Happy New Year!

This week has been pretty uneventful until today. I did receive 2 packages though! I have such a loving family. The others are a little jealous as they haven't received anything from home yet. What can ya do?

Today is New Years Eve. The school treated us out for a day. All I knew was that we were going to go to an orange grove to pick oranges. We met with Mark and Maggie (our Chinese liaisons) in the morning, and they took us to HaiBin Hotel to walk around in the park there. It was pretty fun. The flowers were great, the weather was great, and we were all in a chipper mood. Brenda and I had a great time discovering all kinds of new foliage. There is some fascinating plants and flowers in this world! The HaiBin Hotel is like a resort by the sea. It's huge, with its own parks and spa and villas. Gives the feeling like we're out of the city. After the walk we had lunch at the Brazilian BBQ. Yummm. We are so spoiled.

It's so interesting the little things that we go through just getting to places. Our transportation was a brand new car owned by the school. It still had that new car smell, and didn't even have license plates yet. But the way our driver drove you'd think it didn't matter how nice the car was! There were cars parked in front of the restaurant. We didn't know what he was doing going in between this truck and car which had only a half a car space between them. There was no way he could parallel park there. So after honking his horn for a while, he decided to just drive up on the sidewalk and park right in front of the restaurant doors. Crazy? Yes. Am I surprised? No. To make things more interesting, this place gives bottomless pitchers of beer to each table. Our driver drank so much. And the guys were encouraging him. Aaah! And here I am, alive to tell the tale.

We met with the group of female Chinese teachers after our meal. We were invited to join them as they had a "girls day out." But there were a few guys there, as well. The drive to the orange grove was much longer then we were told it was going to be. They almost made us ride in this little truck-like thing, where we'd sit in the back of this trailer with no windows or air. They thought they'd be doing us a favor to sit away from the rest of the group in our own little vehicle. But we insisted on riding in the bus with the rest. The school's brand new bus is super nice. We all sat in the way back and opened the windows wide. I would've taken more pictures of the scenery, but the ride was SO bumpy. We rode through the more underdeveloped and poor areas. But the gardens and fields were gorgeous. People bring their vegies and produce to the streets to sell them. This is where all my food comes from I'm sure. But in these areas there are piles and piles of produce! It's amazing how well the food grows. And such a necessary blessing as China has the most people in all the world. It's pretty amazing to see the places where so many people grow up and spend the rest of their lives. These places I saw outside the city were so run down and dirty. I wouldn't at all be surprised if they lacked running water, sewer system, or even electicity. The kids don't have a clue that life could be any other way. They play in and around the most disgusting places, like mud mixed with garbage, sewage, car oils, animal droppings, etc. There's garbage everwhere. They still manage to have fun. I saw a couple kids playing ping pong on a cement slab with bricks across the middle used as a net. There kids will never have a chance to get a good job or a good education. They will grow up to be farmers like their parents and struggle financially just like them too. It's so difficult in this kind of society for people to move up in class. The kids in the school I teach mostly come from rich families. There are a handful from the villages who's parents save up every last penny for them to attend this good school to give them a chance to improve their life.

Before we arrived at the grove we stopped to use the restroom. Like I said, it was mostly women teachers, so the line was super long. So Brenda said, what the heck, and went to use the men's room! All the ladies laughed and after some moments of hesitation they joined suit, making any guy who approached head for the bushes. It was pretty funny.

The orange grove was not as spectacular as they had made it out to be, and for the long bumpy ride we endured to get there. But it was cool to see the thousands of trees weighed down by a plentiful harvest of oranges and dripping with pesticides. Who knows what they spray those trees with, but it sure seems to keep the bugs away. They told us that this variety of oranges is only grown in this part of China, that is why it is such a special trip, and why we would travel so long to get here. We got plenty of free samples, and they are pretty sweet, juicy oranges! I ate until I started to feel like my lips were burning. I hope it wasn't the chemicals on the oranges. We each got to come home with a small box full. The air smelled like a million rotten oranges. Again, it's pretty amazing that with all the people in China, there are so many oranges that get spoiled. The trees were so full of ripe ones, and on the sides of the roads there were people all over selling oranges. It's easier to be sure, to buy them from a vendor. But it's a rare opportunity to see the groves. Brenda and I were kinda going off the beaten path. They didn't seem to appreciate that too much, but there were some neat things to see. Like an old dried up river, oxen, and more and more orange trees. There were other kinds of fruit trees too like Lehigh and mango, but they're not in season yet.

On our way out we stopped to see some of the animals living in the sheds there. Many chickens, oxen, dogs, and these funny pigs. I got some good shots of the pigs hanging out. We didn't realize what a long trip this was going to be, so we had to cancel our evening plans to go swimming again at the HaiBin Hotel for New Years. The school group was invited by one of the leaders of Lianjin City (the city with the orange grove) to have dinner there. They slaughtered a pig just for us. It's always interesting eating with city officials because they always serve wine or somekind of drink and throughout the whole meal there is toasting and refilling of glasses. Gambei! (Cheers!) I haven't quite figured out the social etiquette concerning these things.

