耶稣，我们的安慰 (yesu, womende anwei...Jesus Our Comfort)

~Monday, November 7th--Sunday, November 13th

Monday—This morning I and my bus (and dozens of frustrated commuters) got stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam. Towards the end of my trip, there's a slew of underpasses, roundabouts, etc. Usually it gets a little crazy around that area during rush hour, but today it was just insane...6 or 8 lanes of traffic trying to turn into each other in two giant circles...it came to a standstill for at least 20 minutes, because of course EVERY car and lane wanted to go first. I wish I would've taken a picture to capture the awfulness (and looking, back on it, hilarity) of the traffic jam. While most of us just sat in the bus, looking in extreme annoyance at the discombobulated circles of crammed vehicles, several people asked the bus driver to open the door, and they walked/ran to the next bus stop, hoping things would be better there. I don't think they were ;) After a long day of teaching, making the most of my 3 hour break in the school office, etc., I headed home for B*ble Study. It was a good one; our friend Peter, a strong Chr*stian, brought some new friends along. They were young, only in high school, but could speak a little bit of English. We broke off into small groups for discussion, and Kelsey and I were blessed with opportunities to share the basic gospel message with the girls...our Chinese friend Johnny had to do lots of translating, which was nice of him :) The girls had studied a bit of His Word before, but not much...so getting to explain terms like "redeem" and "salvation," and to share how J*sus bought us at the high price of his own precious & innocent blood was a pretty awesome opportunity. Thanks be to HIM.

Amazingly-named store in the mall :)

Tuesday-Thursday— The middle of this week passed by in a somewhat uneventful blur. School went fine, with the exception of my "Small One" class. Most of the time I'm left to fend for myself with these kids, even though I was promised a co-teacher in every class. Understandably the students misbehave, and understandably I get quite frustrated :( But other classes went well...I'm teaching "countries" with my older boys and girls, which thankfully they pick up on pretty quickly, partly because I know the Chinese translations for all of them except for Japan (I need to learn that one, cuz the kids get a little confused every time it comes up). This lesson also means that I get to declare that I am American, and that I LOVE America, over and over again! It was a nice few days for keeping in touch with old friends too...on Wednesday, one of my old students, Jennifer, called me to say hello. She was disappointed I didn't visit her class the last time I dropped by school (oops), but we had a nice chat anyway. On Thursday I had some funny QQ chats with Taylor and B. Rock, two of my more boisterous Chinese friends. But the coolest thing was welcoming my friend Sophia to Aaron and Andrea's B*ble study on Thursday night. She says she's interested in studying more, she asked some good questions, and mentioned how she shares some of what she learns about HIM with her boyfriend :) Again, thanks be to G*d!

Typical street sign. Thank goodness for the pinyin (Romanized  representations of the sounds of the characters), though I am getting to be able to read a few more characters...

Friday— This first month+ of living in Wuhan this time around has been full of "fun" trips to the police station, visa application office, etc. Sometimes Kevin (my school recruiter) comes with me, but then there's days like today where he sends me off on my own. So, armed only with the address of the place in my phone, and a bit of money, I headed off to find a taxi to the police station, to pick up my passport and visa. Usually if it's not a super-busy time of day, it's easy to get a taxi around my place, since it's a pretty bustling part of the city. But today after walking back and forth, between streets and bus stops and already-taken taxis, I started to get frustrated, and settled on a black taxi (unregistered, basically just guys driving around offering rides, but often at a heightened price). The driver was immediately very friendly, called me beautiful, and while I told him I could only understand a little Chinese, and hardly speak any at all, he dove right in to telling me about his opinion of America, his family (he has a daughter, his wife passed away recently), and a bunch of stuff I only half-understood :) It ended up being an awesome, unforgettable ride...I was happy that my Chinese was sufficient to understand a decent amount of what he said and to respond a little bit. He not only drove me to the police station, but he walked me inside, helped me through the process, and drove me back home. On our way there, he suddenly mentioned that his young daughter speaks English well, and before I knew it, he was dialing her number, and she and I had a nice 15-minute talk. She does speak English very well :) The ride back home was a little awkward because a) we'd long exhausted the Chinese I know (so I faked a phone call to Andrea, just to avoid the dead air and silence) and b) he wanted us to go out to dinner together. Thankfully, I think I said "no thank you" without hurting his feelings, agreeing that maybe we could go together with his daughter sometime. When he dropped me off, he wouldn't let me pay no matter how hard I tried. I think he was even a little insulted that I tried paying him. He gave me his phone number, and his daughter's and I thanked him profusely. All in all, a pretty awesome ride!

Dated, but worthwhile :)

Tonight, Kelsey, Brian, Sarah, and I decided to hit the town! First we had supper near to Brian and Kelsey's school (Brian memorized a decent amount of Chinese dishes, so he ordered us a feast), and then we met up with my friend Kapil, and we took two taxis to "The Toucan," a bar in the first floor of a Holiday Inn (yep, they have those here), billed as a foreigner hangout. I was expecting something tropical with a name like that, but it looked more like an Irish Pub, which was a fun feel. We enjoyed too-pricey drinks and the international atmosphere, and then headed to Soho, a super-packed and popular night club. What we'd failed to consider ahead of time (well, me at least) was that today was "Singles Day" in China. I certainly wasn't familiar with this holiday before coming here, but I guess this celebration of being young and free doesn't lead to much other than texting people "Happy Singles Day" and...going out. So, it was insanely crowded, even by Wuhan standards! After a beer, and trying (without success) to find a niche of the club that had breathing room, we walked to a nearby, and much more enjoyable place. Still tons of people, but room to breathe, and DANCE...if you were willing to climb up onstage (which we were) :) It's commonplace for foreigners to get a little extra attention at a place like this, so when someone came up and asked if I had a boyfriend (in Chinese), I just said yes and pointed to Kapil (he's not, haha) to avoid attention or awkwardness, hehe. The guy immediately walked away, which made me laugh. But, a minute later he PULLED me onstage and I ended up in a big circle of dancing strangers. A little of that goes a long way...probably any of my FoC friends who've been in a club can share similar stories. And the foreigner who attracted the most attention and boy-band-like-fame was definitely Brian ;)

Breakfast with Sylvia...yum yum yum!

Saturday—After sleeping in a bit today, Kelsey and I joined our dear Chinese friends, Sylvia and Angela for a nice morning of breakfast and afternoon of working out. We had baomai (some amazing dumpling-like treats filled with rice and meat) and doupi (a famous Wuhan breakfast dish) and caught up while chowing down and sipping on tea. Then they took us to Sylvia's gym, where we joined in a free yoga class. They allow visitors and gave us a punch card so we could come back to 5 more classes for free! I don't think I'll do it often, due to scheduling and such, but it was a decent workout...Kelsey and I could follow along to most of what the instructed wanted just by observing her and others thankfully...she only occasionally had to wander over and help us :) Before visiting the class though, we did have sit down while Sylvia and Angela chatted with  some trainers about our fitness goals...while the trainers smoked cigarettes. You know, cuz that goes together well ;) Afterwards we did a bit of shopping and girl talk with the ladies, but Kelsey and I were quite exhausted. We headed home and napped, and then I met Andrea, Laetitia and a couple of her friends for a cheap showing of "Real Steel." Laetitia's good at finding awesome deals on movie tickets! Afterwards I slept over at Andrea's place.

