Foreigners

I live in Shanghai with 24 million other people. I don't speak the language or share many cultural traits with the vast majority of them. It's amazing how "alone" one can feel adrift in a sea of people. I walk almost everywhere, and usually I am pretty tuned out, just focusing on getting to my destination, on managing the kids in the stroller that is too big for the sidewalks here, avoiding the gawks and stares and even photos at such a tall woman and her two (TWO!) blonde blue-eyed babies. But lately I've been trying to find the beauty in my surroundings and feel a sense of delight, perhaps even serenity, in this buzzing urban jungle. To this end, today I admired this little Russian church that I pass almost daily. I think it's beautiful, and standing in such sharp contrast to the buildings surrounding it, it reminds me that I'm not the only foreign one in this place.

Russian Orthodox Mission Church, with our apartment building peeking through behind