After the long ride home Martin suggested we go find some way to party. I'm glad Brenda is old enough to have her party days behind her so that I can have some kind of camaraderie when backing out of such an offer. Especially for New Years, I don't mind just staying home and watching people party on TV. I get to bring in the New Year before all you in the States do! Ha ha. I'm pretty tired, I just might go to bed. I can celebrate with you all at about 2pm tomorrow afternoon.

I've been trying to upload my pictures from my camera to the computer, but it ain't happening. Grr. I want to show you the pics. So all I got for you right now is the pigs.

Happy New Year!!

He is So Wonderful!

I had a fantastic Christmas. PTL!!!

My students were wonderful. I recieved many little gifts like stuffed animals on a key chain, eggshell filled with chocolate, a santa doll, and other odd little items. But their notes were all so sweet. For a little while, the Christmas lesson I was presenting to my students was making me really homesick, cuz it was making me think about all the things I was missing out on this year by not being at home and with my family. But the Lord really blessed my heart with many good things, which made this year away from home vitually painless. He is so good! (I just spent a couple minutes trying to figure out what exactly "virtually" meant and if I should use it here. And now I'm laughing at myself...)

Friday I went to the GuoMao (like the mall) myself to look for a gift for Brenda. I had no idea what to get her. I didn't do well with buying gifts. But Brenda has been my good buddy this whole time and we do pretty much everything together, so I wanted to get her something special. I got her some gloves and a nice tea pot that matches a pretty mug she has.

Saturday was Christmas Eve. Martin wanted to go around and take some more photos, so he and I went to the park and around the city. It was a lot of fun. There was a talent show going on in the park, and people were all around practicing their accordian, violin, and things. The day was so beautiful. It has started to really warm up these past few days. Some strangers stopped us and asked to have their picture taken with us. This is not at all uncommon. It's like we're just another tourist attraction, not the tourists. It's weird. So I took a picture of them taking a picture of us. We've come to find that people make a bigger deal of Christmas here then we thought! They love the Santa hats and sell them all over like crazy, the restaraunts play Christmas music, and the malls have decorations everywhere including Christmas trees! This was unexpected to see all these things. My students told me that Christmas is big in Hong Kong and is fastly becoming popular with the teenagers. Another reason to party. Anyway, Martin and I road a taxi to another part of town. Martin gave the lady driver the rose that he bought earlier just for the pictures sake. She was beaming! I think it made her day. So cute. We took many pictures of the streets and things that we see all the time. When I first saw these things I was amazed. But now they are so common! Like the GuoMao, all the shopping centers, tall buidings, traffic, and loads of people. It's most impressive at night. We were there during the lunch hours when every one takes their siesta. It was a nice time, and I got some really great shots.

The biggest drama was figuring out what that night was going to hold. How would we celebrate Christmas. The drama was due to an unfortunate affair with one of the guys (who is married) and a chick teaching at another school (who's engaged). It's a long ugly story full of twists and turns and unadmitted sin. I'll just say that it was threatening to ruin our nice Christmas and those of us not involved had to confront the issue so that we wouldn't have to get involved and let it affect our holiday. What a mess. We got our way and things worked out for the best. Our little celebration included just the foreign teachers from our school: Brenda, Martin and Arthur, and myself. The four of us went to a Brazillian barbeque restaraunt for dinner. It was the best meat I've had since I've been here! Fantastic. I haven't eated the beaf here for months ever since I ate this reeeeally bad "steak" that my students ordered for me. Enough to make anyone a vegitarian! But the meat at this place the other night was oh so good. We all missed Nigel though. We raised our glasses for him and had a moment of silence. After our meal we all went bowling. It's the first time we'd been bowling since Nigel died. We did have a good time. It was a lovely night. Even exchanged gifts.

