Quick Updates

Well.. the weather for the last month has just made my days all mesh together. I lost complete track of all things living other than my students. It has been a constant rainfall and that is finally gone. The sun came out this week.. so I have returned to life.

Recently, not a whole lot has gone on. Just school... which is nice and underway now. My students seem to be enjoying class a lot and the lessons. They are finally not speaking Chinese in class... my number 1 rule. It seems to be going really well. I love it.

I went to visit David and Sharon Mills this weekend in Jin Hua. It is about 2 1/2 hour bus ride from here. It was wonderful to see them and spend time with them and the family there. They are always such an encouragement to me. It was just like old times. Eating Sharon's amazing dinners, and playing Farkle. The walks and talks. I always learn so much from them, and their guidance. It was wonderful. I also got to see Rain.. who is in the family there. I met her in Hangzhou 2 years ago.

Then I met my soul mate.. in a 52 year old Chinese woman who speaks absolutely no English. It was instantanious friendship. She was hilarious and not afraid to talk to you even if you didn't understand. With hand motions and her slow speech and my broken Chinese.. we talked for a long time. She was so sweet and funny. By the end of the night she was on the phone looking for me a Chinese boyfriend.. and also asking if I would be her adopted daughter. She is in the family in Jin Hua and I can't wait to go visit her again.

I have broken down and am paying for Chinese lessons. I figure it is the only way I am truly going to learn Chinese. I have 2 tutors. One is great at giving me lots of vocabulary and the other is great at helping me with my tones and grammar. I am learning a lot so far... I find myself speaking more and more Chinese. It is comforting to speak the language a little better when I'm living in a place. I feel more in touch with the locals, which is something that I love. It is so important to learn the language, and here it's so difficult. You can get by with just English because so many people speak it, but there are so many people out of reach because of the language barrier. I am excited to be conquering this.

All in all.. spring is here and it's amazing. This is the most beautiful time of the year in China. The best weather and everything is blooming.. it's amazing to see DAD everywhere. I am also working on seeing his image in EVERYONE. During the frustrating times it's hard to remember that those people were made in HIS image as well. I am working on it. I am reminding myself everyday that these are HIS people even if they are denying him right now. Genesis 1:26-27.