its been a month in Shanghai and things are very normal and repetitive. Well, I am not exactly counting down to the days that I am back to HK but I do look forward to the time in future. I guess I always like to look ahead or "peak" ahead and figure out what I'll be doing in the next few months or so.

During this month I can say that I've learned a lot of new things even though I work Monday to Friday, 9-7 and my office is in cubicle style. Its something new for me. I am glad that this is not something that I'll be doing for the year but just for 3 months. I think its something that I'll remember and treasure for time to come.

My expectation before coming is that since I'll be living with my aunt, I'll need to have lots of love. Living with someone is not always easy and it really depends on the person. I am not saying that there are anything wrong with my aunt and actually its not that bad living with my aunt, but its just one thing that will gets you. My aunt is very independent because of her single hood. I always think that for those who can withstand being single must be a gift from God. On the other side of the scale it may be bad too because you've learned to rely on yourself so much that you don't need any help, or any new ideas, or any thing that's not coming from yourself. In another word its being egocentric. Living with someone is a great way to learn about their character and I think I am understanding a lot more about my aunt and the way that she works. The fact that I am here for 3 months really helps me to NOT change the way that she works as much as possible. Despite my holding back my aunt still says that I am "improving her lifestyle." I think its really hard for her. After all, she's been doing the same thing for so long and changing that will require a lot of energy. Anyways, what I am trying to say is that living with someone can be difficult especially when there is a generation gap. However, I think this is something that God wants to teach me.

Another eye opening thing is the two trips that I went on. The first one is a business trip to Wenzhou. Its about 1 hr plane ride from Shanghai. I went with a co-worker for 3 days to study about the city and do some research work. This was a really good experience for me to spend three days with a local where I can only speak mandarin. It was really nice getting to know him and we were also able to talk about Christianity just because he asked me if I have any religion. The second trip was a 3 holiday trip to Xi'an with my aunt. Even though the trip was really tiring, I enjoy going to different places and seeing different things. I think this holiday trip is something new for me in a sense that my holidays are going to be in between my work from now on. What I mean is that my holiday trip will be followed by work immediately. It is really different than going to school because in school you get the entire summer holiday off and you can go to places and come back and rest and do it so many times. From now on, if I go on trips, it will be preceded by work and then followed by work. I guess this is life for now.

Last Friday was my first time going to a cell group since I've came back from Canada. I was really excited to go because I was longing for a community. My decision to go to a cell group was because the church that I am going are just starting a six weeks study on a book by having cell groups. People of their respective districts can choose from a list of groups by the districts of Shanghai. I signed up at the church with Friday or Sat as preference and the person emailed me back the next day giving me two choices. The two choices were not bad but I ended up choosing Friday just because its a time that I am used to and that I want to leave Sat open for other things. How interesting is that God has really been working behind in putting these people together into their "right" groups. I'll explain what I mean by "right" in a bit. So I was really excited last Friday even though I was all tired from work. I got to the place and found this estate entrance with around 50 buildings. So you can imagine how big it is and the building that I was supposed to go is 87. In China, good signs are not something that they are good at. I basically found no signs that directs you to the building except for a map in the front of the building. Since the buildings are not in order to the number, you can imagine how hard it is to find the right way with out following the map. At the time I was 1/2 hr late and I just ask God to direct me to the right place. So trusting in God I just went ahead walking in the direction that I think is right. After a few minutes, I got to a point where I have no idea where I was going and I don't know which turn I was suppose to make. At that point I was seeing a security guard riding a bike towards me. I asked him and he point me to a turn that I just missed. After getting into that turn I still have no idea where I was going but guess what, another security guard riding a bike came towards me again and this time he told point me the building and I was sure where I was going. I didn't end up walking in circles trying to find the right building which is what I was afraid of.  Since I was late to the group, everyone is already seated in the living room and doing the usual introduction of themselves. The moment I entered the house, I felt this sense of peace and community that I was longing for. I knew right away that this is a gift that God has provided for me here in Shanghai.
I realized God has something more for me as we got to the prayer in groups of three park after the dvd & book study. The person that sat next to me the whole time studied Jazz and he is teaching in an International school in Shanghai. I was sure at the moment that this is something God has arranged for me. I was asking myself, why did I chose the Friday group and not the Sat one. I guess its by "divine" power.  

Wow, that wasn't that long from last entry.

So basically after last entry, I realized that I am going to Shanghai to work but then its not 1 or 2 months but its 2 or 3 months. I agreed to go on a maximum of 3 months. I am now heading to Shanghai on Monday. It will be a good experience there but then I am again delayed in finding a church community here in HK. Maybe God is trying to show me different things. It will be for sure a great experience but then its just one of those things that you can't get the best of both worlds.
Have to say goodbye again and go even further now to Shanghai

Its been really hard these days and here's why:

1. not settled with housing because the landlord is bad and we have to move
2. not feeling well with my stomach and therefore affects everything I do.
- cannot eat properly
- tired at work all the time
- lost a lot of weight
3. don't know what's wrong with my stomach and I am having trouble getting more help with checking it out
4. my asthma have reoccur since I came back and I need to use the puffer (which is basically steroid) everyday.
5. I am not getting any exercise which contributes more to my poor health.
6. I need to decide if I am going to work in Shanghai (for a year or 2) or Hong Kong
7. I don't have a home church
8. I don't have much Christian friends

For sure there are a lot of things to be thankful of but at the moment I just need to complain to God. May God have mercy on me.