Top 10 things we will miss

10. Tropical fruit available all the time. We don't want to knock peaches and apples and stuff but there is just someting special about duku, dragon fruit, mango, mangosteen, local pineapple, a hundred kinds of bananas, and always having watermelon in season. Its amazing and I fear my response when I see the fruit the first time at Wal-Mart. I'll try to go alone so no one is subjected to a 15-minute "The fruit we get at the market..." tirade.

9. Eating outside. Restaurants here start stealing parking places around 4pm and put out plastic tables and chairs so you can sit outside (basically in the street). If you have a deck you know its just something different to eat outside and since there is no winter we can do it all year long. If its not raining, we'll be eating outside 90% of the time at a restaurant.

8. No freezing temps. Speaking of it never being winter, people ask us sometimes what we like about living here and always among the first few things is that its always summer. Always. We thought it might get old and we do complain sometimes about sweating through so many shirts a day but given the choice--its no choice. We'll leave winter time to Santa and people in Canada.

7. The Indian head shaking thing (if you've visited us, you know what we mean). When we first got here we'd go out to eat and then ask if they had a certain thing, "Do you have fried rice?" And in response we'd get this head bob thing. I've really come to love (and adopt) it. I assume it means something along the lines of, "I'm following you, keep going." I was expecting a clear yes or no but this is pretty nice in its own way.

6. In-line water heater. Its not like we need a ton of hot water but when you want a bit of hot water in the shower, its nice that it never ends. We wanted an inline water heater when we built our house. That is until we heard the price and we forgot about it.

5. $3.00 movies and getting to pick your own seat. Harry Potter on the first day for $4.50 (the "blockbuster" price) and you buy your tickets online, on the phone, or through text message. And you pick your seats so you know you can all be together. And its cheaper than a movie Coke at home. Not to mention we got two drinks at the movie for $1.35 total! We keep trying to explain we can't see as many movies in America...

4. Political incorrectness. We are so uptight in America and afraid of offending everyone. No one can say anything anymore. Being immediately outraged about everything seems to be the new national pastime.

But not here, especially regarding race. Think back to when you first saw Paula Abdul or Tiger Woods or Mariah Carey and people asked, "What is she?" Well, of course, the indignant reply was, "She is a HUMAN BEING what difference does it make what color she is?"

I've learned that as we all became one thing in America, we gave up something special--our heritage. Ask me what I am and I'll just say American, press me and I'll say Kentuckian. Press harder and I'll say that I neither know nor care to know all the stuff regarding who grandfathered whom and whether or not he was a cowboy or an indian. "German? English? Italian? Where are your people from?" I dunno and don't care. But maybe I should.

So anyway, around here, race matters. Want a club card at the local Kroger? Be prepared to check the box on your race. If you are "other" like me, prepare to provide more info. Last time I wrote: white. Its not a race and I'm not actually white but we got through the form OK after that. Around the third question you ask someone is, "What are you?" They say, "My mom is Indian and my dad is Chinese. I was born in Indonesia but we lived in Singapore and Malaysia, I've never been to India or China!"

It matters for jobs, too. Nearly everyday you'll see signs that say: Help Wanted, Chinese female, 18-25, Single, must still live with parents. Pretty specific on the "What are you?" scale.

It matters, too, for your holidays. What you can eat, where you can (or can't) go. Matters for who you can marry. It matters that people don't forget who they are and where they came from. At least here it does.

3. Wearing flip flops all the time. This is more Angie and the kids, though I do wear sandals some part of every day. We just flip-flop. I wear mine if its raining, Angie wears shoes at that time. Know why its great? Because its never cold enough to freeze your toes if you can wear flip-flops all the time.

2. Cheap food. Breakfast for two sitting in a parking lot somewhere for $3 including drinks. That is still amazing for me. Yesterday I had lunch for $1.63. Depends on where you go and if you absolutely must have meat but you can get by pretty cheap if you're willing to try it.

1. Friends. We have some great friends who have helped us so much to know what to do and what not to do. The proper way to eat with your hands. Who to greet and how to greet them. When to go and when not to and how to plan everything around prayer times instead of the clock! People have been so open-hearted and friendly. We feel safer here than we ever have in Nashville.

The best part about being here has been the people. There is so much of us really excited about getting back to Kentucky but its still hard to go. One guy called last week and said, "Have a safe trip back," then he corrected himself. "Have a safe trip there, you're coming back here."