One year and 8 days (an unsent post from Thanksgiving weekend)

That's how long it's been since I first flew in to Dalian and my eyes first took in this place I'm calling home. Strange to think, but it actually feels pretty home-like now. 

I'm feeling a slight bit reminiscent, possibly because it's Thanksgiving Sunday (no, I don't get Monday off) and I've been talking to a bunch of my close friends back home this past week. The sun is streaming in my windows and although it's a bit hazy outside, I'm looking forward to a turkey-filled afternoon with the Seaths out in Manjiatan, near our school. Also, I realize that it's been just over a year since my first day in China, and the first weekend I was here last year was pretty much the Thanksgiving weekend. And I've had a bit of a quiet weekend, so it's given me some time to just chill out and relax after the craziness of busy teaching weeks and a nutty week in Shanghai.

The lives led by my friends and I are likely unfathomable to a huge chunk of the population around the world. These opportunities did not exist in the same way 30 years ago in Canada, and they still don't exist in so many parts of the world. I'm able to fill up a bag full of clothes and hop on a plane for a weekend trip of shopping, eating, and sightseeing to places like Beijing, Shanghai, or Seoul. I'm able to converse with and teach kids who come from every corner of China and attempt to help open doors for them to new lives of travel, education and work around the world. I'm able to go to a market and haggle with people who don't know a single word of my native language and sometimes even walk away with smiles on both faces. I can be shocked at behaviour and customs while still knowing that I just have to adjust my own attitudes and the lenses on my glasses might need to have a different tint added. I can laugh, smile, and make memories that I know are gonna last a lifetime.

Thankful doesn't quite do it justice.

Blessed. That might do it.

T