Christmas morning was so nice. I got to talk to Sally, Steve, Mom, Dad, Joe, Eva, Gabe, and Chuck. I also got this fabulous email from my home church! It was so special, so sweet, so thoughtful. I almost cried. It's so good to be remembered and loved. It totally brightened my spirits even more. I spent almost all morning on the phone. And I made sure I made time to remember the reason for this day. Bless His holy name! I read the Christmas story and worshiped with Christmas songs. The morning went by so fast, and before I knew it, it was time to head to the HaiBin hotel with Brenda. We decided to spoil ourselves for our Christmas present. The HaiBin hotel has a pool and hot spring spa (all man made, ofcourse). For the first couple hours we just walked around the area and enjoyed the fresh air and peaceful surroundings that were brought by the seclusion of the spa. We were surrounded by palm trees, mango trees, and trees with beautiful purple flowers that left a nice fragrance in the air. If we climbed to the terrace near the spring we could see the ocean and the navy ships coming in, and a nearby park with a lake, many flowers, and even a lighthouse. It was so nice to feel away from the busy city for a while. Since it was around that siesta time of the day, we were the only ones there and felt free to roam about as we please. One of the little pools that we found had six turtles swimming around in it. We watched those turtles for at least a half hour. They were so funny! I've never seen such active turtles. We still didn't feel like swimming quite yet, so we found some chairs by the pool and played cribbage. Good times. Around that time, some people started to show up and hop in the pools. It's a bit nice to be in a place like this because the people that come here are pretty wealthy. And the wealthy people tend to stare and gawk less then the common folk. After cribbage we decided to get a bite to eat in the restaraunt there. The food was way overpriced and the portions were small. But again, we were the only ones in there, so it was nice. Finally we were ready to hop in the pools. I may have told you that its been getting pretty cold here, so it sounds a little crazy to go swimming right? Well, most of the pools here are HOT! I think the sign said 39C... but that would be like 90F so I don't know about that. The main pool was too cold, so every one was using the hot pools. It was so relaxing. My only problem was that everytime I stood up after being in the hot water for so long, I'd get really dizzy and get a major head rush. Martin showed up later with a Chinese friend of his, Vincent. He was a funny guy and his English was excellent. Brenda and I were in the pools til we were well baked and pruney. It was such a relaxing way to spend Christmas. I did miss being with family, but we kept busy enough that I didn't think about it too much and get all depressed. So PTL that he showed me a good time! I came home just in time to get a call from Maia and had a good time talking with her and Ashley. What a blessing. So much love. I am so blessed!!!

Today, it was tough to wake up. I was having a good dream and I didn't want it to end. But I had to teach. But it went really well. I just fell so full of joy and love and peace and all those wonderful things. How could this ever be in a dark place like this unless it was from God! I know he is surrounding me and blessing me with every spiritualy blessing. How could this be without your prayers!

Something strange happened today. Brenda and I were walking back from the market and we saw the "crazy beggar lady." We see many of the same beggars often, but this lady is one we really try to avoid. She is really pushy, expectant and unappreciative. It's hard to want to give to someone like that. Still, I give her a couple jiao here and there, which is like a penny. I knew I would run into her and other beggars, so I prepared some paper jiao in my pocket that I could pull out really easy and give it to them. I saw her first and gave her a jiao, then soon after I saw another beggar. A very old man with white hair and a beard, hunched over and walking slowly with a cane. I took out the next bill I had prepared which I assumed to be another jiao. I put it in his dish, then I saw what it was. It was a 50Y!!! It would probably take this man a week to beg for that much. In a split second I had a dialogue in my head, I could take it back and give him the jiao that I know is somewhere in my pocket... but no. I just knew in my heart that this was supposed to happen. Maybe it's God's way of providing something for this man that he desperately needs, and maybe it's God's sense of humor kindly confronting me about the many times I pass by those in need and pretend I don't see them. Dang, it's so humbling to admit that. But I do. But how loving is He? He knows the stupid things I do, and gently brings me to repentance. There is no condemnation! I pray that the man was blessed. And that the Lord uses this to glorify His name!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Encouragement

I just finished my first class of the day. I had to come and share what happened. They gave me a gift from the whole class: some chocolates. But what touched my heart the most was the letter they included with the gift. I nearly burst into tears reading it. I have to share it with someone! How my students never cease to amaze me. The letter was flawless, putting me to shame with my simple gift of a burned CD of Christmas music. Even with my apologizing that it couldn't be more, they received it graciously and let me know they were satisfied. I opened the gift in class and read the letter out loud. And the letter is what I most want to share with you:

Firstly, we should say, "thank you." Thanks for your smile. The first time we met, we were completely amazed at the smile upon your face, it's so beautiful and attractive that it can brighten up the whole classroom. Then thanks for your sincerity. Each time in class, you seemed always full of energy and passion, which makes the class more interesting and wonderful. Besides, you always talk to us in patience, trying to make us understand each word you said. You're really an excellent teacher and human being. A new year is coming, but this time you are far away from your home town. However, don't feel lonely, you still have us! Happy New Year!

Love from class 26 senior 1

More Tales

Hello World

I'm doing a Christmas lesson this week. It's not working out like I immagined it would. It has potential, but the more I do this lesson the more homesick I get. It's strange how that happened without me realizing it. I wonder, too, if part of the downward turning of my spirits could be warfare. It is such a special time of the year, bringing unique oportunities to share JC. Come to think of it, I'm sure it's warfare. Just look at all the things I went through to get this lesson to the students:

