An Indianan Life

My dear, patient mother and I were wandering around an Ikea, looking for some basic pieces of furniture for my new apartment in Indiana. We kept running into a group of Chinese college students. I was so distracted, as I understood what they were saying about blankets and lamps, and while hearing all the English around me. In fact, I seemed to see Chinese faces wherever I went this past week...

Last week, my mom and I drove to Bloomington, Indiana, which will be my home for the next 2 years. We moved into my tinyyy, but super cute studio apartment. I don't think I will have ever lived in such a small and scenic town. My new abode backs up to a forest preserve, or something. Maybe that explains why all the residents were in the parking lot talking on their cell phones! Reception isn't the greatest.

So I still have some trepidation on beginning this new journey, but there are many things to outweigh that. I'm looking forward to classes and making new friends again. The campus is beautiful, and it isn't 108 degrees in Bloomington like it is in Topeka. I even found an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship graduate student chapter and have been in touch with them.

Now I'm back in Topeka until the end of next week, when Andrea will drive back out there with me. I've been staying busy by packing, working on a few projects, and working at the city election yesterday. Thanks for your thoughts and encouragement!


Ikeaaaa!


The new place. Pretty woodsy!

Moving on

It's always difficult for me to make big life-changing moves. Sure, I went far away for ballet, college, and then to China, but that doesn't mean it gets any easier to tear myself away from home.

On Sunday I had my China sharing night at church. There was quite a nice turnout, and people seemed really touched by the video and slide show I made. The Father definitely spoke through me, and it was great to be able to share and encourage people about what He's doing in China. And just like last year, I started to get all teary-eyed when I talked about Reborn...

I think I've finally grieved for leaving China. I'm realizing that I'm not returning there for now; that chapter is over for the time-being. Ever since I've returned from China, I have tried to be brave and practical, but my tears finally, finally came.

So this afternoon Mom and I will begin the journey to Indiana... and my new life there. I have to move into my apartment this week, because it's near impossible to find a place to live there. Then I'll return to Topeka for a few more days to hang out with my sister. And then it's back to Indiana I go.

I've been so excited about it for a long while, but now that it's here, I just feel discouraged about it. All ambition has drained from me. It's hard to remember why I'm going, especially since I'm leaving behind such dear people in China and Kansas. Is it possible for dear people to exist in Indiana too?

No matter what may happen and no matter where I may be, I still want to continue as a light. I'm not alone on this journey, just like all the other journeys I've been on the past years. Okay, God, I'm ready.

Chronicles of a 24th birthday

As a first born, I don't naturally like surprises, although China helped me get over that to some extent. July 17th was my 24th birthday and it was filled with lots of nice surprises. Since I don't have many friends left in these here parts of the country, I spent my birthday with my lovely mother. I was very glad, and couldn't have asked for a better birthday friend.

Mom planned a whole day of exploring some of northeast Kansas' history and charm, which I love. It was extremely hot and sunny-- the heat index was 110 degrees, but that seemed fitting for Kansas and fitting for my birthday. And it ended up that I had a marvelous time! Thanks, Mom! And she took some pictures with her camera, chronicling the day. So I apologize for all the pictures of me, me, me!

First, we headed east to Kansas City, Kansas on the wide, open road. This Kansas City is the less successful, less glamorous, less well-known twin of Kansas City, Missouri. We found our way to Kansas City, KS, with some parts that are as ghetto as Kansas can get. It was fun!

Mom pulled into a Polish sausage shop, which was about the only thing open in the "Strawberry Hill" community of Kansas City. Strawberry Hill's not doing so well as it used to, it appears. It had been established as a Slavic community, with tons of Catholics from Russia, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, etc. Now a lot of the restaurants are shuttered, the cute little houses are half-decaying, and most of the Slavic store-fronts are either closed, or replaced with signs in Spanish.

Anyway, the Polish place didn't serve lunch. My Mom asked the two Polish guys in there, "Well, what about the Bosnian place?" Nope, it was closed. "Italian?" Nope, closed on weekends. I think Mom went through a list of all the possible ethnic restaurants, to no avail. The only thing cooking in this town was Mexican food. So we cruised around until we found a little Mexican restaurant, which wasn't at all hard to find.


Eating tacos instead of Polish sausages.



After eating a tasty lunch, we went to the Strawberry Hill Museum and Culture Center, which shows the history of the community. It was all very interesting and historic, albeit a little depressing. It's always sad to visit places that were once thriving, and are now struggling.


Strawberry Hill.


View of Kansas City, MO from Kansas City, KS.


Aw, little strawberries on the mailbox.

I'm not sure what city we ended up in next--maybe a smaller city around KC. We went to Andre's, and had nice little desserts in lieu of a birthday cake.


Dessert at Andre's, whoever that is.

Then since I was a history major, Mom decided to surprise me with another museum! This time it was the Johnson County Museum, which is pretty nice and well done. Inside the museum, they even had an exhibit on the 1980s--complete with a 1980s car seat, 1980s clothes, and 1980s pictures. I was born in the 1980s! I'm 24 years old, and all of a sudden I belong in a museum.

