Last night sometime around 10pm it started raining. The rain continued to fall for almost 24 hours before it stopped. Most of my friends complain about rainy days being gloomy, tiring and not at all motivating, but I completely disagree.
I grew up in New Mexico and rain was something that only happened on rare and blissful occasions. When the rain comes in NM, many people will find any reason imaginable to go outside and stand in the rain. We play in it, dance in it, and go for walks in it. And what happens after the rain is my favorite part. After the rain, the earth seems to come alive. The smell of wet dirt fills the air (my favorite smell ever), the wildlife sings out loud and clear, and everything just sparkles when the sun touches it.
When I went to Ohio for college my love of rain simple deepened as I got to experience it more frequently. I loved playing with my friends in the rain, having mud fights, and dancing in the rain. Love for rain would just fill me up with bubbling excitement.
When I moved to China, the rain changed a little bit. Rain in QD is different than NM or OH. Rain here can last days and can make it seem even hotter outside as the humidity simply continues to increase. Also, the sidewalks and roads in China are not as clean as in America so I don't dance barefoot in the rain any more. Have any of these things changed my love of rain? Definitely not.
Now, instead of dancing in the rain, I go for slow meandering walks in it. Instead of playing in the rain, I sit at my open window watching the rain tumble down and praising God for His faithfulness. I am convinced that nothing will ever make me love rain less. I will always see it as one of God's greatest blessings to the earth. It will forever be a reason to dance, sing, and play. I have met very few things that are more beautiful than rain.
So, dear friends, it rained for about 21 of the last 24 hours. I am completely elated and dancing for joy. Praise God for the rain!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Home Sweet Home
Today I returned to China after 2.5 weeks in America. I loved being America. I got to spend time with my mom, my brother, and my sister (all of whom I adore), spend lazy days doing almost nothing, I went shopping (too many times for me to be willing to admit), and just generally enjoyed summer. I am almost tempted to say that I returned to China feeling refreshed, but I am currently struggling to stay awake until at least 7pm (yes, it isn't even 5pm yet) and I don't feel very refreshed right now...well, maybe my spirit is refreshed...yeah...that's it.
So, in order to celebrate my happy return home, I'd like to share some of the things I did today that remind me just how much I love China.
1. I got off the plane in Beijing (BJ) and noticed two things. First of all there was humidity again and BJ smelled like China. I know both of these are weird things to be happy about, but most of the time I love the humidity and China has a very distinct smell. Do you know how you walk into your home after a long time away and you smell your home and it's like being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket in front of a fire on a cold day? That's how I feel when I get off the plane in BJ. China smells. :P I know most of you are thinking "yuck, that's pollution you are smelling," but I didn't say China smelled good...it just smells like home. :)
2. I am a TCA (Third Culture Adult). Yep, it's true. I was watching foreigners on the plane and in the airport and I was struck by how different I am from most of them. Most of them are tourists and they notice everything about China (things I no longer pay attention to). For example, this morning the BJ airport was blazing hot (it was at least 75F if not hotter at 6am), but I didn't notice until someone said something because I have gotten used to the fact that Chinese people don't use AC's most of the time because they think they are bad for your health. Also, tourists always follow the rules of THEIR culture. Let me explain, in America, when you are in a plane, you told that you need to wait until the seat belt sign has been turned off to stand up and you know you had better do it. Stewardesses are very admit about that and will get very upset with you if you don't follow that rule. However, in China, you are told not to stand up till the sign turns off, but no one listens. When it is time to get off the plane, it's an unofficial race to get off first and usually everyone stands up the moment the plane stops moving (even if we aren't to the gate yet). I forgot that foreigners don't do this and I almost knocked over a guy my age racing to get out of my seat. Oops...
3. Chinese people are extremely friendly...for the most part. Most of them love to ask you where you are from, why you are in China, how long you have been here, and anything else they can think of and you can understand. My taxi driver today had fun telling me how America is so much more beautiful than China. He wouldn't agree with me that China was also beautiful...And a girl at Starbucks told me she had been to NY. She was so proud of her adventures and told me all about them.
4. Canvas has the best burger ever! I missed you, Caliente Mexican Burger!
5. Chinese Starbucks make way better coffee than American Starbucks. American Starbucks make the coffee way too bitter and it's not nearly as fun to drink when the coffee is so strong.
6. It's so humid here that my hair is in ringlets and about 1/2 inch shorter than in America. I love my curls!
7. I was congratulated on how good my Chinese was again today. The person that said it quickly discovered that my Chinese isn't nearly as good as he thought. :)
8. I love the way my home smells! Why does home always smell so good when you come back to it after a long time?
9. I have a working VPN so I can talk to all my friends on FB and Blogger. I even got it working on my iTouch too! Thanks WiTopia!
10. I'm moving on Monday and I'm moving into a beautiful apartment near many good friends. I can't wait!
I am so glad to be home. I'm sure it's going to be an amazing year...starting with Chinese study and prep for the next school year on Monday. Woo Hoo!
So, in order to celebrate my happy return home, I'd like to share some of the things I did today that remind me just how much I love China.
