Home Sweet Hua Qiao

At 3:30 this afternoon, our bus pulled back onto campus here at Hua Qiao. The streets and sidewalks were paved with white shirts and green pants – the school uniform. It lasted almost 23 seconds before Tannah spotted one of her students then all of the returning teachers were up and searching the masses for any of their students. One student was even hanging around the foreign teacher building to try to find Danielle and talk with her.

I saw my first student coming out of the dining hall tonight and she was really excited to see me… but her English hadn’t gotten much better and she hadn’t used it all summer.
“Abrrr!”
“Hey! How are you?”
“uh….mmm…. uh…. GOOD! Bye bye!”

And there was our conversation.

I had met another student named Christina in the school store who was excited to see me and had been practicing. She actually had worked with and taught English over the summer. “But I was very tiring. Now I know how being a teacher is tiring.” I just smiled and nodded and told her that I imagined her to be a really good teacher. She went on to inform me that they had two of my classes today but when I didn’t show up they guessed I wasn’t back yet.

Say what?! I’m supposed to find out tomorrow what classes we’re teaching and then pick. Apparently, they’ve chosen classes for us to teach and just assigned them. I don’t know what all that means. Monica also ran into students in 3 different departments that told her that she was their teacher. So we hold it all lightly. Apparently according to the students who have seen or texted me, I’m not teaching oral English. Instead I’m teaching a “Survey of English Speaking Countries”. If you don’t know what that means, then you’re in the same boat as I am. Apparently, I’m supposed to teach it, but what is it? I’m going to need some clarification if that’s what I end up doing.

Supposedly we’re not teaching until Sept 1. So we have a few days to get settled in and get things ready, I’m slightly expecting them to want us to teach tomorrow… I hope not. Now, I’ve got a lot of my things moved into my apartment, but time to rearrange, unload, and try to kill as much of the mold that’s started growing in my new bathroom as possible. Giddy up!

More adventures to come.

Edge of Something Glorious

We're on the edge of the crest of Hope and Glory about to crash down.

The Younger Big Brother

The closer we get to transitioning to our school the more I consider our situation. I'm the only guy on my 5 person returning team. There are 5 guys on the new CTF team coming to our school. I think all of them are 25-26 ... 2 or 3 years older than me. Yet, I'm the one with China experience and experience at our school. Tonight as I shared some issues i expect to deal with (girls having the inside track with each other, being left out, having boundaries to be aware of yet still be open with my team, etc.) I discussed this with one of my teammates, she shared a different idea that she saw as a possibility.

As I will be living, possibly, in the same stairwell as the guys I will serve not as their team-leader but as more of a big brother whose close by.

The Father seems to use me not as "here say this to encourage or provoke their mind" but more of "be awkwardly vulnerable and intimately honest with people, even if and probably before they are with you." Then, after this process, I will use your heart and it's broken confusion to show others that it's ok and what it's like for it to bleed something worth while. Sounds cool, but very humbling to do all the time. (you'd think I'd learn if I just stayed humble things wouldn't humble me as much.) But in pursuit of Him, they would somehow see what it's like to be vulnerable and real with Him about doubts and fears and struggles and then joys and triumphs. That He will use me as the fluidly stable big brother. Always unstable, yet still consistent. I want to be used, I want to encourage them, I want to love them. I want to love Him and be used by Him and hopefully, I can stay humble enough to just be real and vulnerable with them so that they can if nothing else, be real with Him. After that, it's up to Him to come through.

Anyways, this is what I learned and would request help in being. Below is a picture of the new team that's joining us. I'll get a picture of my new current team in a few days. Thanks for the Love and Support.

Weather Report

Beijing is known for its size (18-20 million), it’s ease of flow and western food (compared to other parts of China), and it’s smog (see pictures below). Each morning we get up and judge how the air quality will be today by our Pagoda-ometer. There’s a pagoda 250 yards or so away from our hotel that we can see between two buildings. If we can see the pagoda then it’s going to be a nice day, if it’s clear past the pagoda it’s going to be a really nice day, if you have to make an effort to see the pagoda… well…yeah.

It's going to be a pretty nice day...

Well, might not spend too much time outside...

There just seems to be something in the air and I’m not just talking about smog. It’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. There are a lot more lonely days here, and a lot more intentionality is needed. I recognize that some is perhaps culture stress, but maybe there’s more.

One issue that has been bothering me for the last year, which I’m not sure about is that I feel like I’m addicted to Him. It’s a cool concept at the sound of it at first, but it makes life slightly more difficult. You know how when you get one of those revelations from Him about your life or something about His character and you just kind of ride on that joy and awe and idea for a few days. It seems like that only lasts for a few hours anymore. It’s not that He’s changed, but it’s that I find myself constantly going back to Him almost for another fix. I don’t want Him to be just my good feeling, but it’s like having to come back and get reconnected throughout the day, (if somehow you get unconnected – which I seem to become.) It’s a cool idea to be a J-man – Junkie, but it’s a little tiring after a few months of always having to come back two or three times a day and get some more so you don’t slide into temptation, depression, or apathy. I do get to learn a lot more this way, but I also feel like I forget so much more and don't let it really sink in and change me. It's a little frustrating.

