Tim and I wrote the following post during our last week in Hong Kong and we are finally getting around to posting it.
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Being the educators that we are, both of us enjoy (and feel it is our duty) to always reflect on experiences and situations: "What went well? What did NOT go well? What would you do again? And what would you NOT do again?" So it seems only fitting that both of us looked at each other tonight and said "You know, I've been thinking that maybe we should write a blog about what we have learned during this year of living and teaching abroad?"
And so, without any further ado, here are some Baumann family reflections:
1) Do NOT eat the Durian!
Labeled the "Royal Fruit", this large football sized object has spikes all over it. When cleaved open, an aroma of rotting flesh and a used baby diaper wafts into the air. At this point you may commence gagging and quickly move on. Hands down the worst taste ever. Especially when you burp it up for twenty-four hours after you sample a bite.
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| Durian Fruit |
People want to be loved, noticed, and respected. It doesn't matter their eye design, their skin color, or their religious beliefs. Enough said.
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| People being people |
As we said in earlier blogs, some things just don't change... :)
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| Kids being kids |
When you can't speak a word of their language and they can't speak a lick of yours, never hesitate to resort to large head nods or shakes, "air vacuuming", pointing, and in the case of Christine the other day, flapping your arms like a chicken, to get your point across. And when you have no idea what on earth is going on in a situation, smile. Just smile :)
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| Our favorite waitress at "Tai Wai Thai" (the Golden Elephant), who was REALLY good at figuring out what we were asking and then teaching us how to say it in Canto |
5) Where the best coffee is made in Hong Kong
On the table in the courtyard about fifteen minutes after church gets done. We don't know how, and we don't know who (it seems to be different people each week!!!), but we do know that it has ruined the palate for all other coffees from here on out. We are pretty sure that there is a lot of love that goes into it :)
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| Our wonderful Shatin Fellowship Family :) |
A lot of heartache and hurt is caused in this world by trying to make something be something that it is not. When in doubt, default to what has been going on for many years. Chances are that it works.
7) Squatty Potties!!!
We both learned how to use squatters this year. Christine ran into them more often that Tim, but Tim's situations were usually a little more "high stakes." And we survived :)
8) Honesty wins
Be honest and true to yourself and those around you. It just puts everyone at ease.
9) Human Trafficking is real
Sorry to go into the dark and heavy with this topic, but we have learned quite a bit about issues like human trafficking this past year. Thankfully not first hand. Human trafficking is real. It affects real women and men, and it happens in the developing world as well as the developed, first-world countries. It includes child labor workers, sex workers, and servants.
10) Stuff does not make you happy, but relationships will
It will never be property, job, wealth, or materials that will make you happy. Do they help to alleviate stress? Yes, but they don't give peace like a family and friends do. Here are just a few of the wonderful people who helped bring lots of joy into our lives this past year (including the church photo above and more!)
11) "Third graders, it is NOT ok to eat your band-aids!"
One of Tim's students definitely spent a few minutes chomping on a used band-aid in the middle of class before his friend ratted him out. It tops his list of "Things that I never thought I would have to say in my life..."
12) Proper elevator etiquette
Squish in as many people as possible and as soon as the last person is in the car, repeatedly press the "door close" button as fast and as many times as possible until the doors actually shut.
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| The protective plastic has been worn off of the "door close" button from vigorous pushing |
Be yourself.
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| Our Family in Cebu |
Wait for the train, the elevator, the bus, in line, etc. There is no need to be flustered, just build the extra time in.
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| The MTR! |
As Lululemon (never heard of them before?- WHAT?!!!) says: "Sing, Dance, Travel, and Floss!" Both of us would definitely recommend the traveling part to everyone. Those are experiences that can never be taken away or depreciate. Go see the world!!!
There are so many other things that we learned this past year while living in Hong Kong. While the job that we had there was teaching others, we really learned a ton this past year about ourselves, the culture and communities in which we lived. We are thankful that we had this opportunity to live somewhere outside of our home culture, we are thankful for all of the good friends that we made along the way as well as the really nice people in all of the countries we visited who were welcoming and helpful towards two sort of awkward twenty-somethings from the US who didn't speak the local language. Looking back, if it wasn't for all of the wonderful people along the way, our year could have been a really challenging year - but it wasn't :)
