The Friendships of Xin Jiao

Xin Jiao has the amazing ability to make good friends wherever she goes.  It is a gift; it is one that I admire; it is one that I don't have.

From the very beginning it was apparent to me that Xin Jiao was a special woman.  When we first met in Shenzhen she had friends that she saw all of the time.  Many she associated with because of dancing.  Xin Jiao loves to dance.  We have done quite a bit of it on this trip.


In the evenings in every city I have been to in China people meet in the local parks and practice dancing ballroom style.  But this isn't what the story is about.  It is about the friendships she so easily makes.

On my second trip we met up with former co-workers several times.  Some wanted to check me out and make sure that I was a good man for her.

On this trip we spent an evening with one of her closest friends and their family.  What a grand time we had.  The woman's son in law is a doctor and he decided it was important to check me out to make sure I was healthy enough for Xin Jiao.  I laughed but went along.  After all what were they going to do?  We were already married.  But for Xin Jiao it reassured her that I was OK and it gave her clear guidelines as to what she needed to do to keep me healthy.  You just gotta love it.


What more could one ask for.  A home cooked Chinese dinner where the main course is dumplings along with shrimp and other various delectable dished; a good visit with new people; and a physical examination to boot.


When we were in Guangzhou at the American Consulate on the 16th I had to go to the American services to get a marriageability affidavit form filled out and notarized.  Xin Jiao couldn't go upstairs with me because she isn't an American so she waited in a small restaurant for me to return.


I had been gone 15 minutes when I realized that I needed a document that was in her purse.  When I walked into the restaurant she had already made friends with another woman who was there waiting for some kind of paperwork.  Introductions were made, we talked briefly, I got my paperwork and went back upstairs.


Once I completed the process I went back to the restaurant and the crowd had grown to 5 people.  It turns out that the original woman's two daughters were there along with 2 children.  Xin Jiao told me that one of the daughters was about to move to my city that her husband was a doctor here.  After a little conversation I discovered that her husband lived in Atlanta not Augusta.


When the conversation was over they exchanged cell phone numbers including mine in America.  Every couple of days they call Xin Jiao to talk about something.  She just has that kind of personality and I love it.

Xin Jiao has made friends with two woman married to men who participate along with me on a forum where we discuss dating and marrying Chinese women.  One lives in Canada (in the picture) and the other lives about 1-1/2 hours from my home.  She continues to talk to them via the internet to this day.


Back in Shaoguan as we wondered around the city she would bump into people she hadn't seen in 10 or 20 years and boy the conversations that would take place.  Sometimes I would feel like a piece of meaqt being inspected because she would tell them about her American husband.  That happened about 10 times in a city of about 3.2 million people.


If the people could speak a little English they would tell me how lucky I was to have Xin Jiao as a wife which of course made me very happy.


I am indeed a lucky man.