Christmas Eve

Well, here is a pic of our Christmas Eve, minus Mr Li who is taking our picture. It really was a wonderful experience. There was a lot of laughter and even a few Christmas carols. Our Chinese guests thought it was kind of funny that we were eating lasagna from Italy. None of them had ever tasted lasagna before. Mr and Mrs Wang the tailors are sitting to the left of Lexi. They are such a sweet couple. They told us that their only son had to go live with their parents at the age of 5. Your heart just broke for them as they told the story and watched Ran Ran who is 5 run around the apartment. Their son is now 23 and in the Chinese air force. We are not entirely sure why their son had to leave, but I wonder even now if he ever comes to visit.
Mrs Wang held Lexi's hand most of the night. She was very affectionate and it made me think how prematurely her affections were left unused by the removal of her son at such a young age.
At the end of the night we handed out Streams in the Desert to everyone, and Mrs Wang read for a good while sitting on the couch.
We happen to have a C bookstore right across the street and it was wonderful for Christmas. I found two of my favorite books Streams in the Desert and a Cubbies activity book (Awanas) which we gave to Ran Ran. When I saw them in the store I started crying. Awanas was my first intro to faith, and I can't explain how meaningful it was to find these two books across so many miles in another language. I was so embarrassed to have such an emotional reaction in this tiny store! What is the matter with me??
Lexi has been spending a good amount of time with some of the students. They invited her to their dorm yesterday. Where 8 girls sleep in one small room. Savana has become close to one student in particular. She asked Savana the other day about dating and some decisions she was facing even though she is a few years older. These young adults are so hungry for advice and direction. It is interesting that they ask the kids such deep questions.
We have been invited to a wedding Jan 1st. We are all very excited to get to experience a Chinese wedding. T has become a special friend who works in a shop across the street. I will be sure to sneak some pictures!

B

Merry Christmas from China!

We had a great Christmas with many friends. We are so blessed. Will share more soon.......Sunday afternoon game/nap time.

Christmas Gift

I mentioned to Lexi that I like the "little chefs" and she painted me some for Christmas! One of the best gifts ever!

Christmas Cheer!

Eventful week. Today we went to the college and Jeff gave his Christmas presentation. He was able to share the whole story, and then we broke up into groups and discussed it. It was pretty interesting listening to Jeff tell this story about a virgin girl who gave birth to God to take our sins away and that is what our calendar is based on. Who would believe such a crazy story anyway??

I had Diablo in my group again. I told him that yes, I did believe this crazy story was true, but that not everyone does who celebrates Christmas. Isn't that kind of strange too? He asked me if I had ever been to Israel. The two students who I was with had never heard this story before. Diablo thought the three wise men coming from the East (possibly China) was the most interesting part of the story.

Tomorrow Jeff gives his last final and then he is off for about 6-8 weeks. You never know until the very last minute. Friday morning Xiao Zhang and Yie Yie are coming over to make Christmas cookies and pumpkin pie. Yie Yie LOVES pumpkin pie AND she is doing much better.

Around 12:00 Jeff and Wyatt will go to a Christmas lunch with the president of the school and forgein teachers. Lexi and some students are going to a popular street that is decorated for Christmas. Me...... will be time to cook. I think I am making lasagna. Tomorrow I have to make homemade ricotta, so we will see how that comes out. The recipe seems simple enough.....? We have made homemade sour cream. YUMMY! I highly recommend it.! To do both sour cream and ricotta just includes cream/milk vinegar and salt. Who knew?

For Christmas Eve dinner we are having our Chinese teacher and her daughter, Christine (student) and the seamstress couple Mr and Mrs Wang and possibly our neighbor D. Christine is staying the night, and will spend Christmas day with us. We have never seen her wear a coat, and it is very cold. So we bought her one for Christmas. It is very different shopping for someone who does not own a coat rather than a family member who probably has 5+. It is very sobering and puts a whole new perspective on gifts here.

We are so excited to have new friends to celebrate with being so far from home. But, we will be thinking of everyone back home for sure! Remember us....

Pic: the students enjoying some candy sent from YOU all. They are telling you "thank you"!

B

Sunday

I was walking to the preschool the other day and saw an older woman lying in the middle of the road. She was probably in her 70's and I'm not sure if she got hit or fell. The help that was offered her were two people helping her stand and then she climbed on a scooter to be driven to the side of the road. The elderly here are truly amazing.

