Reunited and it Feels so Good

Angus and I are back together!

Personal Hot pot.. Angus and Nick

Some KTV action (karaoke)

Old Street/Neighborhood

Amazing food.. lots of peppers

Well, this weekend was one of the most amazing I've experienced in China. I got to go to central China to ChongQing (ChongChing) and visit Angus. It has been a year and a half since I last saw him. I missed him terribly, but I had no idea just how much till I saw him. Now.. this is a one of a kind friendship. This is a deep rooted friendship, especially for being different cultures and everything.

Angus was always one that I didn't need to use words with. We can have complete conversations without even speaking.. and this weekend.. we found we can still do that. He still answered my questions before I asked and we still understood each other. Maybe even a little more. He is now studying in England so he is experiencing being a foreigner in a foreign land. He is learning so many amazing things and yet.. he's still my same old Angus.

Basically we talked, ate, visited, shopped, ate, laughed, ate, talked, and ate the entire weekend. Sichuan province is known for it's spicy food.. and I was in complete bliss the entire weekend. We had some of the best Chinese food I have ever put in my mouth. I didn't think it was too spicy either.. which is amazing. A habanero does nothing but taste sweet after the peppers I eat here. I love it.

We also had hot pot, which is one of my favorite things. Basically there is boiling broth and you order meats and veggies and tofus and cook them yourself in the broth. We went to this really cool buffet place, where you had your own personal pot instead of a family pot. It was really cool. I had the spicy of course and it was delicious. I'm sure I have a hole in my stomach after the things I've eaten this weekend.

The time together was like we never missed a beat. We just picked right back up. I love how this can work. I love that I have that with a Chinese person. It's an incredible thing to lay witness to. The best moment of the entire weekend was Sunday night. He took me to his grandparents, where I met his entire family. Then to his house where I got to visit with his parents and look at baby pictures and everything. It was a wonderful view inside his life. I figured out why our friendship is so strong. His dad is an amazing man, and a thinker. I really appreciated our conversation and the things he taught me. I can see exactly why Angus is who he is. He gets his sillyness from his grandma though. She was awesome and this tiny little Chinese woman.

I loved this weekend. Monday morning was really hard, but he gave me a big hug and smile and made his silly face and sent me on my way. He will return to England for another term, home for summer holiday, and then back to get his masters in England. We will hopefully see each other this summer and then again in January of 2010. That is the plan as of now. It's amazing to get to have such a great friendship. It's hard though because I know that I'm planting a seed.. it's just so hard to wait for it to grow. I don't like this uneasy time of just trying to grow it. I want it to be grown and I want to be certain of that. It's hard to imagine having such a strong earthly friendship and that being the end of it. It's too hard. Nothing is impossible for DAD. Please be talking to him about Angus though.. it's weighing heavily on my heart.

I am back in Ningbo now.. and working on finishing grades up. We are leaving on our journey in about 12 days. I'm getting ready. It's exciting.

WeWeeChu a Merrie Christmas

Merrie Christmas from China. This week I have finished final exams, I have had various meals with students, and I have received various presents from students and friends and family. It has definitely been a celebration week. Everyone is so interested in Christmas and what the festival is about. They all think the importance is on Christmas Eve though. It was impossible to find a table last night at a restuarant.

Last night we cooked.. and baked and watched a movie.. and spent time together. I went to bed pretty early. I just haven't felt very Christmasy, but this morning it hit me. Daphne and her mom called me this morning and wished me Merrie Christmas. It was so good to be woken up by someone from home.. and to know that i was remembered. I just cried a little. Then I showered and got dressed before my mom called.

I opened my presents while my mom was on skype with me, so she could see. Since my birthday is while I'm gone I opened my birthday presents too. I was excited to get some baking things and chocolate chips and things. I got a hoodie and a shirt. It was a wonderful Christmas morning. I have been spending the rest of the day cooking and cleaning. We are watching A Christmas Story now. It's not the 24 hour marathon, but watching it once will do.

Tonight we were going to have dinner with 3 of our Best Chinese friends/family. We were so excited and it really was making the day so wonderful. We were going to share American food with them and gift exchange. Well.. not anymore. It is frustrating sometimes, but I understand it's a test. I know it's just part of being proven worthy, but it's hard on my heart. It hurts so much that we can't even share a meal with our friends. We can't even see them. It's been so long, and I miss them.

My heart is in a lot of pain these days just thinking about working here. I Love the work here so much and the people. I just want it to not hurt so badly. I want to have more trust in our DAD and his plan. I just want it to be easier sometimes. It scares me that our work isn't going to work completely and I might just not get to see my friends from China in the far future. It really put a damper on the day.

We are still going to have dinner with just the Americans and are going to enjoy it as best we can. It is evident that there is a cloud on the day. Other than that. I leave for Central China tomorrow morning. I keep forgetting about the trip. I hope I remember to catch my plane in the morning. I am so excited to be reunited with Angus. There is nothing better than knowing that I do get to see him again. I miss him terribly. I will be back on Monday and then I'm headed to Hangzhou for a couple days to see my family there on the 1st and 2nd. It's been a while and I miss them.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy your time with your families. Thank you for the encouragement and sweet notes. DAD bless.

Busy Week

Sorry it's been so long. It's been so crazy around here.

This last week I did most of my finals. Instead of doing them during class, I had students sign up for a time and come to the office. It worked out well, but I spent about 5-8 hours in the office a day with students. I was so completely exhausted by Friday night. Thursday night I went to sleep at 8. One night I was asleep by 6:30. I didn't know talking to students was that exhausting..

They had to answer one question for me and tell me how they are using it in their lives. The question was a pretty intense question, but it was wonderful to hear some of their answers. I learned so much about them and it was nice to see how seriously some of them took the final. Some did not even answer the question really, but just took the opportunity to pour their heart out to me. The question was "What is the most important lesson you have ever learned?" Students told me about losing a parent, or struggling with depression, about arguments with roomates, or helping friends. I had a vast array of answers and these are things that will make this World a better place if they remember these lessons and use them. It was a wonderful preparation for them for this next term with me. We get a lot more intense in the English language and in life lessons.

Anyways.. it's almost over. I have a few finals Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then Christmas Day. Then I leave for ChongQing to visit my best Chinese friend, Angus. He is home for holiday from studying in England. Then I get back on the 29th and go to Hangzhou on the 30th for New Years. Then back here for 9 days, and then off to Southeast Asia and North China. It's going to be a long 2 months.. at least I hope it doesn't fly by too quickly. This week of finals is a little shorter and less exhausting. I mostly have about 3 a day. I have to finish my Christmas shopping. I bought myself a pair of socks and wrapped them up. I also found some Cheeze Its at an import store when I was in Wuhan for Thanksgiving. I wrapped those and put them under the tree. It's going to be a good Christmas morning. It does take the mystery out of Christmas when you buy and wrap your own gifts... haha. I do have my normal Mrs. Clause gift (thanks Mom). I am excited about opening that one.

This weekend was pretty exciting. We had Christmas movie night on Friday and watched Elf after eating some Mexican food.. Awesome! Then Saturday we went to this family's apartment, where the Mom cooked us a fabulous lunch with lots of exotic sea foods and taught us how to make our favorite soup. This family is very very kind and have a beautiful 2 story apartment and a PIANO! I got to play a little.. They have a 15 year old boy who is going to America next year for boarding school. Bekah is his English tutor. They are the nicest family. It was nice just to be with a family again and visit. The mom can say a few words of English, but she is so sweet and the dad was so cute.
Then Saturday night we did some Christmas shopping and ate some Indian food. Indian is my very favorite food I think. I love the flavor of the curries and the spiciness. It's just so delicious. I do have a good spread of cultural foods here that I don't really have access to in East Texas. It's nice to be able to pick a country and go eat some of their food. Then Sunday we went and had meeting.

