FW: I will have visitors!‏

Hi,

I am leaving China on July 15. I will not be back next term. But I am finally getting some visitors. Yamin visited me last year but she is the only one and I was busy and I could not spend much time with her.

On Monday, pan lei will visit me. She is 41 and lives in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province. I need to clean my home!!! I visted her home twice. I have met her husband and daughter, mother and father, two sisters. Her mother died this year. She was a good woman. I was at her parent's home during a holiday last year. It was quite funny for me. Only lei could speak English but the others tried. They kept filling my plate with food and all of them stared at me when I ate. I was the first foreigner that they had ever seen. I have pictures. Her father offered me a fork. They had one fork. I declined. I ate with my chopsticks. Her father fought for North Korea during that fight. He had medals. Here I was sitting with them and my relatives fought on the other side. But none of that matters. I embarrassed her when I left the last time. I gave her a hug. That is what we do with someone we like. But her sister and her sister's husband were there. So I know it was not proper to do that. It was automatic for me and I didn't think. Her sister is beautiful. haha

On the weekend of May 1, I will entertain Joseph, Reena and Joel, a family from India. He taught at JPU with me last year. Joel is about 5 now and he dotes on me. I can't understand a word he says because he has about 5 languages and he uses all of them in a sentence! He speaks Hindi, and the local dialect from southern India, Maldivian because his parents worked in the Maldives, English and now Chinese. But he uses all the words at the same time. Only his parents can understand him. He is loud and won't let me out of his sight! A sweet kid. He gave me a one jiao note. It is the only one I have ever seen. It is worth about 1.5 cents. I will stay at their place and visit the Shanghai Expo with them. They are good people and I enjoy our talks. We don't always agree because of our cultural differences but we accept those differences and we enjoy each others company. They are a nice couple and we enjoy our conversations. They are very smart and it is so nice to spend time with them. We talk about many different subjects. I will miss them.

I will be leaving China on July 15 but China will not leave me. It will always be in my heart. I have met so many nice people. Judy, Cherry, Lijun, Yamin, Pan lei, and so many others. I will go home. But a part of me will always be here. Maybe I will come back but I am not sure. Even as I write this I have tears. I will miss everyone so much.

That is a big problem for me. I get too connected to everyone. If I were a cold-hearted person then it would not matter where I am or who I meet. But that is not me. I meet people, I become friends and then I have to leave them. Life goes on without us. But I will miss them so much.

Don