Being Aware of Life

Concordia International School Shanghai is hosting their first ever Pink Out/Wellness Week!!!!!  I'm really excited to be a part of the inaugural celebration.  This is APAC sports weekend in Asia.  Our teams are traveling many places for tournaments, and we are hosting the APAC volleyball tournaments here at Concordia.

We are Pinking Out to boost awareness for breast cancer, and all the mountain tops and valleys that go with it.  Our teams have been wearing pink uniforms throughout October.  All teachers and students have an amazing pink shirt to wear for the opening ceremonies tomorrow.  (And since today is Pink Wednesday, I'm pinked for today, tomorrow, and Friday!)

Also for this week, we are doing a "green" Wellness week.  Each member of the Concordia family is choosing a wellness goal & singing a pledge.  We can even write them on our shirts!  I've got a couple to choose from.  Simply put, I may just say, "Don't buy a bike."  That way I can keep walking EVERYWHERE!!!  I know it may annoy some of my friends who like to bike to our locations, but this walking to work, shopping, church, groceries, restaurants, bank, etc., is awesome.

So the shirts are pink - with one sleeve in lime green.  Logo on the front, and a white slash in order to write in our wellness pledge.

And my favorite colors are pink & green.

Some people would simply say that I can't go wrong with this week :)

Thinking of others, being kind, giving of our time & resources, loving one another - it's all good.

#tochinaandback

Iowa Connections

Hey friends -

I have to say how crazy it is to still be making new connections here in China.....with those amazing individuals from Iowa.  And it happened again just earlier at church!

The great state of Iowa has been called many different (and some untrue) things through the years.  But I've found that it's one of the smaller, but greatest, states in the USofA.  What could be wrong with cows, soybeans, corn, pigs, and Hawkeyes?  Okay - none of the sport fans from that one university are actually allowed to answer that!  It exports many needed farm goods all around the globe.  It is an amazing place to raise a family.  It houses great industry.  It makes folks from Idaho jealous when they think we grow lots of potatoes there.  It knows the importance of a well-rounded, arts-filled education for children.  It tricks young geography students when you have learn that the Mississippi River actually runs east to west along one of its borders.

As I ran into church a few minutes late, I was ushered up to the nosebleed section of the balcony.  We only had one combined service this evening - the house was full!!!  I sat down in one of the back rows.  And just for the record, the balcony was rockin' this evening.  Praise God.  A woman rushed in a few seconds after me, sat next to me, and we both joined in worship.  When Pastor Brad asked all the first time visitors to raise their hand so they could get their pen & card to fill out, she raised her hand!  When we did greetings, I introduced myself and she did the same.  A few times during the service, she asked me a question about a person or such.  And through the sermon, worship, prayer, etc., I was growing excited to talk with her after the service.  When the lights came on, I started the conversation.  And God blessed us both tonight - she is new to Shanghai this fall, a teacher, in the same decade of age as myself, single, no family with her in China, and loving worship at AGIF church.  The best part - she is from Pella, Iowa.  Seriously.  She is Dutch.  Like this Hendriks girl.  As I was saying in my last post, I don't believe in coincidence - I believe in God!  How cool.

So my life is now energized by a new sister in Christ.  And if (Heather) reads this, thanks in advance for being a part of my blog subject!  Praise Him who is faithful and just, who forgives, who loves, who gives, who provides, who showers us with blessing and mercy every day of our lives.  And so I look forward to my NEXT Iowa connection...

#tochinaandback

Orion's Belt

I try to be as transparent as life will let me be.  And I've kept no secret when it comes to this epic bout of insomnia (six weeks and running).  Tonight, I purposely had to wake up around 3am to make a business transaction with a place in the USA.  One of the cool things about my experience in Shanghai has been the beautiful skies, crisp weather, and the majestic views.  I've seen more fluffy clouds, blue sky, and green plants than I expected to find in an entire year.  And at night, I see stars.  Yes, even as the high rises clash with the night lights, you can still look up and see stars.

After I made my phone call, I decided to make a quick walk (about a block) over to the Family Mart. This is a convenience store that I see EVERYWHERE in Shanghai.  And I've heard they are all over Asia.  Hoping for a stellar night sky, I hurried downstairs to see what I would find.  And there was no disappointment.  The sky is clear.  The stars are twinkling brightly.  And as I look up above my apartment tower, I see the constellation, Orion.  And as clear as a night in the countryside of Muscatine County, I was staring at Orion's Belt.  

I find joy in little moments such as this.  In my lifetime, I've figured out that I don't believe in coincidence.  For me, God gives all kinds of minor blessings, such as those three stars in the belt, on a moment-by-moment schedule.  I'm thankful for this!  After a long, long, long Friday (and week), what a fun time I had, walking without fear of being hit by bikes/scooters/vehicles on the sidewalks and intersections.  I got to make my beverage and ice cream purchase, then walk home staring up at the brilliance in the sky.  Not sure that I've ever had such a big smile as I looked up at Orion's Belt.

Praise goes to the Almighty, our Creator extraordinaire - our Savior.

#tochinaandback

In Training

Being at Concordia allows us many benefits, which I basically call blessings.  And some of the things I see as a blessing would probably surprise many of you.  I'm just a small town, Iowa girl, living it up in the largest city in the world (around 24 million, give or take a few thousand...).

One of the great parts about being on staff is being able to work with our athletic trainer.  He is in charge of wellness, and it has been a blast talking to him, getting some therapy for my hand & wrist issues, working out in the gym, and just learning.  Today he gave me props for my pain tolerance.  Ha!  For those who don't know, my right hand has been having the same issues that my left hand dealt with in February, 2014.  The burning, numbed, not-able-to-move issues....  When nothing else helped, our trainer offered to do some p.t. on my arm, wrist, and hand.  And I'm happy to report that within the last two weeks, I've gotten some relief!  We have started doing IASTM treatments twice a week.  In China, this is otherwise known as gua sha.

Another blessing - the Keurig machine in my principal's office.  The caffeine keeps me going!

#tochinaandback

Work Stress

One of my favorite parts about my new job is that I hadn't really faced any work stress until last week - the first full week of October.  And I haven't been able to say that in at least 12 years.  One of God's plans for my life was to "healthify" me.  (That word is made up - and totally sounds like it should be straight from the musical, Wicked.)  This includes a lower amount of work stress!  Changing over to middle school helps.  Having no show choir helps.  Walking two blocks to school instead of driving 45 minutes helps.  Only teaching at one school helps.  For this (lack of work stress) alone, I am so thankful.

Would I be fine going back to my former colleagues, students, support staff, custodial and maintenance folks???  Absolutely.  But when you get rid of your entire life and start over - halfway across the world - there is no going back.  No turning back.  No looking back.

#tochinaandback

To China And Back

Who knew that moving to China would be this great?

Welcome to my new blog - a real space to share the real moments of thriving and surviving as an expat in Shanghai.

My first blog cred goes out to Dennis Grice, my new favorite technology integration specialist, self-proclaimed "connecter of dots", at Concordia.  My second blog cred goes out to the fabulous 5th grade ladies in my first header image.  My third blog cred goes out to our Creator.  Wow - I'm really here!

Today, October 12th, starts week eleven here in JinQiao, Pudong, Shanghai, China.  The weather is absolutely stunning.  Walking to school this morning, it was a crisp 52 degrees fahrenheit.  The leaves are falling, the air is brisk, and the sunshine is welcomed.  Our high school music department is preparing for their Friday night concert, this week.  Middle school sport teams are preparing for their first competitions of the season.  And we are getting ready to audition for our middle school musical!

Thanks for all your love and support.

#tochinaandback