Hello everyone! There is not much news to report on this side of the world. We returned back from our summer holiday in the states a couple of weeks ago. Michael has been traveling ever since. He was in 2 different cities in China the past two weeks and he is now in Germany for the next 2 weeks. So it is pretty quiet around the home front.
It took me a bit to get back into my China groove and to get over jet lag. But now I am back in my language class and will start my painting class again as well. Also, I have been trying to make contact with people to try and start getting more involved in the community with volunteering, so I will keep you posted on how that turns out.
We definitely are continuing to learn about ourselves here in China and continue to grow through our experience as ex-pats. We realized that going "home" to Michigan and to our family in New York really did not feel like going home. I was home for 5 weeks and Michael for 3 and we realized that when you don't have a physical house to go to, it doesn't really feel like home when you are living out of a suitcase and going from house to house. As much as we loved seeing our friends and family and it was sad to say good-bye again, coming home to Nanjing felt good as well. Our things are here, our pets are here and our life is here right now.
At the same time, even though we really love Nanjing and have great friends here, it still does not 100% feel like home, so we really feel like nomads or transients. I cannot really put into words exactly how it feels but it was a new feeling for me. And I don't think it is a good or bad feeling, just a new feeling. We are missing out on things going on back home and that saddens us at times, but we are also experiencing things here that are priceless and meeting people from all over the world. We are seeing places we never thought we would see and I know God is using this time to shape us and grow us for the next chapter in our life. So it is a real tug of war for me at times, missing the people and things back home, but loving my life here in China as well.
So we just try to enjoy each day for what it is. We thank God daily for His blessings and we are thankful for all of our friends and family back home and all the new friends He has provided for us here in China. Thanks to everyone who let us stay with them while we were back in the States and gave us a warm meal! We really felt loved!
I leave you now with a couple of pictures from life in China.
They are pictures at our local IKEA. The people in China treat IKEA like home. I think it is rather quite nice. These are some moms or grandmas that were feeding their kids and putting them to bed. But it is also the adults who take naps on the couches and beds. I will have to share more IKEA pics in the future.
It took me a bit to get back into my China groove and to get over jet lag. But now I am back in my language class and will start my painting class again as well. Also, I have been trying to make contact with people to try and start getting more involved in the community with volunteering, so I will keep you posted on how that turns out.
We definitely are continuing to learn about ourselves here in China and continue to grow through our experience as ex-pats. We realized that going "home" to Michigan and to our family in New York really did not feel like going home. I was home for 5 weeks and Michael for 3 and we realized that when you don't have a physical house to go to, it doesn't really feel like home when you are living out of a suitcase and going from house to house. As much as we loved seeing our friends and family and it was sad to say good-bye again, coming home to Nanjing felt good as well. Our things are here, our pets are here and our life is here right now.
At the same time, even though we really love Nanjing and have great friends here, it still does not 100% feel like home, so we really feel like nomads or transients. I cannot really put into words exactly how it feels but it was a new feeling for me. And I don't think it is a good or bad feeling, just a new feeling. We are missing out on things going on back home and that saddens us at times, but we are also experiencing things here that are priceless and meeting people from all over the world. We are seeing places we never thought we would see and I know God is using this time to shape us and grow us for the next chapter in our life. So it is a real tug of war for me at times, missing the people and things back home, but loving my life here in China as well.
So we just try to enjoy each day for what it is. We thank God daily for His blessings and we are thankful for all of our friends and family back home and all the new friends He has provided for us here in China. Thanks to everyone who let us stay with them while we were back in the States and gave us a warm meal! We really felt loved!
I leave you now with a couple of pictures from life in China.
They are pictures at our local IKEA. The people in China treat IKEA like home. I think it is rather quite nice. These are some moms or grandmas that were feeding their kids and putting them to bed. But it is also the adults who take naps on the couches and beds. I will have to share more IKEA pics in the future.
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