Another Great Week

It's been another good week in Chengdu.  Not really inspired to write a whole lot, so a few pictures will just have to do.  Hope you are well, whoever and wherever you are.

 

Sichuan Food.  So spicy!

 Any meal is better with a bit of Starbucks :)

 Oh, Chengdu scooter traffic.

Our fish :)

Teacher appreciation day was fun...the kids show that they love you through stickers :)

 Tibetan food!

 One of the Tibetan streets in Chengdu.

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 8:08 p.m. (9/22/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 5:08 a.m. (9/22/2012)

Yay Duck Moment

I had a yay duck moment looking out from my classroom today...drumroll please....I live in China :)  Exciting, I know.

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 8:54 p.m. (9/18/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 5:54 a.m. (9/18/2012)

'Home'sick?

When I talk to people back in the US of A, I often get asked if I'm homesick, but as a card-carrying TCK (well, I would be if they had membership cards for such a thing...maybe I need to make one!) asking me if I'm homesick implies that I have a singular home to be 'sick' for.

When you ask me if I'm homesick, do you mean that I miss Auburn?  Or Spring Arbor?  Or Kijabe?  Or Addis?  Or Yakima? Or Kibogora?

Are you talking about the house on 244th street?  Or the one where my parents live? Or the one in which I last lived in the States?  Or the one in Rwanda where I first remember going through a closet looking for treasures? 

Are your referring to a single building?  A city as a whole?  A country/state?  A group of people?  A job?

Asking me if I'm 'homesick' is apparently just as confusing as asking me where I'm from.  Both questions will have varying answers depending on how I feel, the weather, my level of fatigue, or the conversations I've already had that day.  Both questions are loaded with emotions.  Ugh.

I'm not homesick right now, because I am at home.  This is my 'home' now.  I love it.  I enjoy exploring it.  It is where I'm supposed to be.  Yes, I'm frustrated by the language and my lack of skill in it.  Yes, I miss certain foods/restaurants/drinks/places.  Yes, I'm still a stranger here to 10+ million people.  Yes, I get sad.  But I don't have one 'home' to be 'sick' for, and so being 'homesick' isn't quite right.

Maybe I should start saying that I'm 'peoplesick'.  Not sick of people, but homesick for people.  What I wouldn't give to go drink chai with the Fab-5, or to watch a sunset with Mattie, or go to Kaldi's with Sano, or sit in the living room enjoying the fire with my parents, or go to the Space Needle with Alli, or scour the redboxes in town with Sarah, or sit around a bonfire with the guys.  I'm missing all of those things, but they all happen in different settings with different people near a different place that I call home.

And so, as I sit here, I hope that you are well and not to peoplesick/homesick, whoever you are and whatever our interactions have been over the years.  Thank you for the memories, and let's make some more the next time we're in the same zip code/time zone.

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 9:48 p.m. (9/15/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 6:48 a.m. (9/15/2012)

Define Dirty

After an incredible Saturday spent wandering around a new part of Chengdu (at least new to me), I posted another batch of pictures on Facebook and changed my profile picture to reflect my look of the day (even though the picture was from last weekend).

Dirty feet have always been a problem for me.  I love wearing flip flops, love walking around, and love to just be me.  Me wears flip flops.  Me doesn't like suffocating my feet.  (Yes, I realize I should have used "I" there. It's a weekend...let me be!)  As a result, I get dirty.  It happens.

Facebook being Facebook causes ads on the side to be catered to the customer, and so as soon as my picture changed, my adds changed, once again.  Sadly, this is what was there:

 I was appalled by the picture.  But then again, I suppose I was supposed to be.  This had to be a joke, right?  How could anyone think these beautiful children were dirty?  How could anyone consider places that I love unclean?  So I clicked the link...a little scared and frustrated.

I can't imagine voting on something like this, but I guess I can assume who most people would vote for/against.  As you think about the world around you, about what you say and what you do today, I want to encourage you to think about how other people might view it.  Think about what you do or say that may be the most normal action to you, but could offend or damage someone else.  More than that, though, think about your perspective...and theirs.  Walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

And remember...dirty isn't just about dirt.  And dirty isn't always a bad thing.

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 8:37 a.m. (9/9/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 5:37 p.m. (9/8/2012)

Has it been a month already?!?!

As of yesterday I have been gone from Auburn for a month and as of tomorrow I will have been in Chengdu for a month.  Today is the month anniversary of that day that I lost whilst in the air.

I thought I’d write a quick list of the things I’ve learned since coming to Chengdu, so here you go:

1 – Food in China is incredible…but, if you’re ordering Western food, don’t expect a steak to be a steak that you’d get in the States or a burger to taste just like Red Robin.  This morning at McDonald’s, I order the egg biscuit and got an egg burger.  Then I got the egg biscuit and had ketchup and mayo on it.  Yipes!

2 – Always plan on things taking a little longer than they would back home.  If you think it’ll take you five minutes to get to school, plan twenty.  “Why?” you might be wondering.  Well, you might have a flat tire, or run into someone you want to talk to, or forget your computer at home.  All of these are things that will elongate your commute and cause unnecessary tardiness.

3 – Homesickness comes in waves.  I haven’t really missed home all that much, until I realized I hadn’t been there for a month and I won’t be there for another two years.  It’s the little things that remind me of the life that I lived back in Auburn: from someone looking like a Chinese-version of an American-friend, or the smell in a store, or a picture of Facebook, or another million little things.  I had it really good back there, and I have it really good here.  *sigh*  Oh the life of a TCK…

4 – I have been blessed to work at and attend incredible schools.  Every one is different, but each brings a unique twist on a familiar tune.  I am learning something new every day, and teaching something new every day.

5 – Tones are so much more than something you hear in music.  Mandarin Chinese is hard, and when I say hard, I mean H-A-R-D!  I knew it would be, but I’m overwhelmed by the complexity of it at times.  Most languages I can pick up at least the accent quickly.  This? Not so much.  If/when I have children, they will be learning Chinese a.s.a.p.  If they can learn that, they can learn anything!

6 – The sun still rises and sets every day.  It might not be the sunsets that I am used to in Kenya, Auburn, Ethiopia, or Spring Arbor, but it is a beautiful painting by a wonderful Creator all the same.

 

The sunset last night (Tuesday)

Hope you are well, wherever you are.  Happy one-month, China.  Here’s to many more…

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 2:27 p.m. (9/5/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 11:27 p.m. (9/4/2012)