China

Since I arrived from China 2 weeks ago, life has been crazy for me. In my last entry, I said my life was going to forever change when I was in this unknown land. When I came back to the states my dad was diagnosed with cancer 2nd time. It was hard on me and my family. For the last 2 weeks, I was feeling low but I have to be strong for myself and my family. I have to trust in the Lord in my life with everything. Now, I am going to write about China. Everyone wants to be on the mission field but it is harder than one can think because there is a lot of sacrifice involved with oneself. These are things that I have learned while being on a short term mission this summer in China. The reason I went to China was to teach English to a bunch of kindergarten kiddos. ( I miss all the kiddos that I taught this summer). Food…. You are not used to eating at your favorite food or restaurant in your hometown. I have found cheddar cheese was hard to find in China. I did not eat much cheese in China. There were times when my team went out to eat @ McD’s, KFC, Burger King, and Subway. I did not complain but I found the difference in the fast food in China compared to here in the USA. I did not care to eat Burger King in the states but in China I did appreciate whatever I ate even if it was rice each night. My favorite dish was fried rice and I found out that I can survive on fried rice with eggs for almost a week. I did try new dishes such as Hot Eggplant that I like to eat. Clothes-I bought a few cute dresses in China, t-shirts, but very few clothes. I did not buy a lot of shoes but a few. In China.... American clothes are cool to wear for the Chinese people. English T-shirts are cool to wear. Chinese people wore name brand t-shirts. I even saw guys wear Apple brand T-shirts which I thought was cool. I haven't seen anyone here in the states with the Apple brand t- shirt yet. Hair- Some women in China like their hair a different color. I found it was very expensive to color your hair at the salon which is around $133. I was thinking of coloring my hair from the box which was a little too expensive for me. I allowed a few of my grey hairs to show. I did get a haircut in China which I found very cheap. To cut your hair which is around $5.00. Very Cheap! The guy who cut my hair did a great job. I did not take my Chi straightener or Chi blow dryer but I learned to manage without it. I always put my hair back and use Bead head gel to keep it in place. Very little maintenance on my hair because there were a lot more things to worry about then my hair. Environment- It was hard to not be in our own environment. I did not bring a pillow, a blanket to feel at home. It was hard not to have your own car or even talking on your own cell phone. Facebook was not the site you could go on to say hi to your friends or family. It was hard to manage without the stuff from the USA . I did not watch TV in China except to explore what the Chinese people would watch at home. I found there were more things to do because there was less technology used in China. I was not on my Facebook 24 hours of the day ( China does not allow Facebook). I did spend some time watching the news online for about 10 min. I spend more time fellowshiping with new friends, eating my favorite ice cream, watching the sunsets, walking, riding the bus, eating dinner, laughing, shopping... I had time to think and enjoy the moments in China without being distracted with technology. As Americans... We keep ourselves busy with technology that we forget there is a real world with real people away from our computers or our smart phone. Language- I felt like a lost person without speaking Chinese. We had our friends help us translate when we went out in public. There were times when I had to point or act out of what I was trying to communicate. I did try to speak one word or two but Chinese language is hard to learn. Family & friends- I missed my family & friends at home. I could not speak with them on Skype because of the time difference. I found a family member who lived in Japan that I had Skype with after the school day had finished. It felt good to speak with a family member in the same time zone. One person I missed was my dad. My dad & I exchange emails almost every day and my dad was very encouraged by his words when in China. Friendships- I met a lot of great friends in China. One of my favorite times was watching Notebook movies and crying with my Chinese friends. I enjoy speaking with my friends about shopping, hair, shoes, guys, careers, family, babies, school.. etc. I miss those times with my Chinese friends, especially getting our hair done at the salon. My own space- No space in China. As Americans... you have your own space in America but not in China. When you go on the bus, store, subway or anywhere else there is no space except in the bathroom or when you went to sleep in your bed. I learned to be flexible with the culture and to accept and not complain. My emotions- No time to cry being home away from home. When I taught.... I had to be patient with my children and be understanding with them in the classroom. I was tired a lot of times and I wanted to sleep but I could not because I had to keep moving until 9pm. Religion- Americans are very blessed to live in a place where religion and churches are free. We can preach or speak to anyone about the gospel in America. China has a lot of restrictions on religion. In China, the churches have to be under the government. My teammates and I were lucky to go to church in China. We went to Christian church called “Passport Church” on Sundays. We had to show our passport as we walked into church on Sunday. No local people could not show up to church without a passport. It was amazing to worship in a church in China. Also, I was happy to carry my IPhone with my Bible on it. If I was feeling down then I could pop out a verse to encourage me in public in China. Coming home- Coming home was hard on me to say goodbye to my teammates and my new Chinese friends. I miss my Chinese friendships. I cried as I said goodbye to my close friend in China. My roommate in China, which I missed even today. China has forever changed my life.... even today. My life will never be the same again. You can read more about my China trip with my teammates from Dallas Baptist University @ http://overthepacific.blogspot.com/