Went to St John's on Sunday. Apparently it is not a 3 self, I am very confused about the status and operation of chrch's here. Of course the service was in Chinese and it was packed! I'm not sure of the denomination but, it was liturgical. They also did a skit which was very interesting. I had heard this story before, but it was very powerful watching this play in China acted by Chinese.

With all due respect to our Japanese friends...During World War 2 when China was under Japanese occupation, there was an incident that has been retold for many years. The Japanese came across a group of Christians and killed the pastor. Then a picture of Jesus was put down on the ground, and the people were told that if they denied Jesus they would live, but if they did not they would be shot. One by one the people made their choice and all denied Christ except one. Many of the people had children and other family members they were thinking about.

One young woman, perhaps a teenager, was the only one that did not deny Christ. She picked up the picture and professed her faith. The Japanese then proceeded to kill all those who had denied Christ. They said that only someone who remained faithful to a cause to the end deserved to live. The young woman was spared.

The point of their story was that if you try to save yourself you die, if you die for Christ, you live. It was very powerful and the girls were all moved to tears. It was crazy seeing the bayonets on stage and the Japanese flags. I have never seen so many guns! I am sure they were pretend, but I don't know that we would see that in the US even though guns are legal. Or are they? In China they are illegal, but apparently it was not politically incorrect to act this out. Or perhaps the Chinese don't care about being politically correct.

It was a very, very different experience from anything I have seen before. Every individual, every country has their story. I hope that we just learn to listen.

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We are off to China's 3 Self Church for the first time today. Should be interesting. Went to the post office yesterday and picked up 3 packages! It truly feels like Christmas! What a blessing. Will post a pic soon. Thank you all for your love and support!

It is Saturday morning. Been a while since I journaled. This morning all 3 kids went to help with a Christmas party at a Chinese pre-school. I am looking forward to the report. The sun has continued to come out, and it is wonderful! Although the temp has dropped dramatically. It's at these times I think about the shop owners and their large garage like doors open all day.

Chinese New Year is coming soon in February. I am becoming a little intimidated about how to prepare for this time. It is common for everyone to return to their home town/village for 2 weeks. Apparently everything shuts down during this time and it is imperative to stock up. How do I stock up when everything is so perishable? Nothing really last over 2 days. I am especially concerned how to stock up on water. Of course everyone survives so there must be a way right?

We have been trying to simulate some kind of Christmas here. Very strange. Our Christmas Eve day is going to be very full! We are hoping it will be a blessing to our Chinese friends with the true meaning shining through.

We have turned a big corner in our language study! We have finally concluded the pronunciation portion and have moved on to grammar and vocab. Hallelujah! Man, was that grueling and tedious. It was hilarious last week when Lexi decided that she wanted her Chinese name to be Star or Shing Shing. The crazy thing about Chinese is that you can pronounce a word 4 different ways and it will have four different meanings. We were practicing with each other, and Savana's pronunciation of Shing Shing was off so she was calling Lexi a big guerrilla. Our teacher who is a pretty serious character was in tears from laughing so hard. It was nice to laugh!

Yie Yie, Xiao Zhang's daughters has pneumonia. I'm very concerned about her. Xiao Zhang came to work yesterday and Yie Yie went to pre-school while still having pneumonia. She is 3. Ugh! It is so difficult to communicate with the langauge barrier and being sensitive to the customs and her desperate need to work. I am not her only employer so it's not just about what I say. Please pray for Yie Yie and please pray for me to have wisdom and the ability to communicate. It is a very tricky world with house helpers. The locals get very frustrated with the foreigners coming in and over paying and paying when they don't show up. So I have two good Chinese friends that insist that we should not pay when our house helpers don't show up. They feel that this sets the house helpers up to take advantage, and it's true some do take advantage and are inconsistent about showing up.

But, I feel like Xiao Zhang is like a daughter. Her mother has passed away and her father lives far away in another village. As far as I know she doesn't have anyone local to help her. Since it is Christmas time, I didn't pay her for the days she didn't come, but gave her a Christmas bonus that made up for it and a little extra. But, I am concerned for the future. How do I honor my local friends that work so hard to train, love and place these women and care for Xiao Zhang in a meaningful way? The key is to not keep the locals dependent on foreigners or their money. It is not sustainable. Yet, everyone needs a little help from time to time.

