It's really fun to see our children develop strong friendships with neighbor children. This little boy was in Michael's kindergarten class here, but now goes to a different school. His parents work in the art department on campus, which is near our apartment building. They often go in to their office on weekends and their son comes over to our house. He's like a surrogate son to us and we enjoy him and his parents quite a bit. (Michael likes this boy in spite of the appearance of a choke-hold!)
China is a relationship-based society. It takes time to develop these relationships and since we are foreigners, it takes even longer. This is our third year in this city and we feel that this year is the beginning of friendships getting deeper. We are becoming more and more a part of the local community and while I still think people are waiting for us to leave (because, that's what foreigners do . . . they don't stay around very long), people are more than used to us.
Our school has had many foreign teachers before, but not many of them have had their children in the local school. This has made a huge difference in our relationships because we are "just like" everyone else. Well, almost "just like" . . . we have two children instead of one, but even that isn't too uncommon around here since minorities are allowed to have more than one child and we live in an area with lots of minorities.
However, they see us struggle with getting Michael to do homework. They see us cheering our kids on in performances and sports meets. They see us juggling classes and family . . . all without having grandparents around. This opens a door of communication and friendship that is appreciated by all.
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