Last week I didn't think I was going to be able to use the special room with the access to the media I needed. But just in the nick of time I got permission.
I spent two nights and a total of about six+ hours working on a powerpoint presentation with pictures for my lesson. But the night before class at about 11:30, the computer wouldn't let me save it! So I called my brother to ask what to do. He recommended emailing it to myself and access it from the room, or bringing my laptop into class and see if I could get it hooked up to the projector. When I went to email it to myself it said the file was too big. So I packed up my laptop to bring to class knowing that it would be very difficult for me to hook it up becuase of the way everything is set up in that room. There's a bazzilion wires going all over the place, and everything's in Chinese. I was the most worried that it wouldn't work because I didn't have a plan B. I spent too much time on the presentation to think of the what-if's. I didn't get much sleep that night. Early in the morning I thougt to call Brenda. I borrowed a movie from her and her USB flash drive. What a life saver!!! I didn't have to bring the laptop to class, and I was able to do the presentation. But then another problem... I had spent so much time on the powerpoint that I didn't plan out how the lesson would progress and other things I could do to stimulate the students' speaking. I'm still working on the progress of the lesson. I find myself with like 5-10 extra minutes with nothing to do. And when I'm in that posistion, 5 minutes can seem like an eternity! But it's been fun, too. The students like Christmas. They know a lot more about it then I thought they did. So that's another problem. It's nothing really new for them, so they are a little bored. So I have to think of ways to spice it up. They even know about the birth of JC!! I bought enough candy to give them each a piece. One thousand pieces of candy is a lot of candy! Each student has a number, so I draw numbers out of my Santa hat to choose which students to ask questions to. I chose one student from each class to give a Christmas present. I made coppies of Christmas music for them. What a great way to get wrship music in their hands!
A couple students have already given me Christmas gifts! One even knitted me a scarf! It's so nice. What a sweetie!

I'm still having a little trouble with the stalker woman. She always waits for me at the school gate. We've told the gaurds to not let her inside. Martin tells me she goes to our restaraunt every day to ask him where I am. Maggie told me that she is a dangerous person and to stay away from her. So I've been layin low these past days. I don't want to go out much til I think she settles down. Just today I saw her, but was able to get away. School had just gotten out and there was people everywhere, and bikes and cars and in the busy hustle I just said hello to her and went on my merry way. She would've chased me down, but she was on a bike and couldn't get around the traffic. I feel so bad avoiding a person so much like this. But I really don't trust this person, and she might con me into doing all kinds of things with her if I pay her too much attention. What a crazy situation. I'd really like to have a friend... but this lady is too shady.

Well, it's true. I am homesick and a bit lonely. But I have not forgotten how good the Father is to me. I've been listening to KTIS almost every day. Lovely Christmas music! And I heard this beautiful story by Paul Harvey that I would love to share with you. It's not the same without hearing it straight from the mouth of Paul Harvey, but it's great nonetheless. Merry Christmas.

http://www.powerline.org/documents/1723.htm

P.S. Thank you for always remembering me in your prayers. Every day there are battles!

Socks Off

Last night I had another one of those dreams where I was back home. It was so real. I was home, but I was filled with this terrible grief. It was good to see my family, but I was so distracted by the strong pull towards China that I could not enjoy being with them. I knew without a doubt that I was still supposed to be there. I was so distressed that I was not where I was supposed to be, and the grief was so intense. The dream woke me up, and in the darkness of my room I strained my eyes to see because I had to know that I was still in China. What a relief it was when I could see that I was still here. Wow. How can a dream like this not be from the Lord? And it's the second one like this that I've had! It is sad for me to be away from home during the holidays, but I have such a peace and confidence that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. It's so strange to me, becuase there's nothing at all glamorous about where I am, and it can be so lonely and dark. But if I were anywhere else in the world, I know I would not have this peace. So what in the world is He doing? It's not clear to me right now. But I know it is in me and through me... some cool stuff is going on in the spirit.

