Well, here we are again. Another year is gone and we're faced with the timeless New Year's tradition of easily forgotten and never kept resolutions. I always think very carefully about what I should do in the new year, but it rarely sticks. But this year as I was standing on the sidewalk in front of a hotel in Shanghai, I thought about how negative my life currently is. I also thought about how angry I always am. My grandfather always says, "you're affected by the water you swim in." And over the last few months, I've been swimming in a murky water filled with negativity and complaining and anger.
So I decided to look at where all this anger and frustration was coming from. First, the family I live with reeks of negativity. There's always yelling and hitting and childish behavior that no one cares to address. I spend most of my time in this loud angry apartment and when I leave, it doesn't get much better. People in this city are selfish and rude, and there's a lot of them. Everyone's always honking in their cars or yelling at the cars for honking at them. It's just uncomfortable to watch. But even when I'm with my friends, all we do is complain about our work and our lives. We say bad things about people we don't really know and do a lot of judging. Even when it's just me with one other friend walking down the street, our conversations mostly consist of saying mean things about people we don't know and then laughing at ourselves.
So I decided this whole fixing my environment needed to start with me. Right there on that street in Shanghai, I told my friend Zoe that our joint New Year's resolution should be to stop making fun of people we don't know. Start small, right? Now I know it's going to be hard to keep up but I legitimately want to try. We also decided that if we felt like saying something about someone we saw, we would just compliment each other, and if one of us started to say something mean or negative, our code word to stop was also a compliment to one another. I thought it would be a good way to not only stop the negativity, but to negate the negativity completely. We made it through the first day of the year with only one or two slip ups between the two of us, but for the most part, it worked!
Each year I think it's important to set new personal goals for yourself to make the 2016 you a better version than the 2015 one. After all, if we're not changing for the good, how can we grow? It will certainly be a challenge, but as my psychologist would always tell me, people don't make you feel anything. It's your reaction that determines how you feel about something, and, contrary to popular belief, we are in complete control control of our reactions (unless, you know, someone jumps out from behind a corner and scares you or something).
And I've found through this day of not speaking negatively, that I stop thinking about it, which has caused me to feel less angry and frustrated about all the negative things around me, which also causes me feel more relaxed and relieved, which then causes me to feel happy! It sounds cheesy, but it made my first day of the year a really awesome day. I know that doing all of this is not specific to adults, but I felt more like an adult today because of it. And I really like feeling like an adult. Anyways, I hope that by sharing my resolution with you Facebook people, I've inspired at least a few of you to not just remove negativity from your life, but to remove it from yourself. Like Michael Jackson told us, when you wonna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a chayange nananaaaanananaaaananaaaaaa.
Sometimes Plans Change
Come with me as I go on a great new adventure teaching English in Thailand! Only that adventure is over and now I'm in China!
Friday, January 1, 2016
Thursday, September 3, 2015
25, Ready or Not
Like many humans, I enjoy the number of candles on my cake less and less as they grow more numerous. But it always makes me feel better to look backwards and recall what I have done before I look forwards and see what I haven't done. This year, in particular, has been especially productive. Tonight, on the eve of my 25th birthday, I took a walk with my Chinese family in the park across the river from where we live. They were all running and walking and dancing and it's hard for me to think about myself when I'm with them so I wandered off while they did their thing so I could really focus on my 24th year.
Man, what an accomplishment! In just one year, I moved from the safe, homey environment of 901 to a new, completely different in almost every way, third world country to LIVE for what I thought would be at least a year. I got in numerous motorbike crashes and even got to live in an extremely popular tourist destination. Things happened that I never in a thousand years would have imagined happening. God taught me things so valuable, I can't imagine going through the rest of my life without knowing them. He also saved my life, and my faith, on more than one occasion.
After 6 months in Thailand, the unthinkable happened. God moved me out of southeast Asia and into the America of Asia: China. At first it seemed like such a big and scary place to travel to. Even my first few hours in Shanghai were stressful and confusing. But today as I went out to the supermarket to get some Gatorade and walked back and nodded to my doorman as he let me in, it was weird because it felt...normal. Taking Jonathan to school at 7:30 every morning feels normal. Eating rice for every meal feels normal. Even secretly drinking water during meals so the boys don't see me and want to copy me feels normal.
I know how to get around this small city of 4 million and it feels weirdly normal. It's strange when I see other foreigners walking down the street and I think to myself, "what the heck are they doing here? This is my city! I'm the resident foreigner here..." Maybe that's what the locals think when they see me? Either way, I feel like a local. Every night before I go to bed I look out my 23rd story window at an extremely small portion of this gargantuan city and marvel at the huge blessing it is to be where I am right now. I even went to the grocery store today and I only bought one imported food, peanut butter. But that doesn't even count for me because I always need that. Cheese has become nothing but an afterthought. Chicken is the favorite food of the past. And all fast food has been purged from my mind.
I will say that 24 will be a hard age to top, but I know there are just as many lessons, challenges, victories, and failures in the next one. I have a plan B for Ben part 25, I'm letting God do plan A; even though He hasn't told me what it entails, I trust it implicitly. And I'm even more excited to find out little by little what He will do with me, for me, and through me. In my heart, I'm always ready to age up another year. It's my brain that has to catch up.
