McGuyver

For everyone who missed out on the late 80’s early 90’s show McGuyver… I’m sorry. For those of you who know it, and know it well, Ma Gai Va (the Chinese version of McGuyver) has been releasing new episodes here at Hua Qiao.  It started as I began Asking that He would make me into a good husband and dad. Last year He did a lot of this through showing me how much He loved me (an area I still have a lot to go in), but this year it’s been more tangible situations.

                I’m on a team with 4 other girls – 4 awesome girls. I greatly appreciate them and their Love for the Father and His work. They do great things and each reflect a different part of His character. But as Ashley wrote in her recent supporter update “last year there were 4 girls, this year there are 4 girls and one guy. Who knew one guy could change so much?! He thinks so much differently than we do.” Haha. This is very true. But in this new process, I feel like He’s helped me and taught me how to be a good dad and husband to my future wife and daughters.

                With housing mix-ups, the girls had to move apartments the first week of school and I was able to help the moving process. I learned a lot about girls “nesting” and “having closure” on a place. I understand it a little bit more. I also learned how much difference getting some closets and dressers can make changing the whole atmosphere (physically and emotionally) of a new apartment that previously has none. I learned why guys say certain things at certain times, and thankfully from other's mistakes I’ve witnessed – I learned when it was best to shut up and just move boxes and lamps. I learned that moving isn’t just the things but the memories that are there and how to help get settled in, we can make new memories, good memories in the new place and quickly. 

                He taught me that to feel at home, it’s gotta have things like home. So we set out and fixed up temporary shower curtains for each of the girls’ bathrooms. We got furniture fixed and moved in. I put up a bath towel rod. I tore down the bath towel rod accidentally. I hung the bath towel rod up again. Then I repeated the process 2 more times.  Not good. Fighting (not yet won) the battle of mold and stink in the bathroom – including cleaning out the drain (which apparently no one had done in the last 5 or 6 or so years), mopping, scrubbing, cleaning and repeating…multiple times. Also trying to homify (to make more homey) my apartment by decorating and bringing in more homey characteristics like lamps instead of overhead lights and paintings or pictures for the walls to kill the white space.

                The top of the cake and the current climax of the season of McGuyver came tonight at Tannah and Ashley’s apartment. Quick recap: because it’s so cold here in the winter time, they came in to add a thick 2 inch layer of insulation to the outside walls. In the process of doing this they had to clear off the walls and everything around it… including the radiator. This wouldn’t have been a big deal had they turned off the water, put a plug in it, or even told the girls what was happening. Instead Ashley walks back into her room this afternoon to find a bucket under this pipe which is now overflowing and many of her clothes on or close to the floor now soaked. They put a dishpan underneath but it fills up about every hour and half and requires dumping. )

                After 2+ hours of working on it, making a call to Tannah’s Dad and then almost calling my Dad at school on the other side of the world, we found a compromising solution. We tried a few many things before this and this is what it came down to.

1)  1) Take a yellow bouncy ball and jam it on the end of the open pipe.

2)  2) Ductape the yellow bouncy ball as tightly as possible onto the end of the pipe.

3)  3) Use a strip of ductape to tie it down like rope.

4)  4) Put a balloon over the whole thing.

5)  5) Put 4 Ziploc baggies over the whole thing.

6)  6) Use the ductape rope again to synch it tight.

7)  7) Put more ductape on it to hold it down and tight.

8)  8) Use a little more ductape to rope it again.

9)  9) Cut a styrofoam cooler (which we stole from the trash pile in another building) down to fit under the pipe.

1010)Add a final piece of ductape to lead the extra dripping water from the back down into the cooler.
 
     Is it stopped? No. Is it still running? Yes. But are Ashley and Tannah going to get to sleep tonight? Yes. Is He awesome? Yes. Do I feel like I’m kind of excited about getting to be a husband and dad one day? Heck yes! Am I tired? Oh yes. Should I go to bed now? Definitely. Do I love you? Of course. Am I done asking myself questions to lead the conversation? Probably for now.

Goodnight and thank you for watching “Ma Gai Va: Espoise 61: The Drippy Radiator Pipe”

Show Time! - Too Late to Apologize!

Well... here is the moment we've all been waiting for...

MID AUTUMN DAY / FRESHMAN WELCOME PARTY

The opening act was the "school's" rock band.
I guess the guys said the school doesn't really like their music, but they did an awesome job opening it up.

