christmas is the one time of year where magnificent charles and i really evaluate our living in asia. actually, it is only i that really do. magchar is convinced this is the best place for him professionally and for the family. given that i don’t drive, where else could we live and survive? not very likely north america indeed.
living in hong kong is an incredible gift for us. and i would like to think we cherish it. today we went for a long walk along the reservoir, and halfway up to the peak, and when the kids weren’t nearly tumbling down the hill or into the water, they were exclaiming over the old cement structures from world war two (santa claus lives here) or the leafy plants and turtles.
but still, it is difficult at times to be so far away. i would like my kids to have a snowy Christmas, surrounded by kin.
and am i idealistic to think they would have a better idea of what it means to be Canadian if they were actually living in Canada? or would they just have a better idea of what Canada looks like? but then, as many people point out to me, my kids see more of canada than a lot of canadians do. they’ve been to the northwest territories, seen several places in ontario, alberta and british columbia. not bad.
but still, the heart wants what the heart wants, and this time of year, i want family.
we called charles’ family the other day as the kids were screaming over the presents that they had received from charles’ sister and i was screaming over the books the kids and i had received from charles’ dad. the girls received dolls (promptly and pragmatically named pink and blue) and i wanted the rellies to hear the excitement and joy. but of course, time zone differences…they were in a rush, but still charles managed to speak with most people and then boom, it was over. and then we couldn’t call back because of the phone lines being down the next few days because of the earthquake. knowing they were all together, we wanted to be there also. but we’ve made our beds, and living away from home, this is part of the price we pay.
but could it be any other way? could we survive in canada?
of course. you suck it up. but what is to say we would even be in toronto if we did move back? if we were based in vancouver we would probably be able to visit toronto even less of the time, given the appaling cost of flying cross country.
this malaise of the heart will go away in a couple of days, it usually does. but for now, i’m wistful.
(and i will say being without internet for five days was certainly an odd experience! WOW).
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4 Replies to “keep or return the gift?”
that’s a tough one. i’ve never lived in a town without family around. and now with kids i can’t imagine not having grandparents around to help out occasionally.
of course, i also think how nice it would be to live in a larger city and get to see other parts of the world and other cultures. my navy brat friend always talks fondly of her many adventures in guam and visiting other parts of asia. i’ve been outside of my country exactly twice (i don’t count a few hours in tijhuana) and enjoyed it. but there’s no realistic way for us to go anywhere with kids.
Can’t say about the Canadian bit.
I do know that I have a secret longing in my own heart to be able to do as Tertia is, and have beach days at Christmas. We had a lovely Christmas here, but it was shortened because of travel due to storms in the Rocky Mountains, and wanting to avoid them. So, we didn’t spend the time we’d wished and we’re only a state away. Go figure.
On the internet – how’d you do it? I nearly passed out when it went out around 10pm here one Thursday evening, and the threat loomed however that it would be out until at least Sunday. Then my brilliant guy figured out what might be wrong, and fixed it before dawn on Friday. Yay!
Delurking to say how well I understand where you’re coming from. We too chose (for different reasons, but nevertheless) to live over 6,000 miles away from family – Israel (us) and the States (them) in our case. And yes, some times of the year are harder than others. For me though, the very toughest times are the week after the grandparents leave. When we’ve all seen how very wonderful it is to be together and can’t help but think about how lovely it would be to have each other around more often, and when my nearly 6 year old son starts saying things like “why can’t we live in America? I’m going to grow up and move right next to Grandma and Grandpa!” I think my heart is going to break wide open. And then, a few days later, we find ourselves dining outside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in December, or laughing together at a gathering of good friends, and somehow it all fades into the background again. For a while…
PS Glad your recent quiet spell was just (just! as if…) a lack of internet, and not the curry.