Man, what an accomplishment! In just one year, I moved from the safe, homey environment of 901 to a new, completely different in almost every way, third world country to LIVE for what I thought would be at least a year. I got in numerous motorbike crashes and even got to live in an extremely popular tourist destination. Things happened that I never in a thousand years would have imagined happening. God taught me things so valuable, I can't imagine going through the rest of my life without knowing them. He also saved my life, and my faith, on more than one occasion.
After 6 months in Thailand, the unthinkable happened. God moved me out of southeast Asia and into the America of Asia: China. At first it seemed like such a big and scary place to travel to. Even my first few hours in Shanghai were stressful and confusing. But today as I went out to the supermarket to get some Gatorade and walked back and nodded to my doorman as he let me in, it was weird because it felt...normal. Taking Jonathan to school at 7:30 every morning feels normal. Eating rice for every meal feels normal. Even secretly drinking water during meals so the boys don't see me and want to copy me feels normal.
I know how to get around this small city of 4 million and it feels weirdly normal. It's strange when I see other foreigners walking down the street and I think to myself, "what the heck are they doing here? This is my city! I'm the resident foreigner here..." Maybe that's what the locals think when they see me? Either way, I feel like a local. Every night before I go to bed I look out my 23rd story window at an extremely small portion of this gargantuan city and marvel at the huge blessing it is to be where I am right now. I even went to the grocery store today and I only bought one imported food, peanut butter. But that doesn't even count for me because I always need that. Cheese has become nothing but an afterthought. Chicken is the favorite food of the past. And all fast food has been purged from my mind.
I will say that 24 will be a hard age to top, but I know there are just as many lessons, challenges, victories, and failures in the next one. I have a plan B for Ben part 25, I'm letting God do plan A; even though He hasn't told me what it entails, I trust it implicitly. And I'm even more excited to find out little by little what He will do with me, for me, and through me. In my heart, I'm always ready to age up another year. It's my brain that has to catch up.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
A Happy Story
Recently I've been calling my Dad a lot to help me solve the complicated problems that often arise from working in the position I'm currently in. And he told me it sounded like I was getting more unhappy with my job every time I called. And yes, there are times when I'm unhappy, but there are also times when I'm extremely happy. Then I remembered what the Rockmont Camp director Dan told us all the time over my summer in North Carolina: write a happy story. He would always tell us that we are writing our own story, so don't make it a sad story, make it a happy one. So this post will be a happy one.
This is really materialistic, but it's still happy so here it goes. This job doesn't pay very much at all, but the perks are through the roof. Still, it's nice to have opportunities to earn extra money doing something you like. My boss, Joanna, owns all the English First schools in the city, and when any of the schools is short on teachers she always asks me if I would fill in. I've taught a summer course for $15 an hour and then did a summer camp where I made $1000 for teaching English (easy) for 3 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 2 weeks (super easy). That's almost $28 an hour! (Another side note, you get paid pretty well to teach English here.) The other perk...I never have to pay for anything. As part of my au pair contract, the host family pays for literally everything except things I buy when I go out by myself. So that's Starbucks a couple times a week. Like I've said before, it's really weird to be making money, but not having to spend any of it. I think it's a great lesson for me for saving money because I wasn't very good at that before.
I read an article once that said women want to be cherished and men want to be needed. I agree with that wholeheartedly because I know from experience that it is very true. I didn't have to read an article to tell me this, but I love English. I'm weird and I love grammar and spelling and all that other English stuff. So when Jonathan or even Joanna ask me questions about my language, it just feels really great! It's fun to be the resident English instructor for a whole family.
And on the note of languages, I've already learned more Chinese than I ever thought, and it's still less Chinese than a first year Chinese student could speak. But I'm very happy with my progress and my knowledge of very random, everyday Chinese phrases. I would tell you what they are but pinyin is hard for this reason: the pronunciations you learned and have used for ever and ever don't apply in pinyin. For instance, wu shi in English would be pronounced like woo shee, but in pinyin, it's pronounced like www shrrr. Plus the tone marks make things infinitely more complicated. Every Chinese class I feel lost, but my teacher is very encouraging and every "good job!" makes a huge difference.
My favorite thing about living with a family is that I get to be around a family again! I've always been extremely close to my family and being away from the family setting in Thailand was really hard for me. And even though I'm not back with them now, being around a family makes me more happy than being by myself. If it's just sitting with one boy in my lap and another asleep on my shoulder while we watch a movie, or all of us (and I do mean all, grandparents and everyone) going "outside" for dinner, families make me happy.
Those are my happy stories. Now, reader, I will encourage you to write a happy story for yourself. I know when I journal or call my parents, I write a sad story. But do you really want to look back and read or remember sad stories? Not really besides they may have taught you a valuable lesson. Anyways, the point is to stop moping around feeling sorry for yourself and your sad stories. Instead focus on what is making you happy, because just like sadness, happiness feeds on happiness. Everyone has a reason to be happy. Share your reasons.
This is really materialistic, but it's still happy so here it goes. This job doesn't pay very much at all, but the perks are through the roof. Still, it's nice to have opportunities to earn extra money doing something you like. My boss, Joanna, owns all the English First schools in the city, and when any of the schools is short on teachers she always asks me if I would fill in. I've taught a summer course for $15 an hour and then did a summer camp where I made $1000 for teaching English (easy) for 3 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 2 weeks (super easy). That's almost $28 an hour! (Another side note, you get paid pretty well to teach English here.) The other perk...I never have to pay for anything. As part of my au pair contract, the host family pays for literally everything except things I buy when I go out by myself. So that's Starbucks a couple times a week. Like I've said before, it's really weird to be making money, but not having to spend any of it. I think it's a great lesson for me for saving money because I wasn't very good at that before.
