Friends

We know, your not suppose to have favorites. But its kind of impossible here. One of our favorite people here is name Zhong Hong. He is the liaison between the foreign teachers and the DIC (Department of International Cooperation), our boss. Not only is he amazing at his job, does a wonderful job taking care of, and is there whenever we need him - but he is one of the most kind hearted people we know. We love just hanging out with him and talking with him. His English is fantastic and we have GREAT conversation. Curtis particularly enjoys conversing and spending time with Zhong. Zhong got married the same summer we did. However, his wife is still in graduate school. Because finding a job is hard in China- they kind of have to take whatever job they can get no matter the location. In their case, her graduate school is pretty far away from Baoding. So they only get to see each other when she has breaks from school. This is a very common situation among the people who live here. We have another friend who's uncle works in Beijing and has lived there for 7 years away from his wife who lives in southern China. Because of difficult circumstance they have to live apart - they don't really have much of a choice. She is currently pregnant and they see each other about 4 times a year. Can you imagine! What great strength they have!

Friday night we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant here in Baoding with Zhong and his wife. The next day (Valentines Day) he sent her off - back to school. They are such sweet people!