We've been meeting in the mornings, and that's been nice. The only thing is it's so early. We have to leave at 8:15, and on a Sunday.. that's early. We do get to catch the end of the NBA game when we get to Tricia's though. That's always fun. Magic beat The Lakers yesterday.. so that was nice. Then we have meeting and it's so encouraging. Yesterday was great because 3 of the downtown folks we only see once a week went to lunch with us and then shopping all day with us for some Christmas gifts and others we had to get. It was good because we got to spend time with them, but they also distracted Bekah while I bought hers and Jessica's presents. They showed us this new shopping area which was fun. Lots of Chinese shopping. I can't wait to go back. Then we went to hot pot for dinner.

Hot pot is my favorite meal in China. You have a pot of broth basically and you pick your meats and veggies and tofus and dumplings. You put them in and cook them and eat as you go. It's really fun and quite delicious. This place was a little different than most I've been to though. This was buffett style. You had your own personal pot of broth instead of a big one for the table. Then you went up and got a tray and piled it with whatever you wanted.. instead of ordering and getting a plate of that item. It was really awesome! I like this buffett style.

Last night I passed out early. I was so exhausted. Today I'm finishing my Christmas shopping and getting ready for baking for Christmas. I'm making an apple pie, green bean cassarole, and the stuffing. I am excited about Christmas dinner. I am more excited about ChongQing though. It's been so long since I've seen Angus face to face. Plus.. ChongQing is where hotpot started.. so basically I get to eat hotpot for a whole weekend. It should be fun. Let the travels begin.

life is normal here.. and then BAM!

This week has just been a normal week. Classes and teaching and time with friends. There are days where I know I doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. This week was one of them. Thiss week I gave my classes pictures and they had to tell a story to connect the pictures. They really enjoyed this creativity lesson. I had a lot of love stories and every boy was named Jack and every girl was Rose, or Heidi if it was a picture of me. (Titanic characters if you didn't catch that). There was also a picture of my mom and me on the Great Wall.. They all wanted to know who my "young friend" was.. or my "younger sister". I even had a student say.. "Your mom is so beautiful.. why aren't you?" haha. I just laughed. I have taught my class sarcasm..

Other than things like that it was just normal. I didn't do much other than clean and hang out. I have been trying to catch up on sleep before our big trip.

Then came today.. Sundays are special days here. They are days that I really get to experience the culture a little more. I am riding a lot of busses and seeing a lot of people. This morning we left a little early so we could get breakfast before we saw the family. I was sitting on the bus to this older woman.. and she just talked away to me. She was just talking about any and everything. I actually understood most of her words and she understood my "chinese" answers. She tried to teach me the correct tones.. haha. That's a joke for me.. I usually just speak really quickly so no one notices my tones. She was 78 years old. Amazing woman. She was beautiful. It made me feel so good that I could carry on a long conversation. It also made me happy that someone actually wanted to sit next to me and talk to me. They weren't scared of me.. It was an amazing feeling.

I miss home Sundays so much. I really get home sick for the fellowship with my family. I love my family here and the time with them. This sunday was even better because some of our family was back with us. It was still hard because the thoughts are not as challenging. I do love getting to hear lessons from home on my podcasts I listen to each week.

I was watching a movie and a boy said.. "The World has so much beauty that sometimes I don't know if my heart can take it. I think it might just explode." I listened to this and my automatic response was to disagree. I see so much hatred and violence. I feel the pain of people around me and those far away. People I don't even know. Sometimes it hurts my heart so badly, I think it might explode.. I wish I more like the boy and saw beauty in even those bad things. So from now on.. I am changing my point of view. I am going to look the beauty in this World on a daily basis.

Simplistic Views

This weekend has been a time of returning to simplicity. I have been without electricity for a over 24 hours. I just got it back. It has been a wonderful time actually. Without electricity there are no distractions. I can't turn on the TV, Music, Computer. It's just me and my thoughts.

Yesterday I laid in bed for the better part of the day reading and sleeping. I try not to take too many naps, but this weekend has been catch up on sleep weekend. It's my frist weekend i've been in town for a while. I read and studied and talked to DAD and just enjoyed the simplicity of the life I have been given. I used the computer a couple times, but then the battery ran out. I didn't open the fridge.. or have heat. I just curled up under my blankets and enjoyed my thoughts.

When it got dark.. it was time to sleep. When it got light.. i got up and started my day. It's hard to imagine there was a time that life was always like this. There was a day when people lived their lives according to the Sun and had no other means of "electricity". Families were closer then.. time was slower then too. It's been fun to be reminded of the lives led before I even was thought into existence. I've been reminded of that a lot lately. I am living a life similar to that of the 1st FAMILY. Our most important DAYS are not as safe anymore. (read into that sentence.)

The only hard part is that it has been the coldest weekend we have had so far. So I've been layering my clothes a lot. I'm not cold anymore.. the heat is turned on now.. and DAD provided beautiful sun today. I am thankful. I learned a lot about myself this weekend and enjoyed the more simple life.

Last night.. we went to a battle of the bands downtown. 2 foreign bands and the rest chinese. It was pretty cool. It was smokey and stuff so we didn't stay too long, but we saw the 1st foreign band. Lead singer was named Ramsey from the UK. I think I might love him.. or just his voice and he was cute. haha. It's just so rare to find cute foreign boys.. that can sing and be in a decent band. We live in China. It was fun. Then we went and listened to some Jazz.. so that was good too. All in all.. it's been a musical weekend and I like it. Tonight I am judging an English singing contest on campus. That will be fun too.

Christmas Spirit

This year the Christmas Spirit hit me exactly on Thanksgiving day. I turned on my Christmas CD by Point of Grace. I love it!! And boom.. it was Christmas Spirit. I had the complete desire to watch ELF and A Christmas Story. I wanted to decorate my apartment and make it all Christmasfied.



Well, tonight was decorating night. We went down to Tesco and got a few ornaments and lights for the tree.. and come back and I decorated. Turned on the Christmas music and jammed out while placing the ornaments around the tree that was left in my apartment from last year. It's really cute. It's silver and red. I have my ornament my Bibi sent with me.. it's hanging and i even put 10 yuan in it for Christmas day. I have a framed picture of my sister and myself under the tree for now. I am going to buy some socks and a pair of new glasses and wrap them up for myself probably. I will also put my last Dr Pepper under the tree too. I don't mind not having gifts under it, but at least Christmas morning will be nice like that. I'll probably actually cook myself some breakfast too.. and listen to Christmas music. Then read or something the rest of the day.



Tonight on the bus I saw funny things. I was quite aware of my surroundings and saw this.. a kid get really excited about using his mom's bus card. A mom carrying her 10 year old daughter.. ??? a car stopped on the road with his bumper sticking out the trunk.. a ghetto Chinese boy.. 3 men cracking up about Bekah???.. just pointing and laughing.. Beautiful Christmas lights at the Marriot.. a woman ride her bike almost into the side of the bus.. only to know the person in the seat behind me and start waving at him... a chinese boyfriend have to tell his girlfriend which handle she should hang on to.. really??? just grab the handle in front of you. I think that was about it for now anyways.


It's really cold here today and I"m regretting not bringing my pea coat. I do love my Columbia jacket with zip in fleece.. and my hoody. Staples this winter I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to Thailand and Cambodia and Vietnam.. at least the first 2.



This week's class was amazing! Everyone was really interested in talking about Education Systems all over the World. We talked about why Chinese are so intelligent.. and why Americans are so open minded. It was wonderful. I also told my pick pocket story. I quite enjoy telling stories... hmm. They told me it was OK to punch a man if he stole from me again.



Last night I cooked Spaghetti for one of my friends/students Catherine. It was her birthday. I also made Chocolate cake. She was really excited to have a small dinner with us. She and her friends have been fighting and her family. It was good for her to just be around us and hang out. She seemed to be grateful for the escape and the american food. Noodles are a tradition on your birthday here.. so you will have a long life or something. So that was culturally correct. I had forgotten about that tradition till she mentioned she had them for lunch too.. Chinese noodles of course. Anyways.. it's nice to start making friends a little more. It's just so hard this year..