Time is flying so incredibly fast. This week was pretty interesting. I was walking along the street one day and a strange woman introduced herself to me, telling me all kinds of stuff about her, how she's good friends with Liam (an elderly man from Canada teaching in another school here) and asking if she could come to my place so I could help her improve her spoken English. I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no either. When I first got here, I might have been more inclined to go along with something like this, but I get asked SO much to teach people, and I've been here long enough to know that they are going to do everything they can to butter me up to get as much as they can for nothing. I really hate having to deal with things like this, because there's no way out for a people-pleaser personality like mine. I really have to learn how to be firm and not let people walk all over me. I left the lady thinking I would probably never see her again. But now she's stalking me!!! That same day Maggie called me saying there was a woman at the school gate asking to come to my place because she was my good friend. I didn't even know her name at that point. I went down to meet her at the gate to see what she wanted. She invited me to go to a karaoke bar with her and some guy that night. For one, it was a school night and she wanted to begin the evening at 9:30pm, another thing I don't even know this lady or the strange man she wants me to party with, another thing my friend died just 2 weeks ago hanging out in a strange place with people he barely knew, another thing it's a bar where there will probably be all kinds of drunk nasty men, it's late at night and I'm a young foreign girl. Sound like a great time, eh? So of course, I turned her down. But this lady would not take no for an answer! She gave me the hugest guilt trip. Again, I thought that maybe she'd give up on me and I wouldn't see her anymore. But the very next day she waited for me at the school gate who knows how long while I finished my classes. She invited me to lunch. I tried to turn her down, but I did feel bad about turning her down the other day (only because she made me feel bad!), and she was starting another guilt trip on me, saying her friend is waiting for us with his car. I told her I had no money on me, but she said they would pay. Ok, free meal, and I didn't have any excuses not to go. So they took me to this fancy place where you get a private room. It was me, the girl Sara, and this strange guy who didn't speak a word of English. They ordered the food which was all kinds of Chinese delicacies. Translation: "food" that I just wasn't in the mood to experiement with that day. Usually I try to be respectful as to not offend my hosts, but I was just getting bad vibes from these people. So I didn't eat their special worms and pig tongue stuff. The rice was good. She asked me all these weird questions like if I like to swim and if I was or could be interested in Chinese men. I don't know for sure, but I wonder if this strange man was .... yeah. Anyway, she wanted to know all about my schedule because this man wanted to take me for a travel somewhere. I was like, dude, this guy doesn't know a word of English. What are we gonna do? Yeah... I said Take me home! Unfortunately before she started getting all crazy on me, I gave her my phone number. So since then surprisingly I haven't hear from her. But she must've given my phone number out cuz I keep getting messages from some strange person, who I've basically had to tell them to leave me alone. I hate being so rude, but there's no other way to get rid of these kinds of people! Just today, Arthur was telling me how he saw this woman chasing after me the other day. He mentioned how there is a woman who knew Liam once... I said, this woman said she is friends with Liam!!! But what happened is, Liam befriended this woman, and she showed him how impovershed she was, how her apartment was bare, etc. Well, Liam spent hundreds of Yuan on her, buying her things becuase she was so poor, and he wanted to help her out. Turns out this is how she works it! Wow! We're not totally sure, but we think she is the same person. She preys on unsuspecting foreigners to squeez what she can out of them! So sad.

Last night I made french fries. The oil here is so nasty. It's peanut oil and it has this funky odor. So it's almost worth it to spend 45 yuan (about 5 USD) on olive oil. Well, I burned myself when some oil splashed up on my finger!! It's all blistery and gross now. Just thought you would like to know. It was only cause I was in a hury, because I had that date to be a model that night! I sat for almost two hours as Mr. Li and a couple students sketched me. It was really uncomfortable for me at first to be the center of attention like that. But hey, I get stared at all the time here anyway! Mr. Li was so funny. He said that I am the first foreigner he's ever made a sketch of before. I was excited to see the drawing because he's a really good artist. But sadly, it was a little bu hao! (Not good). Yeah, it looked nothing like me! Actually it was pretty scary. He was so embarassed, he said that he was nervous because I am so beautiful! Awe.. cute. So I got to keep the drawing any way. I'll attatch a picture of it so you can see.

Today a couple interesting somethings happened. The electricity went out while I was teaching class. It was out for most of the day. I signed the contract for next term. So I am officially committed to being here for another six months. Hey, maybe that's why I had that dream last night; to assure me that I can sign that contract with confidence! Also today, I finished crocheting a hat. It should come in handy when it gets colder. Brenda and I went on a nice long walk after I took a nap. We went to the post office which was moderately painless for once! I got a Christmas package from one of my most favorite people in the whole world. We walked through a place that used to be so cool. Do you remember me telling you about the place where they sold plants and fish? The market where I bought my bonsai? Well, it's gone!! The whole market has relocated and dispersed. I'm a bit sad about it, but not surprised. Things in China are constantly changing. Like on walking street, there's at least one shop change every week. No joke. They just finished remodeling the main grocery store too. It's amazing how much stuff like that they do. Well, we were walking along the street that used to be lined with beautiful cacti, bamboo, poinsetta trees, bonsai trees, fish, puppies, and interesting people; the few people left were staring at us, no surprise there. Then this one guy on a bike who was staring at us totally hit this parked car and fell right over. It was just too funny. Maybe I should've felt bad for him, but I can't help wishing they'd all just keep their eyes on the road instead of staring at the foreigners.

Today the head English teacher of the grade that I teach told me that the students gave me a good report. They like me and think my teaching style is really interesting. It was encouraging to hear. I still struggle with class 24 and 18, and just those two classes can ruin my day if I let them. So it's good to know that the majority of the students are happy with me. Whew!

