There is no place like home.

I don't know how to blog and not talk about China, so I haven't written in what seems forever; especially on here, at "Into the Wild". It's weird to look back at the time where I wrote here regularly; before China, before my students, before I lived abroad. It's weird to remember how I viewed life then and how differently I view it now, after seeing the other half of the world. It's all just weird.

I've taken my week to adjust to America and being home and not teaching every day. Granted, I still accidentally say 'thank you' in Chinese half the time, I've almost run a few stop signs while trying to remember how to drive and I don't know what time of day I should be sleeping or eating, but all in all, easing in to life in America has been as smooth as I could ever hope it to be. There are times where China seemed like a dream, a little blimp of time that passed all to fast and doesn't seem real. And there are times where the vacant spot in my heart where my kids are supposed to me aches so bad that I have to stop and collect myself. I miss their cute faces and their hugs all the time.

But being home has been fantastic. I love New England in the summer time. I love the way the lightening bugs light up my backyard and the way the cicadas sing to me during the day. I love the way the roads wind around giant trees and follow little brooks and bend around ponds and lakes. I love the way the thunderstorms roll in during the late evening; the way everything smells of fresh dew and incoming heat during the morning. I love my family and serving at camp and spending full days at the beach with Julianna like the good old days of our high school summers.

New England sets my soul on fire. And while half of my heart will always be in Weihai, there truly is no place like home.