Worker making doupi...the process begins with  frying an egg flat against the huge pan , then spreading rice and herbs on top, and finally a bit of tofu. It actually works well on this though ;) The delicious mess is then folded together and sliced up efficiently...it takes maybe 3 mesmerizing minutes from start to finish!

Sunday—We rolled out of bed and lumbered our way to ch*rch early today, for a short meeting discussing our m*ssion goals for the remainder of the year. W*rship today was beyond moving for me. In the Chinese service, there was a confirmation...a couple of our friends promised to be f@ithful to HIM forever. I met their family members and got goosebumps as Aaron delivered his s*rmon, which was full of sweet G*spel comfort, realizing it was the first time for some of those family members to come to ch*rch. Indescribable. HE is so great. During the English service, the theme of "Saints Triumphant" was reflected in the preaching and in each song...I wiped lots of tears from my eyes as I thought of my dear Aunt Julie, already enjoying the mansions that J*sus is preparing for us, and all of HIS people. Listening to the Chinese s*rmon and its translation, I eventually learned a new word: 安慰 (anwei = comfort). J*sus is our comfort, while we eagerly wait to join Him in paradise...while we miss our loved ones...while we see G*d working around us and bringing more and more people to know HIM.

There is a higher throne

Than all this world has known, 

Where faithful ones from ev'ry tongue

Will one day come.

Before the Son we'll stand, 

Made faultless through the Lamb; 

Believing hearts find promised grace—

S@lvation comes.

Hear he@ven's voices sing; 

Their thund'rous anthem rings

Through em'rald courts and sapphire skies.

Their praises rise.

All glory, wisdom, pow'r, 

Strength, thanks, and honor are

To G*d our King, who reigns on high

Forevermore.

And there we'll find our home, 

Our life before the throne; 

We'll honor Him in perfect song

Where we belong.

He'll wipe each tear-stained eye

As thirst and hunger die.

The Lamb becomes our Shepherd King; 

We'll reign with Him.

It was just one of those ch*rch services where everything tied together...where I was blown away by HIS love. Things tied together even more later in the day...Andrea and I stopped at Burton's, a delicious Western-style place for lunch after ch*rch. Then we boarded an unfamiliar bus, taking a chance that it would lead us to our next destination. But, I think G*d was working through that too. Not one minute after boarding, a Chinese guy standing next to us chimed into our conversation, speaking amazing English. He was so friendly and up-front, that within 2 minutes of talking we found out that he is a fellow b*liever, and that he goes to B*ble studies with Jonathan and Beth, our FoC friends from another part of the city. All three of us were surprised and ecstatic...what a blessing when G*d gives you those reminders that you are not alone. Sometimes it's discouraging being here, doubting that your efforts and witnessing are actually accomplishing any good. But, that was a way that HE reminded us that other b*lievers may be closer than we realize :)

I was pretty excited to get added to the wall of teachers at my school...until I saw this sign. Along with my squinting eyes, please note the insane Chinglish in the description under my "name." The foreign teacher before me was named "Hannah." Not only did they spell "Hannah" wrong, but they left poor "Hannan"'s name up instead of Julie. Oh well, they probably would've spelled my name wrong anyways, haha.

After exchanging contact information with Herold, our new friend from the bus, we exited, and a got a bit lost on our way to Jonathan's apartment. Thankfully, after walking through a typical "dirty alley" of mud and dirt and random shops, several heaps of garbage and construction, and passing by tons of identical-looking apartment buildings, we eventually found the right place! We hung out there for awhile, watched "The Fiddler on the Roof," and had supper with Sarah and Andy, two nice Friends of China people that I don't see too often, given our homes in opposite ends of the city. A long bus ride home, and that was my week :)

Travel Day or Trouble Day?

~One of this awesome week's highlights? An orange-picking field trip with my precious and crazy little kindergarteners...enjoy the pics~

Monday, October 31st—This morning, I gathered the nerve to ask a potentially touchy, but definitely important question: when, oh when, will my school PAY me? With the typical language barrier and confusion, I eventually found out that I will get paid...in two weeks :( Lame, since I've already been here for a month, brought along some money, gotten one loan from a friend, and would now have to get another. Ah well, I certainly didn't come here to earn money ;) I left school early today to go apply for my longer-term visa. Kevin, my recruiter, was as vague with details as ever, but eventually he got me in touch with Liz, his assistant, or something...she texted me the address of the police station, I showed it to a taxi driver, and met her there. Typical waiting in lines...making small talk with my guide...filling out paperwork...feeling slightly nervous as I answered questions. But! The most exciting part of the day was when I police officer (who was quite intimidating, initially) saw my paperwork and asked "Did you work at Wuhan Foreign Language School last year." Yes, I taught grade 7. "Do you remember class 8?" Yes... "My daughter was in that class...her English name is Sophia!" Whoa!!! After talking excitedly, I told her I did indeed remember her sweet daughter (once we distinguished between "Sophia Han" and "Sophia Pan" in that class, hehe), and I told her to say hello to her. What a cool surprise :) After taking the city bus home, and nearly getting squished by the closing doors as I rushed through the sardine-packed crowd on my way out of the bus, I met Andrea at a sit-down restaurant near our place. Eventually Peter and Darrin joined, but by then I was off to our study. We watched the "Luther movie" tonight...unfortunately the already-low turnout got even smaller...by the end of the movie, all had left besides Americans :/ You'll have that sometimes. Especially when the subject might be new and unfamiliar. My hilarious friend in Beijing, Mike, called to say hey, and then it was bedtime. Mondays are always an exhausting day!!!

Sadly, this school never really told me the English names of my students...but I've learned that the cutie on the left is "Alice." And I don't know the cutie on the right...but she plays "Snow White" in a school skit, so that's what I call her :)

Tuesday, November 1st—Today was nice and warm...about 75 degrees. In November...thank you, China :) This afternoon in lieu of my classes, a pair of representatives from Papa John's visited, and gave a presentation to the little nippers. What was their presentation? Perhaps some kind of pizza giveaway or games or, you know...any kind of discussion about PIZZA? Nope. Dancing. The kids already do big group dances like ten times a day, but whatever ;) I was forced to walk out with the other teachers and demonstrate dance moves I didn't know, but it was fun hearing screams of excitement when I appeared. Yesterday on the phone, Kevin told me that Wednesday would be a special day at my school...a "trouble day." Huh? Then it sounded like he said "travel day" when I asked him to clarify. Of course he gave no insight whatsoever about what the day would actually involve, so I was left to wonder...until the afternoon, when Sinnina informed me it would be an orange-picking field trip. Sounds like some "travel" and some "trouble," potentially. Haha.The Papa John's presentation DID lead to my texting Andrea and Shirly and us deciding to go there with Aaron for dinner, so I guess it was effective. After a scrumptious Western meal, we naturally got dessert from McDonald's, and then headed to Aaron's apartment, where the five "Hankou" people (Aaron, Andrea, Brian, Kelsey and myself) played a game and had some bonding time.