Act 2 - Traditional Chinese Dancing
(Oddly enough, my morning yoga outfit looks exactly the same but in blue.)

It started out as a joke with some students that I could beat box some. A week and half later, after adding 8 more people (5 singers, 2 more beat boxers, and a piano player), 2 auditions, changing many things, and practicing for 2+ hours a day we went on stage. We performed 'Apologize' by Timbaland/One Republic in front of 1000+ freshman in military fatigues for the Mid Autumn Day Festival/Freshman Welcome Party. It was a great chance to get to Love them a different way and see them outside of class. I'm glad we did it but I'll be more careful about what jokes I say next time. When in China...

Then we were on...
"It's now time for class, please go back to your classroom and get ready..."

Tannah and Eric leading the verses.

The Chorus - Piano, 5 singers, 3 beat boxers.

Nothing says bad boy beat boxers like bubbles... oh China.
I feel sorry for the other two guys as they had to share a mike to beat box in...awkward.
They did pretty good since they just learned how to beat box a week and a half before this.

Grand Finale after the dance.
Dance? Check out the video for the whole performance.

FOR YOUR VIDEO VIEWING PLEASURE...
Apologize by the Foreign Teachers and Students from the English Department
(note: 5 of the students are freshman, 2 are sophomores singing in a foreign language!)

Hope you enjoyed.

(In case the video didn't work or something you can click "here" for the youtube link.)

Made in China - Smile for the Camera

Do you ever say yes to something before you realize what you said yes to? I feel like this happens a lot in China between languages and cultures. You'll soon see a video of a performance we did with students soon but this was another little side adventure that happened last Saturday. A friend of a students asked Monica (my teammate) if she could get some foreigners together to help her friends company. They needed foreigners to model some clothes while they took pictures. They were starting this company and needed some foreign faces. To bless the student and help bring her face we thought, "eh, why not? It's not that big of a deal." haha. Oh were we in for a surprise.

It might take a few minutes for all the pictures to load, but trust me they are worth it. I hope you enjoy our Saturday morning 5+ hour photo shoot.

China, not Africa.
But we are out in the middle of a park getting these pictures taken "for a friend."

This was a super warm coat. It matches my shorts so well.
Thank goodness for cropping.

The modern day "Thinker"

You'd be surprised how many clothes they can pack in here.
It was pretty much nonstop for over 5 hours.
Took one coat off and they had another coat/jacket/overalls/suit for us to put on.

Look very closely at my left arm.
There's a little yellow screwdriver they put in there for looks.

That little yellow screw driver jumped out of my pocket as I banged my arm on the rail.
Don't you know, it jumped right into that water!
Luckily we had a shovel and pick ax for props to retrieve said little yellow screw driver.

80's running man?

Yeah... at this point I started to feel famous.

They caught me in action taking off my sunglasses.

You've heard of "Blue Steel" this one is called "The Squat"

Focus really hard on the ground right ....there.

The beautiful foreign teachers of Hua Qiao.
This was our own shot just for kicks, you can tell by the lack of professional lighting.

This is the pose I offered many times, but they always rejected.
I guess too much for China.

Yes, even hunting gear.

Check out these guns!
Seriously, they gave us toy guns to use in the picture to make it look more real.
Can you even get these in China?

Award: Most Awkward Picture of the Day!
I couldn't quit laughing at the cracks we were making.

You wanna mess with this? Pssh. This plastic is dangerous.

Action shot.

Who doesn't go hunting with an uzi?

We're having a show down. Who can "shoot" the other first.
He won.

Changed locations and headed off to work on the road way.
Action shot part 2.

Just in case anyone needs firemen outfits, or look-a-likes, we got em.

Stud.

High Ho High Ho - It's back to work I go.

This is the company we just signed on for http://en.forbright.com/. Apparently, they make clothes in China and then export all of them to England, Germany, and France (and potentially America soon). The website is in 4 languages and apparently this company is a lot more establish than I had ever imaged. Coming soon some good looking Americans on their webpage. :) I guess since we're foreigners/Americans they imagined us to be much bigger so they brought BIG clothes... even after they facebook stalked us to get our sizes. Good photo shoot though. I never imagined anything like this when I came to teach English... ah... when in China

Kacki Pants, Dress Shoes, and a Fishin Dock

Something familiar.

