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.

I look Like My Momma

This is an old picture, but it demonstrates my point.

Although I am shorter, paler, blonder, and my hair is curlier, I look like my mother and there is nothing I can do about. It isn't that I mind looking like my mother- I have always considered her to be a beautiful woman, but after living at college and then in China where no one knows my mother, it has been interesting coming back. I can walk into a place I have never been before and a complete stranger will come up to me and say "You must be Patti Cable's daughter!" At which I respond, "Yes I am. And who are you?" Actually it is a great thing. It reminds me of what it is supposed to be like as a child of God. I may not have His eyes and His smile, but I should be able to go places and have total strangers say, "Hey, you're God's daughter!" I was just thinking about that as I enter back into American culture and materialistic Plano. I pray that I am being a reflection of Him in everything that I do and say, and praise Him that He disciplines me and gives me another chance when I am not.

I attended Asia Fest 2007 in Downtown Plano today and was very impressed by the multicultural turnout. In the Mayors speech she said that approximately 19% of Plano's population is now Asian. In the above picture some Indian American boys perform a Punjab dance. I quite enjoyed the Indian music.

This is just a view of some of the diversity and the green park. It was a beautiful day and the recent rain has made things gorgeous!

I was standing watching some kids do Indian block painting when a two Chinese Lions and a parade of drums came walking past me. I didn't have time to get a front view, but here is the back view. While at the huodong, I also found out about a DFW area Chinese corner type thing for people who want to practice speaking Chinese. I think I may check it out.

A Big Big God

Wednesday night I was sitting in my parents' home all alone, when a storm started blowing in. I must insert here that I love storms. One thing that I missed in China was good spring/summer thunderstorms. Watching the the blue-gray clouds roll in from the West, feeling the wind whipping through my hair... and then God shows off. Lightning dances across the sky to the accompaniment of falling rain and crashing thunder, all under the direction of the master conductor. Oh they are such a wonderful reminder of God's awesome power and majesty.
But, back to Wednesday night. The thunder had been crashing for a few minutes when the power went out (and stayed out until 3 am). Having no connection to the outside world (the phones were out too), I had no idea what was going on in the rest of the area and just enjoyed the symphony of the storm alone with God in the dark of my house. When my parents got home 2 hours later, I found out that most of the city was without power, trees were down and littering the streets, and a house nearby was ablaze after a power line and pole crashed down upon it. In the morning we found out that power was still out all over the Metroplex (35,000 homes are still without it), much damage had been done, but through all the 100mph winds, fallen fences, downed trees, overturned vehicles, and burned houses, there were no injuries or fatalities. And, the house that burned down was vacant, as the owners had moved out two weeks earlier (Praise the Lord).
So what this says to me is that God is big!! I think He often does things to show is power. This spring has been full of powerful storms, and every storm has shown God's power and control. I just think about the way storms work and all the components of it, and I am amazed! I was thinking about this and the the absence of powerful thunderstorms in Southern China, and I see how God shows His power in different ways in different places. Just for example, the mountains I lived near in China were majestic displays of God's creation. Texas is rather lacking in anything but flat land, but the big blue skies, sunsets, and storms glorify God just as much as the jade rivers and karst mountains of Guangxi.
How is God big where you live?

Quick Stress Update

Well, the Mavericks have sadly ended my stress by majorly losing in game 6 of the playoffs. It is sad. Perhaps they can pull it together and do it next year. (sigh)

Stress

I know what you are probably thinking by my title, I am going through readjustment stress or something like that, but in actuality that is not the case. In fact, my adjustment is still going smoothly. It has taken me a month, but I finally have a routine (at least somewhat) and my tutoring jobs are keeping me busy!
So why am I stressed? Have you been watching the Mavericks' play-off games? Some of those games have been just plain sickening and last night was just stressful. Sitting there watching them give up a 21 point lead to have a 9 point deficit made my heart beat quickly and feel stressed! I do not know why I am stressing out over this series (it is just basketball), but when a team that is supposed to win it all stinks up the court, it is stressful. I was relieved as they hung on to win the game last night, but part of me fears another night of stress.

Less to Write about from this side of the ocean

I have been back in America for almost three weeks now and I find that I really don't know what to blog about. It is definitely weird to be back, but I don't necessarily feel like I am experiencing "culture shock". Things about American culture do not bother me now any more than they did three years ago. So what I am going through now is more like life-style shock and transition frustration (just like what I went through the two summers I spent at home during college). I have been a free spirit, traveling and doing things on my own, for 3 years (if you don't count college), and now I am back living with my parents. I also really miss city life. I miss walking downstairs (or taking the elevator) and being surrounded by people, riding the bus and meeting new people, buying fruit and vegetables from streetside vendors, and walking a lot.
Before I came back, I knew that Plano has a high Asian population, but wow! Plano has a high Asian population. I know of four Asian markets within a twenty minute drive from my house, and they are mostly Chinese! There are also a lot of new Thai, Indian, and Vietnamese places. I am still working on how to build relationships with some of these Chinese speakers.
One last thing. Though I may not be working with Chinese right now, I am tutoring four Korean kids. It is a pretty good job before starting back to school.