Story Time

The last post was the overview.. here are the stories. There are only 2 that I really want you to read.

Today, when I got back from Hangzhou, I was in McD's getting some lunch before catching my last bus. McD's is a place that you commonly see other foreigners. I didn't think much of it when a middle aged man walked in. I just continued my burger eating and drinking of fountain coke. Since I was eating alone, my eyes tend to linger around at the other people in the restaurant. I like to see what everyone else is eating and how they are interacting with their lunch dates. I also like to analyze the wardrobe choices of most people. You can tell a lot by a person's clothes. Well, I was lingering.. and my eyes caught the eye of the foreigner. He smiled and nodded. A common guesture between foreigners in China. Shows the bond of being a foreigner in a country so drastically different than your own. Well, when you've been in China for a while you start to get this attitude of "I don't want to meet every foreigner in China." I don't have this attitude, but when you've been on a train for 8 hours and busses for accumulation of about 4.. you don't really want to make polite small talk. So I looked down at my burger.

This is the point where it gets more interesting. The foreign man proceeds to sit at a table near me.. close enough to talk while we eat. I smile and speed up the consumption of my double cheeseburger so that he isn't tempted to make small talk. He does though. He asks where I'm from. I answer with a polite, but tight smile.. "America." His smile changes and he looks down. Intrigued, I ask his nationality. He replies, "I am an Iraqi.. I am sorry I spoke to you." My heart broke into a million pieces. I smiled more kindly and held the tears back.. "It's Ok. I don't mind. Are you here on business?" He looked up a little more hopeful, and responded with a polite "Yes."

At this point I am deciding just how much time I have till I crash over. I am exhausted and dirty. I decide a small conversation won't hurt. I move over to his table and visit with him. He tells me he had to leave his country because it is too dangerous to live there. His family could not get visas, so they are all still there fighting to stay alive everyday. He asked about my whereabouts in America and my life in China. We talked about how young of a teacher I am and compared Ningbo to Hangzhou. I didn't win him over to believe that Hangzhou is the best, but we agreed to disagree. He is here with a company and is the only foreigner. He doesn't have any friends or know anyone really. I told him he could come to dinner with us when we came downtown sometime. "Really? I could do that?" My heart broke again. I explained that all of my friends are not American, and in fact the reason I was outside America was because I loved other cultures and languages so much. I wanted to study them and share my "knowledge" with the people in other countries. We became friends in that short lunch.

I have never, in my life, had anyone respond to me in that way. Afraid he could not talk to me because I am from America. I have never, in my life, been ashamed to be from America. I know I have not always enjoyed America, but I was ashamed of the reputation I had just because of my nationality. I was ashamed of the reputation he felt he had just because of his. The reason his family can not get a visa is because of their nationality. It's because the World is afraid of them. His smile, when I said my goodbyes, made me hopeful that I had started to change one person's opinions of Americans. At least I planted that seed of not stereotyping.

Second story happend just after I left McD's.
Preface: I have been telling Americans that are paranoid about pickpocketers not to worry so much. I have never been pickpocketed in my time here. It's not everywhere.. be more trusting. All of those things have exited my mouth in the last 2 days.
Now:
I was on the bus headed out to school. I was sitting with my bag in my lap and the flap closed on it. This man is standing really close to my seat. I tend to choose the single seats along the side of the bus, so that no one has to sit by the "foreigner." So many people will move or not sit by foreigners.. so I save my feelings from being hurt by sitting in the singles. Well.. this man was standing so close to me, that his bottom was sitting on my shoulder basically. I was getting frustrated, but kept moving closer to the window. Finally, I felt something move under my arm. My automatic reaction was, "Give me my wallet back." Very soft spoken, but loud enough for the man to hear. He looked at me.. I pushed him a little and repeated my words at a normal voice volume. "Give me back my wallet." I am glaring. He moves and points to his "partner" and the partner opens his coat and hands me my wallet. I didn't get up out of my seat. I didn't yell.. I just kindly, but sternly told them to give me my wallet back. The girls that were standing by them start checking their pockets. Nothing is missing. Seems the foreigner was the only target.

The men proceed to run off of the bus at the next stop. I was shaking and trying not to cry. The adrenaline coursing through my viens. It took every ounce of self-control for me to not stand up and punch them both out. I don't know what would happen to me if I ever did beat up a Chinese man, but I didn't really want to find out. All I wanted to do was go to bed. I was so exhausted. There was a man that saw everything and he gave me a thumbs up. I gained face today on the bus. I stopped pick pocketers from stealing my wallet. The only important thing they would have gotten was my passport. That would have been upsetting, but other than that the only things in my wallet are a bunch of discount cards for stores around the school, and 5 yuan. That's it. They would have been sorely disappointed. In fact.. if they had looked in the wallet on the bus, they probably would have just handed it back to me.

This was my first experience in this situation. I thought I handled it well.. I should have drawn more attention to them, but I just couldn't. If I had started yelling or anything the self control would have been gone, and they would have been beat up. It's not hard to beat up a chinese man. I wasn't scared or anything. I don't "hate" China.. or anything. It happens more in America than here. It's everywhere. It's not a China thing. It's a life thing.. and I had my first life experience with this. I am still not going to be paranoid.. I am not going to walk around scared. I am thankful that I was raised with a sense of things around me.. and that I was smart enough to just know what had happened when I felt my arm drop a little. That intuition was a blessing today. I am constantly being taken care of. I am thankful for that.

Roller Coaster Time

Wow. This has been one long weekend FULL of events. I'll give the overview and then a couple stories for you.

First, this was Thanksgiving weekend. So it was spent in Wuhan with some other amazing family members teaching in China. A lot of Harding people teach out there, so it was really fun to catch up with them. Some of us have been online friends for a while, but met face to face for the first time on Saturday. It's pretty incredible how quickly you bond and get so close to people here.

Friday I left class and bussed to Hangzhou. I went and caught up with Beth and Erin for a bit in Xia Sha. It's always good to see them. I also ran into a couple students and saw Willis and Lily at Jack Hut. We took pictures together and talked and laughed. It was fun. Then I headed downtown and grabbed some dinner with Steve, Jackie, Cammie, and Hannah before catching the train to Wuhan. I am amazed at how easy it is to just fall back into old friendships, even with a whole year between talking. I love my friends in Hangzhou.

The train was fun.. it was 8 hours, but we had hard sleepers. They are plywood with a small blanket over it and you get a pillow and nice comforter. I love the comforters in hotels in China.. they are thick and heavy. So basically we got on and went to sleep and woke up and were in Wuhan. I like this mode of transportation best in China. There are 6 bunk bed style hard sleepers in a cabin.. which makes for interesting sleep. Snoring is common, talking in sleep, and also smoking throughout the ride. I am getting tired of the smoke.. everwhere. such is life.

When we got there, we chilled with Jeremy till Jesse arrived on his overnight train. Then we set out for food and then showered and got ready for the big Thanksgiving celebration! We went to this hotel and had dinner with the other Americans in the area. I saw my old Harding friends, and some others that I knew of, but had never really met. It was fun. First, it was kind of awkward because everyone was hugging and catching up. I didn't know anyone that well though.. so Tara and I sat over on the couch and talked about our Social Awkwardness and tried to figure out who people were. As the night progressed though.. we all became close close friends. Such a blessing in our Family here. We ate turkey and dressing and mashed potatoes and green beans and apple pie and pumpkin Love. It was amazing. Then on to Cranium! Our girl team rocked the game.. and it went really quickly. The fellowship and singing was amazing. It's encouraging to be in a large group again and sing and spend time together.

