Have you ever taken a trip that totally changed your life? Twenty-eight years ago I boarded an airplane and took a trip that has totally changed my life. I don’t mean because it was the only time that I ever few First Class across the Pacific Ocean though that was a wonderful experience and the only time I did that. That trip 28 years ago changed my life.

On April 15, 1991, I flew Northwest Airlines to Taipei. That began my back and forth living until 2009 when we left Hong Kong. In all, I lived in Asia 11.5 years in three different countries — Taiwan, Thailand, and Hong Kong. My first years were spent there working a corporate job. The last 5 years were in missions.

In celebration of that trip, I present 28 ways Asia has impacted my life.

There are words that have been added to my vocabulary. A word that just explains so much is mafan meaning it is troublesome, inconvenient. Somehow it just doesn’t have the same meaning in English. Thankfully my husband understands when I say that was just mafan. It is easy to just say “méi wèn tí” when it is no problem.

Rice is often a staple with our meals. I often use the finger method to determine how much water to add.

I know that the mangos in the supermarket just don’t quite taste as good as the ones you get in Asia. It was in Asia where I learned to enjoy so many new fruits.

I guard my ceramic knives with a special place in the cabinet. It was in Asia that I was introduced to ceramic knives. If you have never used one, trust me they are the best to chop tomatoes and stay sharp for years. I have the original one that I purchased in the late 1990s and I still use it. Since then I have purchased a few more.

I celebrate Chinese New Year and know that fortune cookies are not found in Asia.

I have so many people that I have met while living in Asia. People from Asia but from so many places around the world. Living in an international community exposes you to numerous cultures. I won’t even try to list all the people because I would forget so many. If you were one of them, leave me a commet with a memory of our time in Asia.

I have dishes that we use almost every day from Asia. My rice bowls are from the market in Hong Kong and my blue and white dishes from the weekend market in Bangkok.

I miss and crave food I never heard of until I moved to Asia. Red bean dumplings and hot and sour soup are some of the things I miss. I miss finding a small dumpling stand and enjoy dumplings for a quick lunch.

I still have fabric and ribbon from the Fabric Market in Taipei and the garment district in Hong Kong. Yes, I am still finishing using the fabric I have.

It was in Hong Kong that we were introduced to Indian food. Shalimar has been our standard for Indian restaurants since then.

For me, it was in Thailand where I first drove on the left side of the road. It was there that I began to confuse the turn signals and the windshield wipers. Thankfully I don’t confuse those now. I do confuse turning left and right when giving directions.

I was such a country girl when I moved to Asia. I literally left the farm and moved to Aisa. Okay, it was an apartment that I rented on the farm. It was in Asia that I first rode in a taxi and on public buses. Now I continue to that.

It was in Thailand where I rode an elephant. That is always great for when you are looking for something unique about yourself.

I learned how to make quite a number of things from scratch. Have you ever made vanilla wafers so you could make banana pudding? I did. I made Italian Seasoning mix from scratch. It is much easier to stick a few packs of that in your suitcase.

I mastered chopsticks. Seriously, our game to play while waiting for a dinner to begin was to see how many peanuts you could pick up at one time with your chopsticks.

I learned all kinds of things that you could do at 7-11. You can buy a snack, get a drink, buy a tea egg and pay your bills. All at the corner 7-11 or you could try the one across the street. It was nothing to stand in front on one 7-11 and look at another one down the street.

It was in Hong Kong that I found the Jade Market that has more than just Jade and it was there that I found Sandra, my pearl lady.

I experienced earthquakes. Yes, that word is plural. The 921 Earthquake at 7.3 was the worst during my time in Asia.

I experienced typhoons. Typhoon days were like snow days. A day to stay home. The worst typhoon was the 10 in Hong Kong when I was there for meetings. It was so bad the train to China was canceled. We stayed in the hotel and worked there that day. That was just a few days before I returned to Taipei and experienced the 921 Earthquake. It was a week of natural disasters. I survived with some stories to tell and some photos like the photo of no cars on Nathan Road.

It was in Taipei that I first went to Costco and had got a membership. Since then I have had membership in three countries.

I learned that McDonald’s really does taste the same around the world. Okay, there are some different things on the menu but there is always a hamburger and fries.

I learned that not all chocolate is good. The Hershey’s bar that I bought in Beijing thinking it was mint was not mint but green tea.

I discovered that little words can make a difference. The pilot told us to fasten our seatbelts as the plane was experiencing trouble. After a few minutes, I realized a better word to describe what was happened was turbulence. Little words can make a difference.

It was in Asia that I learned that even in the city there is beauty. I remember wandering and suddenly finding a park with flowers. I remember finding orange trees in Hong Kong. Okay, I will add that in Hong Kong we lived in a rural area. There truly is beauty all around.

Living in cities with millions of people, I did see the need for the gospel. In Taipei, there are temples all around the city and idol shelves in many stores. The need for the gospel left me with the question of, “what can I do to share the gospel?”

It was in Taipei where I began leading a Bible study which has given me the desire to dig in and write Bible studies. I remember in the late 1990s I did a study on Ephesians. Later when we were married we had a women’s Bible that met in our home. Along with a few others, we wrote a study on Ruth and Philippians.

It was in Asia that I met my husband. Where else does a girl from Pennsylvania meet a guy from Texas/Seattle? In Asia, of course. That is where we met and spent the first years of our marriage there.

It was in Asia where our daughter was born and all the paperwork was completed for our son’s adoption.

 

I am thankful for the years in Asia, the many lessons I learned, the people I met, and things that I learned about God. I am thankful that I made the trip overseas 28 years ago.

Have you ever taken a trip that changed your life, tell me about it in the comments.

 

If you want to read more about my Journey to Asia, you can read about it.

My Journey to Asia Part 1

My Journey to Asia Part 2

My Journey to Asia Part 3

My Journey to Asia Part 4