Shanghai Greetings!

The fellowship I attend. I'm amazed each time I see it.

Sunshine and fresh air greeted me as I left the lines, lines, and more lines of the airport and metro Wednesday afternoon. 

Ever the one to risk missing sleep if it means having just a few more hours of vacation or time spent with friends, I perhaps unwisely scheduled my flight to land two hours and fifteen minutes before needing to be back at work.

My flight arrived forty-five minutes late, passport control had a gigantic line, there was a family of three filling up the baggage claim with around FIFTY bags, another long line at customs, and just when I thought I was home free - ANOTHER long line and security at the metro station. 

Blurry quick snap - THIS is all for ONE family!

The entire time, I was light on my feet and in my heart. It was good to be back! Everything was going smoothly, no one was pushing of course I was gal with the ginormous backpack so for all I know I was the one pushing and I somehow managed to get to work just in time! 

Thankfully, it was a teacher inservice day. Which, for my department of seven ladies, meant catching up in the brisk sunshine!

It was good to be back. A few of us commented on how wonderful it was to see the sun! We'd begun to think it ceased to exist in Shanghai prior to break. 

It's as if a month holiday never happened. They are a delight!

I'm feeling energized, healthy, and overall content. In our staff meeting everyone mentioned how even though we had a long break, it still didn't seem long enough. I sat quietly and momentarily reflected:



Prague found me loving Europe but depressed and immovable literally I spent an entire day inside the couple's house I was staying at from the events of the past six months and the notion I was to return to Asia. Even Istanbul and Jalal-Abad found me in similar votes. By the grace of God, somewhere between Paris and Shanghai, I became ready to be at my home in China.

On the plane I made a list of ideas to keep it that way. It was complete with: 

1. Food 
• I've been successful at this so far - making my first smoothie today and avoiding the bakery it helps only minimally that it's closed! 
2. Fitness 
• like taking my backpack and climbing the flights of stairs in my building
• getting outside to work out
• going to my gym even when it's highly polluted and they have the doors open 
3. Finding a quality mask to help sustain #2! 

Learning to jog and exercise with a mask adds a unique new skill to the adaptive nature of life abroad, no? 

Complete with the miracle under-eye patches.

My coteacher greeted me with Chinese New Year gifts of facial products and a Paul Frank bag because it's the year of the monkey. It's sweet of her to continually remind me of the bags under my eyes. At least she follows it up with gifts!

The school nurse, who seems to hold all the power in the school system in China, notified us we were allowed to leave thirty minutes early our first day back. I rushed home somewhat anxiously hoping what's left of my apartment goods would still be there - they were! Then I double checked the AQI and went for a walk/jog down by a walking path around the corner from my complex.

I have never seen a Shanghai sunset. 

I've wanted to check it out since I discovered its existence, but the pollution was always too high, it was too dark, or I was too tired. 

Wednesday night, however, was perfect! I watched the sun begin to set behind the church I attend then went for a little jog. I'm sort of pathetically out of shape these days, even with walking over 200 miles during break. When I said it was good to breathe fresh air, I wasn't kidding! So my jog was really more like a fast walk with a little jogging thrown in, but hey, you've gotta start somewhere! 

Government church by day. "Expat" fellowship by night.