So grateful for the beauty and richness of knowing people from different cultures and bakgrounds. We all like to believe that our little hometown is what you would say in Norwegian "the navel of the earth", but what an eye opener it is to feel like a minority at times.
My first experience with this was as a 19 year old, newly married I came to Mississippi, and just grocery shopping was an awakening. I would be the only white customer and was addressed as "ma'am". The next few years we lived on the Mexican border, southern States, in Japan, and several European countries. I am so grateful for these encounters with life as it is. Shopping in the early morning hours at a Japanese market or buying material at the market in Seoul are experiences I appreciate. And how about Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market) in Austria? Incomparable!
But we don't have to travel far away from The Duck and Cherry to live and learn like this. Saturday we were invited to Chinese friends. 8 wonderful Chinese dishes adorned the dining room table, and we ate with chopsticks and tasted fish, meats, spring rolls, cabbage etc. the authentic way - and with chopsticks! Arnfinn did a great job eating the whole meal with two little sticks, and we listened to stories about the way of life and history of this great old country. Wonderful!
Linnea had told us after she returned from living in China, that Chinese restaurants were not the same as eating in China. She is right. Authentic is better!
When Tiffany was little she drew a picture of a large house with many windows. I asked her what it was, and she explained that it was a house where everyone is friends, even thought they come from different countries! She's special!
Today's fairy water color is called "Storm from the East".
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