Family

When I came to China, I thought it would never feel like home. I was certain that nothing could ever feel like sitting around the living room with my family, laughing and joking and telling stories.

I was so wrong.

I have a family here in China. I have a HUGE family here in China. And when I’m with my China family, it feels like I am home.

Let me introduce you to my China family:

Taiyuan teens: this is the youth group I volunteer at. It’s an English corner where highschoolers in Taiyuan come to practice their English. All these kids are like my little brothers and sisters. And there’s also the college students who volunteer at Taiyuan Teens too. 

Let me introduce you to some of them.

This is Nina. 

Me and my Nina

Nina is AMAZING! And funny, and smart, and full of energy. She is my adopted big sister. She helps run Taiyuan Teens—I love my Nina. She is destined to do big things. It’s so funny—she refuses to tell me her age until I go back to America. Several of us have a bet going as to how old she is. She has also repeatedly offered to help the girls on our team find Chinese boyfriends.

And these are my two adopted Chinese brothers: Jeff and Lee. 

Jeff, me, and Lee

Oh my gosh they are a MESS! But I love them for it. Jeff is in his last year of pre-med and is looking to become a doctor, so we talk about that. He told me if I want to come and visit the med school here in Taiyuan, he will be my guide. Lee is a computer engineer major (a.k.a. a genius). They are both very sweet and funny. And VERY competitive. We play games at Taiyuan Teens, and last meeting we played a game called Trainwreck where people had to run around and find their seat again and so on. Let's just say Lee and I practically tried to kill each other during the game. 

My favorite moment with them was at camp. We all brought different food to share, and I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I gave them each one, and what did they do? Started using chopsticks to eat the PB&J!!! CHOPSTICKS!!!! I told them “THIS IS AMERICAN FOOD! YOU WILL EAT IT THE AMERICAN WAY! WITH YOUR HANDS!” They looked at me like I was crazy, but they put down the chopsticks.

And there’s my family here at SMBS:

Jenny (left) and Felicity (right)

Felicity: Felicity is our language tutor/awesome friend. She is another adopted Chinese sister. I’ve never met someone so sweet and sarcastic. She is a joy to be with and so encouraging. I feel bad for her though because her mother keeps setting her up on awful blind dates, so we laugh about those a lot. The other day, we were talking about how I will go on to be a doctor and she said, “I think you will make a very good doctor. Because you make people happy.” It about made me cry. 

My co-teachers: Mary, Monica, and Candy.

 

Me and Mary

Me and Monica

Me and Candy

Oh my gosh these three are quite the trio. They are so different but they work together well. I love them all for their different personalities and teaching styles. For Christmas, I gave them each perfume and a pretty hair accessory. I came back from our break to three presents from them. Monica gave me a wonderful, warm, cream-colored toboggan, Candy gave me a beautiful, yellow scarf; and Mary gave me a sparkly, pink, frilly scarf. I’ve never had anything so pink and frilly in my life, but I LOVE it! One of Monica’s classes won my Christmas competition, so they got a Christmas party as their reward. The kids all made Christmas cards and even Monica joined in. This is the Christmas card she made me. My favorite part is on the back of the card: 

Section 3 Grade 1 English teachers!! WE ARE AWESOME!

And of course you all know Dustin. 

I’ve decided he is another adopted little Chinese brother. I don’t know how I’m going to say goodbye to my little brother at the end of the year. His smile lights up my day, and he always says the sweetest things to me. Almost every day he tells me, “Meesa Lindsay, you are very beautiful today.” During exercise time my kids have to go and run in formation, so I go out and run with them in the freezing cold. Every time I run with Dustin’s class, he asks me, “Meesa Lindsay, are you cold?” To which I always reply, “Yes I am very cold.” When I ask him the same thing,  he smiles and says, “My ears are cold.” His class also won a Christmas party. And as the movie played and I passed out Christmas cookies, I came to give him his cookie. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down and said, “Meesa Lindsay, today I am very happy.” It took everything in me not to burst into tears right there. Later in the class, when we were trying in vain to take a group picture of the class, he grabbed my arm again and said, “Meesa Lindsay, I love you.” With tears in my eyes I hugged him and said, “I love you too, Dustin.” 

My Dustin with his Christmas card

And then there’s my friends out around Taiyuan.

Miki and Summer: 

Miki (left) and Summer (right). Aren't they adorable?!

These two are just adorable. They are in the same class, same major, and same dorm room in college. From what they tell me they are practically inseparable. I love hanging out with them because they are so precious and sweet. And boy I have never seen two girls eat so much. I went out to lunch with them, and they just kept eating … and eating … and eating … I’ve heard Chinese are the best at marathon eating, and now I believe it.

And then there’s my Jenny. 

Me and my Jenny. 

For those of you who don’t know, Jenny left SMBS. I don’t understand it, but she assured me it was just the Chinese way. Even though she is no longer my co-teacher, she is still my best friend here in China. Last week I got the opportunity to go and visit her in her hometown. She took me around her city and then out to the village where she lives. As we drove down the dirt road that led to the village, I had a sudden moment of realization, “This is REAL China.”

When I stepped out of the car in front of Jenny’s house, I was greeted instantly by her mother, one of her 16 cousins, and her grandmother. I was practically carried into the house, where her mother forced me onto the couch to sit and have a rest. Her mother, grandmother, and uncle all sat in the kitchen making dumplings because Jenny told them that dumplings were my favorite. Jenny told them I wanted to try to make dumplings, but they wouldn’t let me. I was the guest (a foreigner no less) who was supposed to just take a rest. Jenny did convince them to let me make one dumpling. So I sat down and got to make my one dumpling, and when I did, Jenny help it up proudly and said, “This is Lindsay’s dumpling!”

We sat around the table eating, and I was amazed at how at home I felt with her family. There was noise, laughter, joking, yelling—it felt like I was back with my family around the dinner table. They asked me lots of questions (with Jenny translating of course) about America.

After lunch, Jenny’s aunt showed up with her little 2-year old little boy. The poor kid was terrified of me, seeing as I was the first foreigner he’d ever seen. But after I gave him a chocolate chip cookie, he decided I was a decent enough person to allow into his presence. Her other grandmother and grandfather also came over to visit. And while I was there, all the workers on Jenny’s dad’s farm of course had to peak their heads in to see the very white, bundled up American. And of course we had to have the family photoshoot with the foreigner. 

Left to right: Jenny's mom, Jenny's cousin, Jenny's Dad, me, and Jenny's aunt

What I loved about my day with Jenny’s family was how normal it was, and how welcoming they were to me. Jenny’s mother told me she wanted me to feel at home in their house, that their home would always be open to me, and that they would be my family in China while I was so far away from mine. When Jenny told me this, I about burst into tears. 

So now you have met my Chinese family. I am so thankful to Father for providing these sweet people to love me and care for me. And I just hope that while I am here I can show Father's love to them.