I read an article once that said women want to be cherished and men want to be needed. I agree with that wholeheartedly because I know from experience that it is very true. I didn't have to read an article to tell me this, but I love English. I'm weird and I love grammar and spelling and all that other English stuff. So when Jonathan or even Joanna ask me questions about my language, it just feels really great! It's fun to be the resident English instructor for a whole family.
And on the note of languages, I've already learned more Chinese than I ever thought, and it's still less Chinese than a first year Chinese student could speak. But I'm very happy with my progress and my knowledge of very random, everyday Chinese phrases. I would tell you what they are but pinyin is hard for this reason: the pronunciations you learned and have used for ever and ever don't apply in pinyin. For instance, wu shi in English would be pronounced like woo shee, but in pinyin, it's pronounced like www shrrr. Plus the tone marks make things infinitely more complicated. Every Chinese class I feel lost, but my teacher is very encouraging and every "good job!" makes a huge difference.
My favorite thing about living with a family is that I get to be around a family again! I've always been extremely close to my family and being away from the family setting in Thailand was really hard for me. And even though I'm not back with them now, being around a family makes me more happy than being by myself. If it's just sitting with one boy in my lap and another asleep on my shoulder while we watch a movie, or all of us (and I do mean all, grandparents and everyone) going "outside" for dinner, families make me happy.
Those are my happy stories. Now, reader, I will encourage you to write a happy story for yourself. I know when I journal or call my parents, I write a sad story. But do you really want to look back and read or remember sad stories? Not really besides they may have taught you a valuable lesson. Anyways, the point is to stop moping around feeling sorry for yourself and your sad stories. Instead focus on what is making you happy, because just like sadness, happiness feeds on happiness. Everyone has a reason to be happy. Share your reasons.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Dad?
I knew I wanted to write this post the second day we were in Bali this week. As you probably know, I'm an au pair primarily for a 7 year old Chinese boy named Jonathan, and the family (Joanna, Jonathan, Matthew, all 4 grandparents, and I) took a little vacation in Bali for a few days this past weekend and the better part of this week. Travel was gruesome, but everything was much easier when we arrived. And even though it was a "vacation," I've learned to reflect back on every trip and figure out what I've learned in that particular experience. This trip taught me something I think, as Christians, we know deep in our hearts, but we often burry it down there and forget to remember it.
Jonathan isn't bipolar in the medical sense, but he does go back and forth on whether he "likes" me or not. I am usually liked when he has what he wants and is in a good mood. But if he's just woken up or I ask him to follow a rule, his response is literally, "I don't like you!" My responses range from, "I don't believe you" to "Well, I still like you." Anyways, on this trip there were a larger number of disliking moments than liking ones, and he seemed angrier than usual. Like I've said before, I don't like not knowing. So when he would tell me he didn't like me in the morning after I'd only seen him for maybe 2 minutes, I would always ask why so I could maybe change what I was doing so I wouldn't displease him so much so soon. I never got a response so I just moved on.
But after a while, I started paying attention a little more closely. We were also travelling Joanna's college friend and her husband and their daughter. I noticed that Jonathan was playing father-son with this guy and that's when it hit me. Jonathan isn't angry with me because I'm doing something wrong, he's angry because I'm not his dad. Max, Jonathan's dad and an extremely hard worker, travels almost constantly for work and is rarely home. So it all began to make sense to me. And although now I knew why Jonathan was acting this way, I didn't feel better because I knew.
The more I thought about it, the more sorry I felt for these two young boys who earnestly wanted a father figure. Then I reflected on my own life and how, despite my own father's many good qualities, he was in no way the father I needed. I thought of the many times I yearned for a perfect father, but I already had one. God is our perfect father. Just like what Paul says in 1 Corinthians about love, so is our heavenly father. God is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; God is not arrogant or rude. God does not insist on his own way; God is not irritable or resentful; God does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never ends.
I love Todd Erickson. He is wise, diligent, brave, reliable, and caring, among other things. But he is not perfect. He is not the father the deepest parts of my soul long for. And just as we have our respective idols in our lives, I believe we have our 'fathers' as well. We have things we look up to for guidance and wisdom, approval and love. But these fathers cannot possibly live up to our true Father, and I know I often forget that.
One of my favorite lines of the Batman series is when Gordon says Batman isn't the hero Gotham needs, but he's the one it deserves. In the case of God our Father, it's the other way around. God is not the father we deserve, but He's the father we need. So my challenge to you this time is to look for wisdom, guidance, approval, and love from your true and perfect Father, instead of your worldly 'fathers.' And remember that whatever the situation, His very being is love and grace, and that is sufficient for you.