Where there is frustration, there’s always a reason to praise. If there wasn’t a battle going on than that means the Sprite wouldn’t be active. If we didn’t struggle with sin, that means we’d be giving into it. Now that we’re believers we’re freed to join the battle, in our own flesh, in the unseen battle around us, and the salvation war of those still held captives. But we celebrate when we have nothing else to do, we celebrate that He is good. I have no good answers, but I have truth I’ll say now and ask that you lift us up in this way. The words that came to mind were,

"and my [King & Creator] will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in [His Son]."

Lift us up that we will have all our needs (physical, mental, spriteual, relational, and sustaining) not only met but lavished upon us - aka according to His riches in glory. That, as the previous passage writes, our minds would only be on Him and what is true, right, just, celebratory, and in everything we lift it up to Him.

We will be on our campuses in a week, and we want to hit the ground full force and full of glory and grace to Love Him and Love them in the most G-based way possible. Thanks for your partnership and support. It's impossible without.

Dinner Convo - Cultural

 

Tonight, after 2 days of 8+ hours of language study we went out to eat. You’d think well prepared but more along the lines of well burnt out. We were so tired and our tongues didn’t want to even try to use our own language let alone a new one after what we put them through today. The rest of our bodies went along with our tongue. 

We went in to the restaurant. I ordered. Kim ordered. Adrienne was up. (Poor Adrienne has had digestive problems for the past few days and it’s starting to wear.) The conversation went like this:

Wo you la du zi.  Uh… Wo xi huan mi fan . . . nu rou . . bu la da. Yeah?

Which translates appropriate (maybe… we think) in a Chinese restaurant.  But could you imagine someone walking into a restaurant like Applebees or Chillis and saying this…

I have diarrhea… uh… I want rice…. Beef… not spice. Yeah?

We didn’t get laughed at too much. She helped pick something out and we went on with the meal.  Hopefully now the meal doesn’t go on with her tho. Happy Eating.

Lessons from Fredrick

In case you are wondering who Fredrick is, he’s our pet turtle living in the bathroom sink of our hotel since we bought him a week and half ago during the Amazing Race for 8 yuan ($1.15). 

Each day, multiple times a day I go into the bathroom and change his water and rearrange/give him some new food. It’s nothing new we interact a lot. Sometimes I will just walk into the bathroom to check on him. I look at him, he turns his long neck to look at me, he sees me, then slowly pulls himself back into his shell as if I didn’t see him. Obviously, since it’s the bathroom I also use it for other parts of my day besides checking on the turtle, brushing teeth, washing hands, taking a shower, using the bathroom, etc. I’m always in there and around and checking in on him and moving him around.

Today, my stomachs been doing it’s own thing so I’ve been in the bathroom more often. Just now as I finished washing my hands in the bathtub to exit the bathroom, I turned to Fredrick who was all sprawled out and said, “How ya doing Fredrick?” As fast as he could yank his little head back in there (which apparently is pretty quick for a turtle) he went in. “That’s strange” I thought while curiously watching my little shelled friend. He knew I was here. He was looking right at me.  I come in here all the time and all I do is help take care of him. Why should he be scared of me and retract so quickly?

Then it occurred to me, there is a massively bigger person standing there talking to you in a booming voice... sound familiar? He loves me and wants to take care of me. He interacts with me daily, multiple times a day, He is always helping clean me up and give me more food. He’s in the room with me, often times I even look right at Him (maybe knowingly, maybe not) and then suddenly, He pierces the silence with an intimate word to my heart that is set off only by the sound of His voice. I shake and quiver and if I had a shell to run into, I would.

But how strange is it for my turtle to do it… then I have to consider how strange is it for me to do it to Him? Someone who cares and loves and only does what is best for us. How do I respond when He who is in the room with me at all points decides to speak. I’d probably shell it up, but I want instead to stay out and let Him lift me up onto his face so that I can interact with Him rather than shell up before Him. Maybe, when He suddenly speaks, I will learn will be broken free totally from it's shell and live undone before Him.

Just a lesson from Fredrick.

Back in Beijing!

 

We all made it... almost. There are a few teachers arriving tonight and in the morning after missed flights, but I am here. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and felt much more comfortable arriving. We attempted our Chinese (which I learned just how much I need to study) on the way to the hotel. We checked in and had an "Amazing Race Beijing" the next day after some training. We had two excellent student tour guides Michael (left) and Andrew (right) are grad. students who wanted to practice their English and help some foreigners out. Chase (plaid shirt) is going to Jiangxi and Justin (sunglasses) is going to Tibet to teach. I've learned it's much less stressful the second time around when you're not bombarded by everything being completely new and knowing a little Chinese to get around. (Having English speaking tour guides helps too.) Below is a series of pictures of our "Amazing Race" and some of our finds around the city.

# 2 Take a photo representing Chinese Fashion

#23 Find Chinglish and take a picture of it.

#37 Find oddest thing for less than 10 Yuan ($1.50ish)
We got Fredrick for 8 Yuan ($1.20). He now lives in our sink in the hotel.
He doesn't like oreos, granola, or peach leaves... but not that we've tried those things.

Santa? North Pole!

I was excited to see it so I wanted to pass it on. This is the sight from our plane map and window as we passed past the North Pole. Sadly, no sight of Santa or the elves....

Screen on TV of current location

View outside. I don't see any red or green or any jolliness though :(