Well, here we are. New leadership, new teams, new ministry, and most shockingly of all, a new continent.
Onto Europe, no more Asia. This has by far been the hardest change for me on the Race so far.
Here’s why:
Goodbye Asian hospitality. Culture here is all about honor and respect, so people have been overwhelming kind in each country. For example, a woman I talked to on the train for 3 minutes invited me over to her house for a home cooked meal in India and the teacher I’d just met that afternoon in Thailand took our team out for coffee and paid for it all. The people here have taught me what it means to give generously and to love others through warm hospitality.
the schools we taught in would welcome us with snacks
Goodbye ministry hosts. Thank you for adopting us in as sons and daughters. Thank you for surprising us with going away dinners, doing our laundry, driving us all over to see your country, and laughing at our cultural differences.
Goodbye Asian beauty. From viewing the Himalayas for most of February, to laying on the beaches of Vietnam in April, and exploring caves in Thailand, Asia has overwhelmed Environmental Scientist me with its untouched beauty.
Goodbye monsoon rainstorms. Whenever I was missing Oregon, you rained at just the right time. I’ll miss the sound of the downpour on tin roofs.
Goodbye chai tea. I’ve missed you since month one.
Goodbye tuk tuks and motorbikes and organized chaos.
Goodbye cheap healthcare and even cheaper medicine. While in Nepal, I went to buy antibiotics from the corner drugstore. They charged me the equivalent of $3.50, but I only had $2.60 on me, so they accepted that instead.
Goodbye early morning beach walks. The people of Asia love to wake up super early (think 4 or 5 am) to work out. I loved walking along the beach and watching older people doing Zumba or burying themselves in the sand.
Goodbye monkeys and bats and giant cockroaches and holy cows.
Goodbye temples. They’re our version of Starbucks – one on every corner.
Goodbye Asian culture. I’ll miss taking my shoes off every time I enter a building, bowing when I say thank you, and using the phrase “same same but different” to describe almost everything
Goodbye ancestors. I’ve spent the last 5 months being asked *on the daily* if I’m Chinese or Korean or Japanese. Literally every day. It’s my eyes, so they say.
Some things we won’t miss:
The smell of burning trash
Throwing trash into the streets because there isn’t a good system for waste disposal
Cambodian humidity
The losing gamble of whether you’d find toilet paper in the bathroom or not
Sewer rivers
Garbage waterfalls
“One more selfie”
Sweetened condensed milk in my coffee
Taking a shower next to the toilet with no shower curtain #flood
People peeing in public constantly (I’m looking at you, India..)
Transportation used:
Overstuffed auto rides
Asian night buses, neon lights and all.
A van that breaks down more often than it runs
Pedal bikes during rush hour in one of Vietnam’s biggest cities
Motorbikes during a monsoon
Public trains, buses, vans where the rule of thumb is that you can always fit one more
Tuk tuks, rickshaws, autos
Food that I may or may not miss:
Indian potato and egg curry (miss)
Nepali momos (definitely don’t miss)
Vietnamese savory egg cakes (miss)
Chocolate or cheese stuffed fish-shaped pancakes (miss)
Indian spicy pickle (miss)
Fresh avocado ice cream (miss)
Cambodian Fried Tarantulas/snakes/beetles (don’t miss)
Baby bananas (miss)
Bones in meat (don’t miss)
Rice for every meal (miss)
Fish for breakfast (don’t miss)
Shout out to all the treasurers and the currencies we had to deal with every month:
The Indian Rupee (65/$1)
The Nepali Rupee (103/$1)
The Vietnamese Dong (22,600/$1)
The Cambodian Riel (4,000/$1)
The Thai Baht (34/$1)
Asia, it’s been an absolute dream living within your borders for five months. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be back for many more.