Jonathan isn't bipolar in the medical sense, but he does go back and forth on whether he "likes" me or not. I am usually liked when he has what he wants and is in a good mood. But if he's just woken up or I ask him to follow a rule, his response is literally, "I don't like you!" My responses range from, "I don't believe you" to "Well, I still like you." Anyways, on this trip there were a larger number of disliking moments than liking ones, and he seemed angrier than usual. Like I've said before, I don't like not knowing. So when he would tell me he didn't like me in the morning after I'd only seen him for maybe 2 minutes, I would always ask why so I could maybe change what I was doing so I wouldn't displease him so much so soon. I never got a response so I just moved on.
But after a while, I started paying attention a little more closely. We were also travelling Joanna's college friend and her husband and their daughter. I noticed that Jonathan was playing father-son with this guy and that's when it hit me. Jonathan isn't angry with me because I'm doing something wrong, he's angry because I'm not his dad. Max, Jonathan's dad and an extremely hard worker, travels almost constantly for work and is rarely home. So it all began to make sense to me. And although now I knew why Jonathan was acting this way, I didn't feel better because I knew.
The more I thought about it, the more sorry I felt for these two young boys who earnestly wanted a father figure. Then I reflected on my own life and how, despite my own father's many good qualities, he was in no way the father I needed. I thought of the many times I yearned for a perfect father, but I already had one. God is our perfect father. Just like what Paul says in 1 Corinthians about love, so is our heavenly father. God is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; God is not arrogant or rude. God does not insist on his own way; God is not irritable or resentful; God does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never ends.
I love Todd Erickson. He is wise, diligent, brave, reliable, and caring, among other things. But he is not perfect. He is not the father the deepest parts of my soul long for. And just as we have our respective idols in our lives, I believe we have our 'fathers' as well. We have things we look up to for guidance and wisdom, approval and love. But these fathers cannot possibly live up to our true Father, and I know I often forget that.
One of my favorite lines of the Batman series is when Gordon says Batman isn't the hero Gotham needs, but he's the one it deserves. In the case of God our Father, it's the other way around. God is not the father we deserve, but He's the father we need. So my challenge to you this time is to look for wisdom, guidance, approval, and love from your true and perfect Father, instead of your worldly 'fathers.' And remember that whatever the situation, His very being is love and grace, and that is sufficient for you.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Don't Forget Who Put You Here
I've been reflecting over my time in Asia lately and while it's been an interesting and exciting journey, the vast number of different struggles is what makes the last 9 months an experience.
When I was in Thailand with very little money, it was easy to rely on God because it was the only way. Everything I had was precious, down to the last penny. Well, whatever version of the penny I was using. Anything extra was always saved and luxury could not and would not be afforded. Things were tight. The tightest of them being my Savior and me. We were like best friends, always talking and spending time together. God was my luxury. He always made me feel safe and protected when I thought I needed it, and even when I didn't think I needed it. Look at all the posts from before April and you'll see. God gives great unsolicited help. That's part of what makes him not just God, but a good God.
My Chinese family and I were watching "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" last week. One of my favorite lines from the movie is at the end when Lucy is talking to Tumnus and she asked if Aslan was tame. Tumnus said, "No, but he's good." Disappointingly, that's not how the book worded it. The book uses the word "safe." And I like that much better. God is not safe. He is powerful to the most extreme. Don't you know what should have happened to us had it not been for Jesus' sacrifice? In the book, Edmund is suppose to die on the stone table, but Aslan takes his place. Even watching it in the movie made me tear up a little because I, like Edmund, know what my sins are. And what's even harder and more embarrassing is that God knows what my sins are, but he loved my enough to put himself in that awful spot to save me, to save us.
Speaking of being in China, it's almost 100% the complete opposite of living in Thailand. Everything is expendable, we throw money at every problem. We have so much extra and everything is luxurious. If it's a luxury and we don't have it, we get it. We have so much that we don't need. I am part of the staff for a family of 4 that includes me, the au pair, Lee and Mr. Jiang, the drivers, and Ayi, the housekeeper. So there is literally a staff member for every member of the family. Pretty good ratio right? Wonna know what's interesting? My family has less money and we're more happy. You'd think that people would have figured that out by now. Money does not equal happiness.
In this life of luxury where I have more than I ever imagined, I've forgotten who put me here. Spoiler alert: it's that same guy who took care of me in Thailand. Only now, I often feel like I don't need Him anymore. It's not a conscious thought, but it's like ignoring a friend. We never spend time together or talk much anymore. I told my dad, someone more theologically advanced than me should write a book on how to live a God-filled life in a money-filled home. The only problem with that is that most people in a money-filled home would not want to read a book about why they're doing it wrong. Not that all wealthy people are doing it wrong--you know what I mean.
Something I try to remind myself is, one, God put me here, I didn't get here on my own. And two, God put me in this for a reason. It's not a secret reason; He put me here to glorify Him. It really is that simple. God is great at organization and He's put us all in different places and situations that best fit out gifts and abilities so we can do our best to glorify Him. MUCH easier said than done. But God listens to the prayers of those who have a lot just as much as he listens to those that have nothing.
So remember, reader, that whatever situation God has placed you, you only have one goal. So do it well.
When I was in Thailand with very little money, it was easy to rely on God because it was the only way. Everything I had was precious, down to the last penny. Well, whatever version of the penny I was using. Anything extra was always saved and luxury could not and would not be afforded. Things were tight. The tightest of them being my Savior and me. We were like best friends, always talking and spending time together. God was my luxury. He always made me feel safe and protected when I thought I needed it, and even when I didn't think I needed it. Look at all the posts from before April and you'll see. God gives great unsolicited help. That's part of what makes him not just God, but a good God.
