OK, so it’s not China’s anniversary, it’s OUR anniversary (the Johnson family’s) –our FIRST year living in China.  On August 22nd of last year we arrived here in China (Xining).

(I am pretty sure that’s when our plane touched down at least, but my records are a little fuzzy around that time.)  The 22nd is the day I celebrate anyway.  It’s so crazy that we now have a "year" under our proverbial belts.  I bought Christa flowers to commemorate it.  (To you husbands out there: I recommend buying your wife flowers–even if you have to make up something to commemorate.)

Last year when we arrived I could barely say HELLO in Chinese.  Now I can say important things like:  "This thing is broken,"  "I don’t understand," and, "I’d like one dish of sweet and sour chicken."  Talk about progress..heck, I can even CREATE water now.

Thanks to my month of solitude, I can even boast that I have spent more time on Chinese soil than any member of my family.  The sky is the limit now for sure.

At this point in our journey, I feel like I either owe this country a big apology or a heart-felt thank-you.  Probably both.  As much as I’ve griped, laughed, or stood in dumb-founded amazement in the face of all that I’ve experienced here in China, this country of a billion+ has treated me (and mine) pretty well.  My blog has been my therapist this year and (I fear) my voice/tone has often leaned towards critical or satirical.  Which is too bad because that is only one-side of the coin.

I didn’t write enough about the smiles of strangers.  I didn’t say much about all the great new foods we discovered and consumed.  I rarely mentioned those who helped us along the way–those who politely listened as I tore their language to pieces with my tongue.  The generosity and the hospitality of the people somehow got overlooked.  Just this week a taxi driver told me my home country was "great!" (A contrary opinion within the global community.)  And what about the community we’ve experienced here as ex-pats, tour guides, and pilgrims?  You can never applaud those aspects of life here enough.  They sustain and enrich you.

The challenges, well, you’ve heard a lot about those challenges.  Creative complaining is a gifting of mine. 

But what a year, eh?  So much was packed in there you can almost see the calendar’s belt tightening as the days pout out there like a bulging stomach.  I can’t really summarize it very well.

It just was.

A roller coaster comes to mind.  A circus.  A chrysalis.  A small shoot of grass growing through dry and dusty leaves. 

In all the laughter, sweat, frustration, smirks, and tears, we made it…somehow.  Aslan is a good and awe-inspiring lion.  I’m looking forward to the adventures to come in Year 2.

Here’s a few of my favorite (yeti speak…) posts from this last year:

• Christa’s Jif incident
• On pace for country music
• On pace for country music II
• The Great Radiator Debacle
• The trouble with Mafan
• Nearly kidnapped
• any guesses? (especially because of all the interesting comments it generated!)
• You just might be living in Xining if…
• A trip to the ER
• And then she ate his leg…
• god, you are my grayskull
• sphere-a-philiacs anonymous

Well, there were a few others I liked writing as well, but that’s a pretty good sample…
Here’s to new adventures in the second year.  Thanks for sharing in all our pain and pleasure this first year.