I recently returned from my three week fellowship to China, where I spent my time in a remote village teaching English at a number of different schools, restaurants and hotels. My end destination was ShaXi, located in the southern-most area of Yunnan. Let me tell you, it was remote. As in, it took me four days of travel to get there remote. Regardless of how far away is was from home, I was struck by ShaXi’s tight-knit rural community vibe and its geographical beauty.

Upon my return, many people have asked me, “Did you have fun?” When asked this question, I typically take a second to gather my thoughts, then launch into an explanation of the sights that I saw, the people that I met and the things that I did, but at the end of my five minute spiel, I always realize that in getting caught up in the recounting the details of my trip I failed to ask the initial question: did I have fun?

My answer to this is, yes, of course. I had loads of fun. But it was a different type of fun. It was not a load up the car and head to the beach type of fun, or rollercoaster fun, but the type of fun that comes with challenging yourself to interact with people that are very unlike you. If you consider sharing a joke in a foreign language fun, or getting to see an adult’s face light up when they learn an English phrase like “good morning” for the first time fun, or watching local Yi woman shop for food fun, which I do, then yes. China was about as much fun as I could ever possibly have.