My Chinese family and I were watching "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" last week. One of my favorite lines from the movie is at the end when Lucy is talking to Tumnus and she asked if Aslan was tame. Tumnus said, "No, but he's good." Disappointingly, that's not how the book worded it. The book uses the word "safe." And I like that much better. God is not safe. He is powerful to the most extreme. Don't you know what should have happened to us had it not been for Jesus' sacrifice? In the book, Edmund is suppose to die on the stone table, but Aslan takes his place. Even watching it in the movie made me tear up a little because I, like Edmund, know what my sins are. And what's even harder and more embarrassing is that God knows what my sins are, but he loved my enough to put himself in that awful spot to save me, to save us.
Speaking of being in China, it's almost 100% the complete opposite of living in Thailand. Everything is expendable, we throw money at every problem. We have so much extra and everything is luxurious. If it's a luxury and we don't have it, we get it. We have so much that we don't need. I am part of the staff for a family of 4 that includes me, the au pair, Lee and Mr. Jiang, the drivers, and Ayi, the housekeeper. So there is literally a staff member for every member of the family. Pretty good ratio right? Wonna know what's interesting? My family has less money and we're more happy. You'd think that people would have figured that out by now. Money does not equal happiness.
In this life of luxury where I have more than I ever imagined, I've forgotten who put me here. Spoiler alert: it's that same guy who took care of me in Thailand. Only now, I often feel like I don't need Him anymore. It's not a conscious thought, but it's like ignoring a friend. We never spend time together or talk much anymore. I told my dad, someone more theologically advanced than me should write a book on how to live a God-filled life in a money-filled home. The only problem with that is that most people in a money-filled home would not want to read a book about why they're doing it wrong. Not that all wealthy people are doing it wrong--you know what I mean.
Something I try to remind myself is, one, God put me here, I didn't get here on my own. And two, God put me in this for a reason. It's not a secret reason; He put me here to glorify Him. It really is that simple. God is great at organization and He's put us all in different places and situations that best fit out gifts and abilities so we can do our best to glorify Him. MUCH easier said than done. But God listens to the prayers of those who have a lot just as much as he listens to those that have nothing.
So remember, reader, that whatever situation God has placed you, you only have one goal. So do it well.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Iceberg
HK Part 2
This Hong Kong trip started out back and forth. First, the
car that picked me up from the penthouse where I now live was the most
luxurious sedan Mercedes Benz I’d ever seen in my life. It was like riding in
first class in a car, only much nicer. I enjoyed the quick drive to the airport
and looked for where I should check in. I walked up to the desk for the economy
class check-in for Xiamen Airlines. She asked where I was going and I told her,
Hong Kong. She said what like 5 times. I didn’t think Hong Kong was hard to
understand. But she said I had to go to a different area to check in. She
mumbled some numbers and letters, which I did not understand, and went straight
to the information screens. It said check-in was at H-16, so that’s where I went.
But it was for business class check-in. I went up anyway. They said I wasn’t in
business class. I said I know. They said to go check in at economy. I said ok
where is that? She pointed somewhere so I went there. It was check-in for China
Southern airlines. But whatever, I blindly trusted this woman. And she was
correct. Although I don’t know why the check-in had to be such a confusing
mess. I hate not knowing details.
Finally after making it through security without any
problems. I saw a Starbucks and went in to get my usual…only they didn’t have
any more chocolate muffins. So it wasn’t even worth it. I left to find my gate.
People reading this should know, when you’re in an airport and there are moving
sidewalks, they are so you can get places faster, not so you can be so
extremely lazy and stand on it waiting for it to drag you 25 yards. Seriously,
people, how can you be that lazy?!
Anyway, I sat at my gate for a while and played some games on my phone. Then my
stomach started to growl, so I went looking for those delicious cookies I got
last time I was in this airport. But I couldn’t find it so I went back to Starbucks,
hoping that magically some muffins had appeared. And they had! I got my yummy
warm chocolate muffin and lemon tea. I almost went back for seconds, but my
plane was supposed to leave in a few minutes.
But when I returned, the screen at my gate said “Delayed,”
but didn’t explain why. I also hate not knowing why. And after sitting here,
waiting for some information, a lady came on the PA system and said “Flight
number CZ5555 from Hangzhou to Shenzhen will be delayed due to air traffic
control.” I thought, well that’s a very vague reason to be delayed, she went
on. “The expected departure time will be announced later.” UGH!! Not helpful at
all. I hate airports at this point. I just want to know why! I’ve been angry
about this ‘why’ subject this past week because the internet won’t connect to
my tablet, only upstairs. It works fine downstairs, but when I go up to my
room, nothing. Actually it does connect, it just says ‘limited.’ Which is even
worse because I can’t know why! I understand if it’s not connected. I can fix
not connected. But limited? It might as well say, ‘no connection, no reason.’
I really need to calm down. The last few days have been
really stressful for me. I just found out I had to go to HK two days ago. So
there was no time to really plan or get ready enough or anything. Then, the
person booking everything for me booked a youth hostel for me to stay overnight
in HK. This might just be the snob in me talking, but I felt kind of offended.
