Smiling Faces

Children everywhere are adorable and these young boys were running around me and stealing glances and stares. They would back away maybe 20 feet and then shout "Hello! Hello!" So cute. I motioned for them all to come over and took several pictures of them and with them. They seemed very excited to have their picture taken with me. This was in a small town about an hour from Datong in the Shanxi Province. The entire 3 days I was there I never saw another "Westerner." Many times, the children would follow me when we were walking on the street and shout "Hello, How are you?, I'm fine, thank you" as if it were all one sentence. I would answer them and ask them about learning English in school. They were very shy to speak English but just needed some encouragement. One day, as we were standing on a corner waiting for the car that was going to take us back to Datong's train station, a man brought his entire class up to me and told me that he was their "English" teacher. So I spoke to them for a few minutes as he encouraged them to use their English skills with me. I gave them more encouragement to continue studying English and then they all ran off laughing. I can just imagine the stories they told their parents that night: Mom, Dad, I saw this strange lady with brown hair and blue eyes today and she was very, very tall! ha The children of China were a joy to watch and talk to. I got many, many stares from adults as well but they were much more hesitant to talk. Many times when someone was really staring at me for a long time I would call out, "Hello" and they would immediately smile and say "Hallo!" :) As long as I would speak first, they would always speak in return. I found the people of China to be very welcoming and generous. They were very interested to know if this was my first trip to China and how I was enjoying their country. It was so nice to be in some small towns where conversations like these can take place. In the large cities of China, people are rushing around much like here and no one really has the time or inclination to stop and chat. More to come, LB