Outside the museum they had a whole house called the "1950s All-Electric House." It was a model home built in the 1950s, with tons of electric things--there seemed to be a switch for everything. And it was all preserved in its 1950s style. The guide had white gloves on and told us not to touch anything. It looked like my grandparents' houses--how can it be a museum? But it was still pretty cool.


Is this your grandma's house? Nope, it's the 1950s All-Electric House Museum!

After museuming some more, we went to the Legends outlets around there, and shopped for a while. For dinner I had the best turkey burger. Thank you, America, for all your meat!



Eating my turkey burger. The End.

From the Far East to the Midwest

Mom and I were bobbing around 28,000 feet in the air last night in an airplane, counting how many airplanes we've been on this year. I've been on 17 airplanes since the year began, but Mom has me beat--20 airplanes. I think I win for miles, though.

So last night I was on my 16th and 17th airplanes as we returned back to Kansas from a wonderful visit to upstate New York, where my grandparents live. I'm pretty sure I have the cutest grandparents in the world. We had such a nice relaxing time, even as that part of the country was going through an intense heat wave--it was still cooler than Nanchang and Topeka, though.

I have to say that Rochester, NY is a very cultured place with a lot of educated people. It's like being in a different culture again. One of my favorite parts of our trip was going to an old theater, called the Dryden Theater. The theater was several decades old, but had been restored. It played an old 1930s movie with Cary Grant, "Topper," to a crowded, cozy theater. I always felt like I was born in the wrong decade.

We also helped Grandma and Grandpa clean and organize, and we just spent a lot of good quality time together. I also got to learn more about how Grandma's parents came from Lithuania, and the people and lives they left behind.

On Thursday we took a day trip up to Ontario, Canada. I've been there a good several times by now, but it's always a pleasant little journey, especially on the back roads and little highways. We stopped at a cute little town called Niagara-on-the-lake, and also Niagara Falls. I've been to Niagara Falls a few times, but each time is like seeing it for the first time! I'm amazed at God's power and creativity.

And now I'm back in Kansas. Late last night Mom and I were standing on the curb at the Kansas City airport waiting for the shuttle bus. I felt happy to be back under the big Midwestern sky, but also a little confused with the amount of Chinese people we saw right there. A Chinese family was getting into a car and talking in Mandarin, which I could understand. Then to the right of us was a man squatting on the sidewalk by his suitcase, probably waiting for someone. He was also definitely Chinese. I could recognize that Chinese way of sitting anywhere. So it seems that the Far East has followed me to the Midwest...


Fairport, where my grandparents live.


Grandpa!


Lunch with Grandma.


Niagara Falls.

Friendliness and Floods

I've stumbled upon the "Land of Super-Friendliness." Did anyone realize just how friendly Kansans are? Even when you are walking, you must say hello to the one person walking clear on the other side of the street. Everyone in the grocery store smiles at you, even those who aren't employees. During the "meet and greet" minute at church, people walk around hugging practically all 300 hundred people. The older the people are, and the higher waisted pants they have, that means they are even friendlier! :)

There was also an article in the paper that seems to affirm the friendliness and helpfulness of people around these here parts. The other day a small film crew was filming a few people downtown for a short movie. The actress had (fake) blood all over her, and was lying on the street. Bad idea in Topeka--because everyone's going to try to help you, even if it's not real! And that's exactly what happened. Apparently tons of people stopped to see if they were okay, and many people called 911. The film crew was impressed at how much people cared and tried to help.

In other news, I started taking ballet classes again, which is fun. After an absence of about 5 years, everyone's grown up so much, and some of the dancers in the advanced class are half my age. I feel like the old, washed-up ballerina. The teacher every once and a while would sigh in the middle of class and say things like, "Laura had such beautiful legs!" "Oh, Laura's feet were incredible." "Watch Laura, she was such a nice dancer!" Even though I'm past my prime, I still enjoyed it a lot-- I forgot how much I missed dancing, and I could still hold my own in that class of young, energetic whippersnappers.

And in China news, I've been in touch with a few students. If you've been reading the news at all, there always talk of the floods and landslides in China. Our province, Jiangxi, has been one of the affected areas. It started raining the day after I left, and apparently hasn't really ever stopped. A dam broke, destroying tons of houses. One of my students said that the premier, Wen Jiabao, who is a very popular leader in China, even came to Nanchang to tour the destruction. People are sort of used to flooding, it seems. Many of my students have already lost their homes in previous floods. I think they were just excited that the premier came to visit the fair city.

So I'm leaving you some pictures from the flooding in Nanchang.


A guy riding his bike in Nanchang.


A guy wading through the flood waters with a guy on his shoulders.


This is the Ganjiang River in Nanchang. The river is covering that small house.


This isn't in Nanchang, but it's still a crazy picture of the flood's intensity.

Laura's lessons

Why is it so much more difficult to write about America than China? Is it because China is so much crazier and colorful in comparison? Whatever the reason, I'm trying to find the color and life in America. I'm trying to see my native land in a fresh perspective. China has seemed more like my home than America in many ways; even though I was technically an "outsider" in China, I felt like I belonged there more than I ever did in the U.S.