1. I got off the plane in Beijing (BJ) and noticed two things. First of all there was humidity again and BJ smelled like China. I know both of these are weird things to be happy about, but most of the time I love the humidity and China has a very distinct smell. Do you know how you walk into your home after a long time away and you smell your home and it's like being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket in front of a fire on a cold day? That's how I feel when I get off the plane in BJ. China smells. :P I know most of you are thinking "yuck, that's pollution you are smelling," but I didn't say China smelled good...it just smells like home. :)
2. I am a TCA (Third Culture Adult). Yep, it's true. I was watching foreigners on the plane and in the airport and I was struck by how different I am from most of them. Most of them are tourists and they notice everything about China (things I no longer pay attention to). For example, this morning the BJ airport was blazing hot (it was at least 75F if not hotter at 6am), but I didn't notice until someone said something because I have gotten used to the fact that Chinese people don't use AC's most of the time because they think they are bad for your health. Also, tourists always follow the rules of THEIR culture. Let me explain, in America, when you are in a plane, you told that you need to wait until the seat belt sign has been turned off to stand up and you know you had better do it. Stewardesses are very admit about that and will get very upset with you if you don't follow that rule. However, in China, you are told not to stand up till the sign turns off, but no one listens. When it is time to get off the plane, it's an unofficial race to get off first and usually everyone stands up the moment the plane stops moving (even if we aren't to the gate yet). I forgot that foreigners don't do this and I almost knocked over a guy my age racing to get out of my seat. Oops...
3. Chinese people are extremely friendly...for the most part. Most of them love to ask you where you are from, why you are in China, how long you have been here, and anything else they can think of and you can understand. My taxi driver today had fun telling me how America is so much more beautiful than China. He wouldn't agree with me that China was also beautiful...And a girl at Starbucks told me she had been to NY. She was so proud of her adventures and told me all about them.
4. Canvas has the best burger ever! I missed you, Caliente Mexican Burger!
5. Chinese Starbucks make way better coffee than American Starbucks. American Starbucks make the coffee way too bitter and it's not nearly as fun to drink when the coffee is so strong.
6. It's so humid here that my hair is in ringlets and about 1/2 inch shorter than in America. I love my curls!
7. I was congratulated on how good my Chinese was again today. The person that said it quickly discovered that my Chinese isn't nearly as good as he thought. :)
8. I love the way my home smells! Why does home always smell so good when you come back to it after a long time?
9. I have a working VPN so I can talk to all my friends on FB and Blogger. I even got it working on my iTouch too! Thanks WiTopia!
10. I'm moving on Monday and I'm moving into a beautiful apartment near many good friends. I can't wait!
I am so glad to be home. I'm sure it's going to be an amazing year...starting with Chinese study and prep for the next school year on Monday. Woo Hoo!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Cats are Ridiculous
I'm currently sitting on my bed in my parent's house doing stuff on my computer. My brother's cat is sitting at the end of the bed just chillin'. For no apparent reason, the cat starts to make squeaking sounds. Seriously, what is wrong with this cat? When I look down at her, I realize she is staring intently out the window. I assume that she must have spotted a bird or bug outside the window. For the next several minutes she continues to squeak and get more and more agitated until she begins to slowly and stealthily crawl towards the window. I watch in anticipation wondering what she will do when she gets to the window. She crawls to the very edge of the bed, curls up a bit like she is going to jump, and then walks onto the window ledge..I was a little sad she didn't try to jump through the glass and give me a good laugh, but I'm still curious what she is after. She gets into the window and starts pawing at the window. I realize that there is a mark on the window there...she must have thought she was going after a bug that turned out to be only a mark. After a few bats at the mark on the window she realized it wasn't going to move and gave up. Guess I got my laugh anyway. :)
Drinking Water
In China I drink water from a water cooler. The water from the sink isn't drinkable unless you boil and even if you do boil it, it has a funny taste. So, all my water comes from a water cooler and never the sink.
When I come to America I really struggle with the concept that the water from the sink is ok to drink. I can't bring myself to drink it. It just feels completely wrong. Luckily my parents have a water dispenser in the fridge that I can use...for some reason that seems ok to drink water from there even if it is coming from the same place.
Why can't I get past this mental block that all water from the sink is bad? Maybe today I'll be able to talk myself into drinking water from the sink...but then again, maybe I'll just stick with the fridge. Besides, the water from the fridge is chilled and that just gives me another reason not to drink from the sink. :)
When I come to America I really struggle with the concept that the water from the sink is ok to drink. I can't bring myself to drink it. It just feels completely wrong. Luckily my parents have a water dispenser in the fridge that I can use...for some reason that seems ok to drink water from there even if it is coming from the same place.
Why can't I get past this mental block that all water from the sink is bad? Maybe today I'll be able to talk myself into drinking water from the sink...but then again, maybe I'll just stick with the fridge. Besides, the water from the fridge is chilled and that just gives me another reason not to drink from the sink. :)
Third Culture Adult
I teach third culture kids (TCK's). Everyone is born into a culture (or two cultures) simple because of who their parents are. I am American by birth and I would have many things about the American culture ingrained in me even if I had never lived in America. TCK's, like everyone, are born into a culture, but they at some point in their years of growing up, they live in another country. A TCK is defined both by the culture they were born into and by all the cultures they have lived in. A TCK's willingness to embrace a culture determines how much they are changed, but change happens whether they desire it or not.
