Wrapping Paper or Dangerous Weapon?

Monday, December 5th—I had a nice long Skype chat with my sister Stefanie during my lengthy "office time" today at school, which helped me recover from naughty students. In my "biggest class," the kids individually are darling, but are so chatty and hard to control. The most annoying part of that is when there are TWO teachers assigned with me, supposed to be helping, but instead are correcting papers, doing something outside of the classroom, or practicing a dance while facing the back wall of the classroom (yep, this has happened). Oy. Frustrations aside, today ended nicely...I went out for dumplings with Andrea, Brian, Kelsey, and Johnny (our Chinese friend who helps lead ch*rch often), and headed to my place for B*ble Study. I sat by our friend Esther, who's shy and nervous about her English level, so she often asks questions to whoever she's sitting next to. We two had some good talks and looks into Scr*pture discussing how Chr*stians can deal with and view hardships in life (2 Cor. 12) and details about he@ven (Rev. 21).

Our jolly friend appears to be scaling some kind of mountain, or maybe just trying to climb a rooftop. I thought his reindeer and sleigh would have eliminated this kind of thing? Either way, the random Chr*stmas decor outside our grocery store made Kelsey and I chuckle.

Tuesday, December 6th—One of the up-sides to understanding a bit of Chinese? You can thank your student when she says "Jin tian ni hao piao liang" (today you're very beautiful)! Aww. For weeks, my boss has been preparing a "drammer" (drama) of Snow White that some of our kiddies will perform...I have the very important role of narrator, and have been reminded for weeks to practice and memorize. But today, I was pleasantly surprised when she asked me to simply record my voice on a computer, to be played before their drama. Sweet, one less thing for the token foreigner to be in the spotlight with. As it turns out, I spoke too soon; I still "must" be there for the big show, but I will essentially be lip-syncing my 4 sentences, that I easily could have recited live, working awkwardly to match my lips with the recording. I'll letcha know how that goes ;) I came home to find our FoC friends Peter and Darin in the kitchen, slaving away to make tacos. They'd gone shopping with Kelsey for the supplies, and I picked up stuff to make a packet of ranch dressing. We dove into our tasty dinner, watched a Chr*stmas movie, and played a silly game I'd brought along from America.

As the name suggests, this friendly gas station chain often will bring a smile to my face.

Wednesday, December 7th—The things that fascinate kids can be quite amusing...I regret writing a "to-do list" on my hand this morning, cuz I never heard the end of it...dozens of my students commented and questioned curiously, and I don't know how to say "I just have a lot on my mind" in Chinese. In my "big class" today, the students were arguing about whether I was Chinese or American--not an unusual convo for them. But I burst out laughing when one gem of a boy busted out: "Julie bu shi Mei Guo Ren, ta shi Wai Guo Ren! (Julie's not American, she's a foreigner). Same thing, little man :) Kelsey (the roomie) and I chilled together in the afternoon, I made a run to Metro--a bulk-sale Sam's Club-esque place that sells foreign products--to get a birthday present for Andrea, and met her, Brian, and Kelsey for dinner at McDonald's. Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping and exploring (found a cool alley near to us with a promising-looking restaurant and waitstaff who were quite enthusiastic to see 3 foreigners).

The "light rail" train approaching the station. My fave mode of transport in China.

Thursday, December 8th—After school today I rushed home, picked up bagels and cream cheese from my apartment, and headed to Andrea's place to decorate it with Nicole, in honor of Andrea's 25th b-day. After i led our small-group devo, we busted out the bagels and watched some T.V., went out shopping, and got Subway for dinner. Andrea and Aaron couldn't make it to their normal study tonight, due to a conflict with their school, so Nicole and I sat in while our Chinese friend Johnny led it. The group was pretty small, maybe 7 people, but I walked away being pleased with two things, one much more important than the other: 1) I was able to follow and understand a somewhat decent amount of the Chinese 2) Johnny did an absolutely sensational job leading. His story is inspiring in itself...he was "washed" a couple years ago, has delved into the Word, quit his full-time job to translate Chr*stian materials for FoC for a living, and will probably end up training to become a p*stor eventually. As he led the study, patiently answered questions and explained s@lvation freely given for us, I felt like I could look into the future, and see one of the goals of our work here becoming fulfilled: to train up Chr*stians here in China who could eventually carry out ev@ngelism and shepherding the flock on their own. 

Lovely holiday display at Wal-Mart.