So now I'm in America, trying to treat it like a new culture. I sort of feel like I've been living in a time warp, and the past 2 years were a dream. Many things happened while I was away, and I also have many things to relearn. For example:

-I should speak to people in English, not Chinese.
-I have to make my own food; I can't just dash out the door and eat a big plate of rice and vegetables for $1.
-I cannot attack every slightly Chinese-looking person in my eagerness.
-I cannot stare at all the rotund people.
-I cannot stare at all the black people.
-I cannot stare at all the white people.
-I cannot stare at all the Hispanic people.
-I cannot stare at the abundance of handsome guys.
-I do not have to hand the cashier my money with two hands.
-I can say "God."
-I should throw the toilet paper in the toilet, not the waste basket.
-I do not need to squeegee the floor after I take a shower.
-I should turn on the tap for water, and can drink as much water as I want.
-I should answer in a direct way, and not always say "maybe."
-I should stop saying, "Have a rest."
-I need to wear earplugs for the extreme quiet instead of for the early morning fireworks, moped alarms, singing, and basketball players.
-I should realize that the low height of American ceilings is normal; they will not fall on me.
-I shouldn't gape too much at the grocery store over the huge selection of perfect-looking fruit and meat.
-I must stay inside the lines when I'm driving.
-I'm not a celebrity anymore.

And lastly, I must remember that God's the same everywhere in the world, not matter if I'm in China or America. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I'm His child, and my identity isn't wrapped up in my citizenship or culture. I should continue to live every day in expectation and hope for the amazing ways He's working all around the world!

Hello, America!

Oh, where to start?? I'm living in a bit of a daze-- culture-wise and sleep-wise. Last night was my second night back in the U.S. after 10 months away. I fell asleep at 11:30 p.m., and woke up about every hour. I finally got up at 5:30, just in time to see the sun coming up.

So I guess I shall start at the beginning of my journey home. I ended up taking a grand total of 4 flights and a long car ride to get back to my hometown. First, of all, it was so apparent that people were thinking of me!! There were so many things that could have and probably should have gone wrong as I journeyed home, but everything went extremely well.

On Monday night (American time) I took the long bus ride to the Nanchang airport with Reborn, my best Chinese friend. There we said "farewell," and it was one of the most difficult partings I've ever made in my life. She gave me a sweet, sweet card.

Here are some words she wrote in her card, which makes me misty-eyed:

"The memory of you will in my mind. I can see you anywhere in college, because it seems we hang out anywhere in college it'll have our footmark..."

"You are the only one make me really really really happiness and not hurt my heart. You always encourage me, gave me confident."

"I anything no matter good or bad also when I'm unhappy. You are my bosom friend."

"Thanks [Father] brought you in my life and thank you brought [Father] to my life!"

And now I will dearly miss my "bosom friend" and all of my other friends.

So after reluctantly parting with one of the dearest friends I've ever had, I got on a Shanghai Airlines flight to... Shanghai, of course. I managed to get out of Nanchang before it apparently started flooding the next day. Leaving Nanchang was exhausting for me, so I didn't do a whole lot in Shanghai, which gave me my first dose of culture shock. I just walked around some neighborhoods and stayed overnight in a nice hotel.

The next day I took a taxi to another Shanghai airport and flew to Seoul. I was startled on that flight when a super eager Chinese girl my age sitting next to me started talking to me with an American accent. She said she had lived in America for a year, and now was returning to visit her boyfriend in Chicago. I was a little overwhelmed. She didn't seem Chinese to me. She was tall, very outspoken, politely criticized the Chinese government, and used the word "like" a lot. Then I became her best friend apparently. She insisted that I must visit her in Chicago!! Squeal! Giggle!

In the Seoul airport, the Chinese girl, "Jessie," hung out with me. It turned out that we were on the same flight to Chicago. Our flight left Seoul late, and then apparently battled a lot of head winds, so we arrived late to Chicago, 13 hours after we left.

When we arrived in Chicago, I thought it was basically impossible to be able to make my connecting flight to Kansas City. I had about an hour and a half before my next flight (the last flight to Kansas City that evening) departed, and I had to go through customs, pick up my checked bag, check in with a different airline in a very far away terminal, go through security again, and get to my gate.

I had about given up all hope when it took 45 minutes for my bag to arrive off our crowded flight. There was no possible way I'd make it. So I just took a deep breath, remembered to lift up my thoughts, and not to be anxious. Somehow, somehow, I breezed through everything after I had picked up my bag. It was like a dream.

And speaking of dreams, America is like a dream. On my flight to Kansas City, I was on a tiny plane. You couldn't even stand up straight in the aisle, or you'd hit your head. So as we were bobbing around in the late evening sky, I was amazed at how the Father has indeed shed His grace on this country. The air was crisp and clean; the land was extremely green and open; all the communities were tidy and organized. The sun was sliding well past the horizon at this point. The whole sky and land was the most beautiful color of gold and orange. My eyes were burning from the beauty and sleep deprivation.

So thank you for your many, many thoughts! I would like to continue to write on this blog, especially as I readjust to American culture.