I mean I’m not extravagantly wealthy, but I have enough dignity to stay in at
least a 3 star hotel. (No offence to people who enjoy staying in those. You are
much more adventurous than I.) So with the looming trip fast approaching plus
the notion of sleeping in a room with a stranger plus Jonathan being especially
defiant, disrespectful, and dismissive this week, I just really wanted a margarita
and some tacos. Joanna bought some Tostitos and salsa last time we went
shopping and every time I eat them all I can think is how good this would go
with a margarita.
My seat number on this plane is 46K. When I saw this I was
very confused. I started trying to figure out if it would be a window, aisle,
or middle seat. But K is so far in the alphabet. Even if it were a window seat,
that would mean the aisles would go 4 3 4, and that just doesn’t make any
sense. And 46th row, that’s a big plane. But then I remembered last
time I flew to HK, the very first seat was 17 or something. That also doesn’t make
sense, but I don’t care what the reason is. So just while I was writing that
sentence they announced my plane would be leaving in an hour and 20 minutes.
A chain smoker just sat next to me and is either reading
this as I write it, or staring blankly at my screen trying to decipher English
letters. And the woman sitting across from me has her legs spread so wide, you
can see her undies, so I moved to the nearby Häagen-Dasz and got a small ice
cream because I think its rude to sit in a restaurant and not order their food.
I rarely eat healthy in airports. But airports are like a different world where
IQs get lower and prices get higher.
I really don’t like that I can only post when I’m in HK or
out of the country. And now, with this new visa, I’ll only be able to post
every 3 months. Unless I can get a VPN, which is hard to find since the Great
Firewall block all the VPN websites! I have no place to go where I can
mindlessly browse other people’s events and information. But it had made me
very creative in eliminating my boredom. Just the other day I was riding the
elevator with my new Ayi. Let’s come back to that in a minute. Most westerners
would immediately pull out their phone and look at Facebook in that type of
situation, but I couldn’t. So I practiced my Chinese and told her about my
family. I told her there were 5 of us and I said everyone’s name and whether
they were a mama, baba, didi, or meimei. She was impressed. I knew this because
she gave me no one, but TWO thumbs up!
So the new Ayi is perfect. She cleans everything every day, whereas
the last Ayi was very choosy with what she cleaned. And she never cleaned my
room. For this paragraph’s sake, the new Ayi will be referred to as Ayi 2.0.
Ayi 2.0 smiles and has gentle conversations with people, while Ayi was either
silent and angry, or yelling in Chinese with a very mean face. Ayi 2.0 laughs
where Ayi would scoff. And Ayi 2.0’s cooking is ridiculously amazing. Last
night we had shredded potatoes, dried beans, eggplant cooked in bean juice,
roast beef, and of course, rice. And watermelon for desert. We have more
watermelon in our kitchen than a watermelon farm. But I scarfed down that
dinner like I hadn’t eaten in days. But I wasn’t even that hungry, it was just that good! I told Ayi 2.0, “Wǒ xihuan.”
Which is Chinese for I like it! I have, however, still not started slurping my
rice; and I never will! I am still a Southern gentleman. That much will never
change.
I started writing a novel last week. I’ve tried this before,
but it never worked out. The first time I wrote and wrote and wrote but there
was never a conflict. There always has to be conflict. Then other books just didn’t
develop or didn’t pan out how I wanted. But this time I did it right. I’ve
spent weeks doing research on the time period (19th century England)
and having all my characters prepared right down how many sugars they like in
their tea. I think this one will be the one. I know it’ll take LOTS of time and
thinking, but I decided I’m prepared to give it that. I won’t give any details,
but I will say it’s a murder mystery. And after all my research, I’m fairly
certain none of these characters exist in real or fictional life, nor has this
plot ever been written before. I haven’t even finished the first chapter,
because I keep going back and re-writing and editing and changing words and
adding setting.
Here’s what I did. First, I wanted a book with lots of
dialog. Because whenever I’m reading, I’m almost always only interested in the
dialog. I also didn’t want to write it in traditional 3rd person omniscient.
I wanted it to be present, fly on the wall type of writing, so the reader could
imagine being there, seeing and hearing everything. But then I realized that
took away from the setting. So I went back and added very vivid descriptions of
the setting, but then it sounded weird in the present, so I went back and made
it stupid 3rd person omniscient. Oh well. Then I was reading an
article on novel writing and it said that every good story has something in
common: a fool. Someone who provides comic relief and a little humor to the
story. I didn’t have one, so I went back and wrote one in. And it turns out, I like
him even more than the main character. Oh, another thing my past novels had was
backstory. But you’re not supposed to give a back story! Apparently it’s better
to weave it into the characters’ present. So I made sure not to give any back
story, even though that is always a vital part of the big picture. But I guess it
is more fun for the reader to figure it out themselves. Plus it gives everyone
an air of mystery, and I always like reading characters like that myself. So it’s
pretty much a mystery where the reader tries to solve it before the detective
in the story. I like that idea, so others are bound to as well.
Not that I’ve given you a detailed background on my novel
that will come out in probably 5-10 years, I have a plane to catch to Shenzhen.
And then I’m taking a boat to HK. My travel agent says it’s more convenient. We’ll
see.
