interview with annie rose.

I have a lovely friend named Annie Rose. It's been a few years since I've seen her, but we keep up through blogs and facebook. Today, I'm going to be interviewing her. Annie Rose is 15 now, and living in China. She's the 6th out of 8 children, most of whom are in China with their family. 

--So, Annie Rose. You live in Suzhou, China, right now, right?

Yes, I do. Suzhou is located in Jiangsu province and is about 70 miles west of Shanghai.

--Where did you live before China?

Before moving here I lived in a small town called New Castle, in Colorado. I was born in California though and when I was one, moved to CO.

--Aside from the obvious, what are a few things about China that are different from Colorado?

My family and I went from a population of 3000 people to 6 million, which you could consider a pretty big difference. In Colorado there was so much natural beauty and Suzhou is rather lacking in that area. Another big difference is we don't own a car here so we take public transportation everywhere. Taxis, buses, subways and trains are what we use to get around and I am quite happy with that. We also ride electric scooters (sort of like a moped) and bicycles a lot. (It's so much fun!)

--Are you learning the language?

We are. We have a Chinese tutor come twice a week for about an hour and a half each lesson. Living among the Chinese people helps.

--Have you made any Chinese friends?

We haven't really made many Chinese friends yet as we're still working on the language. But because we attend an international church we have friends from all different parts of the world which is pretty amazing.

--Is it hard having half of your family in America?

It is very hard, but they all came for this past Christmas (we haven't spent a Christmas apart yet!) and we will travel back to America in May for our vacation, so we haven't had to go very long without seeing them. (Thank goodness!)

--What's your favorite part about living in China?

Oh man. Well I could say public transportation, being in the midst of the city, anything like that, but I think that the Chinese people are the ones who make all of those things fun. So I would say living with the Chinese people in the middle of their crazy city.

--Describe a little bit of the city for me. What do you like and dislike about it?

We live right next to a lake. Across the lake there are several skyscrapers and they've become somewhat like landmarks to us. There's a bus stop on almost every corner, which makes it easy to get anywhere in the city (the bus system is especially nice since we don't have a car!). We live in a newer part of the city called SIP where the houses are modern and not extremely Chinese, but there are many parts of the city that have been around for so long, such as "Old Town" which is surrounded by a moat. Little side streets curve off into the distance and canals run along side them. That part of the city is around 2500 years old. Suzhou is known as the "Venice of the East". A major canal city. Something that I dislike here is the pollution. Colorado has brilliant, blue skies. Suzhou's are more of a faded blue.

--What sort of school do you go to in China? Homeschool? And is it different than it was in America? 

We actually are still home schooled. There are international schools here but they're a little pricey so as of now we're still at home. It hasn't been that different other than adding Chinese lessons and a couple of other subjects.

--What about the food? Is it what you were expecting when you moved there, or completely different?

Chinese food is way different than American Chinese food. Frog legs, pig feet and chicken heads are some of the more "Chinese" foods. They still eat lots of rice and noodles along with all the weird stuff but you won't often find sweet and sour chicken on your plate. Fortune cookies? They're completely American.

--If you can say one thing to Fernweh readers about anything -China, living overseas, ect.- what would it be?

I'm really thankful for the opportunity to live in a foreign country and learn so many new things... to speak a different language, learn to become more capable, bargain when shopping (pretty fun), be open to trying new foods and new ways of doing everyday things and just to live life differently. I'll probably live in America for the majority of my life (but I'll hopefully travel a ton) so having this time here is so incredible. I don't know what God's plans for me are yet but I'm so thankful he's taken care of my family and me thus far and will continue to do so always.

You can find Annie's blog here, and her sister's blog (third and fourth pictures courtesy of Becca!) here.  Thanks so much for letting us talk to you, and I look forward to hearing more about China!

xo
Katie