Boom!!!!! 1 Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A year ago today my Mom, Dad, Joanna, Crystal and Reilly dropped me off at the Portland airport to start my journey to Beijing.

It's amazing what a year can do...

I was thinking how crazy my first walk around the He Ping Le hotel was like. The smells were overwhelming, Mandarin sounded like one big yell, and I was just trying to not cry all the time. I was hungry and truly just exhausted from all of the good-byes and the mad rush of only really four days to move out of my apartment and pack!

There were so many moments where I wanted to get back on an airplane and turn back, but I am sure glad I didn't!

I had lots and lots of hopes going into this new adventure and many of them came true!

I am living in one of the most International cities in the world on a whole different continent.

I kept just one job for an entire year

I made lots of new friends and was enveloped by an amazing community.

I've had the opportunity to visit some of China's most treasured landmarks.

I was thinking today about how amazingly normal my day felt. I taught three great classes. I had a fun lunch with my friends. I went to the gym and picked up some groceries. I would have never imagined life feeling "normal" here in China a year ago!

I did do one thing that I have been scared to do previously tonight, though. There's an individual hot pot restaurant near my grocery store that I have always wanted to try, but was too nervous to because everything was in Chinese. I went in, picked out the tofu and vegetables that I wanted, actually understood how much it cost and could even ask where the chopsticks were! It was delicious! It was one of those small victories.

I think I lived a lot this year trying to go from one small victory to the next. I think that was maybe one of the many lessons I needed to learn while being here. I've learned to appreciate the small things much more and maybe have become a bit more patient and less anxious. Everything when I arrived was a small victory. I was reading a few of my first sets of blogs earlier this week when my friend Ryan suggested that I take a look back at the earlier me in Beijing. A year ago, those small victories were pretty huge,,,figuring out the subway... paying for electricity at the bank... learning how to cook for myself in a new country... crossing the street... Those are just a few examples...

Those small victories led me to live in the present a bit more. My year can really be defined by the quiet moments. The moments were I felt accomplished or just scared. The moments that I decided to be brave and try new things. The moments where I decided to let go of trying to control how a situation would go in my mind and just watched it play out. The moments where I shared a piece of myself or my past to help build new friendships. The moments when I appreciated a student as just one individual child. The moments where the only way I could respond was with a smile and I received one back in return. Beijing gave me enough noise to create the soundtrack of my past year so I could concentrate on those quieter moments, whether shared or by myself.

Of course, those big things, the "booms" and the facebook status worthy moments, and the post card sending tourist spots were all wonderful and amazing and exciting, but I think I did most of my Beijing education came from those quiet moments.

I only have about three more weeks left in this city. I hope it will be filled with moments of grandeur and lots of shared quiet moments.

Thank you for letting me reflect on all of these types of moments, my blog readers. Some of my best quiet moments have been writing in my little studio apartment and smiling thinking about who might be reading this in the future (or you know, really the past because most of my readers are from the states).

I really am a lucky girl!

Boom!