The Father has really blessed my socks off lately. I am filled with joy and peace and an awareness of his goodness to me! I am so thankful for these things. I have no doubt that these blessings are answers to your prayers. Thank you sooooo much! It helps me get through the holiday season without being too sad that I am missing my family.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Today I found NINE dead fish in the tank. Perhaps it was due to a combination of the weather being so cold, the tank was getting dirty, and the tank was too small for all twenty one of the little guys. I feel like somehow I'm letting Nigel down, cause he loved those silly little fish so much, and I let so many of them die already. So I cleaned out the tank tonight and used my left over drinking water to replace the nasty water they were sludging through before. Then I just sat and watched them eat for a while. They're so cute, the little guys. I hadn't taken the time to enjoy them before. They're probably a bit traumatized from losing their papa Nigel and living with their dead brothers and sisters for a couple days til I noticed. I've decided to take much better care of them from now on. And there's still so many of them, I think I'm going to find some good homes for them.

Christmas is drawing near. I'm a little sad, you know. It's my first Christmas away from home. But I'm a big girl, and I know the Lord has good things in store for me. I've oddly enough been in a great Christmasy mood these days. Christmas is definitely not "in the air" here, but I have this warm joy and excitement in my heart. The Father is good to me and gifts me with so many blessings. Every good and perfect gift comes from above.

Thursday night I joined my students again for their art class. It's cool to be there, but in a way I don't understand how it can be called a class. The teacher just lets them draw whatever they want and doesn't do any instructing. They all laugh and joke together, it's really carefree and laid back. My student Tracy wanted me to come because this night she was the live model. There were only five other students there, so they along with the teacher began to draw her. I watched for a bit, then decided to join in. I've never had an art class before, and haven't really drawn a live model, but I enjoy trying. And I thought I did pretty well. My drawing actually resembled her! I didn't get to keep the drawing, as Tracy collected all the pictures when class was over. I would want to keep them too I guess. The one that the teacher, Mr. Li, drew was amazing. He has some serious talent. They asked if I would be their model for next week. I said yes, ofcourse! How fun, plus I wanna keep the picture the Mr. Li draws of me... how cool is that! I've always wanted to do one of those character sketch things at the fair, you know. But never have. Now I get a chance to get a super good drawing done of me.

Today I went for a nice walk. I did a little Christmas shopping for my Chinese friends. I don't quite know what to get them, but I would like to bless them somehow. I've realized in the last few days that I haven't been making the most of my time here lately. I want to open my eyes and take in as much as I can. There are so many interesting things to observe. It's easy to forget that I might never return to this place, and I could forget what it is like. I wish I were a good writer so I can put into words what life is like here. The culture is in such a strange place right now, struggling between old traditional ways of life and doing things, and modern Western ways creeping in and taking over the youth culture and commercial industry. On the same street you can see BMWs riding along side a makeshift buggy with dead chickens dangling off the back cycled along by an old man in a Chinese hat. Most young people have a cell phone, mp3 player or both, while just down the block the homeless people struggle to find their next meal. The upper-class women in their fancy leather boots, namebrand clothing, and expensive jewlery buy their groceries at the local market where the farmers bring their vegetables, fruit and pigs; and the fisherman bring their live catch. The floor is dirtied with blood, water, dirt, fish scales, unwanted vegies, and cigaret butts. The vendors fill the streets at certain times of the day (right before meal times), it looks like something out of national geographic.

There are so many people. You'd think we've been here long enough that people would know our faces and get over it, and stop staring at the foreigners so much. But everyday, there's tons of people just within a small radius of our school, that have never seen us. So we are new to many people every day. You'd think with all of this Western influence and technological explosion they've had here, they'd be familiar with how white people look... but I guess seeing a foreigner in "real life" is a big deal.

Today I bought some strawberries. Sadly they weren't that tastey. They're not quite in season yet, but you can find them in some places. I'm excited for when Mangos are in season. They are nearly impossible to find right now. I often buy my veggies and fruit from people who wear those Chinese hats and sell from their baskets. They carry them around the city. Two large baskets hanging from the ends of a pole that they carry on their back. What a contrast when you see these sellers outside of McDonalds and KFC or something! When I really think about it, it's amazing. But it's so common to me now, I don't even look twice.

How cool it is to be here! It's pretty amazing that I am seeing things that most people I know have never imagined. Like their clothing style, for example!!!! Haha... seriously, it's something so crazy I have to take a picture of some of the outfits these girls come up with. But how crazy would it be if I came home and you all were dressing like this. I hope not... it's really bad!!

One thing that's hard to get used to is the beggars. Have I already mentioned this? Many people have told me that there are "cheats." People who only pose as a beggar. So it's tricky. But there are those, who you have no doubt could use help. It breaks my heart. Especially the children. Many parents use their children to look extra pitiful and sad to get more donations, or they have them do tricks or dances. There are two little boys who I don't know how to take. They're always on this certain sidewalk, and they're unavoidable. They ambush you from behind a tree one at a time. If you give one money, then the other hops out and starts chasing you and will not leave you alone! All the while their mother is back there having a good ol laugh. Brenda and I only had one small bill to give one day, so when we gave it to the one little boy, the other started after us and Brenda was like, "Oh, crap, here comes the other one!" and we litterally started running away and hiding in the nearest shop! It was actually very humorous, cuz the kid waited for us for a while, then finally gave up. Poor kid. They are pretty cute. There's a couple men that scoot along Walking Street, who are missing a leg or paralyzed. It makes me think of JC saying, "get up and walk." I suppose there's no reason I couldn't say such a thing to them. My faith is so small!

