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
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