Sunday morning was a complete blessing. The End. I didn't want to leave though.. it was just incredible to be with people that you really connected with. Sunday afternoon was spent at the local shopping center.. Theatre first for some imported goods.. like Dr. Pepper and Cheeze Its and Milanos. Happiness in a store.. Then we all went and commandeered the front corner of Dairy Queen. We sat and people watched.. or were a zoo exhibit rather. It was hilarious. We laughed so hard at people's reactions to so many foreigners in one place. I got winked at by an older man with a Chinese mustache and mullet. He looked Mexican.. haha. Creeper. We saw men and women in their pajamas.. a little boy rockin a purple sweater vest that was phenomenal. We watched a mother carry a screaming girl up the moving sidewalk.. after it took her ten minutes at the bottom to get the girl to go near the thing. She was terrified. It was one of the most entertaining afternoons I've had in a while.

Then we just hung out till it was time to go catch the train back. It was fun to talk about Harding and life there and friends. We all got to catch up and share stories of our lives here. It's amazing how we are all put in each other's lives for reasons. There are specific reasons for every person that has been put in our life, and it's cool to see how that's being used. All in all.. it was a fabulous weekend of Thanksgiving Fellowship with some amazing Family. What the holiday is all about.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. China doesn't celebrate this holiday.. crazy. haha. We Americans are celebrating though with a meal.. as close as we can get to Thanksgiving. We even found a turkey at Metro. Then we will play some games and fellowship. We are going to spend some time talking together and studying and being Thankful.

The things I am most Thankful for are HIM and his work in my life. The places he has sent me to work. The life experiences he has given me. The most important thing though is the people he has put in my life.

My family is of course at the top of that list. The have raised me and taught me so many things. They are the biggest influences I have in my life. The love and support they have always given me, and encouragement is just amazing. My mom is at the top of the list. My cousins are amazing.. always there to make me laugh and share inside jokes. It's funny to watch when we all get together and just talk non-stop forever. Always laughing and joking like we see each other everyday. I miss that. I will miss Savage Christmas this year.. the older we get, the less we are all together. I am so thankful for ALL of my family though.

Then there is a whole other family I've been given. It's hard to put into words, but they are just as important to me as the aforementioned family. They are my very closest friends. They have been there with me through the thick and thin of my everchanging life in the last 3 1/2 years. The way that we started our friendship was through laughter. As many of you probably know.. that the way to my heart. Make me laugh and I'm yours. This alternative family I've been given is comprised of mostly guys and a couple girls. They are amazing men of DAD, and are always shining the light. They are kind and fun and happy and encouraging. All things that I need in my life. I am so thankful to have them in my life.. even when I'm so far away. They download Skype and we talk and they still work on that building relationship. It's amazing to see the hearts they have been given and how they share those hearts with the rest of the World daily.

Other extensions of my family are my Chinese family. The Americans here that i have grown to know and love. The Chinese here that are in my life daily. I am so thankful for their kindness. I am so thankful for the innocence of my friends here. My Chinese friends teach me so many amazing things everday about life and culture and adaptation. I am so thankful for those things that I get to see in that family everyday. The American family here teaches me patience and kindness. They laugh with me and support me and tease me. It's amazing to get to see the way relationships grow and change when you're in a new place and culture. You really bond over the American holidays and cultural things.

My time at Harding was not always amazing, but some amazing people came out of that deal. Every year it seemed that my friendships changed and relationships. Some of us grew apart.. some together.. and some apart and then together again. I find myself thinking about those friends that I haven't talked to in so long. Time gets away from us, and life gets busy. I am so thankful for each of those seasons of frienships.. and knowing that some of those people still try to keep in touch. I am thankful for those random friendships I made there too. The people I met on the sidewalk once or on the front lawn and we still chat every now and then. I am so thankful for those happy memories.

I'm also thankful for my supporting family at home. They are the reason I am able to be here and to work. The way that DAD answers those talks with him. He has used my amazing Alpine family and other families to support me in my work here. Emotionally and financially. It's a true blessing that I am ever so thankful for today.

There are so many other people in my life that I am thankful for. There are so many things in my life I'm thankful for. So many things I've been given and gotten to experience. I try to remember these things everyday, but this holiday always makes me think more in depth about it. I hope you are all safe and have a joyous day with your families. Love you all and am so thankful for each of you.

Open the Eyes of my Heart

Burnt offerings to their G-ds

Just waiting around

My random friends in Shanghai

QiXiaShan (mountain) and Americans

This month has been full of travels and teaching and exhaustion. Through all of these things, I have had the blessing of getting to see different places, people, and cultures. In my teaching I have gotten to know some of my students so much better recently. The things we have talked about in class have really opened my eyes to their lives and trials. I have learned the different backgrounds they have, and thought processes. It's wonderful to see when they have a different thought or experience.

Through my travels, I have met some new friends. I have seen more of China. I have gotten to experience so many new things. This weekend was no exception. We left on Friday afternoon for Nanjing. I was really excited for this trip because of the friends we got to catch up with, and because Nanjing is such a cool city. I hope to return very soon to go to the museums and historical things in this city. This is a city that many governments of China have started and died. It's a city that has been attacked countless times. It's a very historical city in China.

We climbed a mountain on Saturday. It was beautiful. The leaves were all changing, so it looked like fall at home. We climbed up, and from the top you could look out over the river. The river was large and hard to see from all the fog. Lots of barges on it. Then dinner at Burger King and coffee for a few hours with good friends. It was wonderful to catch up with people and just talk about our lives. I find that I appreciate fellowship much more now. It's wonderful to be around people of like mind.

Friendships in China are so different. With the Chinese, you can only get so deep. With foreigners.. especially other Americans, it seems that you get so deep so much more quickly. You bond on this "foreigner in China" status and share so many more intimate details more quickly about onesself. It's been amazing to see into these people's hearts and souls while I'm getting to know them. I am learning so much about others and about myself in the process. My eyes are being opened daily to see in a new way.

Then on Sunday.. I went to Shanghai to see Tara. She went to Harding with me for a bit, then taught here for 6 months (my first year), and is now back visiting for a couple weeks. She has been so busy.. so I just made a quick stopover in Shanghai to visit with her. It was wonderful to see her and catch up. We got to talk for a long time about life and where we are in it. How much we love China and the things we get to see. It was nice to be around someone who misses China as much as I missed it. It was a good reminder for me. I was starting to get a little bitter about things here, but she reminded me of the simplicity of life here. It was a nice refreshing visit.

When I got to Shanghai though.. I had some time to kill before she got back.. so I wandered out of the subway at People's Park and thought about going to sit and read at Starbucks. When I got out of the subway station, 4 students stared and said their "Hellos." I smiled and said Hello.. well, we ended up visiting and then they invited me to a tea showing. Where the woman told about all the different teas and how they are made and we get to sample them. We also learn the history and everything. It was so interesting. It was one of those random moments where you remember you aren't alone in this World. You remember to seize every opportunity given you. I was definitely given an opportunity and took advantage of it. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Monday in Shanghai... I literally fell of the Subway. I was trying to get off and people are all in the way.. Oh China. A guy picked up my leg and literally threw me out of the subway car and onto the ground. I had a swarm of people trying to help me and also yelling at the guy. It was crazy. I am bruised and a little sore, but such is life. Shanghai is busy and crowded. Not my favorite place on earth, but close. I did get Cold Stone Creamery, and Crocs. Found an amazing book store! Can't wait to go back to the book store. Other than that.. nothing. It was wonderful to see Tara.

Now I am back in Ningbo. I am exhausted. This week is really busy. Thanksgiving is Thursday. I will be cooking a lot for that and hosting it in my apartment. Today is Graham's birthday party.. so Burgers at the Irish place downtown and bowling. Tomorrow is Wednesday... so cleaning and cooking for Thursday. Friday I am leaving for Wuhan. Steve, Jesse, and I are going out to central China to visit some American friends. Harding people out there and others. We are having a big Thanksgiving on Saturday. I am really excited to see my friends. An overnight train on Friday and Sunday should be fun too. Then I'm done traveling until Christmas. I will go to ChongQing to visit my best Chinese friend, Angus. He will be home from England for a couple days. I am so excited about seeing him.