Tomorrow night the foreign language department is putting on a skit show. We have been asked to do a skit. Oh boy. Of course we thing the kids will be sufficient to entertain. Savana and Lexi are planning to sing a Christmas song and then all the kids and some of Wyatt's buddies are planning a skit. Should be interesting!

B

Sunshine Pic: Wild Animal Park, absolutely beautiful!

Sun is out and it is a beautiful day! For about two months now the weather has shown rain every single day. It shows rain again for today, but PTL the sun is out. It helps restore my soul.

Definitely struggling mentally the past couple weeks. It is hard to say if it is the weather, change of life or culture shock. Last week the weather was very depressing. It was not only the thick smog and fog together but, it was as if there was a ceiling on the sky. There was a heaviness in the air like I have never known before. I fear this will be the majority of our winter.

Last night a family invited us over to watch a Christmas movie who has lived here for 10 years. They come from the states. S talked with me for a bit about my culture adjustment stage. I am now going through a community identity crisis. Before a big move like this, a person has a certain place in society. They are depended on and needed at times for certain things. In a new society like this, it is non-existent. Not that it can’t develop again but, it will take time. My problem is I don’t know if I am ready to be depended on. I am stuck between feeling ready to jump but scared to be relied on.

Our place of worship was changed again yesterday. We’re not sure what the future holds. The new place is way across town. It happened to be right across the street from McDonalds. So about 60 of us went to McD’s. I don’t think I have eaten Mc D’s for about 15 years now. But, I did yesterday.

On the way home a young woman visiting from the states became very ill. By the time we got off the bus, she was no longer able to stand and was blacking out. We had to carry her a good distance before we could no further. She was taller and heavier than me, and I think both Jeff and I pulled several muscles trying to carry her. We finally were able to bring a taxi in where they are not allowed and took her to the elevator. Phew! Poor thing.

She is staying with our dear friend M from NZ. M and her husband left for NZ today for 3 months. It is so hard to say goodbye. M is like my security blanket. Good news though, R returns from the states today after 3 months. I’m sure I will be leaning on her. M left us her moped while she is gone. I want to try it out but, SCARY! It is insane on the streets here.

Xiao Zhang and I went downtown today to pick up a package from the states. It took 2 ½ hours by bus, taxi and walking but, it was all worth it! I am sitting here enjoying a cup of star bucks coffee as I write. Ah, it’s like being home. Our friend also sent mulling spices, which we are anxious to share with the students and guests.

Many blessings to you all this Christmas season. It is an especially precious time as we have opportunities to share about the holiday.

B

The Wild Animal Park

Yesterday we went to the Kunming Wild Animal Park. It was quite an experience. This is Jet Plane (that is his English name). He was our tour guide yesterday. I met him the very first week I was at school. He works for China Mobile, the largest cell phone company in the world. He was part of team marketing China Mobile services to incoming freshman. We were sitting at the same table in the Muslim cafeteria, which is less crowded. I said in bad Chinese, “Ni hui bu hui shuo Yingwen? (Do you speak English?)” He said, “Of course!” in English with a slight Australian accent. He is part of the Hui minority people, which are Muslim. My student Lemon is also Hui. He has called occasionally since, offering his tour guide and translation abilities to help us see the local sights. We finally were able to make it happen yesterday.

This is not the San Diego Zoo. I think the animals are a little hungrier here. In the lion and tiger enclosures, tourists can purchase hunks of meat tied to a bamboo fishing pole. You lower them down and the cats jump up and eat them! You can also purchase a live chicken to throw down…I’m not kidding.



Click for a larger view of this tiger if you are feeling brave.



American big cats don’t look at people quite like this… And as the lions roar back and forth it’s a little more unnerving, and much more exciting. The animals have a LOT more room to roam and look more comfortable in their environment than they do in our zoos.



We also saw a Panda. Bobbie wanted a picture taken with the panda, but it was pouring most of the time we were there so we didn’t get to do it.



It was a very fun day.

More Christmas Party

Okay, I have to add my two favorite pictures.



