A Week & A Half

That is officially how long my mother has been gone! To be completely honest, time has really flown by and granted, it has been tough, but not nearly as terrible as I had anticipated. I will say Skype has been a total sanity keeper for both my mom and I. We can email, but really, the only really communication we have is through Skype. What a cool thing! I have heard about people "Skpying" with family and bla bla, but never used it until now. What a blessing!

From what I have gathered so far, things are going great. She has her own interpreter name Laye and she wants to bring him home :) She loves him! He and his wife even had a couple of them over for dinner at their home. She said people have stopped her and the group she's with to take their pictures, to stand with them and have pictures taken. She said it's crazy how much they LOVE Americans. Apparently not many go to where she is, I'm not totally sure. On Sunday they took a little 'field trip' to see the Panda exhibit. She said it was amazing! (I have pictures from her and I'll get them up shortly) They got to see 4 baby pandas in their nursery as well as two red ones, which I guess are very rare.. She said they are learning a lot. The operation that they are teaching them is very strenuous and hard and she is adjusting as best she can. I guess today they are doing it without any help. So she was a little nervous about the outcome!

Another thing she talked about is how cheap the Chinese work for. The company she is at, Tianwei, only pays their workers by how many Poly rods they can get out in a day and other places only pay $2/hr. And she said they work their butts off. So I guess now, as we (Americans) complain about our jobs being sent overseas, it's easy to understand why. Why would we want to pay someone here to do a job at $20/hr when it can be shipped to China and it can be made for $2/hr. My mom said it's a sad fact of life. They don't have much but Laye offers her anything she will take. She said his generosity is outstanding. She is serious about 'putting him in her suitcase and bringing him here.'

Another thing they do for the group my mom is with, is provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner at specific times everyday. She has has some VERY interesting meals so far. (Pictures to come) She said they eat rice with every single meal, but the dish they serve in the morning is more like a fried rice, where the rest is just plain white rice. She told me the other day she NEVER wants to eat rice again after she gets home :) Lucky for her we packed almost an entire suitcase full of protein bars and different foods for her to eat just in case.

Well, I'll make sure to get those pictures up as soon as I can. And when I talk to her again I'll make sure to give everyone an update.

Hope you all are enjoying this fabulous fall weather. I love it. There is nothing better than that crisp fall breeze. Before you know it.... It'll be snowing. Who knows, it just might this weekend... It always snows on the ISU Homecoming parade :)

Until next time,

-M

9/11

10 Years Ago...

I was 14

I was in Mr. Hale's English class in the basement of HJH

I was mad I had woken up late that day

My mom called me and said a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers

"Mom, planes hit builds all the time. I have to go!" and hung up

Expect this wasn't like anything America had ever seen before...

I walked into class just 'in time' to see the 2nd tower fall.

I heart fell too.

Another plane had crashed into the Pentagon

and another in a field in PA.

Why is this happening??

I feared for my own life

even though I was miles and miles away

I felt bad I was so angry at my mom.

I had a chance to tell her I was sorry,

but those people... They'll never be seen again.

Again, Why?? I just don't get what's going on.

God help those people.

For days afterward, there were glimmers of hope.


Like this....

God Bless America, the land that I love.

9/11/01

Never Forget

A BIG Week

Well, in a week from today, I will be shipping my mother off to China. It's a lot for me to handle. Being the only child I have had A LOT of parent-child time. I consider my mom and dad two of the best people around and without them, other than the obvious of me not being here, I would not be complete. The thought of being in this big house, by myself for a month scares the hell out of me. Luckily my dad isn't too far away in case I need anything. And I'm sure there is a whole slew of people, known and unknown to me, that have been told by my mom to 'keep watch' on me while she's gone. As wild as this sounds, this will be the longest she and I will have ever been apart from one another. She went to Greece for 2 weeks and a few years ago my dads side of the family went to our beach house for 2 weeks. That's it. Now I know you married with children folk who live out of state are thinking this is nothing. But it is. It's a BIG something.

Days won't be so bad, they are occupied with (LOTS) of homework, 2 jobs, and a never ending list of pages of read. It's the nights I worry about.

So for now, we'll we make a list, check it and check it again,

pack, probably cry a little

and check the list again hoping we haven't forgotten something very important.

We'll pray the time goes quick

We'll pray that she learns a lot.

We'll pray I 'can be brave' (as my mommy would say)

We'll pray she 'can be brave' (as I would say)

We'll pray she is safe

We'll pray for comfort when it gets hard

We'll pray and thank Christ for these many blessings

which sometimes... I wonder how He chose us.

You'll hear from me shortly.

Until next time,

Maren.