Three Years In

Here we are, closing in on 3 years in Chengdu and it’s been quite an experience. It would be impossible to summarize what it’s like living here in a blog entry, but I guess I could say that it is exciting, disturbing, delicious, frustrating, good and bad, and it now feels like home.

I’m still from the good old USA and have grown in my appreciation for so many things we are accustomed to (dare I say take for granted?) there. But I think I’ve grown accustomed to a lot here and probably now take those things for granted and will really miss them one day when we return to the US. Some things are still shocking and disgusting like all the hocking of lugies and spitting everywhere, including inside buildings, though that is not as common as it used to be. Also the dead animal carcasses hanging on hooks. But, you just sort of get used to it after a while and learn to sidestep and just keep on moving. And personal space/property is different here, but once you get used to people sitting at tables in restaurants with you unannounced (it’s a crowded country…you can’t sit two people at a big table during the lunch rush and expect all that space to remain yours!) it is quite social and not weird at all.

There are certainly bouts of homesickness, May and June being the height of expat upheaval. This is the time of year when everyone shifts; some leave permanently while others go for summer vacation or 6 months of home leave. I’m seeing everyone’s summer fun pictures from America and feeling pangs of “I wish I were there!” but also realizing that we have some neat things going on here as well. We are having our summer fun as there is a swimming pool in our complex and we have gone almost every day since it opened. Birthday packages from home certainly helped the sad feelings dissipate a bit (who can be down when eating Trader Joe’s dark chocolate with hazelnuts?) and reading Chronicles of Narnia to a certain enthusiastic 5 year old have made for some pleasant daily activities. There is a group of college students organizing a 4-day sports/Bible/Chinese day camp for kids, and we are planning to visit friends in Yunnan, the province just south of Sichuan where we live. We've got a young lady soon to be 9 years old, anxiously awaiting her sleepover/pool party with friends and someone has loaned us a car for the summer giving us the push we needed to go ahead and get our drivers licenses so we can take some trips outside the city. (After 3 years we are finally brave enough to attempt driving here...it is really a wild experience) So, there's quite a bit to look forward to these next few months!

Justus and Laurel on the way to church

Violet, the model

On our way to a marriage conference

Jason preaching on Sunday morning

We routinely run into Chinese friends from our neighborhood and surrounding areas when we are out in the market, at restaurants, or just walking down the street. We have more than just “smile relationships” with the shopkeepers in the stores we frequent and can communicate on a more complex level. I even made a little joke with my landlady during a recent home appliance repair! We are still obviously foreigners and always will be, but now we are much more incorporated into daily life here in our little section of the city and that makes us feel at home.

We miss all of you and are so thankful for updates on what is going on in your lives. Facebook is truly a lifesaver for us and helps us feel like we are not totally out of the loop on what is going on with all of you. We hope to make another visit to the USA in summer 2016 if all works out.