Does it ever start to feel “old hat” or is it fresh still to you?
It’s a good question to ask of people whose passports are well stamped. We gave a neat, short answer on Sunday evening when we were asked. It was honest, but it was short and sweet. But, I’ve been thinking of it and off since then.
My to-do list is a file in Word, saved and reused over and over again. Clean off phone. Write notes for kids. Notify schools. Charge headphones. I have varied versions of a packing list for different seasons with cute little boxes for my checkmarks. We have a bit of a routine to this now. I know which sized packing cube to use for each category of clothing. The 13 1/2 hour plane ride no longer causes heart palpitations. It’s all much easier now than it used to be. We know what to do, when to do it, how to compensate when we don’t do it when we should have done it (which happens), and what to expect on the other side. We know where to go when we touch down in Beijing without reading any overhead signs. We look like foreigners and stand in the lines for foreigners but don’t feel all that foreign now. Maybe there’s a little bit of old hat in that.
We’ll be greeted by a few students at the airport and get on a charter bus for another few hours. When we finally arrive, there will be lots of students clapping and cheering for our arrival. It happens every time. But, the only old hat in that is the comfort of knowing it will be there, all those people will be there welcoming us.
Every trip is new. Even with a number of team members who go nearly every time, the team is new. At no other time was this particular team together going to this place to do this work. Never before were these 15 people teaching this curriculum and giving these messages and taking these students on trips to a park and to the Great Wall. While the schedule looks the same on a two-dimensional sheet of paper, it’s actually entirely new, a fact which makes our job as leaders anything but routine and comfortable. We’re leading the charge in unchartered territory which is both incredibly energizing and incredibly exhausting.
We leave home again in about 16 hours. Empty boxes are being checked, and Super Grammy is on her way now. We know how to do all this. But, it’s all new to us at the same time. Every time.
Here we go.
