Top 5 lists

One of my good friends back in Oregon asked me to do a top five list....I spent so much time writing it, I thought I'd share it with everyone. Here it is.

Top five favorite things about living in Dalian, China:
1. meeting interesting people from all over the world. In Trejan's Kindergarten and Nicole's 2nd grade classes their are kids from: Germany, Austria, France, Ireland, Malaysia, Korea, Pakistan, Australia, Canada, the USA and China
2. easy travel to amazing places
3. saving money (living in China is not expensive, but especially when a company is paying most of your expenses!)
4. kids' getting so many great opportunities (the school has PE, science, art, music, Chinese and technology almost every day, both of the kids have had practice speaking in front of the school, Nicole is in a play, taking guitar lessons, and the kids are learning Gong Fu)
5. having a maid: no laundry, dishes or cleaning

Top five worst things about living in Dalian, China:
1. missing family and friends
2. scary roads as well as many dangers living here in China
3. not getting to eat our favorite foods (I have only had guacamole twice in 5 months!)
4. feeling at the mercy of others because I don't speak mandarin
5. sewage smells at random times in our neighborhood and around town