I mean, let's be honest. It's difficult enough for friends and family to keep in touch when they're a few hours away, or even states away with a few hours time difference, so imagine being continents apart. I have to factor in long distance rates, international texting, etc. At least when I was in TX and away from friends and family, I could easily text and call them for free (included in the cell plan).
Currently, Shanghai is 13 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone in the US, and therefore 14 hours ahead of CST. These are the locations of friends and family who I would talk to and text on a very regular basis when I was in the states. This means while all my friends are sleeping, I'm wide awake and enjoying my afternoon. This makes it difficult to schedule Skype sessions, FaceTime, phone calls, or even texts for fear I'll wake someone up who doesn't have their phone on silent. To make matters worse, Shanghai doesn't observe daylight savings, and therefore, in the Spring when the US "springs forward", the time difference will be 12 and 13 hours, making it difficult to remember, especially when one hour can be the difference of someone being asleep or awake.
Even if I didn't talk to everyone when I was living in the states, I would usually get the information on multiple people by just speaking to one person.That hasn't been the case since I've been in Shanghai. It bothers me because I recently found out one of my friends has been going through a rough time since after the holiday and I had no idea. I should have known, and should have been able to be there for her, but instead I'm out of touch. Luckily I found out recently and have been able to communicate with her, but it still bothers me.
To make matters even more inconvenient, I haven't even been to a post office here, yet. They are not everywhere like you would think, and I have no idea where else to get postage or how much postage a letter being sent to the US would require. There's also the language barrier, which is even harder to surpass when you're an "English only" speaking Asian, who everyone else assumes to be a Mandarin speaking Chinese person. I can't even send a card easily to my friends or family, and even when I do, if it's like US to Shanghai mail, it will take around 2 weeks. Kind of kills the "immediate pick me up" side of sending a card, etc. I know it will still be considered thoughtful, and people will be excited to receive mail from Shanghai, but still... it's just not the same.
It's the little things like this that make the adventure seem not quite so great. I understand it all depends on perspective, but for me this isn't perspective... it's priorities. I understand this is basically a once in a lifetime opportunity for us, and while we are here, we ARE taking advantage of every opportunity and traveling and taking it all in, but that doesn't mean I prefer choosing this adventure over being there for my friends/family. It was hard enough to leave to come here after everything that has happened, and that's after I stayed an extra 7 months in the US to be there for family, friends, and myself. There's a lot of factors going in to my current thinking, and I'll post more about that later, but for now...
To all my friends and family out there, just know I'm still here for you no matter the distance, time zones, or lack of communication. I love you all!
I am so glad we are able to still stay in touch through messages:) I don't know what I'd do without you. You are a constant source of strength for me. :)
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