Things I will miss in China

Here’s the second part–despite the truth of the first post, there are many things that I will truly  miss after I leave China.  Here are some of them.

1. Having restaurants and markets within short walking distance
2. Cheap and delicious restaurant meals
3. The shopkeepers who line the block around the school and let me practice my Chinese
4. My kindergarten kids!
5. The fun middle school classes who ask questions, use English in class, and do hilarious skits to practice their English
6. My apartment, despite its plumbing flaws
7. The man and woman who make the chicken sandwiches across from the school
8. The man from the fried chicken and french fries place that always chats with me and patiently tries to understand my Chinese
9. My weekly lunch dates with my girls from class 22
10. Playing rambunctious games of Settlers of Catan with the foreign teachers and dishing about our week
11. My students that I’ve tutored to study abroad–Volcano (Aiden), Chris, Eileen, Echo, Victoria, and Peco
12. Seeing my kindergarten kids walking together to the playground and having them all shout my name at the top of their lungs and hug my legs as I go by
13. Walking into class 5 (middle school) and having the kids run up to me and ask what we’re learning today
14. Pretty much every student in class 18 (middle school)
15. Learning random Chinese words from hearing students say them in class
16. The cheapness of taxis
17. The sushi chefs from our weekly sushi restaurant who chat with us as they prepare the food
18. The adorable couple who own the Taiwanese restaurant and the staff there that laughs when we order the same thing every time
19. Kenneth, the man from Hong Kong who owns the honey shop and chats with us when we stroll past his store.  A kind, wise person.   He was the hardest so far to say goodbye to.
20. The guy who gives us haircuts and talks to us about his dream of opening a hair salon in Los Angeles
21. Being able to go home and take a nap at lunchtime if I need to
22. Making coffee for my tutoring students
23. Being able to take a train to just about any other city
24. Street food
25. Countless milk tea shops
26. The old man and woman who sell us fruit at the outdoor market and always sneak extra fruit into our bag as a gift
27. Chinese babies
28. Sharing and hearing travel stories with other people
29. Making friends unexpectedly
30. Hot Pot on cold nights
31. The Muslim restaurant with the little boy that always runs around the tables
32. Julia, the kindergarten teacher from Xiao class 5
33. Watching people ride on their bikes with strange objects, like trees
34. The thrill of a fast, frightening taxi ride
35. The familiarity of able to call any older woman I’ve just met “Auntie”  (ayi)
36. The mojito place in Beijing on a hot summer day
37. Letting my cat out at night to go gallumphing down the empty hallway and back
38. The guard at the east gate who always smiles and waves at us as we go in with our grocery bags, and sometimes asks us what we’re making for dinner
39. The pretty girl that we buy fruit from just down the street
40. The lady who used to have a restaurant next to the school and gave us food from her own table so that we could try new things
41. Eating the amazing meals that Jerry’s mother makes
42. Hanging out with Jerry…but, maybe we’ll be hanging out with him in the U.S. as well once he begins university there!
43. Peking Duck
44. Meeting people from so many places in the world
45. Those moments where I recall, again, the excitement I felt about being in a different place when I first stepped off the plane in Beijing