Sweet little boy from my "Cherry" class. He's grown tons in just a month, from crying every morning on his walk into school, to smiling and waving every time he sees me :) His mom also speaks English pretty well.

Wednesday, November 2nd—I showed up at school at the normal time today, as instructed, and then waited around for over an hour before we embarked on our field trip. I DID get the great honor of helping Sinnina tape numbers onto each of the five buses that we took to the orange orchard, so that was something special ;) The trip, in a nutshell was fun, a bit awkward, occasionally boring, and cute! Fun: taking lots of pictures, playing with students, having them give me oranges, trying to convince a cute girl who kept trying to talk to me that I can't speak Chinese, and bonding with teachers. Also, discovering that a few parents who came along could speak English well! An interesting fact: apparently for kindergarten field trips, at least this one, each student must have his/her own chaperone! A bit awkward: a sweet teacher clinging to me for most of the time, requesting tons of pictures, and always assuming I can understand more Chinese than I actually can :p Occasionally boring: standing around towards the end of the day; children were having picnics with their families, teachers were milling about and socializing...I was standing around...waiting to get back on the bus. Cute: watching students take naps on the bus, playing hide and seek with them, and just enjoying the innocence of the day. I got off our field trip bus before we got back to school, cutting some time off of my commute back, and took Andrea up on her offer of HAMBURGER HELPER for dinner. Yum!!!! Aaron, Andrea and I had a serious talk over makeshift margaritas they'd purchased ^_^

There were lots of tasty oranges! Had I known there'd be such a bounty (and that lots of kiddies would come delivering them to me), I would've brought along an additional bag to my purse).

Thursday, November 3rd—Today after school I RAN to catch the bus as I saw it off in the distance. Nothing out of the ordinary (along with the driver's laughing and my embarrassed yet proud panting), but I think I had a little extra spring in my step, because I knew...I was FINALLY going to visit my old students today. After weeks of planning and having to re-schedule, my amazing students asking when I'd visit, etc., it finally worked out...I was quite ecstatic. I met up with Andrea, and she and I had a nice music/ dance party on the bus ride...just like the good old days (last year, haha). As we got off the bus and walked towards our old school, I couldn't decide if I was more excited or nervous to see all the kids from my first year here...would they still wanna hang out and talk, and be as stoked as I was? The first student I saw was "Tony," a smart and cute kid who always set himself apart by the awesome crocodile pencil bag he used in class. His "Miss Cox?" was filled with confusion and happiness, and we talked for a minute. He, along with all the boys from last year, has matured sooo much. Much more like a young man than the little punk I taught last year ;) We found out our students had a BIG test (on the day we came to visit...of course), but I was still able to get excited "hellos" from a few students as we made our way to watch our friend Sophia teach a class.

After that, and running into a couple old teacher friends from last year, Sophia escorted us to visit Class 2, one of my favorite groups I taught back then. With butterflies in my stomach, I felt instantly relieved as Lucky, Tliski, and Mike, three awesome students from last year all ran up to me excitedly. We talked, we laughed, and before I knew it, Lucky had run into their big classroom and told all 50 of the students "Miss Cox lai le" (Miss Cox has come). I got lots of hugs from the girls and lots of "cool guy" greetings from the boys. Miss S. and I joined the class in their room and talked to a bunch of them for around 15 minutes...it was just, great. My favorite quote of the day is from Tliski: "Miss Cox, when we were taking our exam, one student saw you outside and we all felt very excited. So we all told our teacher that we had to go to the bathroom, so we could come and see you. But the teacher said we had to wait until the exam was finished!" They shared other pieces of interest like, "you're better than this year's teachers" :D and "we are too busy this year to play basketball" :( and we had to let them go back to class. Andrea wanted to say hey to her students too, so we walked by and waved into their classrooms, and then did the same on my floor. I got to wave into five different rooms full of 50 past students, and was humbled as I was greeted by applause, squeals, smiles, waving, and cheering. What a blessing...they mean sooo much to me, and somehow, I mean something to them too :) I gave a couple awkward yet excited impromptu speeches to some of the classes, ending with Class 3, another absolute favorite class of mine. As I looked out at their beaming, sweet, enthusiastic faces, I had to say a quick goodbye and duck out...I couldn't help but cry, thinking of how much I miss them, yet how much of an unexpected blessing from HIM it was to be part of their lives. And hopefully I'll have other chances to visit them this year :) And you know, hopefully I can convince a few to come live in America with me :D

After all the excitement, I went grocery shopping with Sophia, and then we headed to her new apartment. She, her boyfriend Jasper, and another friend (with the English name "Sheldon Cooper" of theirs made a delicious supper of eggplant & green beans, egg and tomato, tofu meatballs (sounds strange, but they are sooo good), soybeans, pepper and pork. Pretty common dishes here, and all scrumptious. We talked about the B*ble for a little bit, Sophia mentioned her desire to be b*ptized, and also that she's shared some info with Jasper. Amazing!!! I was definitely disheartened though, when she showed me a Chinese "summary of the B*ble" she'd gotten somewhere...it was full of underlinings and markings from her (great!), but it was from a cult. Yikes. Luckily, Andrea has a plan to get her some better materials, since she tells us the B*ble is pretty complicated to understand sometimes.The group walked me to the bus stop, I had a typical teasing and somewhat nonsensical conversation with my friend B. Rock on the phone, and admired some beautiful new clothes that Sophia had given me. What a day...one I'll never forget :) 

Friday, November 4th—Even though my silly school requires me to be at school from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays...I did win a small victory today...it's now 8:00 a.m. Whoo-hoo! After enjoying my extra 2 minutes of sleep, I taught an uneventful morning of classes, and came home to find that we FINALLY have internet in our apartment, thanks to Kelsey. Hopefully I'll have money soon, so I can pay her back! After an afternoon of hanging out and savoring the weekend, I hung out a little with Kelsey and Sarah (her good friend, who lives across the city), and walked to meet Andrea and Aaron. We grabbed Subway and met our friend Laetitia, who had scored some cheap movie tickets. Watching Planet of the Apes, while eating Subway, in a brand-new theatre two minutes from my friend's house, for the equivalent of $2? A good Friday night activity :D Back at my apartment, Andrea and I watched part of Mrs. Doubtfire together. The viewing was accompanied by profuse quoting and laughter...she and I both showed the film to our classes in the past, so we've seen it MANY times. Kelsey and Sarah came over a bit later, and we enjoyed some snacks, wine, and another movie! Gotta love the weekend :) 

Taking one of many MANY posed shots with this sweet teacher's assistant.  I love her oodles, but the language gap keeps us from communicating to any great extent. She keeps trying though, so I keep trying to listen and willing myself to understand more Chinese. Perhaps I should actually study ;)

