Guangzhou

Last weekend Brenda and I went to Guangzhou mainly for shopping and to get away. Brenda didn't go anywhere for the spring festival three week holiday so she had pretty fierce cabin fever. We planned the trip well before we left having our Chinese friends write key words like "Bus station", the name of our hotel, and "Zhanjiang" in Chinese so that we wouldn't have as much troube with communication. We did really well, and had no problems getting around and getting to where we need to be. We stayed on ShaMianDao, which is like a little island mecca for foreigners. Guangzhou is a huge, overpopulated, and high poluted city. So this little island was nice to be able to feel like we could get away from those things. It just so happened that the U.S. Consolate is located on this island, and therefor there were many many couples there to work out the paperwork for adoptions. The first night we ate at a Western restaraunt and it was so funny for us to see so many foreigners. I can almost understand now why the Chinese stare so much. We found ourselves doing the same thing! We were like, wow, look at them all!! And then we were freaking out over the menu besides. Wow...tacos!!! So that's what I ordered, but was disappointed with a very Chinese taco. I guess I I'm foolish to expect to get the real thing here. We stayed at a youth hostel, where the price was right and the conditions were surprisingly great. We were very pleased with our selection. The next day we literally shopped til we dropped. But it didn't take long because I was a little sick and Brenda was reacting heavily to the polution. We splurged on good food and nice things. The Island is very popular for foreigners like I said, so there are many places to buy Chinese souvenirs. There are no places like this in Zhanjiang. So I bought a ton of nice things, even had a ChiPao made for myself (Traditional Chinese dress). Yikes I spent a lot. But it's my last oportunity I think to buy things like this. Almost every foreigner there was carrying there brand new baby girl. It's most common to adopt girls here, as the boys are desired more then they. So cute. I want one!! Saturday night we went to the Beijing Lu BuShingJie (Beijing walking street). Amazing! Its a major shopping area, and most impressive at night. There are millions of lights and lanterns and neon signs. Breathtaking and exciting. Too bad the items in the shop weren't equally impressive. We really wanted to buy some shoes but every shop was exactly the same and sold the same cheap ugly shoes. They have the funkiest style here that I really don't like. We entered one place that turned out to be an 8 story mall. There was a huge suare in the middle where you can look all the way up to the dome of the building and almost fall over from looking all around at the heigth of shops. Incredible. We didn't really buy much in these places. They were just cool to see. I'll post pics when I get the chance. The bus rides to and from Guangzhou were fairly pleasant. Six hours of sleeping and watching Chinese music videos. We made it back in time for me to plan my lesson for the next day.

Arthur's wife arrived last week, but we never really got a chance to get to know her until tonight. Now that I teach at the new campus I am not around as much to see them. Both Brenda and I have been uneasy about the whole situation and are not sure how it will be with Anna here now, because we are burdened with this secret of infidelity on his part. But we wanted to welcome her and so we took them out to eat tonight. Anna is such a sweet, kind, and beautiful girl. Only 22, but seems older than me. That's not hard to do though. She told me that Arthur mentioned to her that I went to a Bible College so she asked me if I had a Bible she could borrow!! I was so pleased and said ofcourse. She is orthodox, as she comes from Uzbekistan. So I am not entirely sure what her beliefs are. But I look foward to talking with her. There is something about her that shines, and I hope and pray that I have found a like-minded friend, or at least one very close to becoming... ya know what I mean. Please keep this in your prayers, including the fact that I know what her husband guiltlessly does behind her back. It's painful to bear, and I believe it is not my place to be a tattletale.

Anyway. Crazyness!! I miss home a lot. Just today Mark, our Chinese liaison gave me a tour around the new campus just to kill some time before the bus came. And he asked me, "Will you come back to teach next year... I BEG you!!" They've been having a hard time recruiting teachers I think. I told him I could not make any promises, but I will definitely spread the word to my friends that posistions are available here, the conditions are good, and it's a great experience. So seriously! If any one is interested, let me know. It's a great school.

I'm still not sure what the future holds. But I'm not worried about it. I have plenty of options! Time is flying by so fast. February is almost over. I will be coming home in less than 4 months! I can't wait to come home. But I must admit most readily I will miss China.