A Good East Asia Day

So now that I'm back in East Asia, it's actually been a rough adjustment period.  Cultural differences, speaking the language, and being around the East Asia people has brought up some anxiety and frustration in my heart and led me to feeling depleted of energy to do normal daily life things.  I'm not sure why this time around adjusting to the culture has been so difficult but it has left me feeling frustrated and sad. I just want to love this place and these people well!

Sometimes when we're having hard days here because of the language, the cultural differences or whatever, we will say "I'm having a bad East Asia day".  And every expat here knows what that means.

Yesterday though, I had a good East Asia day.  An amazing one maybe.  Let me tell you why.

Finding cabs in this country is a fight.  With millions of people and not enough taxis, hailing one down is definitely a chore. Yesterday me and my friend were standing in the rain trying to find one and let's just say rain does not make it any easier to find a cab.  Well we flagged one down across the street,  the driver saw us and stopped.  But as we were crossing the street, another guy walked toward the cab and started to get in.  I thought "NOOOOO!" And in that instant, he saw us and motioned for us to take the cab instead.  So he voluntarily offered to stand in the rain while we went on our way.  I was amazed.  And I even asked my expat friend, "have you seen that happen before?" He said no.  Me either.

Our cab driver was so kind.  When we got out he told us to be careful crossing the street and to make sure we had everything with us.  I love that he was looking out for us.

Later in the day, I was out but needing to head to the apartment to pick up my stuff and then head to the airport to catch a flight.  This was happening during what's known as changeover time.  Many of the cab drivers end their shifts and are heading home making it IMPOSSIBLE to find a cab.  So we naturally couldn't find one and the man who was taking us to the airport was waiting at our apartment to take us.  We called him and told him the situation and he said he would just come get us, take us back to the apartment to get our things and then take us to the airport.  Well on his way, we ended up finding a cab so we hopped in and told our other driver to turn around and meet us at the apartment. I was apologizing profusely because I felt so bad.  After we got to the airport, he not only refused to take any extra money for his trouble, he gave us a cheaper price than he told me originally.  Telling me it was no trouble so I should keep my money.  I wanted to cry but instead told him how great of a driver he was and that I would indeed be calling him again.

I want to hold on to these sweet acts of kindness when I'm feeling frustrated with things here.  And I want to be thankful when the Father blesses me in ways I don't expect through people I don't even know.  Feeling so thankful today.