Well the flight was annoyingly longer than it was supposed
to be. But they played “Mortdecai” on the flight, which is my favorite 2015
movie so far. It was cut short because we began our ‘landing’ about 45 minutes
before we actually touched town. The airport in Shenzhen is really cool
looking, you’ll have to look it up because my phone died before I could take
pictures. My phone does this really annoying thing where it turns itself on
while it’s in my bag or my pocket and just stays on, draining battery power,
while I continue to not use it. I followed the long path of moving sidewalks to
the domestic arrivals and found a desk that sells tickets for the ferry to Hong
Kong. It was twice as much as my agent woman told me, but I expected that so I brought
extra money. So now I’m sitting on the bus wondering what it’s like to ride a
ferry from one city to another. I’ve never done that before.
I am thankful that it’s not a double flight. I did say
before I was tired of flying and would like to eventually take a boat. I hope
it lives up to my expectations. Speaking of which, when I imagined it on the
plane I thought of myself sitting at a bar table by a window sipping some
whiskey while the wind blew through the window and into my hair. That’s
probably a very poor assessment because I’m sure it will be nothing like that.
But I like to dream of luxury before I arrive at my shared room with some
frumpy twin mattress and under washed sheets. I’m anxious to see how the boat
and the crap hole hostel turns out. Maybe it won’t be a crap hole! Of course, I
can always dream…
I’m on the ferry right now. Me and one other lady and like 5
staff but there are probably 200 something seats on this boat. And I may not be
sitting at a table drinking whisky, but I am sitting in a comfy enough chair
while I watch the Chinese coastline and drink some cabernet sauvignon. It’s
pretty much like I have the boat to myself. It’s supposed to take an hour, but
I’m ok with that. I’m just ready to get there and get settled.
Oh yeah, while I was waiting for the ferry, I booked an
actual hotel room. Don’t worry, I’m totally prepared to pay the $12 for not
showing up at the youth hostel. Small price to pay for my honor. The hotel I found
is actually much closer to the airport and is pretty cheap for such a nice
hotel. I got a great deal, too. I now feel a lot better about this trip. See
how something so small can make such a big difference? And see how something so
small can make such a big difference. You’re supposed to read the first one
with excitement and the second one with kind of an annoyed tone. Go back and
read it again like I said.
You know how they say your right brain is more creative and
your left brain is more logical? I feel like the two sides of my brain have
been fighting a lot. So I thought it would be a good tie breaker to put them up
against each other in a friendly game of chess. It was interesting because my
right brain, which controls my left side, always won, even when I switched so the
white pieces were on the right and black was on the left. Plus it seemed a
little racist to let white win all the time. Conclusively, my logical side won
every time. We’re about to dock so I gotta go.
Well I found the hotel. It’s like a local Holiday Inn style
hotel. Honk Kong is big. But its more tall than wide. All the buildings are so
tall and skinny. I felt like I was in another world, which I kind of am. My tablet
died shortly after I arrived, and HK outlets are different from China and I wasn’t
prepared. But after snooping around after I watched some TV, I found a
converter! Otherwise you would have never known what happened on this trip, or
even that this trip existed! I wish I could stay a little longer and explore,
but I have to be back at the airport mid-morning. I have to say, I don’t like
flying around for a day and a half just to get a stamp on my passport. It feels
like a waste of time. Even though I know it’s necessary.
My au pair agency that I work with has finally got up and
running now! And they have a lot of families signed up that need au pairs. And since
I am the first au pair in the city of Hangzhou, I am obligated to give the
details and recruit! So if you or someone you know wants to spend 6-12 months
in a beautiful, (I’m not just saying that. The people of China, that’s like
millions and millions of people, say that Hangzhou is like heaven on Earth.
Actually the saying is ‘There is heaven in the sky, and heaven in Hangzhou.’)
vastly cultural and diverse city while also getting to know literally the
cutest little boys and girls I’ve ever seen besides my cousins, come to Hangzhou!
Every single little detail is planned out and paid for. All your food and
travel expenses and even top of the line Chinese lessons. The only thing I’ve
paid for since I got here is all the Starbucks I get. It’s a great time to be
yourself and have the opportunity to influence the future aristocrats of China.
And let’s face it, it’s just a fun job! So if you’re looking for something to
do besides college for a year, or you finished college and you don’t know what
you want to do with your life yet, come do this. I’d say it’s rewarding like
teaching but less stressful because you only have one or two kids. I can’t even
describe the amazing feeling I get when my boys copy something good that I do,
from having a napkin in your lap while you eat to saying thank you to a
waitress. It’s like getting to experience a tiny piece of parenting, and it’s
also probably really good practice for being a parent. So if you’re interested,
or you know someone who is, tell yourself or that person to email me for more
details at berickson4124@outlook.com.
I think this is long enough, so until September…
A TON happened today but I just got to my gate in time to post this and then board, but its a crazy story! So I named this post "Iceberg" because there's so much more to the story than I actually told. Ask me about it next year.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
You've Been Hong Kong'd!
So here I am in the Hangzhou airport waiting for my flight
to Hong Kong. The drive here was a whole hour—this city is huge. I didn’t get
any breakfast because I thought I would just get something at the airport after
I checked in and went through security, but there weren’t any breakfast places.
Just typing the word breakfast is making my mouth water. I was thirsty so I went
to the only place that was open: China Duty Free. This is apparently code for “much
more expensive than if you bought it anywhere else.” My small bottle of water
was ¥20, and of course all I have are ones and hundreds.