Bobbie mentioned this already, but the pumpkin pie with chopsticks really cracked me up. Most of them had never had pumpkin pie or whipped cream.

Jennifer is apparently a Christmas angel! I showed this to her and the whole class the next day and they all thought it was pretty funny.




It's actually the space heater...

Today in class we listened to and learned the English in three Christmas songs: The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole), Let it Snow! (x3), and Silent Night (also Nat King Cole). Some of the vocabulary was quite interesting!

Next week I finally got my room changed so we can have a computer. This class hasn't been able to see a movie or powerpoint presentation all year! We are going to watch It's A Wonderful Life and then I'll do a powerpoint about Christmas the last week.

Bye for now -- Jeff

Warming up their singing voices!

The boys showed up! They are so nice to Wyatt!

Christmas Party Fun!

The Party was a blast! Our faces hurt from smiling and laughing so much. The students are amazing! My favorite part was watching the students eat pumpkin pie with chopsticks. Slowly all the candy disappeared. They were especially excited when their head teacher told them they could skip class for the evening and stay at the party!
We ate, sang carols and played games. I was even forgiven my pork mistake! Lemon who is sitting directly behind me with the yellow headband, and her arms around me is one of our M_slim students. She stuck close through the night and at one point told me, "This day makes me very happy, this time is happy!" So sweet.
We are thinking we need to have another party, especially with more goodies on their way from the states. We talked about it with the students a little and they would like to do a masquerade party. We would all wear masks. I'm not sure if they think this is an American thing or not.
Their favorite Christmas songs were Jingle Bells and Silent Night.
It was definitely a time of connecting with the students. All the kids and I felt some relationships really seal. It just melts your heart when they come up and slip their arm through yours. You could also see how much they adore Jeff. He is so good with them and clearly loving his job!
Tonight we are having our English couple friends over for dinner, remember the bee-keeper and his wife? They leave for home tomorrow, England. Our Mr Bee-keeper is recovering well from illness. So so sad to say good-bye to this lovely couple. They have been such a support to us.
Today is Savana's first day of teaching! She is really looking forward to it, and anxious to find out if this company may be where she works her gap year.

B

Christmas Party for Students

Today we are throwing a Christmas Party for Jeff''s English corner. We are feeling the Christmas Spirit and excited to share with the students. We woke up bright and early this morning and got to work. Lexi made oreo balls and is currently sewing chili peppers for decoration. China has lots of peppers and the are red and green! She made the mistake of licking the string she is sewing with! HOT! I asked her if I could take a picture of her baking, and she said to put Christmas music on first. So imagine Christmas music with the picture.
Savana is baking pumpkin pie and preparing Christmas carols for us to sing with the students. They love to sing! We were able to get a piano yesterday for Savana, and it will be put to good use! We got a great deal from a previous worship leader. He also threw in a guitar and is thinking of giving us his bass with an amp! Merry Christmas for sure!
I am making BBQ pork. Jeff ran into the kitchen this morning before he left and said, "What about my Muslim students!" Mistake. To all my Muslim friends reading this, I should have known better!
I don't think I will make that mistake again. We have lots of goodies to share with the students that people have sent from the states. You are awesome! The students will be thrilled. Christmas really is not here. Hence the sewing peppers. It is cold, windy and rainy today. We have to transport all the food to the college by taxi or bus? Not sure yet. Will be a challenge for sure any which way.
Keep us in your thoughts as we share a little of our special holiday today.

B

Changes

I don't drink coffee anymore. I drink many varieties of Chinese tea (and actually like them). I haven't driven a car (nor owned one) in three months. That hasn't happened since I was fifteen years old. Western food is starting to give me stomach problems, not the local food.

Those are just surface changes. I think all of us are being affected in positive ways that we aren't even aware of yet.

I just finished preparing a 52-slide power point presentation about California. I am giving it four times this week and probably a few more times next week. At 90 minutes a pop, I hope my voice holds up!

I think it may make me a little homesick. Some pictures I included:






I am getting to be more at home here, but California is truly my home! It had felt pretty easy to let it go, but thinking and dwelling it hours and hours has made me really appreciate my roots, my memories, and how beautiful California is.

Here's a China picture. From Tourism B Finals day. Zhou Ming Zhu and Li Jiao are very quiet and very humble students. But they both do a great job and are getting A's!



