08*08*08

Because I've spent significant time in China, I'm extra excited to see how this year's Olympic games unfold. I love China. I mean, I really LOVE China.

Really important things have happened in my life there. God grew me, changed me and I found my husband there (no, his is, in fact- Polish-American, NOT chinese!). Olivia at 2 1/2 years old has been there 3 times, Turner nearly 7 months has spent 1/7th of his life there. We are currently in the process of adopting a child from there (Olivia is insisting we call him/her Baby Gum... go figure.) So my life has been significantly affected by that country and the culture.

I am an avid Today Show watcher. My favorite morning to tune in is Sunday (our family attends the Saturday evening gathering at our Church, allowing me to indulge in this vice.) Sunday morning on Today is filled with 100% pure fluff w/ almost nothing of substance broadcast. And I. Love. It.

But this morning I found myself grumbling and complaining about the banter between Jenna (who quite frankly gets on my nerves ) and Lester- who is already in Beijing. So Jenna and Lester were talking about culture and what Jenna should expect when she gets there (Tues. fyi.) So that is all well and fine, but when Lester started to tell Jenna about all the clothes she should bring b/c of how hot it is (true!) and how most days are 3 or 4 shower days, this is when the grumbling started. That is so american. Most of my friends and most locals will be lucky to get a few showers a week. And Jenna will probably bring more clothes with her for her 2 week stay than most Chinese will own in a decade (I know this because I'm guilty of it myself.)

And then Lester started talking about jet-lag. Okay, hell for sure! But probably a lot easier from his 5 star hotel room. And then they had a dialogue about how Jenna doesn't have to worry b/c she can just call up roomservice when she is up at 3am, starving. (ok, so maybe I was just jealous, I would have LOVED to have ordered from roomservice this past June.) Oh boy.

I then went from aggrivated to sad. Sad that they will think they are seeing the "real" china and experiencing the culture... they have NO idea.
Most Americans won't experience REAL China. Shoot, real China is rough. And if I honestly look at all of my times there, I haven't even experienced REAL China. So who am I to criticize these guys??

It's just interesting. In some ways China feels like my little sister. I can criticize her, make fun of her and even complain about her, but when someone else starts in... look out- that's MY sister you're talking about!