He’s been good to help me process a lot more this year and think through things. One thing at training I heard this year was “do what keeps you sane.” Many times we want to be as Chinese as possible for the Chinese people, but we know and they definitely know that we are always going to be foreigners no matter how hard we try. Some people try the submerge technique where they abandon their old culture and try to do things as Chinese as possible, while others go the imperialist route and do things as American as possible. Their answer, do as the Chinese do and do what keeps you sane.

Last year, I would say I was more in the submerge category. I tried to withdraw from my Americanisms and adapt more Chinese ways. Unfortunately, in this, I gave up a lot of my balances. It wasn’t that it was a neglecting of them, but many of them I just couldn’t do or didn’t have time for. I learned what it really meant to “call out” to the Father in desperation and confusion.Our intimacy grew.

I was thinking about how it seemed much easier to adapt in Africa than here. (I know I had issues there too. I know I was there for only a month and in the "honeymoon" stage of cultural living, but I was just wondering.) I think some of what is tricky about living in China is that so much of it looks like America. Roads are roads. Stores are stores. People are there. If you turn off your literacy, there are places that seem like they could be America. When your subconscious kicks in thinking your in America, yet people are playing by a different set of rules, your subconscious sounds the alarm that somethings not right. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto. But yet... everything looks like it. Once your consciousness kicks in we realize, I'm in China, things are different. But when you've had long days or are even just thinking about normal things (friends, food, family, what I have to do before tomorrow) and zoned out - our minds revert back to what we've known the most. For me, America.

So last night, the Father gave me a glimpse of WV to live in for a few moments. For some reason, the school put in a wooden dock near the edge of the river... I don't know why. But it provided the perfect height for me to sit on and swing my feet over the water. :) I know I was still in teacher clothes, I know I was probably being watched by tons of Chinese people, I know it wasn't very Chinese, but... it kept me sane.  I'm at this crossroads of "being the adult and responsible one," being looked at and watched intently as the foreigner, and still just trying to enjoy Him and life. Sometimes I put myself in awkward positions to get a good picture. I like to just study people. I make random jokes involving comedic dance moves. I like to just sit outside on a rock or a dock because I think better there and it reminds me of home. Pretty much they're all anti-Chinese things, but they help me think, process, live in a way that I can be invested and learning.

I am very thankful for Him giving me a dock, the opportunities to play music, paint, and joke around with students, and to still live in China and love those around me.

Sometimes He's Just Good.

Have you ever tried to run in a pool? It seems as if you're 30 seconds of blast (which is usually really only 3.5) leaves you exhausted and not going anywhere at all. When we were younger we had a 4 foot above ground round pool. Every night before we got out we had to spin the pool (go around the edge a few times to spin all the dirt to the middle.) After 4 or 5 or 6 times the water was moving pretty rapidly and you could move much quicker and with much more ease. Sometimes even "surfing" along the side as the current took you along.

Welcome back to Hua Qiao. Last year there was a lot of pushing. We were and are so blessed to have 10 years of people before us "doing laps" around campus to get the waters moving and the current flowing, but this year I can feel the current being swept away so much quicker. I had to ask, "what's the difference? Is it just because it's my second year? or that there's new people that show me how much I've learned?" then He answered, "They're Lifting." It's like someone turned on the pump in the pool and it's blowing the water with the current we've been trying to stir. Students have talked more, people and relationships have been highlighted. Quiet time has been understandable. Fasting has been much better and sometimes enjoyable. Relationships have taken a quick leap and others who have seen teachers come and go every year now stop and talk because we've returned. He is answering issues and problems as they come up in His way. Let me tell you a few:

-talked to our boy G who had a bit of a rough summer. It's as if he has his freedom, but is still living in the slave camp because where else can he go? A lot of cultural pressures weigh down and bring lies and untruthful thoughts to the front of his mind. I was lead to the story of the weeds growing up to choke the good seeds from growing. That sucks. I know the potential of this good seed and good soil and I hate when the enemy plants weeds. After getting to talk with our city coordinator (CC) (which is awesome because he has a lot more experience and cultural experience than I do) he gave lots of good advice and thoughts. One of the things was just getting him connected to an older more mature local believer. "Good point, how do I do that? I don't know any one really." But He does. I heard last night that our boy G had talked to another boy who went with us to fellowship last year. He's been a believer for 10 years and apparently out of no where just drops what he knows and talks to our boy. G walked away really excited and encouraged by what he was hearing and is excited about their friendship. ME TOO!

