Third, as you may already know, a foreigner's life is not easy in the Chinese society.  There are many things that exist that cause the foreigner to feel that he/she is not allowed IN the circle.  This gives some foreigners a feeling of great sadness and isolation. There are other foreigners who prefer the separation from Chinese society, opting to try and live here as they would in their motherland; however, Mrs. Rogers and I are not of this kind.  We have come to China  'for the love of China', and for no other reason.   We love China.  We love Chinese people.  We love Chinese art, music, dance, and food.  We love to make friends with Chinese people, and our desire as human beings is to be IN the circle, not on the OUTSIDE looking in, like the pitiful child that no one wants to play with at recess time.  We feel that living so far away from our school, our teacher friends, and our students, will only create a stronger sense of isolation, making fallow ground in which the seeds of loneliness and discouragement can grow.   Living here at our school gives us a sense of belonging, a better sense of being IN the circle, and more opportunity to be with friends which we have made, eliminating the opportunity for those undesirable seeds to sprout.

And finally, we know that our safety is of great concern to you, as it also is to us.  We understand that those of you who are over us are responsible for us, and that we should have security while living under your care.   An idea that came up was that of placing a locked gate at one of the Chinese teacher's building's stairway entrances, leading to the available apartment, allowing those living behind the door to have a key in order to gain access.  Should a security guard be required for us, I would like to let you know that Mrs. Rogers and I are prepared to help cover the cost associated with hiring security, so that we may be able to live here in the Chinese teacher's apartment building at Nankou Lu.     ()