Two of my students took me to hike up a mountain on Wednesday and on one of our many many rests, I decided to go ahead and tell them that we are are moving soon.
Here was our conversation:
Me: Lindy, I have to tell you something. After the baby is born, we're moving to CQ.
Lindy: What?? You're moving? Why?!
Me: Well, we really love ZT but there isn't a good hospital here.
Lindy: Yes there is, they just built a new hospital.
Me: I know, but they don't have any experience treating foreigners. We have different health problems; maybe they don't have the right medicine for us.
Lindy: Oh.*she thinks for a moment*....But you are very healthy, you can climb the mountain even when you are pregnant. So I think you can stay.
Me: Maybe you are right, but that's not the only reason. Remember at the Fire Festival when all the people kept staring and following us? Do you think that a baby wants to grow up always hearing "Look at the foreigner! Look at the foreigner!"? Would you like that?
Lindy: ..... No, I wouldn't like that. But, Mrs. Han, you make lots of jokes about that. You don't like it?
Me: Yes, I joke a lot but I really don't like it. I don't want them to think I'm so different from them. It makes me feel like they don't like me.
Lindy: *after a very long silence* Mrs. Han, when your baby is born, I won't call him a foreigner. He can play with me and all my friends and we won't treat him like he's different than us, ok?
Here was our conversation:
Me: Lindy, I have to tell you something. After the baby is born, we're moving to CQ.
Lindy: What?? You're moving? Why?!
Me: Well, we really love ZT but there isn't a good hospital here.
Lindy: Yes there is, they just built a new hospital.
Me: I know, but they don't have any experience treating foreigners. We have different health problems; maybe they don't have the right medicine for us.
Lindy: Oh.*she thinks for a moment*....But you are very healthy, you can climb the mountain even when you are pregnant. So I think you can stay.
Me: Maybe you are right, but that's not the only reason. Remember at the Fire Festival when all the people kept staring and following us? Do you think that a baby wants to grow up always hearing "Look at the foreigner! Look at the foreigner!"? Would you like that?
Lindy: ..... No, I wouldn't like that. But, Mrs. Han, you make lots of jokes about that. You don't like it?
Me: Yes, I joke a lot but I really don't like it. I don't want them to think I'm so different from them. It makes me feel like they don't like me.
Lindy: *after a very long silence* Mrs. Han, when your baby is born, I won't call him a foreigner. He can play with me and all my friends and we won't treat him like he's different than us, ok?
2 comments:
Yes, it's sad to leave good friends.
Dad
bless your heart and theirs! so sad.... i know it will be hard to leave the relationships you've built!
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