And the Streets are Paved with Cheese

So yes, ladies and gentlemen, exactly 30 days from today I will be back in America. Woah! While I am looking forward to a lot of big things like being home with my family, getting to see my friends again, and hanging out in Chicago, there are a number of small things that excite me too, like...

- The cereal aisle at the grocery store
- Playing my harp
- TP in the bathrooms
- Free water
- Ridiculously large drinks
- …with ice
- …and free refills
- Driving a car
- Houses with yards
- Restaurants that aren’t Pizza Hut and McDonalds
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Cherry coke
- Salad
- Good bread
- Mexican food
- Okay, I could go on and on about this food thing…
- Hearing some really good Southern drawl
- Talking to the cashier and the waiter and the bag-boy and anyone I feel like
- Listening in on other people’s conversations
- Libraries and bookstores
- People of all different races and ethnicities
- Beds that don’t resemble planks
- Couches that don’t resemble planks
- Walking outside barefoot
- Outside being so clean that you can walk inside with shoes on
- All kinds of good coffee
- Underground sewage
- Fresh air that even smells healthy
- Crickets, tree-frogs, and lightening bugs
- Abundant sarcasm
- American-sized clothing
- Walking through a store…and nobody noticing
- Watching dumb shows on TV just cause they’re in English
- Country radio stations


Things I sure won’t miss while I’m gone:
- The loudspeakers
- Spitting and emptying of noses on the sidewalks
- Public nose picking
- The pointing, staring, and yelling of “Nice to meet you”
- People peering into my cart at the store
- A billion freakishly skinny people
- Dust, dirtiness, and red skies
- The smell of Stinky River
- The constant noise


Things I will miss about China:
- Bike riding…oh wait, I don’t have a bike anymore…
- My plants, which will die
- Rice. Seriously, I love it.
- My students (anyway, most of them)
- The new collapsing giraffe toy I just bought
- Walking and biking everywhere
- A world stock-full of people
- Talking about the weird hair of the person next to you and knowing they can’t understand
- Christina telling what people are saying about us without them knowing she understands
- Little kids who stare at you like they’ve just seen superman.
- Being able to eat out for less than a dollar