Friday, December 9th—After school today I came home, cleaned the house, took a nap, and baked brownies for Andrea's birthday. For dinner, we got together with a few Chinese friends, Brian and Aaron for Papa John's. Sylvia, Shirly, Bonnie, Andrea, and I had fun going shopping and talking for a bit afterwards. A couple weeks ago, Bonnie and I had a talk about why going to ch*rch is something Chr*stians want to do...and I don't think I answered it very well. So I wrote out a card to her in the afternoon, with B*ble passages and encouragement to consider attending. When I gave it to her, she told me that she'd already started to visit a c*ngregation here with a friend! He is good :)

Wal-Mart cashiers getting in the holiday spirit.

Saturday, December 10th—Having come down with a bad cold, I cancelled on Sophia and her student's mother, who wanted to treat me to lunch. I rested and relaxed during the day, hoping I'd feel better. When it was time to leave to meet my friend Luan for dinner, I wanted to cancel but resisted, since I hadn't seen her yet my 2nd year in China. I took the light rail train, which was PACKED beyond belief (I guess I hadn't taken it on a Saturday night in awhile, especially during the holiday/shopping season). I had to basically jump on and lean into everyone around me. How "fun." :D Eventually I tracked down Luan in the midst of the hundreds (if not more) of people in the area, shopping at the night market. The market stretches the span of several small streets and alleys, features hundreds of vendors selling clothes, food, souvenirs, knick knacks, anything a shopping-savvy Chinese or keepsake-seeking foreigner could desire. Luan and I had one of my fave types of meals here in Wuhan--Korean BBQ. You get a table for 2 hours, and then it's all-you-can-eat (and grill right at your table) meat, veggies, fruit, drinks, and different sauces. We feasted, caught up, and even discussed G*d and the B*ble a bit. Luan's extended family had recently lost a member as well, so we shared our similar experiences and I told her how ch*rch is important to me. 

Delish meat, veggies, and sauce from Korean BBQ. We went up for seconds...and thirds...and fourths. I don't know how Luan manages to weigh about 100 pounds, but it's just not fair ;)

 After dinner, we walked around and talked, and checked out the night market. Pushing past the throngs of shoppers, I spotted at least a dozen foreigners (quite a feat!) and tried a bit of bartering. Luan bought me some earmuffs, gave me a bag of Chinese snacks, practiced Mandarin with me a bit (for my sake, not hers, haha) and we said goodnight. On my way back, I enjoyed watching a lunar eclipse in progress, having been told about it by Luan and also a text from my friend, Sylvia: "Hello dear, please lift up your head. The moon turns red." :) I came home and joined Brian and Kelsey for the end of their movie and looked out the window at the moon with them. Then, we had a special project. Kelsey had recently bought "wrapping paper." It certainly had the cylindrical shape and glittery red appearance of such, but I had my doubts.

Just a small fraction of eager night-market shoppers, pushing past each other in the blistering cold.

Okay. So I would like you to read these instructions and decide whether it's wrapping paper, or something else, that comes to mind: 

The products is usually used for inside and outside celebration occasions such as wedding, birthday party, business operation anniversary, Christmas evening.


Use Brief.
1. Open the mark with arrow.
2. Hold it with two handsm tightly then turn it clockwise.


Atention.
1. In the wind weather outside, please choose the right direction.
2. Don't against to the bare electric line.
3. Don't attack people.
4. The children under 14 ages is not allowed to use.


The products discharged by pressure of air. No pollution. No fire. No flavor. Assure safety.

A couple days earlier, Kelsey showed me the "wrapping paper," and we laughed heartily over the instructions...but I began to question what REALLY was inside. I tentatively said..."I don't think this is wrapping paper. Maybe it's...fireworks?" Then tonight, with Brian over and lots of speculation, we decided it must either be fireworks or a confetti cannon. We headed to our balcony on the 5th floor, and I watched as Kelsey turned the container and shot confetti into the air and down onto passerby. Several people looked up and shouted (happily) as we laughed, shouted greetings, and vowed that we would buy more to use on New Year's Eve :)

Care package from the most amazing family ever--taco stuff, cheese and crackers, candy, books and magazines, cookie cutters, Chr*stmas decorations, family pictures, Rice-a-Roni, hand sanitizer, and a whole lot of love :)

Sunday, December 11th--I still felt pretty sick today, so after ch*rch I headed home and relaxed, did a bit of planning and organizing for my classes the coming week, and dug into my Chr*stmas care package sent by my absolutely sweet and thoughtful fam! I love you guys and everything inside...the Rice-a-Roni made the perfect American dinner for your daughter/sister who didn't want to leave her apartment that night!