We lived for nearly 8 weeks on the pristine coast of South Africa which is one of our favourite countries.  I shopped and shopped and we hiked endlessly and travelled through that region about 2 hours below Capetown on the coast. 

We have decided that will return to the US, to our property in Maine, in 2 years after several decades living overseas.  

During our time on the ocean we befriended a baby seagull we named Jon and his mother.  Jon sat outside every day on our porch. I love the people of SA, the sweeping, staggering beauty of it, and the art.  Whilst we were there the massive, massive farms were so, so green in the winter rains and then, suddenly, the brightest of yellows as the major crop, canola, flowered. 

There were endless violent winter storms throughout our stay.  I absolutely LOVE storms, particularly when you are sitting right on the ocean and can watch them.

Spent the summer reflecting on the happiness I find here in China, which is certainly connected to the fact that Chinese people care for their parents and young children in their own homes, health care is very inexpensive, the streets are completely free of crime and trash, and many, many millions of Chinese people work for themselves in small shops.  In addition, they cook all of their meals at home, and pay cash as they go for their lives, and commercial goods are stupid-cheap here – when I want something I find it on Amazon then plug the image into the huge online marketplace here and the discount is almost always 90%.  A very nice pair of pants is like $7usd, for example.  Mostly you do not sense anger or fear here.

I have quit social media.  I am aware, too that since I have forgone it, I am significantly happier, which was my goal.  I found that I was mostly just distracted with either judgment or concern by what I found there.  I was never a big consumer of such things, so it wasn’t a gigantic step for me I just kind of slipped off of it.

Been rereading Walden for the 10th time or so.  Thoreau makes me so happy to read I’m practically jumping up and down when I do.  His clarity about setting aside the body so that the spirit can prosper is just massively illuminating.

Nights I am redoing my investigation of the IChing, the enormous Confucian tomb that really encapsulates Chinese spirituality.  It’s really, really astonishingly clarifying.

I have missed being here in Shanghai and am happy to be home.  But I do love the swashbuckling wildness that is South Africa and as we begin to plan for our life after expat life, I know I will miss that continent more than others.  My favourite country, other than Jordan, though, is still China.