Gratitude

There are so many people to be grateful for here.

At the top of my list right now is a teacher from Singapore named Wee Nee. She speaks both Mandarin and English and happened to be on the train with my mom and me on our way from Shanghai to Wuxi two weeks ago. She spoke flawless English to me for the first time on that trip (I'd seen her speaking in Mandarin to the other teachers at my bus stop and never knew that English was her first language). She helped us with our luggage that day and then included us in her return trip on the train back to Shanghai.

Today we rode together and somehow managed those hideous stairs at the train station. Mom waited at the top while Wee Nee and I hauled two pieces down the stairs. Then I sprinted back up to Mom, grabbed another piece of 10 ton luggage while Mom started to drag it down the steps. I then ran back up again to take Mom's bag so we could hustle to the train JUST IN TIME for it to leave.

We could not have carried our luggage or managed the Chinese language without her. She even had a cell phone that helped us find our agent here in Shanghai. What a wonder. Mom and I are pondering what we can do for her in return. I doubt there is anything. We'll just have to pay it forward somehow. In any case, my family owes their Christmas presents to her strong arms and luggage guarding abilities this year.

More on gratitude to come...