Maryland Countryside

The countryside of Maryland.....

Farm Equipment Auction in Howard County Maryland

This is a video from a farm equipment auction in Howard County Maryland. We stopped and visited my sister and her family in Maryland on a beautiful farm. The auction was happening across the street. Talk about a cultural experience! I think this particular sale was for a small tractor.

To our readers outside the U.S., do they currently have auctions in other countries? I would be curious to know.

I will follow up with more pictures from beautiful Maryland!

A few tips and ideas about how to travel in the United States

Wildlife Prairie State Park Hanna City, Illinois Coyote

Dairy Cow

Curious Donkey

Donkeys

Elk

Buffalo

Mountain Lion

It was this time last year that my daughter and I were traveling across the U.S. The previous post was a picture from outside of Kansas City in Lee Summit, Missouri.

These pictures are from The Wildlife Prairie State Park in Hanna City, Illinois. So beautiful! We just kind of got lost on the back roads and stumbled across this park.  Such fun!

I think that if you were visiting the U.S., it would be worth it to just choose one state or two, rent a car and explore the highlights of that particular state. Of course it’s tempting to try to fit in as much as you can, but it depends on your expectations. It is not a loss to slow down and absorb all that a state has to offer. Each state is so different and has its own culture! Just some food for thought. I’ve done that “jam everything in” and I much prefer to slow down and enjoy the food, parks, architecture, museums, music and best of all...... the people.

For those visiting the U.S. from another country, it is well worth it to invest in an ice chest and pack it full of ice and yummy things to eat and drink. Shopping at a local grocery store is always an adventure. Grocery stores in U.S. cities are amazing.  Most foreigners to the U.S. are shocked by how many options of cold cereal and toilet paper there are! Pillows and blankets are nice for the car ride too. Also, books on tape for a long drive or your favorite music helps the hours go by. There are many free apps now for your phone that will read free books out loud to you and play your favorite music.

On this specific trip we read 4 books from the Tarzan series. My 82 year old Dad loved it! Choosing one or two states would also allow you to have more time to research the culture of that specific state, so that you are not so overwhelmed by culture shock. You could even try to arrange a culture exchange to some of the communities you plan to visit, to have a more authentic experience. Plan to meet people for dinner and discuss topics that interest you about one another’s country. I love having the opportunity to meet with nationals when we travel abroad. It is my favorite part of traveling!

A series of Culture Shock and Culture Exchange Stories

I am enjoying blogging again. It’s been fun to look back over our blog stats after not blogging for over a year. And apparently we left our readers, but……… you didn’t leave us!

We have noticed that the majority of our readers are interested in culture shock and the transitions and challenges when you move or visit another country. We thought it might be helpful to back track and share about some of our experiences with a little hindsight.

Since returning to the States after living in China for two years, I have probably traveled more in the last year than my entire life put together. It began with a first-time three-week road trip with my dad and daughter across the United States, from California all the way to Maryland and back with MANY stops along the way.

This was followed up by other first times: Kenya, Switzerland and Germany. Then a return trip to China and Thailand for a buying trip to start our business. Surprisingly I found that one of the biggest culture shocks was the South of the United States! Now, I grew up visiting Missouri and even lived for a year in New York when I was 19, but I had not spent much time in the South. Kentucky was the kicker for me. It truly was a different culture to me.

Aside from the two years we lived in China I have lived in California for the past 25 years. From rural living on the edge of Yosemite National Park where it was 30 minutes to buy milk and there was not a single stop light in the whole county, to city life in the Bay Area. Yet, rural Kentucky was the most “country” I have ever experienced. And, I grew up on a ranch in Arizona! Of course I am NOT knocking Kentucky. I have family there and I grew up wanting to live there in the horse capitol of the world. It just was not what I expected. I really had no idea America had such a unique culture until I moved to China. Then I discovered on this road trip how different our country is across the states.

