#23 Cherie Burton – Relishing the gift of time
Cherie is a wife, mother, coach, entrepreneur, teacher, pioneer, adventurer and woman of faith. Originally from California, she has spent 9 years living overseas in Thailand, Indonesia and China. Cherie has wonderful little boys age 2 and 4 and an awesome husband. They currently reside in Shenzhen, China, but also spent 1.5 years in Guangzhou. Cherie spends her days managing our home as well as an international nutrition product distribution business. Tune in to hear how Cherie used her gift of time as an expat supporting spouse to benefit her family and others.
If you want your spouse to be successful, one of the biggest predictors is how home life is for them.
Show Notes
How she got to China
This is Cherie’s second assignment to China. She and her husband spent 8 years in Asia – Bangkok, Jakarta and Guangzhou prior to their current assignment that they’ve been on for a year. It was Stan’s career in the sportswear industry that brought them to Asia. After 8 years abroad the first time, they repatriated to the USA for 5 years before making the decision to return to China. In the end, it was the fact that they loved being overseas before and were excited now that they had children to expose them to the world and share their love for travel and experiencing new cultures that sealed the deal.
Memorable “This is China” moment
They had been in Shenzhen about a week when Cherie experienced what she titled, “A Tale of Cellular Angst and Redemption.” She lost her brand new iPhone while out on a jog. Youch! To top it off, her husband was on a business trip and they didn’t have a house phone so she was stranded. Hear her story of trekking off to the local police station to file a police report, losing all hope after 5 days, and gaining it all again with one simple phone call. Did it turn back up? Tune in to find out!
Motivational tips & lessons learned
- When you’re having trouble, reach out to your community. People are incredibly resourceful and helpful, especially in times of need.
- A reminder that God does hear and answer prayers – not always in the time or way we think, but he doesn’t leave us. Don’t lose faith.
- Renewed faith that there are good honest people in the world – we would have been none the wiser if Kiki had kept the phone and it was something many people here couldn’t afford.
- More gratitude for her ayi and her willingness to fully invest in helping this crazy non-Chinese-speaking American lady and her kids.
- New knowledge of Skype and what Purchase Protection with Visa is – before she thought it was just to cancel fraudulent charges.
- Appreciation for a husband who worked with Cherie through this although it wasn’t convenient for him either. His main concern was their safety and less about the cost.
- Gratitude for the resourcefulness of the office manager to try to find a way despite the somewhat unpredictable red tape of the country.
- Thankful for the Find My Iphone App – without it this would not have been possible and for the ICloud – even though her phone was gone, she still had all her private information.
Greatest victory
It’s the little daily victories that make her proud of learning how to manage life in China. Her first Chinese phone call was a big deal! Not to mention, her growing understanding of the Chinese culture. It’s a bit like a puzzle that she’s piecing together one day at a time. Jodie and her family take amazing adventures within the city which they all love.
School situation
Both of her boys attend Nanhai Montessori Children’s Center (connect to Cherie for a contact). She loves it’s convenient location, small class size, bilingual instruction and Montessori core education. The teachers provide regular updates, reports and pictures of kids at school via WeChat. They are learning Mandarin and really getting a quality education. Her 4-year-old came home naming all continents and most countries within them and is beginning to read!
Cherie’s Tips & Tricks
Brings from home
Hair products!
Fav local resource
Parting wisdom
Choose to be happy and surround yourself with positive people. Embrace each day as an adventure. You’re writing a book and if nothing ever happened, it’d be boring and no one would want to read it. Keep a positive attitude.
How to Connect
Connect with Cherie at cherieburton@yahoo.com or on LinkedIn.