-the other issue was our new sister at the end of the year. Sister means girl. I'm a guy. Kelsey was a girl but went home. This brings up issues. I'm pretty sure she has a crush on me but even if not, I can't really speak into her life and ask the harder questions that girls can. Our CC mentioned just talking to Monica (teammate/old teamleader) or someone to possibly try to hook up with her who knows her. (I know some of these are "duh" statements but their the concise version of all we talked about and what my future plan was going to be.) The next day before I could talk to anyone, Emily (new Chinese-American teammate) tells me that she got to talk to our new sister the day before. They talked for a couple of hours and it was really good. My mouth just dropped open. "oh...oh sweet. awesome."

a few other rapid fire events
-I have strength. I just have strength. It's so nice to be able to do things.
-I've been able to play music and the drums with students.
-Lesson planning has been easier and teaching much more comfortable.
-Relationships are highlighted.
-Getting to know more foreign teachers
-Got our whole team moved in and then got to have a good honest talk afterwards about it all.
-He gave me a wood dock next to our river that I could sit on and just rest and relax and feel more comfortable.
-Kayla (friend from college) had to have her appendix and gallbladder taken out, while in the process had 2 PEs (pulmonary embolisms) and more while undergoing her first month of medical school. After 2 weeks was released from the hospital and got to go home two days ago!
-my Aunts Sunday group was having some struggles with dementia with their shepherd, but He has resolved the issue and their faithfulness is moving forward now, as we watch how it's all fleshed out!
-we were asking for deep fertile soil and not just the easy seeds, and due to this performance coming up I've spent an hour plus each day with a student I was really getting close to last semester and his girlfriend.
-Tannah now teaches all of my old students a new class, Monica, Valerie, and I teach the rest of them oral English, and Ashley, David, and Kelly all teach their English Corners. That means they have at least 3 foreign teachers who are all on the same page and can speak truth into their lives!

While it's fun to surf along the side of the pool, we don't want to quit. We want to press on and press in and splash the water out of the edges of the pool. Help us stay faithful in times of blessings and really celebrate Him for all He's done and who He is now more than ever! Thank you so much for lifting! He's doing work!

Show Time!

After a long day of moving and rehearsal for a performance, I was exhausted. I went to the on campus store to get something to drink before heading back to my apartment. As I came out I stopped to watch the freshman on the field do their military drills. I soon heard "Abr?" I turned to see an old student and some new ones all standing with their guitars. "What are you doing here?" I asked. They told me that each department was going to put on a little show for their new freshman students and they were going to play the guitar. Sweet!

I decided I'd go back and grab my camera and find my self in the audience enjoying the show and taking a picture or two for my old students.... ha!

I thought it was everyone in front of everyone but they had divided the departments up. The English freshman were all gathered around a few of my old students were there with the show of songs, skits, and such. I walked up and got to see many students for the first time so we were both pretty tickled to see each other... then it hit me. "Oh crap...!"

I forgot that as the foreign teacher, if you come to the performance, you give a performance. It dawned on me about 30 seconds before one of the students turned to me and said, "will you sing a song?!"  At that point the other 5 or 6 students around all cheered and clapped. (At this point there is no getting out.... ever).

Three minutes later as I'm talking to a student about their summer, I suddenly hear 80+ students chanting my name to be in the middle of the circle and do a performance. Well...show time! I greeted them in Chinese and they all flipped out. I introduced myself and told them I might be their foreign teacher, they flipped out again. I prepped them with the song I was going to sing "Country Roads" and encouraged my old students standing by to sing it to.  We sang and I was closing it down, then I heard "Hai Yo Yi Ge!" I didn't pick it up right away until someone said it in English "One more! Do another!" I was able to pass on that one, encourage them and bid farewell.

The rest of the night was much easier as I could just talk to students and take some pictures. Below is Yvonne the one who sang "Baby" by Justin Beiber last year in the video I posted. She's the reason I got the camera and came back to support...she's the reason why I got to perform twice in one day.

Lesson of the day: You go to a performance, you have a performance prepared.

Year 2, Day 1, Game On.

2 Classes – 1 Day – lots of stories.

I asked for Him to confirm us being here, especially the new teachers, but I think He was loving on the returnees today too. Here’s a barrage of funny thoughts and awesome happenings.

Sexy Introduction? Whoa!

