Five (long? short?) years

Easter Sunday was another milestone for our family, the same date five years ago that Myles and I walked off the Shekou ferry for the first time and entered China.  We walked past one aging business hotel and what seemed like miles of small, dank, odd-smelling chicken bars (but was really only two or three blocks). Randy escorted us through the dingy entryway of his apartment building, up the elevator to the slightly more pleasant fourth floor.  The tiny duplex apartment was yet uncluttered by Myles or me. It was uncluttered by anyone. I was surprised that Randy could have already lived here for a few months without it having any sign that he actually did live there, short of sheets on a bed and some soap in the bathroom.

Randy showed me where Starbucks was, a couple more blocks away. The next morning he handed me a handful of money and left for work at 7. Myles and I were on our own for the next twelve hours. I can't remember much of what we did, but I know that we probably went to Starbucks.

It was not the most auspicious start, but certainly a fitting way to begin the next five years of our lives. Entering strange places without an introduction, being left to our own devices, finding out the hard way we didn't live in the right place or the right way---I don't know what I would say to myself if I could go back in time. I could have told past-me not to give up, because no advice or warning would have sounded believable. Perhaps my greatest accomplishment in these five years is that I did not give up.

Five years. Wow. I'm not sure what else to say.