Saturday, November 5th—Today was basically how any good Saturday should be. I slept in until around 9, then had a nice long Skype chat with my dearly loved and missed Aunt Sabrina, and another one with my wonderful parents. Andrea sent me some awesome new American music, and did a bit of shopping together in the afternoon, before settling down with a lunch of cheese and crackers! For supper, I got together with my friend Kapil, a nice guy from India who I met towards the end of last year. We took a LONG walk to Jiang Han Lu, a major shopping and restaurant area, and had some yummy Thai food...curry chicken and spicy fried rice. It's really fun hanging out and discussing the differences between India and the U.S....and yet, how bizarre Chinese culture still manages to be to both of us ;) We waited awhile for a taxi, but it was worth the wait...he was a friendly driver, who spoke a tiny bit of English and was amused at my dancing to the funky music on the radio. After saying goodbye for the night, I headed back to Aaron and Andrea's, watched "Poltergeist" at Andrea's insistence (tis the season, I guess...), and slept over there :)

Sunday, November 6th—Absolutely exhausted, we dragged ourselves out of bed for ch*rch. We typically have English service, English B*ble study and any FoC discussions that need to happen, and then Chinese service. It's pretty cool to stay for Chinese w*rship, to meet new and old friends, strong Chr*stians and those who are just interested, and to even understand a bit of the B*ble readings and s*rmon in English! For lunch, Andrea, Jonathan, Tony (a Chinese friend with nearly flawless English, who's a strong Chr*stian), and I had yummy fried noodles. Andrea and I then headed back to do some baby-sitting/kids' B*ble study, for Bruce and Emily, two kids who lived in the U.S. for a year and can understand English perfectly. It ended up being a STRESSFUL afternoon though...a sweet new boy joined in this week, and he was smart, but understandably doesn't know English...it led to frustration all around, and a bit of naughtiness from the kiddies. Afterwards Andrea and I did a bit of shopping, and got cheap coffee from Starbucks (yay)! Kelsey and I made American-style breakfast for dinner, and planned the following day's B*ble study together.

"Only Can You Save Me?"

~There are bound to be times where you regret, or at least re-think, a decision that you've made. At times these past few weeks, I've caught myself wondering whether it was a mistake to return here. I miss my family and friends...I miss being able to understand the conversations and street signs surrounding me...teaching is okay, but it's certainly not ideal. What am I doing here? Am I making a difference?

Then, out of nowhere...HE reminds me to have trust in HIM. Sometimes it's through a favorite B*ble passage or encouragement from a friend. And sometimes, he gives me something so great that it moves me to tears, that I feel humbled in gratitude and repentant for my doubt. Sometimes he gives me opportunities like this...

There's a backstory...maybe I'll do the long version in a future blog, but for now, I'll keep it short (for me, at least) :) I took a "black taxi" last week...an unregister chauffeur. The driver and I communicated in as much Chinese as I should muster, and he told me his daughter was great at English. Before I knew it, he handed me his cell phone, and I talked to his daughter, "Sharron," for 20 minutes. We exchanged phone and QQ instant messaging numbers. A few days went by, and then we had our first QQ conversation. I noticed her "status" said "Only Can You Save Me?" which made me a little curious. We were discussing our jobs (we're both teachers), when out of nowhere she rapidly changed the topic...

Me: Which age is your favorite to teach?

Sharron: Are you a pious chr*stian?

Me: Yes, I am! Chr*stianity is very important to me. Why do you ask?

Sharron: What a coincidence ! I was hesitating two hours ago that whether shoud I accept the g*d to be my saver!

Me: Really? That is amazing! Maybe G*d wanted us to meet. Do you mind if I ask, how did you find out about G*d?

Sharron: Actually, I have been hesitating such a long time!! There are piles of chr*stians around me! 

Me: That's amazing! I am happy that you know so many Chr*stians...and I'm sure they're happy to know you too. Can I share a thought with you?

Sharron: My pleasure.

Me: I believe that if a person starts to wonder whether they should accept G*d as their S*vior, maybe they are already Chr*stians.

Me: Maybe they are not ready to declare it to the world, but if a person believes that J-sus is their S*vior, then they will go to heaven.

Me: So, I think you do not need to feel rushed about accepting J-sus...because he has already accepted you! There is a part in the B*ble, where J-sus says to his friends, "You did not choose me, but I chose you."

Me: Maybe G*d already is part of your heart.

Sharron: Whoa!!

Me: Sorry, I hope I'm not being too forward or making you feel uncomfortable...

Me: But, I believe that's what the B*ble teaches...

Sharron: Amazing!

Me: There is a verse in Eph*sians, which says "F@ith comes from hearing the message (of the B*ble)." (Oopsies, I got that reference wrong...)

Me: This means that G*d gives us faith. It's a gift that we do not earn on our own...it's his blessing he's given to us!

Me: Maybe through your Chr*stian friends, through praying, and through reading the B*ble, G*d has already given you faith 

Sharron: Why did he choose me ?

Me: That (earlier) verse is Rom@ns 10:17, in case you are interested! G*d chose you because he loves you. John 3:16-- "For G*d so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever b*lieves in him will not perish, but have et-rnal life."

Me: G*d chose you, not because of anything special you did, but because of his mercy...

Me: Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. This is not from yourself. It is the gift of G*d, not by our own work, so that no one should boast." G*d chose you because G*d is love.

Me: Sorry...I hope this is not too strange or uncomfortable that I am saying all these things... But I want you to know, G*d loves you, and J-sus saved you.

Sharron: Oh My gosh!!  Ok, I will think about every word you told me ! I have to go to our other office now! So, let's chat on Friday or through the SMS ~~~I do appreciate what you said  to me !

Me: Oh, I'm very glad to hear that! I'm just repeating the words our awesome G*d gave to us 

Sharron: Thank you my friend!! See you then~~

~HE is using me...not always in the way I would expect or specifically ask for, but still...giving me chances to share HIS Word with people, to share the ASSURANCE that his gifts come through His mercy, not anything we can do on our own. Thank you, L*RD, for these opportunities!

~One more note, Sharron and I had the uncensored version of this talk...she brought it up, and I wasn't going to use the *,-,@, and other annoying schtuff I have to use here most of the time. I was using my VPN (American Internet), so hopefully it'll be okay. But still...I'd appreciate your pr@yers that I'll be able to stay here the remaining 7 months to serve HIM ;)

万圣节在武汉 = Halloween in Wuhan :)

     While it obviously doesn't have the same deep meaning and joy of Chr*stmas or E@ster, I've always loved Halloween. The costumes, the treats, the childlike excitment of savoring the wind in your hair on a chilly night as you get an unexplicably "spooky" feeling. Like most American holidays, Halloween here in Wuhan, China is recognized a tad, but mostly in passing. We tried to change that this year :) Our Halloween party didn't happen until Saturday, but there's so many fun pics, I hope you can enjoy them throughout my tales of this week:

Yup, I was a witch. Hanging out here with face paint that continued to wear off throughout the night, and my dear pal Nicole, who pulled off the pirate look quite convincingly, I think!