Needless to say.. my eyes are opened daily to new things and experiences. Life is different and fun all in one. I love what I'm doing and where I am. I just hope that I continue to look UP when I am faced with hard things like being thrown off a subway car.

Thoughts

My thoughts this week have been really focused on friends and family. I have been getting a little homesick with Thanksgiving nearing. Skype has helped this a lot. My friends now have skype.. so I get to video call them frequently and my parents now too. So it's helping. I still miss hugs a whole lot.

I have had friends requesting certain thought requests.. and this has been heavy on my heart. It pains me to hear the troubles that we endure in this life. The things that we are put through.. but I know it's all to make us stronger. It's all for a reason and that's comforting. I see situations and the good that came out of them and it cheers my heart, but then I see where it's all headed and it hurts again. I just wish I could hug and comfort and make it all better. I never have the right words or advice.. but I try. It just all sounds so cliche to me.

Today we went to a big sale downtown. I got a backpackers backpack for 30 US dollars. This will come in handy when I am traveling for 6 weeks in January. We are going to visit family in Thailand and Cambodia. It's going to be wonderful to be there to encourage them and see the work there. Then we will head north to Harbin (almost Russia) for the ice festival. I only want to stay an hour to take a picture.. i'm not looking forward to becoming an exhibit when I freeze into a block of ice. Then to Beijing or Shanghai for our winter retreat. We'll see.

I know I'm rambling a lot. I can't really keep a continuous thought. That's what China will do to you. It turns you ADD and unable to focus. I think it has to do with not speaking Chinese. In America you hear your language and focus on conversation. Here I don't have to focus. I don't know what you're talking about.. so I just space out until I'm motioned at to do something. Nice huh...

Other thoughts.. It's cold here. I'm wishing I had brought my pea coat.. really I just want to go home and get another suitcase. But I'm fine and I'm going to get a coat made probably. A warm one. Teaching is going well.. I've been a little sick so I'm exhausted. I'm going to spend Thanksgiving with the Americans here and then some of us are going to Central China to visit a bunch of Americans for a big dinner. I will get to see all of my Harding peeps.. and I'm excited. Tomorrow we are going to Nanjing to visit some Harding peeps too. I'm happy to get a change of scenery and people. They have Burger King.. and H&M and Ikea.

I will blog about Nanjing when I get back. It's one of the most cultural cities in China.. read about it. It's amazing. Nanjing/Nanking.

Foreigners

Steve is Number 4

Harlequin's vs. China Men

In China when you meet a foreigner it's a new kind of friendship. You automatically bond over living in China and being a foreigner.. and outsider. You have something in common with people that you probably wouldn't if you weren't in this situation. It's refreshing to know that you can start a conversation with any foreigner in China and at least having something to talk about.

Life here is interesting and opening doors I never thought would be opened. In America you meet people with different backgrounds all the time, but here it's even more widespread. I am learning so much from foreigners I've met. I spent a long time talking to this one girl on Saturday night. We immediately got into some really deep issues. It's interesting just how quickly friendship moves along here. We were talking about things that not even my friends at home had ever asked about. I learned so much about this one girl in just that short time. I'm continually amazed at the way that Dad works in situations here.

Last time he brought me Molly. She was amazing and wonderful and kept me sane. This year.. he's brought me the most random friendships and people that I have come to rely on talking to and being around. It's not like I am losing my independence.. it's just that I miss talking to those people and seeing those people when I'm gone for even a weekend. Jessica and Bekah have really become some of my closest friends. We spend a lot of time together and laugh and really connect. It's amazing to watch each of us grow and help each other through each day.

I met a lot of foreigners this weekend at the Rugby match and dinner. It was wonderful to just sit and speak quickly. It was good fellowship. I also finally understand Cricket and still love Aussie accents. It was a great weekend in Hangzhou. I'm back in Ningbo now.. and exhausted. Another week of teaching and then Nanjing this weekend. Then Thanksgiving week and then Wuhan for the weekend. I'm taking a break from traveling after that till ChongQing for Christmas. Angus will be home for 2 weeks on holiday.. so I'm going to hang out for 4 days with him and a couple other friends. I am so excited about that weekend. It's hard to be in China and not be with Angus or the boys. I miss those friendships. I'm excited for 4 days with my Chinese best friend.

As for everything else.. I'm safe. I'm happy. I'm a little sick. I'm trying to improve my Chinese. I'm great at bargaining. I'm studying a lot. I'm reading more. I'm thinking of writing a book.. but not sure how to even start something like that. I'm also busy thinking about my future a lot. I have a lot of decisions to make soon.. and I know I'll end up where I'm supposed to be. I just want to be where my talents are being used. I'm finding what those talents are, and trying to follow that path.

Love

I have a passion for this country. Life here is so intersting. It's not always perfect or fun, but that comes with living in a new place. I do love learning something new everyday, and being challenged with new ideas and thoughts everyday.

I have to live a completely different life here, but I find myself relying more on my True Love in my heart. I rely on that Love more here because it's what I know will carry me through. That Love is what helps me grow everyday as a person. I see things in a completely different light. I am not a citizen of this World and that helps my culture shock a lot.

The Chinese people are amazing. They still believe in true love, Mr. Right, and Marriage for life. I love this about them. Most of their music still revolves around love and friendship. They are kind and caring. They are excited about foreigners and our lives. I just hope that we continue to teach them the good things.

Everyday life has it's moments. I've had a couple myself lately. Those are the moments that I retreat. Those are the days that I like to leave and spend time figuring things out. Yesterday was one of those days. So many emotions and things just came out yesterday. I had to deal with a lot. I turned to my True Love and he provided me comfort. His words were more than enough comfort and then he provided me with arms to hold me. He is truly amazing.

I was reading a letter from Paul. His second one to Corinth... the first part about lines 8-11 described my toils really well. It's amazing the history behind all of this. It's comforting and scary to know that the World has always been this way.

Weekend of Fellowship

The Ningbo girls

Some beautiful girls

The Whole Group

This weekend was a complete success. It was wonderful to spend time with our family here in China. The travelers all arrived on Friday evening and got all checked in and had some dinner. Then we spent some time together just visiting.. introducing the people who didn't know each other. It was nice. We also had dessert.

Hangzhou has a new donut shop.. Big Apple Donuts and Coffee. It's amazing!! I can't even put into words.. they are works of art, as are most things in China. They have tons of flavors and fillings and icings and sprinkles. Their coffee is even good.

Saturday we spent time Singing.. lots of time. It was amazing to have 4 part harmony and to be able to sing those songs that we just never get to sing anymore. The discussion time was great too.. we got into some deeper things.. and got to get out some frustrations. It was good fellowship.

The whole weekend as a whole was fabulously encouraging and fulfilling. We got fed, and learned a lot from each other. A complete success.

This was all made possible because of my wonderful family at home, Alpine, and the contributions they make to my work here in China. Thank you so much. It is amazing to be apart of a family that thinks the work in the rest of the world is so important. I appreciate the thougts and encouragement that I receive daily from my family.

Along with the foreigner time this weekend.. on Sunday night one of our students/friends went swimming. It was a Glorious Day made by our Father, and we rejoiced in it completely.. and still are.

This coming weekend we are going to have a retreat with our Chinese family/friends. Some of us are going to get together and spend the weekend in thought and fellowship together. Our family has asked a lot about fasting and the meaning.. so that is our focus. So from Thursday until Sunday night we are going to be fasting and teaching and learning. Please be keeping this in your talks with our Dad. It should be a true time of growth for all of us..

I want to clarify that the retreat was strictly foreigners, but that a couple of our Chinese friends fellowshipped with us for dinner and the like. It was all amazing.

Amazed by Perfection

Our Dad has a way of knowing exactly what we need and when we need. He has a way of touching lives with those around them.. when we are desperate for some hope. He has a way of showing us things and revealing things to us. It is always perfect timing.

