Grocery shopping in America is wonderful. I didn’t think so before, but now, I’m a fan. Everything is in the English language. This means that you don’t have to waste minutes of your day trying to figure out whether or not you’re buying skim milk, 2% milk, or whole milk. You can read what’s in each isle, and you can read what’s on sale. No one stares at you, no one pushes you on purpose, and no one asks you to teach English. America food is awesome. I mean, really awesome. Also, I watched the show “Extreme Couponing” on TV last week and was inspired. So, today we went grocery shopping and saved $40. We still spent a little more than a few dollars like on the show, but it’s a start. So yeah, grocery shopping in the US is absolutely fantastic.
Me: Can I get a hot vanilla chai?
Lady: No, we don’t have them.
Me: (made a very sad face)
Lady: Oh, wait, our steam machine is broken, but I’ll try.
Me: Thanks
Lady: (making the hot vanilla chai)
Me: (thinking… Did she really just lie to me??)
Lady: It works. Here you are. I was just being incredibly lazy. (Well, no, she didn’t actually say this, but it’s what she would have said if she was being totally honest.)
Qingdao to Beijing – Beijing to Manila – Manila to Naga – Back to Manila – Manila to Hong Kong – Hong Kong to AMERICA
Beijing
I left my small city of Qingdao on a sunny Friday afternoon with everything I own in this world in 4 bags. Let me tell ya, I was quite a site trying to carry these 4 bags onto the train. But I didn’t care. I was so excited to finally begin the adventures I had been planning weeks ahead.
Saturday was crazy. I visited the Great Wall in the morning and the Summer Palace in the afternoon. The Wall was pretty cool, but I loved the Palace. With gardens and ponds and walking paths and pagoda’s everywhere, you could easily spend a week looking at the beauty of it all. That night, I was able to hang out with my new friends and eat some noodles.
Sunday, we went to church, and then I was shown some of the places foreigners hand out in Beijing. I hadn’t seen so many white people in one place for so long, that I was the one starring at everyone. I felt like a little country girl going to the big city ooing and awing over everything. That afternoon I was able to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, which was another awesome site. After eating Beijing duck, and packing my suitcases again, I head to the airport to catch my flight to Manila.
Philippines
Twelve tall, white, loud Americans in twelve white and blue basketball uniforms entering McDonald’s in the Philippines. Let’s step back and look at what this really looks like.
Twelve: That’s a pretty big group of people. And that’s not including the non-basketball players on the trip, which included 6 of us. So, picture 18 foreigner’s walking into a McDonald’s.
Tall: Most of the Pilipino people are shorter than me. I’m 5’5’’. The tallest person on the team was 6’7”.
White: Very white.
Loud: In Asia, there’s this idea called “saving face.” It means you don’t do anything to “lose face.”Being loud and obnoxious and insisting on getting what you want in a very direct manner would be considered losing face. We American’s are very good at this.
American: Like no other people group on the planet. You stick out like a sore thumb anywhere in the world you go.
Basketball Uniform: Basketball is the main attraction in the Philippines. Everyone loves basketball. Everyone knows what basketball is. Everyone knows what the NBA is.
And that was my two weeks in the Philippines. Everyone stared and watched the crazy American’s order too much food and then play basketball. During the 12 games we played, the non-players basically watched to make sure the stuff wasn’t taken by the cute little Pilipino kids and took pictures. Before the games, the missionary shared the gospel. We think over 5,000 people got to hear the good news. We had a lot of fun, and even got to experience a little bit of what going through a typhoon is like. I was glad to see my brother play basketball. As much fun as we had, there were some difficulties… like getting in a car accident, dealing with rather large spiders, doing wash by hand, and eating lots and lots of rice. But I’m so thankful I was able to go.
Hong Kong
12 hours in an airport. I don’t ever want to do that again.
In the Air
15 ½ hours.
America
I love America. I love my Dad and my sister and my two best friends for picking me up at the airport. I love speaking English as fast as I want. I love sweet iced tea. I love my big washing machine. I love thick napkins. I love my cat. I love fast internet. I love real chocolate ice cream. I love drinking water from the tap. I love seeing blue eyes everywhere. I love smelling fresh cut grass. I love cheese. I love texting my friends. I love PA license plates. And I now love seeing a map of America. The only think that made me homesick while living in China was seeing a map of the US. I guess because it showed how far away I actually was.
Traveling to these different countries was quite an experience. I’m so thankful for the opportunity, but I’m even more thankful now to stay in one place for a while. And I’m thankful that that place is America. I’ve been around the world and back and can say from experience that there really is no place like home, seriously.
Goodbyes are hard. Personally, I would love to leave the place without telling anyone goodbye, and act like everything is just the same as it always was. But since the world doesn’t revolve around me (at least, that’s what my parents tell me) I have to say that word. Goodbye. And then you can’t just say that, you have to add on all those extras… I’ll miss ya. Hope to see you again. Of course we’ll stay in touch. I’ll call you every week. Email me all those pictures. Of course I’ll be back again. I’ll keep you informed about what’s going on in my life…
This past week, I had to say goodbye to a lot of people who held a significant place in my life for the past year. I don’t know when or if I’ll see them again on this earth, but the influence they had on me is something that is not easily forgotten. The stories I will tell people back home include these people. The pictures I will show are filled with the people whom I made those many memories with. I will always associate you with my time in China because you are what made my time here what it was. You people know who you are. :) And you know that I will miss you dearly.
