The out-of-control box

It’s been a tough few weeks and I haven’t really been in the right head space to share. I think each adventure has a rocky patch and I think I’ve been in the rocky patch. I’ve had flu for 3 weeks, got a beautiful pet rabbit, which died and that completely broke my heart. Then on Monday I had a root canal. If I think about it now it’s actually quite funny (the tooth) because up until the dentist showed me the removed nerve I had thought I was getting a filling. Can you imagine? I had a translator but she didn’t really understand what was happening either… 
I had gone to a dentist shortly after arriving in China…also for what I thought was a filling. Instead I got a crown, with no local numbing agents at all, and this woman kept drilling away at the other (healthy) teeth to make the oversized crown fit. It was pretty frightening. Then surprize, surprize the tooth she was drilling away at is now having issues. I’m at a different dentist I trust more now.

This has been such a scary journey of steadily losing control because of not speaking the language. For somebody with control issues it’s deeply unnerving. I think that will possibly be my big lesson here… Letting go a bit.  It would appear I am not taking China so much as it is fighting to take me…

Aside from these few hiccups though it is actually going well. I’m not extremely happy , but am having a major adventure. Learning who and what I really am and believe and that is actually quite worth the effort! I’ve learned just how passionate and sensitive I am about animals. How deeply I love South Africa and how much I adore my family and good friends. And this is only after 4 months! I’ve made a few good friends over here and even found a church, which has an English service. So I think I can safely say I’m settled in.

Christmas is around the corner and it is so weird to be in a country where it isn’t a big deal. It’s just a normal day here really. Most of the Chinese people will go to work as per usual on Christmas day. Luckily we are an internationally affiliated company…so we will be bringing a bit of Christmas into our school.

I found SA wine and Ceres juice in a shop the other day. I got all emotional. *giggles* Go SA!
Ooooh and I tried my first Dr Pepper ever…it’s so yum!!!

The Story Lyrics

So in love with this song right now!!!

“The Story”
by Brandi Carlile

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you
I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do
I was made for you
You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess
No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what
I’ve been through like you do
And I was made for you…
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you
I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do
I was made for you
You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess
No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what
I’ve been through like you do
And I was made for you…
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you