I am not saying life is perfection.. because we are human and this is Earth. I am saying that our Dad and our lives with him are perfection. I am saying that even the tough times are used in a way to bring people together or to Glorify him. It is perfect. I have had an inspiring weekend of all of these things.

Weekends are hard for me. Sundays are emotional. Fridays are full.. Saturdays are busy.. Sundays are extremely busy along with extreme emotions for me. I sit in family meeting next to Morgan usually.. a seeker. I am brought to tears with his comments of belief and passion for our Dad. I am brought to tears during our thought time because I so desperately want him to become one of my brothers. I want him to take that last step.

I am brought to tears with the desire to hold the hand of the person next to me when we are talking to our Dad. I crave that personal touch.. that reassurance that I'm not alone. The comfort of a hand in mine praising HIM. I yearn for a hug from a brother/sister. A comfort that I'm not alone in this life.

This Saturday there was a lot on my mind. Saturday night when I got back to my apartment I desperately just wanted to talk to someone. I just wanted to be reminded that I wasn't forgotten about over here. My friend Jessica skyped me about then.. just randomly. She is living in France right now. I haven't talked to her in about 3 years. It was one of the best conversations ever. I love how you can just pick up with certain people .. just like you spoke yesterday. I find that in our Family this is often easy. We spent 2 1/2 hours on skype video call just talking. It was the most encouraging thing. It's hard to put into words, but it was just perfection.

I am continually driven to my knees with desire/passion/love. I am constantly thinking about the people here and my role in their lives. How I am being used to mold their lives. How they are molding me everyday into this new person. The timing in my life has always been perfect. The people brought into it.. and the things I have learned from them has always been perfect. The things I have been taught, and passed on to others in need has always been perfect. The hardest things in my life has turned out to be perfect. My life IN HIM is perfect.

Since he gives me this perfection everday.. I am doing all I can to give him perfection. I am not perfect, but everyday I strive for it. Everyday I try harder and harder to be like him and closer to him. Give him my full life. This week I am going to make a new committment and grow closer to him than I have in a long time. I am going to spend my week in "thought and study" completely. No TV or Movies this week. No internet this week. Complete devotion to HIS word and life. You'll hear from me next week after the retreat.

"We cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb.. We fall down and lay our Crowns at the feet of Je--s. The Greatness of mercy and Love at the feet of Je--s. And we cry Holy holy holy, and we cry Holy holy holy. and we cry holy holy holy is the lamb."

Halloween

Dead by my own sword..

Mummy Wrap!

Some of my students..

the only guys who dressed up

a couple of the americans

I love Halloween in China. It's cool to be 5 years old again and dress up and. We had a big party for our students..

Scents

This week has been a whirlwind. I can't believe how quicly time has gone by. I have almost been here 2 months.. only 8 left. I have just completed mid-term exams and am getting geared up for the harder part of teaching. The way I do class is.. the first half is a little easy.. me evaluating English levels.. working on the 3 most common mistakes. Starting to get them to think outside the box a little. The second half is focused more on Culture and thinking and Life lessons.. while improving your confidence in your English speaking ability.

I love the 2nd half a lot. This week we will watch Remember the Titans. They love this movie and it really gets to show them a lot of American Culture.. and we are going to play a game of football on Saturday.. November 1st. I think this is a perfect day for football..

This week the smells in China were intensified a bit. I don't know why or how, but every smell was a lot more clear. There are a few good smells.. I have a jasmine plant, which is one of my favorite smells and teas in the World. I bought some candles and they smell fantastic.. which is hard to find here. Then there are the street smells. The public squatty potty is not my favorite smell. In fact I had my first experience of getting sick from smelling something so ghastly. It was horrible. There are the smells of the street food.. not all terrible, but there is chow dofu (fried tofu/stinky tofu). This is one of the worst smells I have ever smelled.

I love smells because I think that it is a major memory jogger. I smell things periodically and it completely takes me back to a certain place/day/time. I can remember what the smell is and where I was when that smell was most prominant in my life. I can sometimes remember a certain event and what we were wearing. Everytime I smell strawberry fanta I remember this time in Africa when we were on a long trip and stopped at a little hut/store and all got strawberry fantas. I was wearing my little plaid dress.. dark blue one.

China has very distinct smells that I will probably never smell again. If I do then yes.. I will have memories flooding back to me about my life here and all the walks I took down the ally ways. I love smells, but when they are as strong as this week it's a little more difficult to stomach. The last bad smell is the exhaust of a bus/truck/buggy.. it's everywhere here, and it's harming my lungs and breathing drastically. not as drastically as the second hand smoke though.. it's the worst part. I guess it comes with the territory of living in the most populated/polluted country ever.

It's still amazing though.

first cold day

I remember this day in 4th grade.. I went to school in shorts and a t-shirt, and come home freezing. It had turned cold in the 8 hours I was at school. When I got home, my mom had our fall/winter box of clothes in the living room waiting for us to rummage through. I was so appreciative of the warmer clothes since I had been cold all day.

Today was that day. I came home from class and curled up with a book. I left for dinner in my same clothes and it was suddenly so cold outside. I was freezing. I didn't go back for a sweatshirt because I'm trying to make my thighs not grow.. and climbing to the 4th floor 10 times a day is not helping that. Anyways.. so on my way back tonight, when I was so cold, I got a phone call. It was my waiban (foreign teacher director's student helper) and she said I could come pick up my package. I got a package from my mom. In the wonderful package was a sweatshirt. It was just like that day in 4th grade.. when I was cold and there were my winter clothes. Granted it wasn't my living room floor, it was half way around the world.. it was still in a box and it was packed with the same love and caring for my well being.

I am so completely blessed with such an amazing Mom. She has always taken great care of me and been there for me. She is completely selfless with everyone she meets. Thanks Mom!

I am never happy with cold weather, but after the scalding heat of this summer.. I welcome the cool down. Ask me again in January/February and I will tell you I'm ready for summer! haha. Teaching is going really well. We're doing Mid-Terms this week. This is a great opportunity for me to hear their progress and to just talk to my students. I've learned a lot from my students so far. Next week I will show Remember the Titans. This is a great American Culture movie. They also love to learn about American sports.. Football in particular.

The foreigner retreat is coming up. It's all coming together quite nicely. I have figured most of it out. I love organizing events like this. I really do Love this work. It's going to be a great weekend of fellowship with other foreigners. It will be really encouraging.

Thank you for all of your support and thoughts while I'm here. I really appreciate it.

Blabbering

In China I sometimes feel like I'm just blabbering.. not making any sense to anyone. I don't feel like I can speak English well.. or Chinese. I'm just making up my own language as I go. It's more a mix of Spanish, Swahili, Chinese, and English.. less English than anything.

I find myself teaching class in what we call Chinglish.. a mix of Chinese and English. Common phrases are.. "Anything is OK." "Maybe... we can do it." We always start a sentence with maybe.. Chinese are very indirect people. No one wants to commit to anything or say how they really feel. I find myself following these rules as well.

One of my students today called me multicultural. I am not fully American.. I have many cultural influences and live my life that way. I take this as a compliment because it's means that I have gotten to experience our Father's World. I don't belong in just one corner of it. I can adjust to many cultures and many places.

Lately I have been busy just being. I have been doing mid-terms this week. They are going well. I can see a change in my student's English. Next week I am going to show them remember the titans. This is a great film to show them American culture and also racism. They really like this movie a lot in China. I like showing it to them. I will have no day classes which is nice. I will have lots of time to read and study.

I am trying to get past the last stages of my cold.. I'm exhausted a lot. I am sleeping a whole lot and trying to get my energy back up. Today I played Tennis and it was good. Now I will nap for a little bit before tonight activities. Tonight we will go to a Chinese Opera. I am really excited. I love going to Culture things like this. Our school is really good about getting us tickets to things like this. It's such a great learning experience.

All of our studies are going really welll too.. Friday is full and Saturday is about half full and Sunday is extremely busy. The foreigner retreat is coming along really well. I am really excited about this. I hope that it is successful and something we start to do bi-annually. We'll see.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and support. I don't say Thank you enough for supporting me in this amazing adventure. Thank you.