So to those people who helped me and fed me and talked with me and took me places and laughed with me and cried with me and watched too many Smallville episodes with me, I love you. And I miss you so much already. And I know that if I don’t get to see you all again in this life (although I really will try my hardest), I will get to see you at Home. At our real home specially made for us.
To say something really cheesy but really true: saying goodbye isn’t the end, it just means that something new is beginning. For all of us.
99% of the time, I definitely choose American traditions over Chinese ones. Obviously, I’m a little biased. However, I’ve decided that there is one tradition in the Chinese culture that I approve over the American way of doing it. For a wedding, in both America and China, cars are decorated. Well, the Chinese people do a MUCH better job of this. The wedding party travels in the same type of car, and all are very elegantly decorated. Typically, what I’ve seen is 5 black cars going down the road with single flowers trailing diagonally across the hood of each car. And I think the bride and groom’s car has a bouquet of flowers on it. It’s so simple, but much better than tying cans to the back of the car with a tacky “Just Married” sign in the back. Don’t you agree? If I ever have to get married, this is what I want done to my car.
1. Today, after work, I said goodbye to my Chinese coworker in Chinese who then said bye to me in English. This made me smile.
2. Today, while running along the beach, I passed a Chinese man who was also running. We passed once, and then I saw him again, so I decided to smile and give him a thumbs up. He gave me a thumbs up but did not smile.
3. Today, for dinner, I ordered pizza, and then I ate it. Pizza is my favorite.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Plans. My plans. My family’s plans. My friends’ plans. My family’s and friends’ plans for me. One reoccurring theme in my life this past year has been that no matter what anyone around me is planning, it only ever matters what HIS plans are. I can plan and plan and plan again, but HE always surprises me. HE is the only One who truly can surprise me. HIS plans are far greater than I could have ever imagined for my life. Let me tell you where HE is planning for me to go next.
The past few weeks I have been on my knees asking HIM to reveal what HE would have me do next. For some reason, it is very difficult to sit and get every other thought out of your head and just listen to HIM. Setting aside what I want to do, setting aside what my friends want me to do, and setting aside what my family wants me to do is hard. To finally get to that quiet place just listen. Listen to what HE wants… that takes a lot of energy.
I had so many questions. Should I stay in China? If so, where in China? If not China, where, in this world, should I go next? If not a different place, should I go back to America? And if America, where should I live? And what job should I get there?
Just before I was about to go crazy with all this in my head, HE answered. HE has opened doors and has kept them open, so I’m going to walk through them. By faith, I’m walking through them.
The first door he opened, which I am about to walk through, is to leave China and go to the Philippines for two weeks. My brother and a group from PA are going there to play basketball as well as share HIM with others. At first, I just wanted to visit my brother for a weekend, but my plan changed, and I am now going on the whole trip with them. From there, I’m going back to America.
The second door HE has opened is for me to study physical therapy at a university in Philadelphia. I found out last week that I made it on the waiting list! Ok, so I haven’t made it yet, but I was so excited that grad school might be a possibility! I can’t tell you what a struggle it has been applying overseas. I’ve been praying for a long time that I would make it into grad school, and I know that if I do make it, it’s because HE wants me there.
I don’t know if this happens to you, but you know when you pray for something that you really want. And even though you know nothing is too big for HIM, you still think it might be a little too much to ask. But then when HE does give you what you want, or even gives you something bigger than what you asked for, you feel so unworthy of it all. And even though you asked for it, and HE gives it to you, you feel like it’s too good to be true. So, you question if it is, in fact, too good to be true, and maybe it’s not actually what you should be doing. But you go ahead with it, and you buy those plane tickets, and you take that flight that brings you to a different country. And you serve HIM there. Why do I not believe? Why is my faith so weak?
Here’s a song to interpret what I’m trying to say:
They Just Believe by Josh Wilson
You say with a mustard seed of faith
That I can make a mountain move
But sometimes I am so afraid
Even though I know it’s true
Because my faith feels just like doubt
I don’t know what to pray right now
Oh, I believe
Please help my unbelief
Jesus, give me grace
To trust what I can’t see
Your ways are not my own
Some things I’ll never know
But You say, blessed are the ones who never see
They just believe
So now with a heart full of questions
I come to You just as I am
All my weakness, all my fears, all I’ve run from all these years
In the middle of my doubts, somehow still I’m finding out
Oh, I believe
Please help my unbelief
Jesus, give me grace
To trust what I can’t see
Your ways are not my own
Some things I’ll never know
But You say, blessed are the ones who never see
They just believe
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs. I don’t understand what HE’s up to, but I will believe in HIM. I will have faith in HIM. I will because HE has proven to me many times that HE “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20.
By HIS grace,
Sam
P.S. I’ll be back home at 2pm May 28th.
