Grateful Heart

Last week in Chinese class my professor decided to give us a break and show us a documentary called Last Train Home. Within the first few minutes of the movie I definitely felt the tears creeping into my eyes. Five minutes after that, the waterworks came. It was a bit embarassing and I was trying to hide it from my professor but he knew. He even asked me what I thought about it after we watched the first part. The movie just made me reflect on my life and I couldn't help but have such a grateful heart after watching this movie.

The documentary was about a family in the rural area of China and the decisions surrounding this family. When the daughter was only a year old, her dad decided to move to the city to work in a factory in order to support the family and make some money to provide his daughter with a better future. The mother also decided to go along with her husband in order to support him. While her parents were in the city working at a factory sewing clothes, the daughter (along with her younger brother later on) remained in the country side and was raised by her grandmother. She was only able to see her parents once a year during the Spring Festival. Watching the scene at the train station was hard. These people work all year round and are only able to see family once a year but the train station is so crowded that they stand and wait there for days waiting for a train. Can you even imagine that?

Over the weekend, my professor asked us to write an essay about our thoughts and feelings towards this documentary. While writing it, I couldn't stop crying. It was so tough. Being in China for the past month has really made me realize what an incredible life I have and how blessed I am. I have clothes to wear, a bed to sleep in, a hot shower, three hot meals a day, choices of shoes, and so on and so on. It truly has been a reality check for me.

In the documentary, the parents didn't intentionally abandon their kids. They made sacrifices and went to work at a factory for 14-16 hours a day, sometimes even longer, in order to give their children a better life. When the mother started talking about how she sometimes wishes she could be by her kids and to hug them every night, I was a mess watching it. I can't even fathom that. These parents sacrificed so much just so that their kids could have a better life--to move out of the country side and find a good paying job.

My parents have also made such incredible sacrifices for my brother and I. I don't think that I've fully appreciated the two of them until I got to China. Walking around the city, I'm just humbled. My problems aren't problems at all. They really are "first world problems." I don't even know what a day of hard work is. It's hard to explain how I feel in English. I wish I could type my Chinese essay and post it up and that you would be able to understand it.

Being in China, things have really been put into perspective for me.

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Speaking of my awesome family, my dad sent me this photo of my brother and mom a couple days ago. Is that really my brother? When did he grow up?? Like his new suit? He has a rush interview with the Alpha Kappa Psi Omega Theta chapter this upcoming week. Send good vibes his way!