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Headed Home From China

Challis Hackley
Apr 4, 2018
2 min read

Going home is it's own adventure in a way. You're not the same person as you were when you left and you're viewing old things with new eyes. I wanted to take this oppurtunity to talk about what I missed from home, what I'll miss from China, and what home means to me.

What I missed from home

This is basically a list of all the things that I'm going to do and eat when I get back to the States.

Take a hot shower whenever I want
Fast Food (Chick-fil-a and Cafe Rio)
Mexican (El Matador)
Burgurs (in-n-out)
Italian (Pizzaria)
Talk to strangers in English
Still say Xie-Xie and sha-mah
Flush my toilet paper down the toilet
Use my debit card to buy something at the store
Eat meat and not worry about bones in my food

What I'll miss from China

Ice Cream
Cheap Food
intersection countdowns
Hong Kong Netflix
Yogurt in a jug
The people
Drink bags
The train system
The metro system
Muslim Noodles

The Definition of "Home" Changes

I think it was the second week that we were here. I was talking with some of the other volunteers here and I said, "you know what's cool though. If we can do this than we can do anything." Living in another country when you don't speak the language and you always stand out is difficult and I feel like after this experience I can do anything that I set my mind to. Anything, and it will all just be a piece of cake.

I've been thinking about "home" too because right now home would be anywhere in the United States but if I was just anywhere in the U.S. then Colorado or Utah would be home. But like, when I was in Shanghai for the weekend, Nanjing became my home. But if it had been a long day in Shanghai, walking around and seeing everything and I was really tired then the Shanghai Hostel felt pretty dang homey. It's just weird that your perspective of "home" changes depending on where you are at. I've though about similar stuff when people ask me where I'm from and I've lived so many places as an Army brat that I always find it hard to answer. I have so many homes because I've left my heart in so many places.