Fabulous Day

Today was just one of those days that was perfect. I woke up to short messages from my brother, who I haven't gotten to talk to since Chicken E opened last week. I got to catch up a little with him. Then class was great!

Somedays I really dread going to class.. the students are difficult sometimes. My Wednesday morning class is the hardest one sometimes. They don't want to speak English or do the lesson. It's so frustrating. Today they were really interested and I didn't have to remind them to speak English the whole time. It was great. We are talking about Gender Roles... so interesting in China. So much tradition, but with the mix of western culture the times are changing. It's interesting to hear everyone's point of view. Instead of them presenting, I am just going around and individually talking to each group. It's wonderful. I get to correct their English and help them understand more of my culture.. while each person has more opportunity to talk and teach me. It was wonderful.

Then I had a little time to relax.. Then I met Milk and Bekah for lunch. It was delicious. Milk was great at ordering food that we liked. We didn't even make any requests.. he just did it all. Usually we get weird food when we trust Chinese completely with the ordering. He did a great job! It was delicious.. Bekah and I spent the afternoon grading her class journals and then we met some of her students so they could practice their English. It was really fun. The girls loved the picture I showed of Eric.. "So Handsome!"

Morgan then took us downtown to get Bekah's necklace fixed, and I bought some yarn so I can start knitting Christmas presents. I'm really excited. Thanks to Daph and my pocket size Knitting for Dummies.. I love knitting and I brought my crochet hooks with me so I can crochet this year too. so exciting.

Through all of this busyness.. the day was gorgeous. It was sunshiney and bright all day with clear skies. The sun was warm and felt so good. The air had that smell of Fall moving in.. I love those warm fall days.. where Summer isn't completely gone, but you can tell Winter is coming. It's amazing the feeling it gives me. I also loved riding my bike today. It's so much fun to just get on and dodge cars and people. It was just one of those days that you remember how blessed you truly are. It was a truly Fabulous Day!

Oh Life

Favorite Chinese picture..

There are moments in life when you realize that you have changed. You are a new person with new ideas and ways of living. I had one of those realizations this last week. This last week was really hard.

First... I had a bad teaching day. I had to get upset with my classes for speaking Chinese and not English and had to threaten lowering their grades.

Then.. My computer crashed.

Then.. I got a cold and fever and blah.

Then.. I had to get mad at more students.

Then.. I got homesick for the first time.

At home, my family is opening our new Chicken E in Longview. It's on Judson inside the loop. Go eat! We have all kinds of deliciousness there. My brother is finally in a job that he enjoys and is really really good at. It's fun to hear about everything, but hard to be away during such an exciting day. There isn't much more exciting than opening day.. the new employees and how everyone comes together in the franchise. It's nice how Chicken E is still a family. I miss those people.

My computer crashing was the hardest thing of the week.. and then a Chinese student came over to fix it and made it worse. Thankfully one of the teachers here was a Computer Science man and he fixed it. It was the happiest day. I didn't even lose any of my music or photos or anything important. I am so thankful. Everything that went wrong this week ended up being fine.

The point that I realized I was a new person.. When my computer crashed I wasn't even stressed. I didn't freak out and worry about it and lose sleep. I didn't worry about emails going unanswered or facebook unchecked. I didn't think immediately about how to get it fixed. I just didn't stress about it. I have always been a worrier. I have always lost sleep worrying about useless things. This time I didn't I just shut my computer down and eventually started asking for help on how to fix it. When Chinese couldn't fix it.. I just said "No Worries." It's such a nice change to know that I'm not in control.

I hope that when I return stateside that i can remember this new person I am and know that it will all work out.

The cold is getting better.. it's moved down to my chest and my fever is broken. I have been sleeping a lot. I have also started planning some retreats for this year. I am really excited about them. I hope that they are successful and will become annual or bi-annual events for the foreigners of the east coast. It's so nice to get together and encourage each other. Sometimes you can feel really isolated here from others.

Everything else is going well. Fridays are full of studies and Sundays as well.. It's encouraging and nice to see the work. It's the best part of each weekend. I have also found a new friend and Chinese teacher. Her name is Katie and she is precious. She says she has a lot of free time and wants to help me with my Chinese. I graciously accepted and will compensate her for her time with English lessons or dinner. I'm excited to have a new friend that is in no way associated with my teaching in school. Also, Milk and I are getting to be better friends. Lots of questions.. so that's encouraging. We talk a lot about my Father and how we should live our lives. It's nice to talk deeply on this subject.

This week is shaping up to be nice already.

Good Friends and Western Food

disclaimer from last post.. your shirt doesn't go all the way over your head.. just up above your stomach. and not girls.. just men.

This week was National Holiday in China. October 1st is National Day that celebrates the formation of the People's Republic of China. It's a huge huge holiday here where everyone travels and schools are out and everything. Equivilant to Thanksgiving week.. It's about traveling with friends and family. Mainly they travel to the most popular places in China.

I went to Hangzhou. I love Hangzhou and I had some friends to visit there so I decided to just go spend a week in my old city. It was wonderful. I got to meet up with some of my older Chinese friends. YoYo joined us for a Mexican dinner at Panchos and the Night Market. Always fun. A true Chinese experience. The night market.. not Panchos. haha. Then I had dinner one night with Ice.. a sister from my year before. She is wonderful and newly engaged. It was great to sit down and visit with her. Her English is phenominal.. like being with a native English speaker.

The rest of the week was spent with Steve, Jesse, and Jace. It was great to be with the guys again. I have always just felt more comfortable around guys and so it was good to get back to those simple relationships. They are so much fun.. Jesse is great to watch.. he is a 6'10 red head. It's the first time I've been in a public place here and not even one person looked at me. It was all about Jesse. They love basketball here so Jesse and Steve got all the attention. It was so much fun to watch.

Another thing I loved about this week was the conversation and down time. Being in China with all Chinese and some foreigners really takes it's toll on your converstations. I am used to constantly talking about Dad and the things he does and how he works.. and you can't do that here. So this whole week was just really good conversation about that and how things are changing and how we need to be acting. It was just incredible to be with people who believe the same things and find that same passion in their hearts. It was definitely uplifting. Exactly what I needed this week. I feel completely rejuvenated and filled. I spent my days mostly alone and that was wonderful. One on One time with Dad and his beautiful Chinese people and creation here.. Incredible.

Some funny things about this week.. Hangzhou is normally a city of 6 million or so.. this week there were about 12 million there on holiday. It was insane. Traffic and people everywhere. I have never seen so many people in one place. Lots of people from the country were in too and even saw some minority groups traveling. Very rare in China.

I got punched in the face by a 3 year old. I was just sitting on the steps minding my own business, listening to my music and all of a sudden this little fists connects hard with my cheekbone. This kid sitting near with his family had run over and jacked me in the face.. I just laughed because I was so thrown off. It was hilarious.

All in all.. I saw our Dad everywhere this week and was truly amazed at his World and his people.

Chinese Men

Here is a little thing about Chinese men.. I like to make them nervous. I like to try and flirt with them because they get scared and giggle. Chinese men giggle.. it's cute. This is the first time I have experienced this kind of reaction to one of my comments. Usually I just tell boys they are handsome or a compliment like that. Well... I ended up with a Chinese boyfriend and his name is Milk.. haha.

My story is as follows.. I was hanging out at an impromptu English corner. It is a place for students to practice their English and ask foreigners questions... not so much fun, but still.
So I get to this one group of students and they are all just hilarious. I finally sit down and there is this one guy that just keeps talking to me.. eye contact and all. Eye contact is not normal for Chinese people.. especially guys to girls. Anyways.. we chat.. blah blah blah. When I'm leaving.. Milk follows me down the stairs... eye contact boy. He asks for my email so we can chat on msn. I say sure.. I like new friends. He pulls out his phone and it's an Iphone. I just say.. "Is that an Iphone? I love you!" his reply is a smile and "I have a car too."

