Our Last days in Ordos

After I live someplace for a few months I can always find things that might frustrate me and make me think I could do it better, but when the time comes to leave,I then realize how special each place has become and how very much I am going to miss it. I absolutely adored the City of Kangbashi in Ordos Prefecture, Inner Mongolia, China, and I am going to miss so many things...

As the time came for us to return to the USA my "Prairie Love" Dance team gave Darryl and I a wonderful farewell party. (These people can throw a party) Giving toasts using very small cups for drinking alcohol goes on all night long and Mr. Xu was quite surprised when we told him we didn't drink and would be just fine drinking our toasts of water. He asked us to make an exception for this one occasion. When we explained to him that it would be a dishonor to our God and our parents he smiled and said, "Okay, I will drink for you". And he did.

Many members of my Dance team came to tell me good-bye and how much they have grown to care for Darryl and I. For some, we are the first foreigners they have ever met and they said they would treasure our memory forever.

One thing is for certain, I will always keep the memories of these wonderful, caring Brothers and Sisters of the Prairie Dance Team in my heart.

This is "Little Swallow" my friend and main translator with the team. She is a retired English Teacher.

Toasts and more toasts.

After the toasts and food came the singing and dancing. Lots and lots of singing and dancing.

On the team we call each other "Brother and Sister". This is Sister Lu, another of the team leaders.

And these are the "Baby Sisters" as they are some of the youngest on the team.

Our Captain and Leader Mr. Xu (who is a chief of police in the town) sings me a special song.

How I will miss these sweet people of Ordos and dancing in the park with them in the evenings.

I will definitely miss the beautiful children and their lovely smiles and desire to talk English with us.

I will miss seeing the yurts in the countryside..

And the fancy ones in town.

I will miss our walks through all of the beautiful parks....

And the free shows and entertainment in the "Big Square" or Plaza.

I will miss going down to the river on summer nights and watching the "Dancing Waters".

Because Ordos Kangbashi hosted the 10th National Chinese Ethnic Games this summer the river parks were packed each night. The show was always spectacular!

I will miss the beautiful lights of this town and how festive it looked each night, and how dark it got at 22:00 hours when the city turned off the building lights.

I will miss the people and I will miss my friends. The Muslim family that owned the my favorite noodle shop, The girls at the Sezchuan restaurant, Pastor David and his family....

The sweet couple who owned the neighborhood grocery store..

The beautiful young woman who managed our apartment building and our sweet building maid and all those who worked at our home at Yitai CEO.....

And most of all, our closest friends who made us always feel welcomed and loved.
Starting at the bottom left, Sarina and Meng Du, both English teachers at the Ordos Mongolian School where Meng is the Dean of English. Their good friend and dearest of friends to me, Trgl Nolan, she was like a daughter to us, and so generous to us. On the bottom right is Meng Du and Sarina's daughter Hannah, a gifted young 10 yr. old who speaks 3 languages. Chinese, Mongolian and English. And finally, Sweet Echo, my first and dearest friend in China and a terrific cook and her partner, Eric Li, our Good Friend and "Main Man" in China who took such wonderful care of us. I pray for them all and do miss them so. I hope they can come and visit us someday.

I will miss the beauty and tranquility of this city of the grasslands, the wonderful people and all the many things I learned there. I do hope I get the chance to return someday. 

Until then, may God bless my friends and keep them safe.