzwald, in Germany is beautiful. Even though I only spent three days there while I was in the Fourth Grade at Zwiebrucken Elementary School. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is also an impressive site. I’ve seen it twice and I have the witnesses to support me. When I was eight years old Germany seemed more a prison than the place where I lived.



Having been here in China for nine months I can now say there is a difference between visiting a place and living in one. While growing up in Germany I visited Bavaria and Berlin, but I lived in Zwiebrucken. I’ve since grown up and Fate has taught me the difference between living in a place and merely visiting one. It involves more that getting groceries.



One of my joys in living in China has been writing these newsletters. This is because telling you what it is like here is as great as being here. I’ve also written these newsletters so in the chance we meet in the States you won’t have to ask me for the 143 time what was it like. Just kidding, feel free to ask the number one question. As an added bonus I’ll let you ask it for free.



Living in China means that one has a number of friends. These friends might be a little brother (or di-di) who will come over to play international chess or video games. This di-di is also a person who will fill in the void of free time when you have nothing planed. He understands your English enough to where he laughs at your jokes. This friend might also be an adopted little brother who is not from Dawukou. This adopted family member will invite you to visit the rest of the family who lives in another part of China. You find yourself going along not knowing what to expect. Then your expectations are blown away by the generosity and friendship of complete strangers.



Or this friend might be the little sister, or two, that you’ve never had. This little sister you may meet on a train, and because she majored in English she strikes up a conversation with you. This is addition to the apple she gives you and the invitation to visit her family. When you visit her family and the bus leaves as 5 PM you are blown away because they invite you to stay the night. Then they make fried chicken for dinner after showing you around their city. This little sister may live in another city, or in Dawukou. When the weather is nice you find yourself going for a walk with her to one of the many parks here in Dawukou. Because she is nervous about an up and coming test you have the opportunity to encourage her.



Living in a place means that you have absolutely no fear in going for a walk by yourself. This walk may be to the corner shop where you’ve stopped more times than you can count. At this corner store you see the same smile day after day and know that they have Oreos, which is just enough of America. They also have instant noodles which may be the dinner for many a night, but be careful of the spicy ones. They won’t burn your mouth, but they will make you breath fire. This walk may take you a bit farther to a dumpling restaurant that also serves green beans and garlic. It helps to be a foreigner in this place. The waitress knows what you order and you know how much it costs.



Or if you are brave enough this walk will take you to the supermarket. Make sure to check your bag before you go into the store though, but don’t worry, there are baskets given for your convenience. Going to this place time after time you realize that this place has American chocolate chip cookies, or as you know them as Chips Ahoy. Make sure, however, that you don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Go into the KFC, or Dicos, and eat something. Don’t worry about the language barrier at these two places. I have them trained well enough to where they pull out the menu for all foreigners. It also seems that the people who serve me end up on the Employee of the Month Plaque. Hey, I am happy to help them out.



Living in a place means that after nine months the language barrier is not what it once was. You are able to tell a taxi driver where you live and they understand you. You can communicate with your students, minimally, in their language and that makes life easy for them. Until you give them a test, in which case life becomes very difficult.



Living in a place such as Dawukou means that you can see the past of a very ancient country in the city of Xian. You can learn a little bit about the history of this ancient land. You learn enough to know that you have to spend a lifetime here to even learn a fraction of its history. You also learn how to negotiate for a lower price on a silk garment. Living in a district such as this you can visit the future of China by going to Shanghai. You can hope the best for the Chinese people that go there trying to make a future a bright one.



The difference between living in a place and merely visiting a place is vast. My only regret is that this time next month I will have to say good-bye to this place. Yet I know that while this place will be left behind, the next place is waiting to be met.



Zaijian!

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