During my first class, the students were new so one activity was to create a way to help me remember their names. As I read through the name tags, I see “Egg” I look up to see the name tent read “Mr. Egg” Your name is Egg? I asked. “Yes.” Ok… why? “Because I like.” You like eggs? “Yes.” Ok… well, ok. Good.

Many students did basic things to tell me, two sang though which was the highlight until I got to Tiffany. Tiffany starts with “My English name is Tiffany. Tiffany has the same pronunciation of Sexy. Tiffany, Sexy. So you can remember me Sexy is Tiffany.” At that point she does the whole floor slap roll up thing. I was just like “Ok then…NEXT!” The whole class laughed and I think her intro was more of a joke than a serious move, but lets put it this way, I wont forget Tiffany, but I will probably stay away from her.

CLASS 2

I had been thinking about and wanting to play the drums again, but where are you going to find them in China? My teammates got me some bongos for Christmas last year, which is awesome! But, I still miss a full set.

I went early to my second class (one I had last year) and as I was writing stuff on the board. Bruce Lee (or Brush Lee as he often misspells it) came in and just said, “Ohh! I miss you!” and walks over and just gives me a big ole hug. It pretty much made my day…almost. His next words were “do you play the drums…… I play, will you help me?” Apparently, there’s a drum set in one of the buildings on campus that he goes to play all the time and said we could play together sometime.

After the class was over I talked to some students and practiced my Chinese. At one point some other students from one of my old classes came over and were talking. Elspeth (who has the best English in her class) looks at me sad after a joke in Chinese I didn’t get, and says, “I wish so much that you could speak Chinese so that we could share so much more of us and express ourselves that we can’t translate in English.” I was crushed. I wanted it so bad too.

Dating Towards Family?

Another student was hanging out afterwards and we got to talk about his girlfriend. He had went to her house over the summer and slept with her father, talking about her and her daily life every night. (How would you like that for a crash course with the parents?!) He asked me my opinion on what to do with her (which he had a little bit last semester but each time it gets more serious). At this point, I was explaining how sometimes you have to love someone, even when they don’t want to love themselves. Sometimes this love is helping them take care of themselves and be more bold and forceful. (She wears the pants.) He thanked me and talked about how his roommates all kind of have a life of their own and it’s hard to talk to girls about this. (It’s pretty cool that he keeps coming back and getting my advice – soon I’m just going to have to lay down the Book views on a guys role.)

I got to eat with him and his girlfriend and afterwards we talked for 2 hours or so. It went from learning Chinese to did I find my girlfriend to how his girlfriend wants to give my dad a hug because she thinks big Americans are cute and wants like a fatherly hug…or something. I got lost in the translation… and it was in English.

Towards the end of the conversation she leans forward and says, “Can I ask you a serious question?” Yes, I replied. “Can you let me know about Bptist? Is it part of C-iantity?” I was getting really excited at this point. She explained how she was doing a presentation on it and couldn’t understand it all. Could I help with it? Pssh, yeah! As we all started walking back to her classroom she asked about puritanism. I realized at this point I needed to call in Tannah (the history major) for back up. When we got there I knew I was way over my head as her first sentence “Bptsts came from the German Anabptsts who were originally called heresy and were exiled into ….” Well, crap. I know very little about history let alone Chch history. Tannah came in and explained it all and noted how she was looking up graduate level info on the doctrines. The student just talked about how she liked culture and history and was really interested in knowing more about this type of stuff…. Bingo. Tick tock. He’s lit a passion in her and is tearing down and building up him in His ways. It’s going to be awesome.

The last part was just encouraging. As we were walking she said her teacher asked her what she thought successful was. She gave the typical “graduate, have my love, don’t bring shame to my parents, get a good job and have a family” response. Without saying a word she continues, “I think this is different from yours. That you want many more people, to be able to help them, and love G and all.” Wow! Yeah! She pretty much stated my life purpose and goal right there in Chinese English. I’m glad she knows and can’t wait until she has the same.

THANKS

Thanks for reading all of this and keeping up. Your Thoughts are doing work and I want to try to capture His hand at work in written form for you. So thank you and Celebrate Him! This is just snippits of my day, let alone other's who had students ask if they could make chocolate for them? Another student turned to her boyfriend and asked a teacher to tell her boyfriend about the King. The teacher asked if he knew anything about Him and he quoted a Greenday song that explained He was the Son. Go figure. Psalms 115 - "He does what He wants."