i miss...

speaking in half chinese half english. taking taxis everywhere. five kuai rice. pearl city. going to baker and spice in the mornings. thursday choreography day with siobhan. crap coffee. the girls. quiet days. friends places smelling like bathandbodyworks. scooters. surprising people with my chinese. being so close to every other country in the world. 3+2. sheefs. peter's tex mex. sunday night dinner crew and massages. bian li dian. bargaining. dvd stands. h+m. the fabric market. being different. chalet. my pudong friends. vpns. people with different accents. sitting for hours in starbucks. my room. journalling. things being easy and familiar. the crandalls. nanjinglu costa. everything being open late. staying up (more than once) till early hours of the morning in 85 degrees. my parents.

on strike.

in about a week i need to pack up all my belongings, again.
i'm moving back to sydney for a while.
i don't know if i'll ever live china again. part of me thinks i'll be back in a few months, but you can never know where life will take you. china been such a big part of me growing up. i love this country and its people. i think this place has changed me a lot and i'm going to miss it, and all the people i've met, immensely. but. He knows what He's doing. and so i will trust.
and pack.

my favourite michelle wrote this on her blog. i think she is beautiful and wonderful. and love her so very much.
also, i completely agree with what she wants when she's sick. and hopes she gets better soon.


things i want when i’m sick.

hot tea. soup. someone to play with my hair. bubble bath. blanket. sweatpants. someone to talk to. something to do. pride and prejudice. pictures of memories. back scratch. bed. candles. slow music. to be missed. pillows. homework, never minded. hot bean bag. the notebook. medicine. valentine’s day fuzzy socks. glasses. mirrors to lie. surprise. books. to laugh. sun. hot chocolate. care

happy new year (chinese style)

i'm back in china. it's so familiar and it's nice to be here. it's crazy to think how much has changed over the last few years. i used to dread coming here. and now, it's quite the opposite. anyway, chinese new year here means over a week of fireworks and firecrackers. it's insane. and i love it.

i don't like the word 'lard'

just started reading crazy love.
and heck, it's amazing. it's so incredibly challenging but great
here's a snippet from the preface.

'before we look at what is wrong and address it, we need to understand something. the core problem isn't the fact that we're lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant christians. the crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. we see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fir Him into their lives in some small way. we forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He's great and deserves to be the centre of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant, but he never begs us to give him some small part of ourselves. he commands everything from His followers...'

- francis chan