The 584th Time, China is Calling Us.

The thought of moving to China hits Kason and me pretty frequently, every time with different reasons and varies levels of power. The hesitation comes when we receive this idea separately, but hardly anytime we consider this option rationally and spiritually together as a family.

In my mind I miss EVERYTHING in China/Asian crazy. I literally mean everything, dear families, delicious food, fast-speed life style, opportunities, risks and growth, even including air pollution,  busy crowd and food poisoning. But, surprisingly, Kason is the one who always wants to move out of Utah and move to China and seek for valuable growth, for career, family and spirituality.

Most of times, I don't dare to think far and create fantasy illusion. I try to enjoy the most out of the peaceful life in Utah. And, I definitely love the families and close friends who love to hang out with us. I blueprint the future where Kason and I will grow a big family here and raise our children the comparatively relaxing, happy way. On the other hand, thinking of moving to Asia, noises are there telling us that is not a good idea - "be cautious, for your own good."Again, the the boiling feeling hits me again - China is calling.

Back in April when I visited my families and some good friends in China, I also got a full-time job offer from a great company that I always want to work for. I said "no" to it with no second thought.


Later, I visited an American family in Shenzhen, Karin's sister. On Sunday, I visited the expat. ward in Shenzhen - in a not-so-big villa where the foreign LDS members meet. I still remember the piercing feelings I had when everyone sings the opening hymn Called to Serve.  The empty looking villa suddenly was transformed to a holly chapel and I saw the spirit coming. Listening and singing, my heart was instantly melted and inspired by this particular "chosen" group. However, I knew at that moment, the time was not right for me and things will probably not work out. And, I knew that God will take care of my good desire in his way, if I follow his will.

Coming back to the States, Kason mentioned this a couple of times too. I was glad and also worried about how things will work out. Leave his good job/company? Where to? What about cost of living? What if we start to have children? How are we supposed to save money and not have financial burdens?

The thoughts always come back at us, with unsure answers. We try our best to follow the spirit, act on it based on our own understanding and develope our potentials as His children. Chances are, we still have times standing in confusion, wondering if we actually did something absolutely right.


I still know that Heavenly father is there directing us. Thus, if we can be sensitive to the spirit prompting, we will know. If not, we will make decisions and let the experiences come.

 Picture of my mom standing by the wax version of Kason's current fav. Asian actor.

My darling-looking mom and I on Peak of HK. HK is definitely not my cup of tea. But I bet Kason would love to visit there, just for the record, haha :p. Mayyyyybe, he will like there. But, I guess not.

  

Blended China is my fav. theme park in Shenzhen. I love the ethical groups there. I must take Kason there sometimes, he'd really enjoy there, different architectures, clothing and beauties. Shenzhen was such a kind and approachable city with warm weather. Kason would love that!

 Kason is still a genuinely nice man, such a fun husband! That day, when we had hotpot together. He asked me: "honey, does eating hotpot make you homesick?" I said: "no! It makes me happy... Why?" He was chewing on the meatball after dipping it in hot souce, and said: "It makes me miss those days visiting your family in China." Awww...

Especially recently, I feel even closer when we're going through hard things together.  I never knew I would be this blessed to have him as my husband because he is so perfect to me.

 Some nights, we love to watch some shows together on the couch.  Guess what we watch?

Ta-da! We occasionaly watch this show on projector. Palace, the Chinese show on Hulu. Oh yeah~

In terms of making ugly faces, I never let him win the competition.

 

On the Other Side of the Phone

I stayed home all day today to compensate for my upcoming working Saturday :) SWEET!

By the end of the day, my credit card was charged $539. The mysterious charge was from a hotel that I never heard of.

So, I called the credit card company. Well, actually my mom called the company since it's a Chinese card. And, report the strange charge. The end, my card got frozen and was claimed lost. Go, credit card company! Fight my money back ;)

Well, the juicy part is when I searched for the hotel and called them to report this charge on my card. The reception guy spent 10 mins trying to get my name right. It's so funny sometimes that people on the phone cannot get my Chinese name right. First of all, this guy kept spelling my name wrong. And then, they keep calling me Ms. Yin and then swtich to Ms. Mo...then Mo Yin, Yin Mo... 15 mins later......"That was a painful phone call for that guy." Kason smirked. We both laughed hard.


Working on the phone all the time now, I actually understand how that guy may feel. I have great sympathy towards him, so I wasn't frustrated at all. Instead, I felt very related ;)

Last week, a Spanish speaking lady yelled at me on the phone for about 1 minute (I am glad that she didn't swear at me) because I didn't find the Maria whom she was talking about. FYI, she had at least 5 Maria with very similar but different last names under her account. Looking back, I handled that situation pretty well. In the end, she apologized to me: "I am so sorry that I was so mean to you earlier. I bet all those Spanish names could be very confusing......" I did appreciate her apology and felt glad.


Working on the phone is not technically difficult, but indeed challenging. I'm so glad that I am put on the spot to practice my temper and patience.


People calls for help, in which, most of times, they are very frustrated. Guess what? It is so easy to be that person who is kind in person but difficult on the phone. Maybe it is human nature, not seeing the person's face makes it a lot easier to be mean or attacking the other side without even having a second thought. I am hoping that I can serve people on my job with all my best. Eventually, I hope that I can just be simply a nice person with charity in my mind, to everyone who is either great or ordinary like me. I noticed that I did start to appreciate people's services more than ever......I take a bus home after work almost everyday. Sometimes, some bus drivers are super nice and considerate. When they smiled at me, I instantly knew that they had great attitude on the job. However, it's just as obvious when one person is absolutely hating the job and just trying to do the service in order to check off the to-do lists.


Anyway, my job has been interesting. I thought I'd be doing the same thing over and over again. Surprisingly, every morning when I go to work, I still have this "butterfly" - or anxiety - in my stomach. Because, every call, I have a completely different person on the other side. There are different voices, emotions, manners, and stories. I often wonder what is going on in that person's life, behind that voice on the phone. Also, I question myself how I can make their day a little bit better. So far so good.