I’m just kidding.

My cousin took a sick day off’ve work today, so just hung out with him during the day and went grocery shopping/looked for an excuse to stalk my sister and check what she was doing…sort of. No, that’s not we were doing Liz, if you’re reading this.

As the day of love envelops this fine tuesday, have just been pondering what kind of person I am to the loved ones God’s provided me with. What kind of sister, daughter, cousin, friend, influence, influenced, am I.

If there’s been a central lesson God’s been teaching me this past month, it would be respect. Respect and reverence for God. Respect and love for myself.  Both of which overflow into all the other relationships and take a toll on the decisions that count.

I did, however, have a cold shower on a six degree night; get food poisoning; throw up in the middle of maccas; lose all remaining dignity; courteously refuse but ‘reluctantly’ and gratefully receive a buttload of money from relatives; get lost for about 3 hours in the streets of Shanghai; enjoy lovingly picking on a specific cousin, a lot; get loved on continuously by family; shop like there was no tomorrow.

My aunt bought a birthday cake for my mum (above). My mum’s actually 49, but in China she’s 50 because, correct me if I’m wrong, chinese count the moment you’re born as age 1. And also, everyone ages with the chinese new year. Not on your birth date. So in china, I’m a 20 year old as opposed to a turning 19 year old this year.

China really is another world. It’s such a vast culture contrast to what I’m used to, being brought up in a western country. I travelled to China (mainly Shanghai) with my mum and sister. First thing we did was be tourists and go on a one week tour around Shanghai and surrounding cities, where we’d stayed in a 5 star hotel each night. Then after that first week, we’d returned to Shanghai to be with family and began experiencing the real China. And by real China I mean: began living at my Auntie’s apartment (my mum’s sister), sleeping in my cousin’s bed and waking up to the hum of constant honking.

I did miss the 5 star hotels, not gonna lie. One of which was the ‘Holiday Inn’, which when our tour bus pulled into, my jaw dropped and a “NO WAY” escaped my lips to which my sister counteracted with a “Nancy, please don’t.”

WE AT THE HOTEL MOTEL HOLIDAY INN WE AT THE HOTEL MOTEL HOLIDAY INN -fistpump-

(Pitbull’s ridiculous song if you didn’t know the reference)

The tour wasn’t as bad as I’d anticipated. If anything, it was quite an experience. Initially, I was so apprehensive and constantly questioned why my mum would make us be tourists in her own homeland. But I actually had a good time, met heaps of new people and somewhat brushed up on my mandarin. Most of the families on the tour were from Australia or America so most of them spoke english and mandarin. Even met a family who lived in Brisbane, in pretty much the next suburb to us. Talk about small world.

Some qualities of the Shanghainese I enjoyed.

Honking. Constantly. Unnecessarily. To the point where the general population are unphased by it. No-one turns to see what the cause of the noise disruption is.

Spitting. Absolutely normal and socially acceptable. Everyone does it. Generally guys, but sometimes you get the special kind of lady who feels the need to publicly dispose of her oral waste.

Smoking in Restaurants. Still legal. Also, a contributing factor to my hurling in the middle of maccas stunt. 90% of my male relatives smoke, so imagine what that’s like at family dinners.

Ah Bu, Ah Gong. Grandma, Grandpa. NB: Some photos are taken with iPad photobooth. My relatives are not normally abnormally disfigured.

Jiu Gong Gong, Jiu Nai Nai. Mum’s Uncle & Aunt. Pretty much my second set of grandparents, really.

Okay, but seriously. Some things I did really enjoy during this year’s China trip.

The many family meals with all the extended family.

Being cared for and looked after profusely by both grandparents during the few days I was sick. I felt the love, for sure.

Late nights with my uncle, playing his card game or watching a chinese dating show, picking which girls were in it for the money. haha.

Shopping. Mainly bought books and clothing of all sorts. Best buy: 2 of my fav books for 25 RMB, which is less than 5 AUD! Insane!

The uncle. Good times.

Immediate cousins.

China Maccas Run. *Not the time when I’d hurled, this one was a nice trip with the cousins*

We also visited our family in Nanjing when we were down there during the tour. First thing I thought, “finally some more girl cousins!” haha. Seriously though, 70% of our cousins are guys. Second thing I thought was, wow my jiu jiu and jiu ma are ridiculously good looking! Like, wow. My jiu jiu is the one on the very bottom right, but that photo does him no justice whatsoever. My mum was even like, “when did you become so handsome!?” haha!

Nanjing Cousins.

Nanjing Family.

Didn’t get photos of a lot my family :{ Most photos are just the ones my sister or cousins took.

It’s quite comforting knowing there’s family across the world who love and think of you. I do plan to go back a little more often, especially while I’m still a university student with more holidays. Would like to look after my family in the future. Also can’t wait to visit Taiwan and my dad’s side of the family soon. It’s so nice having second homes in foreign countries with loving family. Thank you Jesus!

Magazines are so cheap aswell, I really couldn’t make a proper objective decision as to whether I should buy one or not. And hence, now own a chinese copy of my favourite magazine, despite my minimal ability to read chinese.

And so, here’s a general, general comparative analysis of a Chinese Marie Claire and an Australian Marie Claire. Both January 2012 Editions.

Note- The Australian MC cover isn’t usually that clean, it’s just some special collector’s edition cover because I subscribed to it.

AU: “Celebrating Style and Substance”, 9.95 AUD

CN: “Think Smart, Look Amazing”, 20 RMB (roughly $3.30 AUD)

Cover Stories-

The cover girl for the Chinese MC is 徐熙娣 (Dee Hsu), a Taiwanese actress, singer, tv presenter. She’s got the same last name as me! Think we were separated at birth?

ps. china trip post soon. ish.

Am I a machine without feelings? Do you think that because I am poor, obscure, plain and little that I am soulless and heartless? I have as much soul as you and full as much heart! And if God had blessed me with beauty and wealth, I could make it as hard for you to leave me as it is for I to leave you.

Jane Eyre

Job 36, 37 (ESV)

“Remember to extol his work,
of which men have sung.
²⁵All mankind has looked on it;
man beholds it from afar.
²⁶Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
the number of his years is unsearchable.
²⁷For he draws up the drops of water;
they distill his mist in rain,
²⁸which the skies pour down
and drop on mankind abundantly.
²⁹Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?
³⁰Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
and covers the roots of the sea.
³¹For by these he judges peoples;
he gives food in abundance.
³²He covers his hands with the lightning
and commands it to strike the mark.
³³Its crashing declares his presence;
the cattle also declare that he rises.

¹“At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.
²Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
³Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
⁴After it his voice roars;
he thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
⁵God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
⁶For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
⁷He seals up the hand of every man,
that all men whom he made may know it.
⁸Then the beasts go into their lairs,
and remain in their dens.
⁹From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds.
¹⁰By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.
¹¹He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
¹²They turn around and around by his guidance,
to accomplish all that he commands them
on the face of the habitable world.
¹³Whether for correction or for his land
or for love, he causes it to happen.