You know Christmas is coming near. If there's one thing I would ask you to pray for me this season, it would be for boldness. There are so many oportunities for me to share His story with people, and to have meaningful discussions with my fellow foreigners. I admit that I am quite the chicken when it comes to speaking. But I want so much for Him to use me to share His story and His love during this time especially. I am not allowed to discuss "religion" with my students in class, but this is a special time of sharing what Christmas is about. Even Brenda said she is going to tell them the real meaning of Christmas traditionally and culturally, and she's not even a believer! So the oportunity is wide open. I need boldness and love! You are all so wonderful, because I know you lift me up. I wish I knew how to express how grateful I am that you remember me in your prayers. It's a wonderful and exciting time isn't it!

Recent Excitement

Last week I went to bed, turned off the lights and prepared myself to fall into a nice sleep. Then I heard a noise. I always here noises, since I live a the school and I swear these kids never go home. But this time I heard something closer. I've heard from other teachers that if it's quiet enough at night they can hear cockroaches crawling on the floor. I knew that whatever it was I was not going to be able to sleep knowing it was there in my room. As I got up to turn off the lights, I must've startled it, cuz I heard a loud squeel! That scared me, so I leaped out of bed, turned on the lights and looked all around for the culprit. It was a little ugly black mouse-like thing! I'm glad it wasn't a cockroach or a rat. So I called up Martin, and he came armed with a broom to help me get rid of it. We loured him out, then Marting sweeped it accross the room where it flew and knocked up against my closet like a foot away from me! Aah!! Then he smashed it into a nasty pancake. It's the most excitement I've had for a while, so I had to tell you!


Friday night Arthur got some extra free tickets for Brenda and I to go with them to a concert. It was pretty cool, but deffinitely culturally challenging. It was a concert celebration for the local university. There was some fantastic singing and dancing. I loved the dancing especially. They were so creative in the costumes and choreography. Some dances were like balet with many gils on stage, others were more modern. It was quite enjoyable. There's a couple from the Ukraine that teaches music at the university and they did a dueling piano piece. It was fantastic. So enjoyable. But the people in the audience were driving me nuts! Now I know where my students get it. In the States we would be totaly silence in a concert hall listening to classical pieces and watching ballet. But this crowd was chatting away with eachother, cell phones going off. It was unreal how (in my world view) disrespectful they were. But it just goes to show, I'm not in
"Kansas" anymore. As if I hadn't already figured that out. There's plenty of things that remind me.

Since Nigel has passed away (by the way there are some government dudes going through his apartment right now) things are not as active and cheerful as they were. We haven't gone bowling since, haven't played volleyball, haven't done TaiChi, haven't had a Chinese lesson, haven't gone to our restaraunt, haven't hung out with my students. Soon things will pick up again I hope.

Yesterday was the coldest day here yet. It got down to less than 45 degrees! It's so strange, cuz just the day before I was walking around like it was summer. Now I feel so cold! It feels colder, because there is no where to escape it. Nothing is heated. I am sitting in my room, freezing right now, as much as if I were to be outside minus the wind chill factor. So yesterday morning I woke up with a cold. I was not prepared. All I had for blankets was a sheet-like thing. So yesterday I went shopping for a nice blanket. And I slept so cozy last night. And now I'm filling up on vitamin C trying to nip this cold. I spend quite a lot for the blanket, but it's nice and heavy.

Last night I listened to some Christmas music on KTIS (I can get it through the internet, yay!) and decorated my bonsai tree! It's like my own little Charlie Brown Tree, seeing as how all the leaves fell off. I am missing home so much during this holiday season.

