Things I love about where I live...

I've been thinking for a few days to write a blog on just that - Things I Love About Where I Live... I am thankful for the fact that I get to live here for a year.
Here I go:

- I love that I can get a 2 hour massage for $1 CDN.

Me getting a massage. The child on the mom's back is now old enough to walk around and learn some English from me while I am getting a massage. The kid always walks off with my shoes.

- I love that I can get a 2 hour massage for $1 CDN while watching spiders build their web...right above my head. I also love that I don't freak out anymore every time that happens.

- I love the blind people who give me massages. Not because they give me massages but just because they are kind, laugh easily, and are patient. They don't seem to feel sorry for themselves and they work very hard!

- I love that the guy at the food stand down by the river knows that I like 'dan chao fan' without 'la jiao' (egg fried rice without chili peppers) and that I can just sit down on a tiny stool at the 2' high table after greeting them without having to order - since they already know what I will get (except if it's a day when I change my mind on what I want to eat).

This is a picture of the food stand down by the river where the people know exactly what I would like to eat.

- I love that I can go to the bus station and somewhat communicate with the people there. Actually, I just love that they have patience to listen to me or try to communicate with me. They are such friendly people.

This is a picture of a kind lady at the bus station as she is cross-stitching while selling bus tickets. I think she's my favorite person at the bus station even though it is bad to have favourites.

- I love that when I am at the 'bao zi' (steamed bun) shop the owners (a couple) try to talk to me. I especially loved it when I was eating my dinner there last week when they turned the t.v. to the English channel for me and told me in Chinese (while pointing at the t.v.) that the program was about 'Quebec'.

The man who owns the steamed bun shop with his wife (as he's making dumplings).
In this picture he's grabbing his chopsticks out of his apron so that he can grab money with the chopsticks instead of having to touch the money with his hands (money is in the red pail).
I eat at this bao zi shop about 4-5 times a week. This guy and his wife are very kind!

- I love baking for people. Today, when I dropped off a banana bread at the steamed bun shop the owners (who are the only people who work there at the moment) kept feeding me steamed buns and dumplings until I seriously could not stuff another one into my mouth. Then they let me go without paying for the huge amount of food I had consumed. I've probably spent hours at this shop now (and hope to spend many more there in the near future)!

- I love that I can walk through town and have lots of people greet me.

- I love that I can walk through town and have lots of people greet me as 'teacher Janneke'.

- I love that I get lots of exercise here without having to 'go exercise'.

- I love that when I go to the market I can pick exactly what piece I want cut off the pig for dinner.

The market. This is a pig that's already cut up. Usually I get meat off the pigs that are still hanging with head and hoof and skin attached (it makes my little trip to the market just that much more exciting).

- I love that people dance in the town square every night.

- I love that I can walk through town while looking at buildings/homes and think "Hey, I had dinner there and there and there. And _______ lives here and ________ lives there..." etc.

- I love that I get to live in the mountains for a year.

These are 2 pictures to show you what some of the mountains in this area look like. They are definitely not all like this, some are more 'rocky' but they're all beautiful!

- I love the good bus drivers...I pretty much know who they are now and try to catch their busses.

- I love that students ask me to give them English names. I loved it today when I gave a girl (who came to visit at my home) the name Esther and she wanted to read about Esther in the Book where I had gotten the name from.

- I love hearing the roosters crow early in the morning.

- I love walking through town in the morning. But it's even better when I can watch people from my balcony in the morning - as they brush their teeth and spit onto the street right outside their front door.

Hmm...I really think I could go on for a little while longer but this list is starting to get pretty long. Perhaps I'll add to this list in another post sometime! In short, I think I like living a somewhat more simple way of life (even though life here isn't always simple...).