Ryan and I have been back in the states for almost 2 weeks now and have been enjoying every minute of it. There were many things we were looking forward to coming back to and some things that surprised us we were missing that we didn't even realize! Here's a recap of the top 5 things that made our trip back enjoyable:
1) Being able to drive- I didn't realize how much I missed being able to hop in the car and quickly run an errand. To do something similar in Hong Kong may take an hour up to a full afternoon! Sadly though, we weren't driving around the beloved red Jeep as it was sold right before we left so another family could give it more attention than we would. Ryan already knows exactly what Jeep he will buy when we return!
2) The food- now this is more me than Ryan as I am not quite used to the food yet in Hong Kong. I had my list of places I needed to stop at and it's almost done. Some highlights were:
-Taco Bell (guilty pleasure!)
-Panera
-Olive Garden
-Noodles and Company for Mac and cheese
-Culvers for cheese curds
-Soblemans for a burger and bloody mary
-Chipotle
-The Shanti for a Gunderburger (Ryan's one request and yes, he finished it all!)
3) Not feeling like a foreigner- now don't get me wrong, I enjoy living in Hong Kong very much but some times it is nice to just go out, now exactly where you're going, know how to order at restaurants, be able to speak the language and all the other customs that go with any country. It's a comfort that those who have traveled to other countries understand and look forward to when returning home. It's something I have found can be learned in other countries but it is never truly the same as going back to your home country. A great quote I saw that helps me get through frustrating times of not knowing what I'm doing in Hong Kong is "Another country's culture is not a failed attempt at yours."
4) Our hobbies- Now, you may ask, "But you can't do your hobbies in Hong Kong?" which is not necessarily true. We just can't do all of them or to the same degree. Take me for instance. I love to shop and browse around stores or malls when I am bored. In Hong Kong, the shopping is either very cheap in markets or very expensive in malls. My rule is that the store has a line to get in or security guard, I probably can't afford anything in it. My first stop back home was Target, and I have returned several times since! I miss affordable shopping for things in my type of style, all under the same roof. For Ryan, his hobby he was able to enjoy back home was target shooting. Since guns are illegal in China, we spent some time trying to hit the bullseye.
5) Being with family and friends- I can just hear my mom saying, "Awww." The main purpose of our trip of course was to come back and spend time with everyone for the holidays. Fortunately for us, it worked out perfect to spend time in Milwaukee to see all of our friends here and then travel home to Iowa to see family. We had an amazing time with everyone and are very blessed that we had this opportunity so soon into our move overseas to come back. We know there were many people we would have loved to see that we weren't able to but we we thankful for those that we were able to spend some time with. The holidays can easily turn into a stressful time trying to cram as much family time in as possible and as our first married Christmas, we knew there would be even more family time to be had. Luckily this was not the case and we were able to have as relaxing of Christmas as possible as we steadily made it around to each family.
We head back to Hong Kong tomorrow to spend New Year's Eve there before Ryan has to return to work. We enjoyed every minute of our time in the states and look forward to our next trip back. Thank you again to everyone who made it such a memorable time for us!
