Family--Jenna Theisen

So my brother Paul and his chinese wife and son are living with us now. They arrived in the United States only Wednesday and are trying to adjust to the culture shock of Montana. Paul grew up here so he is adjusting fine. It is his wife, Xuying who is having a difficult time. She has never visited nor been outside of China. She speaks some English, but not enough to fully communicate yet. I feel really bad for her because she misses her entire family. In China the whole family lives together. She has never really been away from home.

What is really interesting is she is Buddhist. She wears a Buddha necklace around her neck and has a huge poster of him in their room. She has many beliefs that are very different from ours. We found a poster advertising something about Zen and wanted to know if she would be interested in participating. She immediately said NO. You must practice the same religion you grew up with. She has many different culture issues too. For example, she has never driven a car before. I spent a few hours on our farm teaching her how to drive. It was challenging for both of us because the communication part was very difficult. But that experience brought us closer together.

Their two-year-old son Dawson is adorable. He speaks mostly chinese, but understands most English. He cannot say my name yet, but Paul and Xuying taught him to say my chinese name Gu-Gu (which means brother's sister in chinese). So now he runs around the house saying "Gu-Gu! Cu-Gu!Gu-Gu!". It is pretty funny.

I am so happy to have them home in Montana. We are all still trying to get to know each other and adjust to the new family and cultures, but it has been a blast learning.