Saturday Cinderella

When you live overseas, you miss a lot of the things your friends do naturally. Which is okay - you get a whole set of new experiences you never would have otherwise. After all, I'm getting to buy my pineapple off the side of the road these days, and it tastes oh so amazingly sweet! But, those things that friend after friend posts pictures on Facebook doing... you miss them.

So it was with the recent Cinderella movie. I mean, I may not have even gone to it in the states. We don't often watch movies, let alone ones at the theater. But as I saw people going with their sisters or close friends, the familiar ache started. Add to it the fact that I was tired and just wanted a break... it had been so long since I've gone out without Hadassah, much as I love her!

Then my neighbor mentioned something about Cinderella on a quick evening visit at her house. "Is it playing here?" I asked, half hoping. Not only was it, it was playing at the fairly new mall just a 15 minute taxi ride from us. It was also in English, with Chinese subtitles, so good for us both. Turns out my neighbor had been wanting to go too, so it gave us both an excuse, to go together! The guys were gracious enough to watch the littles and meet us afterward at the mall for pizza.

 And it was beautiful. It exceeded my expectations. Sure, it was a princess movie. I wouldn't recommend it wholeheartedly to everyone, guys especially, as the dresses were often quite low cut. But the cinematography, the music, the acting, the characters, the way you were caught up in the story and whisked away to a beautiful land in spring time (with blue skies!) as the movie began... We both enjoyed it. Somehow a child's cartoon turned into a movie that gave two moms rest.

My neighbor was an amazing, gracious host. She booked the tickets online and refused to let me pay, saying it wasn't much with the discount she got (and even full price, the tickets here cost less than in the US). I'd be lost trying to get tickets online in Chinese. She even booked the best middle, center seats, as in China you can reserve the ones you want. She was shocked when I told her in America the previews run for as long as 20 minutes sometimes, as they were just a few minutes here. And then afterwards, as the men and littles weren't set to arrive for another 20 minutes, she treated me to a cone from Dairy Queen (insisting, since we planned to treat them to supper) and we sat outside and talked about our favorite movies and books. She, too, has watched The Sound of Music time and again!

It's hard to describe what the break and the fellowship did for me. Ryan could tell - I was just so rejuvenated. I had renewed energy for Hadassah and beautiful sights and story in my head. I am so grateful for a little time to have "girl time" with my neighbor and friend. I didn't realize how much I'd been missing it.