One year after leaving China. Six years after leaving The Midwest {and coming back again} we can spin the garage sale globe in the living room, or log into our Skype account and see places and faces of people we know and love all over the world.
Our last 18 months have been a rocky business of uncertainty and transition. Readers here probably tire of hearing of it ... but through it all there have been friendships. Some friendships for the moments, but some are proving friendships for a lifetime. And it's not just Mr Johnson and I with these connections. The girlies too have emails rolling in and out on a regular basis to places in other time zones and on the other side of the international date line.
This week I am again mindful of just how many sweet souls we have relationships with around the globe: my friend in Australia, who tells in her witty six page Christmas rant of geckos in her dishwasher and a possible python in her ceiling; my friend in Michigan who will in the coming year, re-live her expat gig in China for two months -- this time as a homeschooling mum; my Korean friend I recently connected with on FB (she is still in QD and finally procured a VPN, and I although I oft have a love-hate relationship with the FaceBook, I love that it offers me connections like this one, and has recently added, thanks to the services of BING, the ability to offer on the page translation ... most of which are far from accurate ... but offer me a window into my friend's Korean life too!)
And it's not just international friendships.
There are friends we have found with great staying power in this part of the world too. Friends who have been patient with us on this journey, and thoughtful along this year of transition.
This time of year as the mailbox in front of The Bungalow (the vintage spray painted one that sits on precarious/jaunty angle) fills with glossy Christmas photos and sometimes even newsy notes from more local friends, we are again overwhelmed with the blessings of friendships. We are rich this season in friends. And for that we are extremely thankful.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!
Chorus.-For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
1 comment:
I hear you. This business of repatriating is NOT for sillies. After a two year expat assignment, I left a piece of my heart in Hong Kong. We are "home from home". And it is bittersweet. Glad to know there are others out there who "get it".
Merry Christmas!
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