Nigel

Nigel Parker

Nigel was the first of the foreign teachers that I met in China. The first day I arrived in Zhanjiang, he helped me out and gave me many tips on living the life here. He had been a teacher in China for three years. His British accent, way of speaking, dry humor and sarcasm always made things interesting. He was kind, caring, very generous, and funny. But he was also a bit foolish and Chinese-girl crazy. He would have been 50 years old next January. But he was like a child. Youthfully active, but sometimes did not make the wisest of decisions. He was epileptic and occasionally had seizures and blackouts. We're not sure if this had anything to do with his death. We're not sure of anything really. The Chinese who were with him keep changing their story. The last I saw him I was leaving dinner early to hang out with my students on Saturday night. I didn't even say goodbye. You never expect you'll never see someone again. He text me on my phone that night to see if I was ok, as my students took me to the beer festival. He also called again later to make sure I was ok. This is the last I heard from him. Sunday I was with my students when I got the call that he had drown. The rest of us foreign teachers were together all night talking about what had happened. He had gone with a group of Chinese teachers from our school to a small island. It's so weird that they would go there; there's nothing to do or see there. Apparently he went swimming and drown. A Chinese teacher tried to save him, and he drown too. They've changed the story, and we will probably never know the truth. There's no such thing as CSI China finding out what really happened. But we know Nigel, and nothing makes sense. We know Nigel hates the cold, and we know he doesn't like swimming. Even in BeiHai he never went swimming. I don't think it was foul play like some have suggested, but I know it must have been a terrible accident. For two people have died. They didn't find the other guys body til two days later. Arthur and Martin got the call first, and took a boat to the island as soon as they heard. Martin is a lifeguard in SanDiego so he knows all about drowning. He says if they knew what they were doing he could have been saved. They took him to a tiny little hospital where hundreds of Chinese did what they do best: stare at the foreigners. I wasn't there, but I know it was awful. I don't know if I could've handled it. I've never really had anyone close to me pass away before. I was too young when my grandma passed, I don't remember much. Nigel is the closest death has come to me. I don't quite know how to handle it. He was my neighbor, and I always heard him in his place. Sometimes I think I still hear him. It's too quiet now. Nigel had these fish that he adored. He treated them so well. He would get very defensive if you said anything bad about his fish! Only two days before, he asked me to take the fish so he could clean out his tank. So I have all his fish now. There's like 25 of them, and I want to give them to people. Give them something living of Nigel's. That night that it all happened was awful. We knew the Chinese might go through his things; the police would be there the next day. So that night we went to his place and made sure that there wasn't anything they shouldn't see... Which there was. Can't say. It was so creepy to be in his place going through his things. We all took a memento. Brenda and I took some of his postcards of Pandas. He was passionate about pandas. His Chinese name was panda: XiongMao. He took a special trip during autumn festival to Sichuan to see the pandas, and even got to kiss one! The others say things like maybe he is a panda now. It's so strange to deal with something like this in a foreign country because they have different ways of dealing with things, ways that are more often than not very corrupt and intrusive. This whole situation is splattered with corruption. It's so unsettling. I knew who the Chinese teacher was that drown also. It just doesn't add up. It has been a difficult week. But Maggie has done an awesome thing for me. I told her that I was not up to teaching and trying to be all happy in front of my students, so she hooked me up with the special room where I can show a movie. So this week and next we will watch the movie. But still, I have students everyday wanting to know what happened. I just tell them I don't want to talk about it. I feel like they don't ask cause they care, but cause they just want to know. We were told to stay out of it anyway, and the school, government, and international affairs will take care of everything. My Chinese friends are scared to go anywhere with me now, cause they don't want to be responsible if something were to happen. Some have even gone as far as to say that I should just stay in the school and not go anywhere. There's no way I'm letting fear keep me from living. This event has caused so many waves. Nigel was friends with many of the students. One of which was Dream; you may recall me talking about her. All this has affected her life in big ways. Her gaurdians and teachers tell her that she is too close to the foreigners and she's not allowed to talk to us anymore. It adds to her feeling of being imprisoned in this dysfunctional pseudo family she's been put in. She is in such despair. Please lift her up. She needs love and hope. As for me, I will be ok. I've just been in such a shock. It is so tragic what happened. And I beat myself up for the fact that I don't speak of His love. I have been to Bible college and have and ICS degree, for what? None of that matters if I live in the silent shadows. Is there hope beyond the grave to choose Him? We are all going to miss Nigel. It's so strange to think that he was planning to visit his mother in the UK in just a month. She just had a bad stroke, and he feared she would die soon. It's still so surreal. Even as I write all these things I feel like he could pound on my door to say "The egg ChaoFan was ever so good tonight. Cheers!" And it would all become just a really bad practical joke. I have to move on. No more sleeping all day and skipping meals.

So today I went out.

If there was an Olympic sport of infuriating foreigners, then the China Post would get the gold medal. I absolutely hate going there. It is the one place in China that makes me want to go home more then anything. I was there for almost 2 hours today trying to mail something. And my Chinese friend Maggie was with me! It's unreal how messed up their system is. I'd rather go to the dentist. Language barrier has only adds to the frustration. I could blame some of my frustration on the fact that it's been an emotional week. But even without my emotions involved, it's the most screwed up place in China. Even the Chinese get upset there. Grrrr! As most of you know, I am a very even tempered person. But this place takes the cake. I could go on... But yeah, I think you get the idea. On the brighter side of the post, I got a package! Steve and Sally couldn't send the boys, so they sent the next best thing: hugs from them! Add some homemade cookies to that, and it's comfort in the nickatime!

You all have been so supportive. I know you lift me up. I can't tell you how much that means to me. I need it so much. It often feels very lonely and empty here. Corruption is around every corner, and it can be overwhelming. Even though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death... I won't be afraid, cause he's here with me.