Since moving to China, I have been in many classes and sessions that have tried to teach me how to teach TCK's. What no one ever told me was that after a while I would start to feel like a TCK. I found at the end of my first year in China, when I was just starting to embrace my life there, that I no longer felt entirely comfortable in the American culture. It was like something was sitting in the back of my brain whispering over and over that I no longer fit entirely into the American mold. I had embraced parts of the Chinese culture and tried to make them part of my American born culture. I don't truly fit into either culture, but I wouldn't trade my experiences in China for anything. I wasn't a TCK, but I was a TCAdult.
Every year that I live in China, I become more of a TCA. During my first year in China I missed my family and friends so much. I missed the food, the culture, the people...I missed everything. The longer I stay in China the less I miss those things. I still miss them, but I have a full and happy life in China that makes missing those things easy to deal with.
When I travel to America I am constantly peppered with the same questions over and over. "So, what is China like?" "What's new in China?" "When are you coming home?" "Isn't it nice to be home?" The answers to these questions are not usually what you expect.
The the question "So what is China like?" I don't know how to respond. I have spend three years in China getting to know the people and the culture and I have still barely scratched the surface. I don't know how to give you a 30 second answer to this question that will satisfy both you are me. Give me a few days and we might get somewhere, but to truly understand you need to go to China...at least for a visit if not longer.
"So what's new in China?" I'm never sure what this question means. Do you want me to tell you about my life in China or do you want to talk politics? If you want to know about my life, please ask about my life. If you want to talk politics, be prepared for me to get defensive of my adopted culture. I'm very protective of China just like I'm protective of America. I have embraced both cultures and I admit that they are both flawed, but they are still very important to me. I will protect both of them strongly.
"When are you coming home?" and "Isn't it nice to be home?" I need you to understand. America is no longer my home. China is my home. Moving back to America is not in my plans right now. I'm sure it will be at some point, but it isn't now. Asking me when I'm coming home or if I'm excited to be home just reminds me that I don't belong here any more. Please feel free to ask me all about my life in China, but please don't assume that it isn't home. It is. My life if there, my home is there, my job is there, and many of my friends are there. I feel at home there. If that ever changes I will probably move somewhere else...maybe back to the States or maybe to another country.
So, this blog is to try to explain to you what my life if like in China. I'll share joys, struggles, insights into the Chinese culture, and anecdotes. Anything I can think of. Hopefully I'll be able to give you an inside view into my life so that you have a chance to understand why I chose to call China home. :)
Since moving to China, I have been in many classes and sessions that have tried to teach me how to teach TCK's. What no one ever told me was that after a while I would start to feel like a TCK. I found at the end of my first year in China, when I was just starting to embrace my life there, that I no longer felt entirely comfortable in the American culture. It was like something was sitting in the back of my brain whispering over and over that I no longer fit entirely into the American mold. I had embraced parts of the Chinese culture and tried to make them part of my American born culture. I don't truly fit into either culture, but I wouldn't trade my experiences in China for anything. I wasn't a TCK, but I was a TCAdult.
Every year that I live in China, I become more of a TCA. During my first year in China I missed my family and friends so much. I missed the food, the culture, the people...I missed everything. The longer I stay in China the less I miss those things. I still miss them, but I have a full and happy life in China that makes missing those things easy to deal with.
When I travel to America I am constantly peppered with the same questions over and over. "So, what is China like?" "What's new in China?" "When are you coming home?" "Isn't it nice to be home?" The answers to these questions are not usually what you expect.
The the question "So what is China like?" I don't know how to respond. I have spend three years in China getting to know the people and the culture and I have still barely scratched the surface. I don't know how to give you a 30 second answer to this question that will satisfy both you are me. Give me a few days and we might get somewhere, but to truly understand you need to go to China...at least for a visit if not longer.
"So what's new in China?" I'm never sure what this question means. Do you want me to tell you about my life in China or do you want to talk politics? If you want to know about my life, please ask about my life. If you want to talk politics, be prepared for me to get defensive of my adopted culture. I'm very protective of China just like I'm protective of America. I have embraced both cultures and I admit that they are both flawed, but they are still very important to me. I will protect both of them strongly.
"When are you coming home?" and "Isn't it nice to be home?" I need you to understand. America is no longer my home. China is my home. Moving back to America is not in my plans right now. I'm sure it will be at some point, but it isn't now. Asking me when I'm coming home or if I'm excited to be home just reminds me that I don't belong here any more. Please feel free to ask me all about my life in China, but please don't assume that it isn't home. It is. My life if there, my home is there, my job is there, and many of my friends are there. I feel at home there. If that ever changes I will probably move somewhere else...maybe back to the States or maybe to another country.
So, this blog is to try to explain to you what my life if like in China. I'll share joys, struggles, insights into the Chinese culture, and anecdotes. Anything I can think of. Hopefully I'll be able to give you an inside view into my life so that you have a chance to understand why I chose to call China home. :)
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