Leaving China in a Week

Leaving China.

The time is approaching. I can hardly believe it's time to leave already. Thankfully, my visa was renewed so I wasn't forced to leave sooner than expected. I'm a bit of a scatterbrain right now because I'm excited to visit friends in Singapore and to have one last SE Asia hoorah with KT in Cambodia before I go back to Canada - but I'm not ready to re-enter a culture I'm supposed to be familiar with.

Canada.
Love the country, likely always will. But after a short weekend with a Canadian friend who just got to Beijing for a short trip to China - I realized more and more just how different life is here. It was good though - to hear their comments on things that stand out to them in China or as they observe a bit of Beijing and how things flow (like traffic for example... even though Beijing traffic is smooth and safe compared to other cities I've been to!) - it stands out to me because now those things have become the norm.

What will I miss about China?

1. Social community. Walking to the community center just before 8am is such a happy time. People are playing badminton and shuttlecock on the street, the police officers are lined up doing their morning exercises with lively music, kids are biking to their classes, people opening up their shops, no one is really rushing, the old men are starting to take up their squatting position for the day near the town square where they gossip and play chess all day. Walk along further - more music is playing out loud for all to enjoy. And then about 7-8pm at night, its all the same. People hanging out in the town square, music playing, people lining up to get the 1 kuai ice cream from THE ice cream lady, old people dancing, the donkeys start pulling their fruit carts back to the farms, and people slowly start to retire for the night. It's a great social environment.

2. The food. I love hot pot. I also love the rest of the food here. I know I can likely find this stuff back in Toronto - but it'll be sad to have to pay the Canadian prices. I will miss my peach lady, yogurt friend lady, and nai cha lady. I will also miss walking into a restaurant/stall, ordering a dish, and have the waitress tell the cook 'bu fang jiang you he mianfen' (make it without soy sauce and flour) - I don't need to remind them anymore, they just know to make my food GF for me. Will also miss rice snacks and glutinous rice foods: you gao, nian gao, rice cookies/crackers, and TANG YUAN. I can't even start to list all the food dishes that I love - there are too many! And stinky tofu.

3. The people. I've met  some great people this summer. M couples and families, coworkers, Chinese friends - they've become great friends and have been a huge encouragement to me. This one is the hardest to describe in detail because I've just been so overwhelmed with how kind, generous, humble, fun, and Christ-centered some of these people have been. Such a blessing to be admist such people.

4. Pear juice.

It's hard to even describe what I will miss - this is only a fraction of it all.  I will miss life here in China - it's been great. I've loved my time here and I'm looking forward to returning.