I didn't even know how to react because I never get reactions like that. It made me giggle and nervous. I only say he's my boyfriend because last night we exchanged phone numbers. We are now more than computer dating. haha. He has invited me to hang out during the holiday next week.. should be fun. anyways.

Another thing about Chinese men.. when they are hot they pull their shirts up over their stomachs. I don't think this is very fair.. not only am I pouring in sweat, but they act like they are so cool looking and if I were to even think about pulling up my shirt to even wipe the sweat off my brow.. they would all croak. crazy. I don't think that's very fair. They definitely do not need to think they look good when they do that.

Nostalgia

I think the best way to make someone nostalgic is to put them in a place that they loved so much. I returned to Hangzhou this last weekend and it was my demise. The minute I got back it felt like home. I knew where I was at all times, what I was doing. I could understand the local Chinese. They speak Hangzhou hua.. not crazy Ningbo hua. I was seeing people from my life before. It was like I never left. I felt like I was home.

The first story I have is from the taxi ride to my friend's school. We were at a red light and there is a taxi next to us.. and he hawks a huge nasty lougee. He proceeds to spit outside my window.. then looks over and smiles at me. I just shook my head in disbelief with a smirk on my face. He asked me where I was from and I said "Mei Guo" (America). He then says.. "Mei Guo Ren Mei Nu" (beautiful American woman). I just shook my head and yelled.. you just said that with the same mouth you spit that nastiness out of??? crazy man. He just laughed at me. Gross.. somethings in China.

The rest of the weekend consisted of meeting new Americans in Hangzhou, Mexican food, Pizza, Night Market, Starbucks, Chinese food, Subway, Family, Hot Pot, Hair straightening, Chinese food, Old students and friends. It was absolutely amazing. I missed the people the most. I love my old students and friends and it was so wonderful to just be with them. I got to see my old skating crew and I got to see my old hairshop boys.. at least 2 of them. I got to do so much.

The new family there is wonderful. I hung out with Steve and Beth the most. It was great to get to know them. Then there were Rachel and JP and Bev. All so sweet. I will be visiting quite often. Hangzhou is a wonderful place to do things and visit. Lots to see... anyways.. commercial over.

Jackie and Cammie are another of my favorite parts of Hangzhou. They are who I stay with in general downtown. Even when I lived there.. I was at their place for most weekends. They are wonderful. We just fell right back into it all. It was just so normal. We laughed and had a blast. We went to Maya for food like normal and then enjoyed the company of many other foreigners. Something we always did well was meet new foreigners. It was just wonderful.

Today Bekah decided to get her hair cut.. that was fun. We found a guy that is great at it. He knows what he is doing.. which is hard to find in China. It only cost 10 yuan.. which is about $1.50. Amazing. I have never known it to be so incredibly cheap. Even at our old shop it was like 25 yuan. crazy. THen we went over to the coffee place that our friend Bill opened. It is great. Except that everytime it turns into English Corner.. Freshmen wanting to practice their English with the foreigners.. not fair. We just want to hang out. oh well.. we got banana splits and the sugar was definitely more than we were used to. We were all cracking up. Bekah and Jessica and I went. We 3 girls have so much fun when we're together. Always laughing and feeding off each other's humor. It's wonderful.

Sleep is coming soon.. It's my friend Chris's birthday and so happy birthday from China. You get an extra 13 hours to celebrate. Love you all..

Major Culture

China is such an amazing place. I know that none of you will understand this.. at least not thuroughly. It is truly an incredible place with amazing people. I have always truly loved eyes. I think they tell so much about a person. How they look at someone and what you can see in them. You can tell exhaustion, true happiness, and sadness, and age by the eyes.

Today a few of my students took me to the market to buy food and then cook me dinner. The people that sell the food at the market are truly amazing people. Everyday they come out and set out their goods and rely on us to pass up one vendor and pick them so they can make money for their families. There are all kinds of people at the market. Since it is what a Chinese grocery store is.. everyone shops there. The floors are wet and dirty from the buckets of splashing fish.. and the children's split pants. The food is just laying out on the table. There are vegetables, spices, rices, meats, seafood. Everything just sitting out. No refridgeration.. or anything. If you want to be cured of your middle class ways.. go to a Chinese market.

The dinner my students cooked was possibly the best Chinese meal I have ever eaten. It was amazing. We had pork and potatoe soup that was to die for. I had 4 helpings.. and then we had pork adn pepper, pork with greens, mushrooms, and carrots.. it was awesome! We also had shrimp that was huge and so so good.. till i got the pregnant one.. then i was kind of grossed out. And then we had my favorite.. Chicken Feet. I love chicken feet. There isn't much meat, but it's so good. They are so tasty. I know that freaks you out a little, but it's amazing.

It was nice to have people in my apartment and cook for me.. and I learned some things. I learned the secret ingredient that i didn't know about. It's why my chinese food never tastes right. I have it now though.. it will always taste right now. I love Chinese food and people. It's just been one of those days where the culture really revieled itself today.

Classes are going really well.. most of my students English is so good.. that is nice because it means that I can do my more complicated thinking lessons. I am excited about that. I seem to be well liked and feared which is a plus. I do not have to listen to Chinese so much in class because they think I will cry. It's nice to know they will follow the rules.

Really.. you should all go try some chicken feet.

Sometimes We Wait on a Typhoon

Well, this weekend has been quite boring. Chuck and Nelda came on Thursday night.. We had a wonderful dinner with them on Friday night. It was nice to see them. I was going to go to Hangzhou to visit some friends, but everyone told me it would be very dangerous because the Typhoon was coming. It was going to hit on Saturday morning.. then Saturday afternoon.. then night.. then Sunday morning.. then Sunday night... and now today. We have had a little sprinkle and no typhoon like weather. So..

This weekend we played Sultans of Fury aka Settlers of Catan. It's this addicting game where you build settlements and make trades until you reach 10 points. I love it. It's a luck game.. even if you have strategy.. it's all about luck and the roll of the dice. We have taught a couple of our Chinese friends how to play. It's been fun. Other than that.. we went to Tesco for a little bit of foreign groceries. Today we are going to Metro for some real foreign shopping. I'm excited to stock my fridge with turkey, chicken, and olives. Salsa too..

Classes are going really well. My students are wonderful. I am so glad I wrote out my lesson plans before I came. So much less work to do now. It's nice to have all of that finished and having a plan for the semester is wonderful. I'm hoping to show them the moving Remember the Titans. It has so much American Culture in it and tells all about Integration and American Football. American high school.. and teenage life. It's just a great movie with a great message. There is so much discussion to come out of it as well. We'll see if I can get a media room.

Ningbo is so different than Hangzhou. A great way I heard it described was.. Ningbo is like Abilene and Hangzhou is like Dallas.. not Fort Worth, but Dallas. So it's taking a little adjusting. It's not as easy to get things here like Hangzhou. It's not as clean or pretty of a city either. I miss my West Lake and Wushan Square. I just love Hangzhou and it's going to be hard to adjust, but it's working out. Having a group of people around me is really helping. If I were in Hangzhou I would basically be alone. So yeah.. and the fact that I can visit Hangzhou is really nice.

I think we might go to Beijing for the holiday. I will probably not stay as long as everyone wants to. I'm thinking of going somewhere else that week too.. I've done the Beijing thing and I'm not really interested in being there the whole time. but we'll see. depends on everyone else. I've found some really cheap hostels and such. It'll be fun.

Family meeting is amazing. I forget what it's like to have family in other countries. It's so small and quaint and everyone is so wonderful. I'm so blessed to have these experiences. There are so many new friends joining our family. Our Dad is really working around us and growing his flock in so many surprising people. It's amazing to witness and be apart of. I'd like to say that we American family members are doing a lot of it, but it all starts with our friends here.. and their work. their talking about our Dad with their friends. The way they all shine is just incredible.