Monday, October 24, 2011—I woke up this morning with a start, realizing I had NO idea where I stashed my notebook for teaching...which contains all the info I have about classes, and so early on, I NEED it!!! Freaking out, I eventually found it...under a pile of stuff in my room. I really need to finish moving in :p Most of my teaching today was just observing while Sinnina gave the lessons, but I taught the "Small 1" class, which was loud and annoying...cuz no Chinese teacher stayed to help me control the masses. Ugh. I spent the afternoon in the school office Skyping with the fam, working on the blog, chatting on QQ, and watching a bit of T.V. Back at home, we had a small group (about 5 people) for B*ble study, but it went well. Most of our discussion revolved around the will of G*d, and it definitely got complicated, especially when people raised tough questions about destiny, G*d's hidden purpose for our lives, etc. Thankfully, though, we answered questions to the best of our ability, with HIS help, and closed the night remembering that even while we can't always understand everything G*d says and does, we can always trust him. A great reminder :) 

With Jane, Sophia, and Andrea. Yup, she's a pumpkin!

Tuesday—“Chinese is very easy to learn.” I'm usually a pretty mild-mannered person (I think?), but sometimes when my boss says things like that to me, looking at my life completely through her point of view, it's hard for me to just let it roll off my back. But I'll keep on trying :) This morning, while greeting students, I told our principal that I liked her scarf and that it was beautiful. In Chinese, you know...because Chinese is very easy to learn *eye roll* Anyway, it was sweet...she gave it to me! I wore it outside, and then set it in her office on her desk. She came into my office a few minutes later and said, no, I wasn't supposed to return it, it was her gift to me. Aww! I enjoyed an awesome Skype chat with my sister Stefanie in the afternoon, even though for some reason my webcam only works upside-down, currently :p Joy, a teacher here with excellent English, had fun talking to her a little bit. In the afternoon, I realized that my students are getting much more comfortable giving me hugs, dancing, and laughing together, which is a nice feeling! After school I visited Andrea's apartment (where I lived last year for awhile), picked up some street food from Mom and Pop's, our go-to place nearby, and got a nice greeting from the guy who works there...hadn't seen him in months. Unfortunately, our conversations still don't advance beyond me ordering my food :D Exhausted, and a bit crabby after dealing with the awful traffic that hits simultaneously with my bus ride home, I thanked Andrea for the glass of wine she gave me, and we had a laidback night together. I was further cheered up when I got home and discovered a package Kelsey had retrieved from my family...filled with stuff that was too heavy to fit into my suitcase, and a couple extra goodies. Thanks Mom and Dad...love you guys!!!

Witch and Lumberjack (Brian), with matching crazy eyes :D

Wendesday—After an uneventful day of teaching, I met Andrea to go buy train tickets for our upcoming trip to Hangzhou. Unfortunately, after checking out ticket prices online, we decided it was too pricey, with me not having gotten paid yet, and her saving up for an Ipad ;) We had a fun afternoon...I came along to her Chinese classes provided by her school, and the teacher even complimented my Chinese, saying it's good enough that I can use it in my kindergarten classes. It was definitely a sweet thing to hear...though when I do use it in my classes, it usually just leads to laughter from the students, haha. We had Subway for lunch (they opened a Subway about two minutes from her apartment...nice!) and embarked on a search for Halloween costumes!!! China doesn't do much in the way of Halloween, but there's enough interest in Western holidays, that there were a couple costume shops between our houses...the stand that we ended up patronizing sold mainly hats, masks, simple accessories. But, they DID have a precious pumpkin costume for Andrea, and a witch hat, enough for me to determine I'd make that costume my special project :) We hung out at my place watching a movie, and discussing how excited we were for the partay on Saturday!!! 

Our lovely group of Japanese anime characters, doctors, witches, a servant, basketball player, and goblins! 

Thursday—It's annoying and amusing...lots of the time when I leave school, there's a 5-minute walk straight to my bus stop...and I can see the bus pulling up in the distance...I can feel the impending disappointment if I were to miss it...and I RUN. Sprinting down the street past curious spectators. By the time I get there, I'm usually panting, but proud! Sometimes the driver just grunts stiffly, other times he'll laugh at me :D Today I questioned whether I should have run or not, when the bus I made it onto kept stalling, and the driver nearly hit about ten different things...well, okay, that part of being here isn't too uncommon, but his driving was definitely worse than the average in Wuhan. But eventually I had to laugh to myself as we stopped, and another guy switched places with the driver. At first I was a bit alarmed, until it clicked: the two guys sitting in the nearest seats were training the new (and unseasoned) driver. It was pretty funny watching them give tips throughout the rest of the ride, to the new and nervous man. But, if I had the choice, I'd prefer not to have a bus ride like that again ;) Andrea and I had a nice sit-down lunch at a minority-style restaurant close to her place...really neat and clean, and nicely decorated, different than most Chinese restaurants here. A good discovery! The five of us Hankou people had a short group devo together, and then Kelsey and I joined Andrea and Aaron for their school's free tai chi class. It wasn't too vigorous...mostly a lot of hand movements and changes in position, but still, a good cultural thing to at least try once. Afterwards, I took the light rail to METRO, a wonderful bulk store that sells a lot of Western stuff, and picked up face paint and a wig to add to my costume :D Oh, and I also brought a small broom...it turned out to be a definite waste of money, and really annoying to have sticking out of my backpack on the trip home, but oh well! The night ended with Kelsey and I bonding over some cookie-baking and a movie.

Laetitia (old school pirate), Sylvia (cute girl wearing a mask), and I.

Friday—Today, as my alarm rang at 6:28 a.m., I realized that I wake up every morning with a Chinese-style "aye-ah!" How cultured I've become :D Almost as cultured as my boss, who declared to me, “Oh, my spoken English is... very good.” This after she proudly delivered two complete sentences to me in English. Now, don't get me wrong...her English is certainly superior to my Chinese, by a long shot. And I don't look down on anyone for speaking or not speaking a certain language. But again, I just don't know how to respond to people who go around praising themselves *sigh* Another frustration this week had been preparing for an upcoming "Parent's Day," where moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and grandparents come watch a lesson. The idea of it is great, but practicing the "lesson" six times a week (once back-to-back), making it "perfect," boring the kids and driving me up the wall...not a fan :p It was cool spending more time with that class though...they're the oldest group of students (6 years old, I think), and it's been fun seeing them go more out of their way to say hey and smile at me, getting to know their individual cute personalities, etc. I had to bite my tongue a LOT as Sinnina bossed me around with preparations today, but the lesson/performance ended up going well. Parents complimented my teaching afterwards, which was nice...I was actually a bit nervous, since there were close to 100 people watching! I had a nice chat with Yulia, a Russian lady afterwards. She married a Chinese man, and their child, Nick, is one of my students. Yulia has good English, wonderful Chinese, and is a sweet lady...I always enjoy our talks, since we understand each other more than anyone else I know here at this school :) We exchanged phone numbers and promised to get together for dinner in the future.

