living in east asia is...

people often ask me what my life over here in this corner of the world is like. i give a jumbled number of answers depending on the day, but lately i've kept record of a few snapshots that seem to characterize it well. sooo living in east asia is:

• a "10 minute taxi ride across town" taking 2 hours.
• having to go to multiple branches of the same phone store to get service...and it totaling 6 hours.
• being a child with my language ability everyday.
• men hanging out of your window on a string to fix the A/C.
• knowing God more because dependence is mandatory as all comforts and distractions are stripped away.
• asking for roast duck and then being told you just ordered a male prostitute because you missed the tones...
• waking up @ 4 AM for auburn football games...with your 15 new best friends.
• enduring a "physical exam" consisting of blood samples, urine tests, EKG, ultrasound, x-rays, eye exam, and a check-up...all for only $70.
• taking 2 non-negotiable hours of tai chi each week.
• grasping more of this "joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory" because it's a place that is so hungry for it.
• waking up to 8-20 texts each day because "america is awake".
• knowing how to bargain for prices on everything from a slab of meat to your cell phone bill.
• 1 sunny day in the entire month.
• riding in the 4x4 foot elevator box with two asian men chiefing cigs on either side of you. (fire hazard?!)
• navigating cafeteria lines for lunch everyday and trying to decipher what the food might be.
• seeing LIFE come to a place of utter darkness.
• FaceTime dates for dayzzz with my family and friends.
• paying your gas bill with the help of a random asian driver because the shower surprisingly turns to ice halfway through.
• buying vegetables with blood spattering from the butcher chopping a black chicken on the next table over.
• playing "frogger" every time i cross the road.
• glimpsing JESUS more each day as i live as an "elect exile".