Traveling and My Bubble

I found this on Pinterest, and I think its perfect!  Already I have seen this lesson in my time here, as I've begun to see other ways of viewing the world and therefore better come to understand my own.  I've had to change my opinions on what is edible and socially acceptable.  If I was critical of every Chinese custom that was different from my American one, I would go crazy.  I would have a miserable four months here.  That's not to say at all that I think every Chinese-American difference is negative or wrong, just different.

One example is entitlement to personal space.  There are 1.3 billion people in China, and 26 million of them live in Beijing.  This means that homes are not large, the vast majority of people (including me) live in apartments (often high rises).  I often get asked if my American house has a garden, to which I explain what a suburb is and that because there are less people in America we all have more space.  I noticed the personal space thing on my first day here when I was waiting in line at the grocery store.  The woman who came up behind me came right up behind me.  Not the usual 2-3 feet we would give at home.  She was standing about 6 inches behind from me, and I had to very quickly become fine with it.  Same goes for buses, the subway, passing on the street you name it.  I was waiting for the subway with 5 other Americans one day and we were standing in a circle talking (you know what I mean) and people seemed annoyed as they moved around us.  We were all giving each other at least a foot of room and taking up as much space as we pleased there on the train platform.  We realized our error and huddled up some more, but I haven't really seen any Chinese standing in a group like that ever.  I've recognized my own feelings of entitlement towards my space and more or less adjusted, however I still marvel at how there are people everywhere all the time.

So I'm headed up to Harbin with the crew tomorrow and I am SO excited.  I haven't left the city since I got here and the Pacific Northwest in me doesn't quite know what to make of it.  I've been able to adapt pretty well so far though.  I'll be taking my first China train adventure, riding all tomorrow night and getting into Harbin bright and early on Saturday morning and then leaving Sunday afternoon to get back here late in the evening.  I've been looking up different things to do in Harbin (ice sculptures and maybe Siberian tigers?) and I'm feeling that feeling that I love, the hunger inside me that says "go, see, do!"  The desire to be somewhere new and to take everything in and have an ADVENTURE.  Some call in wanderlust.  Its part of who I am.  Its part of what makes me me.  I love going places.  I love seeing how life looks in other places.  I love seeing new things that God has created, eating new food, and entering situations that I might not know the outcome of.  I love the collection of pictures and soundbites that I've collected so far, the feelings that go with each one.  The moments when I said, "wow- I guess life is different than I've always thought it to be."

And if anyone is looking for a pick up line to use on me with a high probability of success, here you go ;)