I Always Need My Mom.

I'm a grown woman, but no matter what age I am, I will always feel like I need my mom. Having her spending time with us here in Hong Kong, made me realize that I really miss being around her on the same continent. As someone who has lived as an expat herself, she is very familiar with the situations I have found myself in over the past {almost} year. 

There were two pieces of advice that she gave me during my parent's visit out here that stuck with me. The first piece of advice she gave me was to encourage me to enrol in a basic Cantonese language course. Just to learn how to navigate through a market and how to communicate in every day life in every day situations. The second piece of advice she gave me was to find a local friend who would be able to me better understand the culture in Hong Kong. 

I think back to how she adapted so well to living in the Philippines and I can see how those were two major factors in helping her adjust to being a missionary there for thirty years.

Black and white photographs from 1979 and 1980. The first picture is right after I was adopted. The second picture is of the two of us eating popcorn on a Sunday afternoon. My parents still carry on this tradition even now! I love that my mom is wearing the same dress in both pictures.