Sunday, May 31, 2015

36 Upcoming Wishes

What shall I do to celebrate #36?

For several years, I have tried to set up adventures to celebrate each passing year.  Whether it has been rock climbing.... hiking to a waterfall... going swimming with turtles...or exploring the world's largest open air shopping mall... I have tried to live intentionally with friends!

This year I have to work on my birthday and the weekend that follows so an idea hit me that sounded like fun...

Starting June 1st  (that is today) until the end of July (the 24th is the actual big day! )  the goal is to have at least 36 amazingly awesome adventures!  Now honestly I have been to some incredible places as of late but the goal is to be intentional... use my time wisely... have some fun... try something new... and spend some time with the people in my life.

Here is the birthday bucket list... may slightly change!

1.  Polar ocean world
2. Spend time outside the classroom with some of my learners and their families
3. Visit wide and narrow pedestrian street
4. Buy a white pair of shoes and doodle on them (original bucket list item)
5. Star Wars Movie marathon
6. Learn 5 more new Mandarin words
7. Try a new tea
8. Explore a new street market
9. Visit the Magical Forest
10. Play at the water park
11. Go ice skating
12. Try a new food
13. Sunbathe on the tropical beaches of Hainan
14. Sanya
15.HK Disneyland
16. Walk the Ave of the Stars
17. View the skyline of HK
18. Lantau Island
19. Hong Kong
20. Get my nails done
21. Have a massage
22. Random act of kindness
23. Walk through Bamboo path
24. Eat dumplings at Old Town Shanghai Dumplings
25. Shop at the worlds largest Disney store (Shanghai)
26. Eat a dragon fruit
27. Volunteer at an orphanage
28. Play twister
29. Aqua lake (Victoria Harbor)
30. Read a new book
31. Qingcheng mountain
32. Celebrate Dragon boat festival
33. Learn to order water in Chinese
34. See Avengers
35. Try a new drink
36.  go to KTV

Additional ideas... visit Lindsay in Nanjing... while there see the Youth olympic center...swim with dolphins...do something kind for my coworkers... bake a sweet treat to share...post 3 new blogs... complete 2 chapters in the book I am writing... bungy jump off Macau Tower? Ok maybe not!

Stay tuned as the adventure begins and feel free to join me on the adventure if you are able or suggest more ideas!  Here is to 35 going our with a bang and bring 36 in with a myriad of great adventures!

Monday, May 18, 2015

A wrinkle in time

And I am not referring to the book by the same title!

A day or two ago one of our learning partners (LP) stopped by my classroom to get some assistance on grammar.  Not sure what she was working on but the two sentences/questions were...

Are you Swedish? Or Are you a Swedish?

After having a two minute grammar lesson and correcting the second sentence to Are you a Swede?... the LP walked out and left me with the realization that a year ago... almost to the day... I was in Sweden visiting some pretty awesome Swedes!

This realization snowballed with the fact that ... that was ONLY a year ago!  So much has happened in my life in the past year that it boggles my mind.  Then when I take a step back and think that this year is only a mere wrinkle in my life already spent on this earth ... I am blown away at how much I have been allowed to experience in my time thus far on this planet called earth.

In the past year I have lived on three different continents in 3 different countries.... I have been to numerous other countries... states... cities... and provinces.  I have picked up bits and bobs of more languages that I never really know what is going to come out of my mouth when I speak. I have shared my story and built relationships with many ethnic and people groups in the midst of my journey.  I have been blessed by friends and family that have stayed by my side and supported my decisions and endeavors even when there were a lot of unknowns... they have been there to rejoice when I completed my master's... they have been there to comfort when I spent another Christmas by myself... they have been there to call me out when I needed to be put back in line.  

Friends are what makes this journey through life enjoyable.  People are the only things that have eternal value.  How are you investing your time, talent, and treasure in those around you today? Relationships matter and even though sometimes they are painful ... people are worth your investment!