Anniversary and Living Easy

So I wake up in the morning and I feel like a rock star or, as they say in translated Chinese, Super Cute-girl !! ^^ But you must be asking why…. Well, I shall tell you.

Today is my first anniversary of living in China. You…might not be excited. Me? I’m glad I’m still alive. 

Between open manholes and unclean street food (both of which I’ve encountered), I’ve stayed well and relatively healthy while living in China…still !!

I wake up and proceed to wake the boys up for school. --- Oh yeah, did I tell you I’m living as house mom for five 16 year old boys while they discover a truly Chinese experience in rural Yunnan Province?? In any case, I am.

So I wake the boys up. I take one with me to go buy breakfast and I take them to school in the small van we conveniently call “the short bus” (mainly because the driver’s name is Mr. Short). We are headed up to Dali University for class.

What’s so special about Dali University? Besides the fact that it is fengshui’d in the shape of a butterfly, it is also on the side of this mountain overlooking Lake Erhai. I don’t think the weather could have welcomed my 1^st anniversary in a better way. I’ll just let pictures tell the story. But, keep in mind when you look at these photos that a strong wind blows in your face as you squint into the sun.

The dirty streets of Shanghai drift away; violence and corruption take a seat; taxes and bills are a faint thought; homework and exams hardly make their way onto the horizon.

This is a paradise, un-claimable by Wal-Mart, untouched by Meijer, and un-impressionable by any man who walks around in a fancy suit pretending to be important.

Life exists on a different plane here. Life is suddenly clear and uncomplicated. Life is simple; and simply put, life is easy. Enjoy these photos I took this morning: