Missing China

On Friday I will have been back in America for 3 months. Things have been going pretty well. I have been busy and have had many opportunities to make friends with Chinese speakers and speak Chinese with them. Last week I attended debriefing and it was a great time to hear what has been going on around the world and to spend time with people like me. But now I am home. Just a few minutes ago I was standing in the kitchen cutting a nectarine and I suddenly got an image of the streets of China in my mind (strange considering they have no nectarines). It was at that point that I realized that I am not going back (at least not for a few years) and tears started to flow. I loved China, not just a few things, but pretty much everything about it. I loved the city, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the food, the activity, the people. I loved walking down the street and buying fruit and vegetables from roadside vendors. I loved talking to a dozen strangers everyday, learning something new about them and getting to share a little bit of Christ. I am in America now, and that is strange. I have not so much experienced culture shock, but perhaps I am a little homesick.