After rushing yet again to catch the bus, I made what was intended to be a "quick" stop at Carrefour, a supermarket close to my place, for earphones. Here is the saga:


1. I search around aimlessly for awhile, finally pulling out my old and broken pair of earphones, and pointing to them, asking store workers where I could find some.


2. I locate the earphones, pick out the ones I desire, and rip them off the rack (it's locked so that no one can shoplift, but I didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of finding someone to help...little did I know...)


3. I knew that I'd need to purchase the earphones on the 2nd floor, where I currently was, and not on the first store, where you buy food. So I searched, eventually found a cashier, and waited in line.


4. Ten minutes after waiting in line, I got to the front. My other items were just fine, but an "error" light and sound went off when the cashier tried to scan the earphones. I feel like in America, if this would happen, someone would be paged to help with the problem. But nope, with my limited Chinese, I told her just to give me the receipt for all the other items...I wouldn't buy the headphones.


5. I went back to the headphones area, selected a different pair, and returned to the cashier.


6. After waiting in line again, the same thing happened. Once again, the cashier couldn't check them out and made no attempt to get anyone to help the obviously confused foreigner.


7. I know it's a small thing, but I fought back tears of frustration as I returned yet again, to the earphone section, and approached a worker there. Thanks to HIM, the guy spoke some English, and came with me to the cashier. She was characteristically unhelpful, and he directed me to a register at a different part of the store. The worker there was much more friendly, but she was unable to open the protective packaging around the earphones, and apologetically sent me on my way.


8. Frustrated beyond belief (it had been a good half hour of miscommunication by this point), I returned to the helpful English speaker, tried to explain the situation, and thanked G*d as he came along with me, helped the cashier open the package, and walked away.


9. I stopped him, asking him to wait a minute, expecting the same error with the cash register as previously. Sure enough...I think he finally understood the problem at that point. 


10. I waited as my savior ran across the store, retrieved something for the cashier to scan, and helped me FINALLY buy that stinking pair of earphones. 


Oh my goodness...sometimes it's the little things that can lead to culture shock. After barely keeping myself from crying with embarrassment and confusion, I headed home, picked up some food, and intended to lock myself in the apartment for the night! That's basically what I did, but first I had a nice reunion with "Jack," a handsome worker at a fruit stand nearby my apartment. His English is minimal, but he's very friendly...between his English and my Chinese, we had an a highly intelligent conversation about America and China, food, beer, and singing ;) Still, a nice change of pace compared to my previous frustrating activity, and I got his QQ number! Yay! The rest of the night was spent vegging, cleaning, and preparing for our Halloween party!

Kelsey (the roomie) as a sailor :)

Saturday-- I slept in luxuriously late today, cleaned the place, and texted friends reminding them of the party, figuring out where and when to meet everyone. It definitely led to a confusing hour before the get-together, having friends arrive way early, or late, directing them to my house or to the KTV location. I'd purchased some long green fingernails to add to my costume, but they made it impossible to send multiple texts, so sadly they had to go :p  I'm embarrassed to admit that in the confusion of everyone calling and texting before our party, that when one friend called me, I could not for the life of me remember who he was...or connect a face with the name my phone gave me. Haha. However, once I saw him there, it clicked. And much more embarrassing that than confession, was my 15-minute walk to KTV. If you're a non-Asian here in Wuhan, people will stare, sometimes point, sometimes shout "Hello," and sometimes continue to stare even after you've made eye contact. But that is absolutely NOTHING compared to the stares you will get if you're a foreigner wearing green face paint, tons of eye makeup, a wig and witch hat. People stopped in their tracks, whispering about me, standing inches away from my face in confusion :) It was definitely a bit humiliating, but also a funny memory. The party itself was an absolute blast...we had a group of about 40 people together in a huge room, Chinese friends and Americans, old friends and new. Lots of the group rocked costumes, but some people found the concept too overwhelming and just had fun laughing at everyone else's. There were screams and laughter when I walked into our room of friends :D The next three hours consisted of dancing, singing, working my way around the room to try talking to everyone, eating, and lots of picture-taking! A couple of my friends who came were pretty new to anything Western-style, but they texted the next day saying they had a great time, but wanted to improve their dance skills before future parties :) In the midst of all the craziness and fun, I also had a more serious talk with one of my friends, who recently broke up with his fiance. You never know when HE will give you the chance to comfort a friend, and for what purpose HE brings different individuals into your life. After sweating off most of my face paint, singing my heart out, and socializing, a smaller group of us loitered outside, kicking around a poor abused stuffed animal, and saying no to offers of going out to the club. Ch*rch in the morning, after all! Andrea, Shirly, and I did have an awesome "after-party," consisting of sitting on the steps outside the KTV entrance in our costumes, drinking one can of beer each, and delighting passerby when we agreed to take our pictures with them :) 

Gavin sent me a hilarious text earlier in the week about wanting to wear "pumpkins" to  the party. Sadly, however, he showed up in normal clothes. Good thing I didn't mind sharing my hat!

Sunday—Andrea and I woke up, exhausted, and headed to ch*rch. I was very touched, as she requested a pr*yer for my Uncle Ron and cousins, a month after Aunt Julie went to he@ven. I think about you guys all the time...and there are lots of people pr*ying for you in China <3 Afterwards, Andrea, Peter, Darin, Andy and myself took a couple taxis to the Hubei Provincial Museum. On our taxi ride, Peter, Darin, and I discovered that we all have younger siblings at WLC. Woot woot!!! We met Laetitia, and her friend Liz there, to see a Baroque art exhibit. It was quite good, and I actually saw some Italian paintings that I recognized from art history class (don't ask me to remember their names though :D). The coolest part of the day was getting to talk with Liz about the B*ble. Laetitia's old schoolmate, she traveled to the U.S. for college, married another Chinese guy there, and is just here in Wuhan visiting. Her English is nearly flawless, and as we viewed several paintings based on B*ble stories, she asked questions. She only knows a little about the B*ble and has attended ch*rch just a couple times. But she eagerly listened to my descriptions of paintings and stories, saying "Tell me more," and asking good questions. My favorite discussion revolved around a painting of the Prodigal Son...HE wants all people to turn to HIM and be saved. HE welcomes everyone! Getting to share that message is such a joy ><>

Laetitia, Darin, Andrea, myself, Peter, Lizzy, and Andy outside the Hubei Provincial Museum.

After the museum, the seven of us headed to 汉 街 (Han Street), a newly-opened walking street, complete with lots of nice stores, European-style buildings, and CLEANLINESS :) We ate lunch at "Show Coffee," a restaurant serving Western-ish steaks (my lunch) and french fries, and also frog and octopus! Exhausted from the previous night, Andrea and I headed back to her place for a movie and nap. We got dinner at a sit-down place...beef and lotus and delicious spicy clams...sooo good! 

"Enjoying," to various degrees, some sugary fruit kabobs we bought on the street. The strawberry ones were unavailable, but they are far superior to this variety...which contained glazed cherry tomatoes.

Thus ends my week. In closing, I'd like to leave you with two texts involving the Halloween party, that I've left on my phone for weeks, because they make me chuckle each time I see them.