It has made me think, how do we effectively prepare foreigners for culture shock in the U.S.? Since our country is so diverse, it would seriously depend on where you were going! And of course the typical American would never think that people would struggle in this easy, beautiful, English speaking country. Ha! I spent 5 minutes saying, “Excuse Me? What? I’m sorry can you repeat that?” to the same sweet woman in small town in Kentucky and she spoke English! I was humiliated.  Language is often a huge barrier in a relationship even if you speak the same language. In fact, I think some of my relationships with Chinese friends, using my limited Chinese, were less complicated. I couldn’t get in too much trouble with my thoughts and words. They always say, “The more you learn of a new language the more trouble you get into.”

We will take time to write about our experiences with culture shock and cultural exchange over the next several blogs. We would love to hear from our readers! Feel free to ask questions…. Even if you have limited English. We would love to practice with you.

Fall in Missouri on our Three Week Road Trip 2012

Making Plans

Here we are at the start of our new business. To get to this point, it has taken 4 months. Crazy! It feels longer, but that is a short period of time to set up shop.

I had no idea when we began Worldsong Jewelry how incredibly fun it was going to be. The creative side of this business has been surprisingly gratifying to me. From design to creating relationships with those we want to benefit. The wheels are constantly turning about what we do next! So grateful for this journey. I suppose we should never be afraid of a new adventure. It will inevitably reveal something about ourselves that we didn’t know. Whether we succeed by the world’s standards or not, we grow, learn and gain knowledge.

Tonight I am attending a meeting about a trip to Thailand where we will be working with victims of sex trafficking. I have to admit this scares me. I have so much admiration for this group of women who keep returning to love and serve these women. From what I understand part of the trip includes going to a beach where women, men and children are bought and sold for their services. Our part is to strike up conversations with those being sold, as well as the customers. This is a long way off, but I’m nervous. Notice how I said, that we shouldn't be afraid? And here I am again after just one paragraph!

From a past trip, I heard about a conversation where one of the team approached a Western man buying a service. They asked him simply, “Why?” He replied, “Because I have no love, here I can buy love.”

My hope is to gain greater insight to this situation, and determine how Worldsong can directly help financially those trying to come out of prostitution and those assisting them. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we continue to build our business model and how we can best help those we come across in need. Remember that every donation and purchase you make from Worldsong Jewelry benefits women struggling to make ends meet.

Worldsong - Our Story

Our story began in 2010 when we were given the opportunity to move our entire family clear across the world to China. We now use the word “opportunity,” but at the time, we would have described our circumstances as difficult and limited.

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, my husband’s company was hit hard by the recession and we were inevitably facing a lay off. But what we thought was an imminent tragedy turned out to be one of the biggest blessings our family has ever experienced.

We put the question to our kids, at that time a senior and junior in high school and 7^th grade middle schooler, “What do you think about moving to China?” After a lot of discussion and much to our surprise, they all three answered with a resounding, “Yes!”  So we sold most of our possessions and moved our entire family to Kunming, China to teach English for two years.

We worked closely with neighbors and students, and soon fell in love with the Chinese people. While East and West vary in their poverty and wealth – and not necessarily how you might expect – we began to experience a phenomenon. Each had something to learn from the other.

Out of this journey, very special relationships developed for our family that continue today.  It is from this evolution of friendship that the idea of Worldsong Gifts and Jewelry was born – a business to continue our existing relationships and create new ones, and the desire to benefit the poor and women struggling to make ends meet across Asia and perhaps other continents. The name Worldsong captures our vision of a global, like-minded harmony. A vision to bless others through our business, and potentially put women to work through Worldsong’s support.

Our story is shaped by many generous people who offered their support over the last several years. Generosity and encouragement that was bestowed on us whether we needed it or not. Now it is our turn to give back. It is our hope to do unto others what has been done unto us and perhaps be a vehicle for others to get involved.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Luke 6:31