Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Our Global Journey

Approximately three years ago, Jenny and I packed all of our things (along with our 10-month-old Levi) and got on a plane that would take us across the globe to a place 100% foreign to us. We couldn’t speak a single word of Chinese; we didn’t even have a good idea what it sounded like. We had no idea what the Chinese people as a whole are like. What are their goals? What are their hopes? How can we help them? How can they help us?

Now, Levi is four. He has a two-year-old little brother, and we have a decent understanding of the Chinese people. We can speak Chinese to a great extent. Many Chinese people dream of having their child. They work incredibly hard to be successful among a sea of other Chinese people trying to do the same thing. They are competitive. They hope for fortune, happiness, and peace. We have helped them; they have helped us.

Our last trip to America was our last strong push towards attaining a financial support level which would allow us to maintain our lives in China as well as provide for the health needs of Levi and myself. I found out I have Psoriatic Arthritis; in my case, my doctor needs me to be examined a few times per year. In Levi’s case, the bi- or tri-yearly visits to Beijing get costly.

Upon leaving America, we found that although many people were supportive of us, we still didn’t get to a monthly financial level that would allow us to continue living our lives in Xi’an, China. We found that if we stayed in China, by December we would be broke.

We didn’t want to put ourselves in a position where we’d have no money and we’d rely on debt to bring us through our lives in which we already can’t afford.

With that said, our time in China has come to a close. We are incredibly saddened and we are a little shocked as well. From our perspective, we’ve done all we could do and now it seems as if our lives are supposed to be elsewhere. Though we are sad, we are ready and looking forward to whatever will come next in our lives.

What’s next?
Jenny and I are going to move back to Minnesota. We’ll move back into my mother’s house. They have graciously opened the upstairs apartment to us to use while we get back on our feet. Jenny would like to pursue a career in nursing. During her college days, I’ll be working. When she’s done, we’ll swap, i.e. I’ll go to college for Chinese and Education and she’ll work. When I’m done with schooling, I hope to teach Chinese to middle or high school students. Jenny and our children will be going back to the States with my mother in two days. I will stick around finalizing things and will be back several weeks after that.

It has been a long and difficult yet rewarding time in Xi’an, China. The people were incredible. We couldn’t have done it without the loving support and sacrifices made by our loving friends, family, and neighbors.

Thank you.

Until next time,
Jeremy, Jenny, Levi, & Liam

1 comment:

  1. It is a nice experience, always dificult to separate from a country , i remenber when i go away after 21 years ago from my country borned, it has been difficult a réinsertion in Belgium.
    Best reagard from Belgium, nice blogs

    ReplyDelete

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