From Britney: "I will be a gohst! And catch you! (I wrote back that I was going to be something with magical powers...then she wrote...) Wow! Are you Harry? You can chang me to a pumpkin car, so I will take you to my house, and you will be my little pet! hoho"


From Gavin: "Haha, I am just wondering what to wear to your party since I don't have pumpkins."(Gavin's English is really wonderful, and I just did NOT know what to make of this text. I read it, fell over laughing, read it again, fell over laughing, and to this day, I have no idea what he meant by it).


:D

Beware, Beware...the COLD WATER!!!!!!!!!

I just had a "nice" conversation with my boss.

{Background info: When I first came to China, last August, it took me some time to adjust to the water served at restaurants...it's really warm, it's hot. People here believe that drinking cold water and eating cold food is generally unhealthy. We've had many discussions, occasionally bordering on argument, with our friends here about that concept, just because it's so vastly different from what Americans think. A couple of our girl friends even told us that if you drink cold water (or eat chocolate or drink alcohol) while on your menstrual period (sorry guys...), it will STOP and you will get sick. Yup. All my friends here are convinced of it, and I need to do more research. People are shocked to hear we believe differently than them. Our most recent consensus: Since it clearly affects Asians, but not Westerners, maybe it comes down to some type of genetic difference, or our bodies are respectively already so used to each way of doing things? I've yet to look up the "science" behind this...}

Sinnina: Why do you drink cold water (with an incredulous, almost angry, look on her face)?
Me: It's not cold. It's warm. I like.
 Her: You should drink hot water. Cold water is a little bad for your health.
Me: It's okay. In America, I always drink cold or warm water. We think to drink hot water is a little strange (I felt mean saying that, but it's quite hard to communicate with her sometimes :D)
Her: But, cold water...
Me:I don't like hot water. Maybe America and China are different.
Her: Yes, they are very different.
*Pause*
Her: Go get hot water now. (I hesitate for a minute)
Me: ...I already have water...
Her: Go. Hot water is good.


*I go walk to fill up my water bottle with steaming hot water to appease her, just enough to make my "cold" water warm.* (If I drink ONLY that steaming hot water, it's a good 10 minutes before it cools enough for me to sip it.)


SIGH. Oh, culture shock, you continue to get the best of me from time to time. It's even trickier when the language barrier prevents you from fully expressing yourself (often the case with my boss and I). And this water isn't even the most important. Please pr*y that we, with HIS help, will be able to find ways around culture and language barrier, to tell people about the living water, the ONE who can truly satisfy ><>

"Orange." Otherwise Known as "Orangeeee."

~October 17th-23rd

Monday—Today I had a looooong day at school. On Mondays & Tuesdays, I have to arrive by 7:30 a.m., eat an awkward breakfast with teachers I can't communicate with, stand outside greeting kids, teach and/or observe lessons, and stay until 5:00, after I've waved "bye bye" to students leaving with their parents/ grandparents. Whew! Classes are going pretty well though...think short class periods, with LOTS of songs (B-I-N-G-O and 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe), simple games, and repeating basic words off of flash cards. It's been overwhelming, but "Sinnina" (my interestingly-named boss) comes along to most classes and gives her input. I appreciate it, since she's been pretty encouraging, but it is tricky to communicate with her most of the time. It's also tricky knowing when to be quiet when she teaches slightly innacurate English to the kids. The most cringe-worthy one: apple, banana, orangeee. Yes. She pronounces the "ee" sound at the end of "orange." Being a newcomer, I don't want to offend her...I just sit there groaning to myself, and work extra hard to correct the kiddies when it's my turn to teach 'em :p In the afternoon, my silly computer decided to stop working again, leading to me being crabby. But, a nap, a short phone call from the parents, and a reading through the Th*ology of the Cross chapter helped. Once afternoon classes were finished, "Sinnina" asked me what I was doing that night, and I mentioned "dinner with friends," not wanting to reveal our B*ble Study, at least not so early. Before I knew what was happening, a Seinfeld-esque couple hours unfolded in front of me:

1. Sinnina invited herself to join our "dinner."
2. I said yes, caught off-guard, and telling her we'd also have a B*ble study (she did know I was Chr*stian, and I figured we could just pick up some food on our way to study at 7.
3. She said 7 is too late for her, can we move the "dinner" up to 5:30?
4. I call Kelsey, explaining the predicament in big words, so as not to be understood, and she graciously says she and Brian will join us for dinner.
5. I frantically text several Chinese friends, asking them to join us last-minute.
6. We leave school early, so as to arrive to dinner on time (wish I could do that every Monday)!
7. We decide to take a taxi to the restaurant. We can't find a taxi. We take a bus to a part of the city with more taxis readily available.
8. We get a taxi, and my phone runs out of money. I borrow Sinnina's phone to call Kelsey, and eventually she answers, saying they're already at the restaurant.
9. Sinnina and I show up, 15 minutes late, and join Brian, Kelsey, and Johnny for a somewhat awkward dinner. I think Sinnina's on the husband hunt, so she tried talking to Brian & Johnny a bit.
10. I pay for Sinnina's dinner. She says "Julie, tomorrow...do not be late." I wasn't late today :p

Whew! And that...was it. Please remind me to work harder to prevent situations like this in the future! Unfortunately, attendance was pretty low for tonight's study...only Johnny & Shelly, two strong Chr*stian friends, showed up. We decided to just watch a movie, and work harder and pr*y that more people would come next week. Afterwards, Brian made my day (or week, or month), by figuring out the problem with my computer, which has worked wonderfully since then!!! To say thanks, I bought him a beer when Kelsey and I went out to buy ice cream. I said a pr*yer of thanksgiving, and it was off to bed!

Oh Chinglish...what is there to say, besides "thank you?"

Tuesday—Breakfast was fun today...there's a sweet middle-aged teacher at my school that I've bonded with, even though we can't talk too much anymore (we've used up all of my Chinese and her English already with small talk). But when I walked into our eating area (we don't have a cafeteria, just a small room), she stood up, greeted me, scooped me up a big portion of noodles, and gave me her seat. Sinnina noticed and commented, "She is very kind to you," to which my friend replied, "I love you!" Aww! Teaching went well, though the culture shock of Chinese-style communication always surprises me--when I showed up to teach 3 of my classes today, Sinnina was already teaching them. Okay...? Happy to have the internet AND a working computer to get me through my long breaks at school, I excitedly chatted away with seven friends on facebook...oh technology, while we have a love-hate relationship, I sure appreciate your help dealing with homesickness!!! I had a LONG bus ride home (about an hour), grabbed some delicious barrel bread (the dough's cooked, well, in a huge barrel, right there in the street), and met Kelsey to do some shopping. We had fun at a 10 yuan store (lots of cheap and girly stuff), laughing at "Chinglish" shirts, got some street food for dinner, and watched a little T.V. The night was topped off marvelously, playing a fun board game with Brian & Kelsey, and getting a WONDERFUL surprise-- a phone call from my Grandma! Love you lots Grandma...thanks for making my day, and for always making me smile :)  

A (relatively small) throng of folks waiting for the bus.

