Sitting here in Starbucks and starting a new book, old memories are flooding my mind. This is one of places where I used to study. Can't believe I have been a nurse for three months already.
Still feel weird that I actually don't need to study for school any more (at least for now). Adult life is definitely another world. For sure. I was in school until 25 years old. Growing up isn't fun. Actually it is scary. Looking at those kids who were tiny but now all are bigger and taller, I just can't believe. When I was little, I always wondered how my life would be when I grew up. At that time, being an adult was a mystery to me. Now, I know being an adult has lots of responsibilities--paying bills, managing finance, thinking how to live better, and families.
In China, it's very common to pay parents back when you are earning money after school. It's not a must. But it is a thing that you will do as a grown up. Most Asian parents pay for their kids till college. So it is very reasonable to give money to your parents after working. My sisters have been doing that since they started to work.
Speaking of my family, I have super two cute nieces now!!!
It is crazy think how much time I have missed to spend with them. My 2 year old niece Livia already knows how to use iphone! Every time we facetime, she will kiss me and hug me through the phone, and then says "byebye" and touches the "end" button to end the conversation. lol. She is so smart and learning everything! My other niece, 6 months old Xinxin, of course she doesn't recognize me. She was born when I wasn't there. Sometimes it is sad to think that my parents are getting older and older and my nieces are growing up also but I am like 7000 miles away. People always ask me where I will be living or working in the future, back to China to settling down here. The future is mysterious. Remember? Being an adult is a mystery. We never know what is going to happen. The only thing that I can do is to make the most of everything and everyday.
It is getting harder to go back to visit now while I just started my career. Still trying to adjust work life and normal life.
I have been working third shift for three months. Boy oh boy, a lot more to learn than nursing school while I thought nursing school was rough. Since I did not have any experience before, I ask all kinds of questions from the very very basic ones to ok ones. I believe I have grown a lot in the past three months. However, this is a long journey. You never know what kind of assignments you will get each time. Every night is a different story. But I like my job and my coworkers. It takes time to get to know people, job, and the job environment.
Remember? I did not even know what diarrhea/nausea (sorry for the gross example) was in English 3 years ago even it's a very common word, even maybe a grade school kid knows. For sure I didn't know what situation that I got myself into when I decided to do nursing here. But, it's such a great experience to have. Making life long friends through nursing school, learning the medical culture and knowledge, and challenging myself make this experience so worthy. I am very thankful for my families and friends who have always encouraged me throughout these years.
Sometimes when people are me how my job is going, I always wonder if they really care. lol. It is just a culture thing I guess. People are nice to ask, but don't really care about the answers. Question like "how are you doing," people don't expect true answers. Maybe we are just too busy or to nice. I have become more Americanized. I do realize that I do this too. It is just a nice thing to ask I guess. Real friends do care though.
One of my American friends mentioned things like these before. He said Chinese takes things so serious. He said "let's do lunch sometime" to his Chinese friends. His friends would keep asking when and would make sure this lunch thing happen. But here, when people say "let's go grab a cup of coffee" or "let's have lunch together." lol, who knows it's actually gonna happen. True story, one of my friends have said to meet up for coffee or do lunch for over almost 2 years by now and it hasn't happened yet. LOL.
Pretty soon I will be starting my 6th year here in this country. It's so incredible to think how long I have been here, how much I have learned, and how much more I still need to learn. Let's see what the future holds for us. Just one step at a time and make the most of everything and everyday.