Checking in and security was extremely fast—faster than I’ve
ever seen. When I got to immigration they told me I forgot the departure card.
I always forget the stupid freaking departure card. If you don’t know what this
is, it’s a card with your name and your passport number and your flight number.
All things the immigration officer can see on the other two things you give
them: your ticket and your passport. I think it’s stupid and ridiculous. Mostly
because I always forget about it. So I went and filled out the pointless card
and got back in the line that had gotten much longer. Thankfully I heard the
immigration officer call out, “American!” Which was obviously me. She motioned
for me to come over so I got to skip the line and go through. Then right as I started
approaching the security check, they opened a new line! Of course half of the
first line sprinted into the other line like a bunch of crazy people. But I got
in line fourth, so I was happy. The security was so easy! I think the US is
paranoid about airport security, but they have the right to be.
Well I think we’ve been flying for thirty minutes. The weird
thing about this plane is that there is no one sitting in the exit rows. So I asked
if I could move there, but they told me it costs extra to sit there. Which
explains why no one bought the tickets for those seats. It’s kind of sad when
you think about it that the airline wouldn’t encourage safety by making the
exit rows a normal price. What if there is an emergency? Who will be brave
enough to open the exit doors? I’ve never been in a plane accident, but I’m
very confident in the schematics of a plane to not have any type of flying
problems. I just hope if something does happen, someone will step up and open
those doors!
While I was waiting to board and visited that
much-more-expensive-than-if-you-bought-it-somewhere-else. Side story—one time I
was flying something, I can’t remember which airline it was—but their snack
were these delicious little brown square cookies. The taste was very different
and extraordinary. Anyway, I found those cookies in the store, so I bought some
and I’m enjoying them on the plane right now. The only drawback is they’re
individually packed so I have tons of wrappers.
One thing I do love about Asian airlines (not Asia Airlines,
just general airlines in Asia) is that they serve a whole meal on every flight
no matter how long it is. It’s always something foreign like Vietnamese or
Indonesian food, or something like that. But hey, it’s free food! And really,
who can say no to that? Speaking of which, the woman sitting next to me obviously
didn’t get enough sleep because her head is bobbing all over the place. Also
another thing I like about Asian airlines is that Asians are generally small,
so sitting next to them is extremely easy.
For the very first time in my entire life, I went through
immigration without any problems! It felt like a miracle. So I expected this
grand airport to have more food choices. Of course there was McDonald’s and
Starbucks, but I’ve been avoiding McDonald’s after I found out they downsized
the menu. I’m not prepared to not see my favorite menu items. But I found a nice
little restaurant called Ajisen Ramen and I’m sitting at the same table as an
older Chinese couple because apparently that’s how they do it at this
restaurant! Oh well. It’s strange here because the currency is the HK$, and its
exchange rate is very close to the Yuan. So looking at a menu that says $75 for
a sandwich freaked me out a little until I remembered it’s about the same in
Hangzhou.
Well, I finally waited long enough to go through immigration
and security. Once again, it was a breeze. But that’s just the end of that
story. It began with me arriving in Hong Kong and immediately looking for which
gate my next flight would be departing. Flight information in hand, I eagerly
looked at the departures board for my flight. Problem: it wasn’t there. So I
hopefully thought maybe it would be on a different departure board, but alas,
it was not. Then I thought maybe it wouldn’t show up until later in the
afternoon. So I found a nice spot to relax and enjoy Facebook for a couple
hours. A woman sitting across from me even offered me a teaching job. I told
her I already had a job and she gave me her card. Which was a postcard with her
phone number on it. It was an odd experience to say the least. I went back up
to the board to look, and it still wasn’t there! So I caved and asked an
airport person where to check in and fortunately, she was a check in employee
of the very airline I was taking! She took me to an empty desk and checked me
in right away. As I walked to security, I noticed a very, very long line and it
was for, yep, the same airline as me. I had just skipped waiting in line for
probably 45 minutes.
At first, I thought the airport was rather simple, with only
a few restaurants and shops. But after I went through security, it was like
entering a massive mall! Stores and restaurants were everywhere! Bvlgari!
Gucci! Rolex! Prada! Dior! Even expensive name brands I hadn’t even heard of!
And this is just what I can see from where I’m sitting. Needless to say, this
is the most packed and well-dressed with stores airport I have ever been in.
After being in awe for a couple minutes, I found a Starbucks
and waited in line for a good 20 minutes to get some coffee before the next
flight. While I was in line a huge clap of thunder echoed throughout the
airport. Everyone was silent. It was very weird. Everyone was mostly ok. The
other strange thing about this airport is I see Chinese looking people
everywhere, but some of them most definitely speak American. That would be
English with American slang. I even waited in the immigration line behind a
ginger! I hadn’t seen one of those in a while.
So now I wait for the airport to announce which gate where
my plane will arrive. This makes me nervous because there are over 500 gates in
this airport and I have no idea even of which general area it will be. But it
is delayed 50 minutes so that’s a bummer. This trip was much less exciting than
my others, and I am totally fine with that because there were no complications!
That’s a first for my trips in Asia. Part of me hopes this is just a one-time
thing, because it’s been so easy! But part of me wishes it would have been more
complicated, because that’s always more exciting and educational. So instead of
saying, “better luck next time,” I say, worse luck next time!
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