Wednesday—As usually is the case, an encounter with a foreigner on the bus led to a nice conversation...he was a middle-aged man from Bangladesh, also just starting to teach kindergarten, at a school just one bus-stop away from mine. Also wondering what he got himself into ;) Encounters with Chinese people are nice too, of course. Just more tricky lots of the time, haha. A grandpa on the bus introduced his grandson to me and then, as is customary, tried to get the two of us talking for the remainder of our ride together. Oh, and just to clarify, his grandson was about 3 years old :) I also don't know how to respond to understanding the ladies talking about me while we eat breakfast together...saying my Chinese is decent (thanks for the compliment, but not true) and that I am "xin gang" (sexy...again, I guess it's a compliment, but...). So I just sat there, smiled, and kept eating. Most classes were good today, but my "biggest" class was loud and unruly. A co-teacher helped out a little, but could tell I was frustrated, asking me "bu gaoxing ma?" (you are not happy?) as I left. Home for lunch, I grabbed some xiao baozi (little buns stuffed with meat) and food from a nearly "buffet," studied a little Chinese, and waited for Kevin to come take me to the police station. After the usual last-minute notifications, changes in meeting time, etc. Kevin drove me to the station, only to discover that for some reason we couldn't accomplish anything there that day. Oh well. Perfect cure for frustration: Papa John's with Andrea :D After that, I ended the night getting to know the roomie Kelsey a little more with some lovely girl talk!

You just never know what you might see on your walk home from dinner!

Thursday—Today was good, but pretty free of any good stories. After teaching, Kevin took me to the police station, and we had success! Yay! Almost done with all this annoying running around town, registering, etc. While at the station, I talked with French man who married a Chinese lady, has lived in Wuhan for 10 years, but still speaks zero Mandarin and hates Chinese food. Interesting :p After grabbing street food with Brian and Kelsey, I walked over to Andrea & Aaron's place to visit their B*ble study. A nice crowd showed up, I got to see my friend Bonnie again for the first time since being back, and we 3 foreigners had fun making fools of ourselves singing a "Noah" song for those in attendance. You remember "The L*rd told Noah...there's gonna be a floody, floody?" Yup, we rocked that one :D Study was great, especially during a discussion when we all got to share what we think should be most valued in a marriage. We wound down with some funny American T.V. afterwards.

"Sorry little guy!" I hated to do it, but the end justified the means :)

Friday—Sorry for the picture spoiler, but yep, Friday night involved some good old-fashioned pumpkin carving. After teaching, I got off the bus a stop early and headed to K11, a "gourmet tower" of restaurants. Naturally, I toured around a little bit, discovered the restaurant on the top floor that a foreigner to me was ridiculously expensive, and settled on McDonald's :D I spent the afternoon taking advantage of K11's free internet, walking over to Starbucks (once the internet time limit ran out at K11), and moseying on over to Andrea's place. We ate a yummy supper at the "hole-in-the-wall" Tim introduced us to last year (thanks Tim! We love it and are carrying on the tradition), and met our friend Angela. She agreed to help us move a bunch of my stuff from last year that was taking up space in Andrea's apartment. Aaron assisted us in hauling the bulky and awkward bags down the five flights of stairs, and Andrea and I took a taxi to my new apartment, quickly got it upstairs using the elevator (thank goodness), and waited for Angela and Aaron to come. Well, or so we thought :) I guess something got lost in translation, and we ended up waiting for our friends at my place for almost an hour, before eventually taking a taxi back to Andrea's, where they were still waiting for us on the street. Oops! Frustrating at the time, but funny looking back :) The three of us ladies walked to the grocery store to select some lovely little nangua (pumpkins), which were quite tiny, and tricky to carve with either butcher or butter knives. Knives were broken, and the shells of the little things were somehow really thick, so it was a trying to process, but rewarding!!!

The work in progress.

Saturday—I slept in until a glorious 10 a.m., in Andrea's comfy bed, then we went to get some KFC for lunch, and snacked on scrumptious pumpkin seeds she'd cooked, while watching a movie. Great morning :) Our recruiter, Kevin, invited Brian, Kelsey & I out for tea. The shop where we drank was a pretty typical traditional-style tea tasting spot, with a cozy table and lots of different kinds to sample, alone with snacks. Kevin had brought a couple Chinese friends, so it kind of ended up being mostly we three foreigners talking and then those three, but it was still nice. One not-so-nice moment: Kevin graciously presented us with some "cookies," for which we were initially excited. However, upon biting in, I recognized a familiar taste: beef. Yep. The outside of these treats was glazed and cookie-esque, but the filling was room-temperature, somehow sweetned, beef. Oh boy...Brian finished his, I ate about half of mine, and dear Kelsey managed to take a bite, but...thinking about them still makes me feel a little sick :p The highlight of my day happened a bit later, while going shoe shopping with Kelsey...I saw a girl getting onto a motorcycle taxi, and at the same second our eyes locked--it was Ciel, one of my favorite students from last year's middle school. We just kind of walked towards each other, staring with our mouths hanging open at first, then hugging and sharing our surprise and delight over seeing each other again :D Ciel mentioned that she'd tried calling me, and that she didn't know I'd be back already...I assured her I'd been around for a couple weeks. Only later did I realize that she probably had my old phone number...sadness. Hopefully she and I can get into contact. Just the sheer surprise in seeing her, and knowing she was equally happy to see me, was a wonderful feeling! For dinner, a few friends from Wuchang (Nicole, Peter, Darrin) joined Andrea, Shirly and I for Papa John's :) Stuffed and happy, I came home to tackle the massive amount of stuff we'd retrieved from Andrea's place!

Sunday—Brian, Kelsey, and I took the bus together to ch*rch this morning. After the service and B*ble study, Jess and I headed out together to finally spend some time catching up and hanging out. We got massages at her favorite place, which was definitely a better experience than I'd had there last year...it was painful and awkward...this time, it was relaxing...and only a little awkward ;) We had a good talk and then took the bus to her apartment. We had delicious pita wraps from a huge street food alleyway for lunch, along with delectable CARAMEL milk tea. Nai cha (milk tea) is a staple drink here, close to how coffee is in the U.S., and I love its chocolate and coffee flavors, but this was the firs time caramel was available! Exciting!!! After lunch, Jess had to do some lesson planning, so I took a luxurious nap in her comfy bed :) After that, we had some more catching up time, hung out with Nicole (and ate some yummy Velveeta popcorn she made), and watched a movie. It was a nice afternoon & evening with the girls. Once I got back home, I made a quick phone call to my friend Sophia, and did some laundry. For some reason, Kelsey's able to do her laundry with no problem, but whenever I try to wash clothes, the machine stops mid-cycle. Then, I have to re-start it, and it starts playing "Jingle Bells" all over again. Yup, our washer plays Jingle Bells. It's a handy feature for letting you know when the wash is done though...more fun than a boring old American buzzer :D

Two Creepy Pumpkins: A little too happy, and ominously staring.