If you are at all interested, I thought I would update you on my happenings since the Philippines as that is where my last entry was from. After taking the last team to the Philippines, I decided my time with YWAM Honolulu was done. No terrible experience or anything I just felt it was time to move on after 3 years. I came back to Edmonton and found it difficult to find a job so worked for my parents renovating our house. I did however get an e-mail from Heather inviting me to take over her English teaching job in China beginning in September. It would be a 3 month substitution while she was in the States. So instead of a paying job I worked at camp for a couple weeks. During this time I got sick with some sort of flu. When I came back to Edmonton I went to the doctor where I learned a liver enzyme was extremely high. During my time at home my ALT (liver enzyme) reached a high of 658 when the count should be below 50. This was a scary time for me having an unknown virus. So not having a job turned out to be a real blessing as I was going for many blood tests and doctors appointments weekly. Also during that time I was house/dog sitting, so it was nice to be able to rest during my time of recovery from the virus. the doctors let me book my ticket for China as soon as they could see that my ALT was on a steady decline, which I was very thankful for.
So I went to China! To the city of Xining (a city I went to last summer) to be an English teacher/dog sitter. My work load was light (2 work days and one professional development day), which left time for making friends and taking Mandarin lessons. At first, I was having a difficult time being alone, taking care of a difficult dog, not knowing many people, but as I met more, I began loving my time in Xining. At one point I was asked to share with all the Chinese teachers about "Love" in a cultural exchange. There I was able to share about examples of love I have seen (good and bad) and the perfect love of God. It was a lot of fun, and I never thought I would get an opportunity like that in China. After that I even was able to share with a Tibetan and a Han friend at different times. Three nights a week I would go to different English corners around the city and which was fun, but could also be wearing answering the same questions over and over again. I would always freeze when they would ask me what Canadian culture and history was like. I guess Social Studies was not my strong suite.
I made some amazing foreign friends while in Xining. Some are there to stay, others are in transit, and some are there for predetermined amounts of time. All have blessed me so much. At times I felt like I had a sign on my back that said "Give Me Free Food" because it seemed that I was unable to pay for a meal while eating with friends. I felt like he Hendersen's third son, the White's were my grandparents, and Paul and Alex were my bros. They made my time in Xining incredibly enjoyable.
I am now back in Edmonton and have yet to get a job, but am planning on reapplying at Moxies in West Ed. I still have to get some blood tests done to see if I still have that virus. Everything is currently up in the air in my life. University doesn't seem like a terrible idea, but I can't find anything that would really fit me so I may continue to put it off for the moment. Working full time at Pioneer Lodge has been something I've wanted to do for a really long time, and I am hoping to do that in the fall. After that.........who knows? University, open a coffee shop, go back to China, open a coffee shop in China. The options are limitless and I am excited to see what doors open up!
