Reflecting on the year...

Quite honestly, I've been pretty terrible about keeping up with this blog. I began a document detailing our trip to Japan and then got sick and it all fell by the wayside =-( Here's just a short post to summarize my thoughts and feeling from this year.

Living in Xiamen has been wonderful so far! Although we've adjusted to all of the "culture shock" experiences thus far, we still walk around at least weekly and say to one another, "Can you believe we're really in CHINA?!?" We've lived here for almost 2 years and still can't believe how fortunate we are to have this experience.

Xiamen is not like our little village of Zengcheng was last year. First of all, Xiamen is an island... a congested island, but still an island, nonetheless. You can travel by taxi from one end of the island to the other in about 20 minutes for a maximum of $10. In that respect, it's pretty compact.

We're not in the country anymore. Living on our school campus last year was really nice, relaxing, and with the exception of the occasional smog cloud, relatively pollution-free.

Big city life is completely different.

• We live in a high-rise on the 20th floor.
• We ride the bus to work for at least 20 minutes each way.
• There are so many yummy restaurants within a 3km radius that we've both unfortunately gained weight.
• The closest thing to "nature" that we can experience is a paved path walk up the hill by our house. Otherwise it's basically a concrete jungle.
• Living by the harbor is nice for the view, but way annoying when the ships honk their horns at all hours of the night.
• There are so many expats in Xiamen that I've lost my "celebrity status"... except for the fact that I'm married to a "Chinese-looking" fellow, that gives us more attention.
• We don't get nearly as many "hello's"... unless I'm out walking alone.
  
• More people speak English so we've been spoiled and our Chinese has not progressed as much as it should have. Boooo....

Accomplishments from this year:

• My first time to ever coach basketball! My middle school girls' team came in 2nd place! I got to share the experience with my wonderful husband =-)
• I fell in love with my 8th grade earth science students and am ELATED that I will be teaching them next year in Biology!
• Realized that putting in extra hours on the weekends for community-related activities is more of a reward than an inconvenience.
• Realized that I'd LOVE to make more of our vacations into volunteer-related experiences.
• Rex found out (in an unfortunately pressured situation) that he CAN be a great teacher and that it IS insanely hard work!
• We experienced a bit of the Japanese culture, visited an old college friend whom I'd wished I'd kept in better touch with, and realized that the "rain forest" is not only disappearing because of our paper usage.
• Started planning my very first ever eco-program with students for next school year! (HOPING to do a conservation program in Borneo... fingers crossed that it all works out!)

When we first signed on with Xiamen International School we had the conversation of how long we really planned on staying... and we thought FOR SURE that we'd be gone after our 2 year contact. Now I'm having second thoughts about our length of stay. I'm thinking more and more about signing on for a 1 year extension... especially if they will fulfill their promise to employ Rex again in the ESOL program. I feel very content with our life right now. China is, overall, a great place to live. I've never felt so safe in my entire life... there's virtually no crime here (with the exception of the stupid foreigner who stabbed and killed two other foreigners a few weeks ago over a money incident... dang westerners giving us all a bad name!) We can live well on a rather low salary, although we were given raises for the coming school year. It's a great travel hub... Southeast Asia is on our doorstep, as well as the rest of Asia. And once you familiarize yourself with the Chinese people, they are the most sincere and helpful of people! I honestly have very little desire to EVER go back to Texas and teach spoiled western kids who for the most part don't appreciate a thing you do for them.

So in a nutshell, I love Asia. I thoroughly enjoyed our experiences in Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia these past few months. I'm ecstatic about experiencing my first taste of Indonesia come Thursday! And then again, it's always nice to be home amongst friends and family... yes, life is good.

Since moving overseas I've learned that...

... different is not better or worse, but just different.

...people are proud of where they are from, and that most would not trade their current citizenship for an American passport, regardless of what many Americans may think.

... people can live well on $100 a month.

...ANYTHING can be transported via bicycle. Yes, anything.

... massages are WAY overpriced in America!

..."tipping” is really only expected in America. Or a 5 star hotel.

...leaving a tip at a restaurant may result in you being chased down on the street in order to be reimbursed the money you “forgot”.

... life goes on if you don’t own a car.

...the rest of the world has WAY better public transportation than Texas!

...owning a dishwasher and clothes dryer are really unnecessary, luxury items.

...not much is more personally rewarding than saying something in another language and being understood.

... people are people no matter who or where they are. There’s no reason to think of yourself as better than anyone else.

...eggs don’t have to be refrigerated.

...once you’ve mastered the technique, chopsticks are way easier to use than a fork and knife for certain things!

...Skype is the best communication tool EVER!

...anything can be delivered… for free… if you only ask.

...a moped can comfortably accommodate a family of five Chinese.

...babies can be toilet trained by the time they are one month old.

...whether you live 90 miles or 9000 miles away, you end up talking to friends and family about the same amount.

...tea can cure anything from the common cold to a mother’s delivery complications.

... in the words of Mark Twain, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

...by stepping outside of your comfort zone you learn more about yourself than you do about others.

...it is vital to depend on your brothers and sisters around the globe.

...you don’t have to have a lot of money to travel, just a good pair of walking shoes.

... public squat toilets are more desirable than public “sit down” toilets… at least when they’re dirty.

... it’s good to be thankful for what you have, but to also know that other people don’t necessarily envy you for your possessions.

...we tend to “travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people [we] ignore at home.” Dagobert Runes