Welcome to Bamboo Sketches, I’m writer and creator Charity Lee Jennings.

As a child, I dreamed of exploring the world; as an adult, I’m living that dream, raising my kids in Asia. Here at my blog I share our adventures, highlighting insights I’m collecting along the way. I write about life in China, raising kids cross-culturally and Canada, the home I’ve left behind.

I usually post twice a month. To be sure you don’t miss my latest post you can subscribe by e-mail. Click the follow button at the very bottom left-hand column of this page or e-mail me at charity.lee.jennings@gmail.com with a message as simple as ‘Follow.’

Favourite Sketches
You may want to start with some of my most popular posts. Here are a few favourites by category:

Cross-Cultural Kids
Raising Eggs
Just One Question
Blooper in Banff

Chinese Holidays
Chinese New Year Near Disasters
Chinese New Year Near Disasters – Part 2
Year of the Monkey

Daily Life In China
Jiao Zi Time, Finally
The Minority

Canada
Longing for Home
On Acceptance
Excited to be Home?

My Experience in a Brushstroke 

I grew up in a picturesque town. Complete with a boutique downtown, and a long, gorgeous stretch of Lake Huron; a setting the Queen of England had claimed to be the prettiest in Canada – one could easily be content. And I was, I hardly realized there was a world beyond rural Ontario, until one day when I saw images on TV that changed me; children, like me, but lifeless. I stared in astonishment at their toothpick legs, their ballooned bellies. They didn’t even have the strength to swat flies from their faces. I was horrified. I could not reconcile the grave need with the plenty that surrounded me.

From then on I determined to see first-hand the diversity of the world and its people; to understand the complexity of their cultures and needs; and to offer hope.

Time went slowly. I wondered if I would ever be independent enough to pursue my ambition. While I was stuck at home, my parents started travelling to the West Indies to do building projects in needy areas. I listened to their stories with fascination. Years later I joined them. The humid air hit my face and the sound of steel drums vibrated in my ears as I stepped off my first airplane. I thought I had found my future home. But my world kept expanding.

Two years later I made my second international trip, this time without my parents; I found another family who would take me in, in Bolivia, South America. I experienced their vibrant culture and learned their way of life while eating their food, sharing a room with their daughters – my new sisters – and gradually, speaking their language. It was an incredible experience that forever altered my worldview.

After my return home I knew I could never be satisfied with a ‘normal’ life and I met someone else who felt the same. He had just spent a year teaching in Asia. Our experiences drew us together, as did our common values. We became inseparable. We dreamed of exploring lands we had never seen, together.

Next came our wedding and not long after that, our jump into family life. My love for my family trumps my love to explore but I was convinced we could do both. Soon I was telling everyone, “We are moving to China.”

“Are you taking the baby?” they would ask.

“Of course,” I said, eager to experience life as a global family but having no idea what I was getting into.

Now, years later, I’m raising my three kids, aged 14, 12 and 9 in China and facilitating their education, with the world as their classroom. I’m striving to give my kids the childhood I dreamt of but at the same time often wishing they could experience the peaceful life I left behind.

The pages of my blog are filling up with both the excitement and challenges of our adventure.

Enjoy peering into our lives and being stretched beyond your own experiences.