And here's part of the Tourism B crowd:



J

Christmas Fair

Today we went to a Christmas fair. I cried like a baby listening to the choir! Lexi and I were discussing over lunch today how we are feeling so much deeper here. More than we want to! I ordered an easel today through the company Savana will be teaching for at the fair. A gentlemen who is recovering from leprosy does beautiful woodwork, and he will design an easel for Lexi. A deaf man took the order.

It was so touching and emotional going through this Christmas fair, where so many people have laid down there lives to serve the sick and the poor. And yet these people are all the richer for investing in so many people's lives who have been cast aside by "regular" society. People who are full of life and love and yet trapped in a body they did not choose. It makes me want to change. I want to be good. Yet, I am struggling with definition of what is "good" like never before. I don't think you or I define good. We just come up with words that make us feel good. I will stop pontificating.

All in the light, and yes I mean "light" of Christmas. Oh how we have missed the light for the *bling*. My feelers hurt lately. It's not a bad thing, it's just a sideways sometimes upside down thing.

Did you know that I now have friends that are socialists.......and yes communist? What a small small world I once lived.

B

Pic: a little boy enjoying the fair

Angela from the college and Lexi enjoying some music together on the 1 1/2 hour drive.

Tea tasting! So fun! The bright flowers are actually tea.

Visit to Stone Forest

Stone Forest Yunnan Province

The Stone Forest

For some reason I am no longer able to post on Cozi. ?? Why I don’t know. It is not uncommon to not be able to access some sites from here. Jeff used to be able to post, but no longer.

We all had a very busy week. The president of our company, her husband and a potential teacher were visiting for a few days. It was wonderful to have visitors from home and we received great encouragement.  The college was very kind and took us all to the famous Stone Forest, and it was wonderful to have a break in our schedule. Unfortunately Jeff had to teach and Savana was sick, so they were not able to come.

Wyatt especially loves these times when we are able to attend banquets with the college. Yesterday duck was on the menu. There is absolutely no stopping Wyatt from devouring everything on the table. He loves it! He is always the last to finish and I always have to tell him enough. It is rude to clean the dishes in China. It is polite to leave a substantial amount of food on the table. This tells the host they have fed you more than enough. However Wyatt has not yet managed the concept.

The hike through the stone forest was beautiful and very different from anything we have seen before. The whole tour was based on a love story, which is typical for China, always a romantic story to attach to nature’s beauty.

Jeff has a very busy teaching schedule starting next week. We are having a Christmas party for the students next Tuesday. We received a wonderful package from home today and we will share the goodies with the students. We are very excited!

Savana starts teaching English next week. She will have 10 students all older than her. She will have a teaching partner her first week and then she is on her own! She is getting excited and looking forward to this opportunity and where it will lead. She takes the SAT this Saturday!

I was asked to consider taking a position to offer support/encouragement and cross cultural training throughout China. I am very nervous and excited. I will be talking to the Father a lot about this, please join me!

We have started to see some fake Christmas Trees! It’s just around the corner. Blessings!

B

Duck!

Pic: the college sent us home with a gift..... a duck. as you can see Wyatt is working his way through.

Old Cozi Posts are here

Cozi Journal

We can't seem to post there anymore.

Mailing Address

Confucius says,

I've started reading The Analects of Confucius. I think I'm going to start every class with Confucius says and Solomon says.



Confucius said, "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought
to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment,
but have no sense of shame.

"If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them
by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and
moreover will become good."

Solomon said,
"Love & faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure."


We leave for China in a week!

I just realized that although I have a non-blogspot web address, I have to go through 'blogger.com' to post.

That may not work in Kunming unless we get VPN.

We didn't finish moving out of the house until about 2.30 Sunday afternoon. I'm glad to not be traipsing up 50 steps with furniture anymore!

Thanks to the many, many who helped including (but not limited to)

Mary & Dawn for packing

PCC interns Drew, Becky & Brennan moving us to storage in Novato (they were awesome!)

Greg who helped bring up the last pieces of furniture (probably 1500 pounds and 350 steps combined -- he's buff)

Dawn again (she saved us from our trash)

Emily & Missy for cleaning and helping us finish up

Gordon & Wilma & The Jamisons - food, moral support & storage

Brian & the interns for taking 'charge' of the remaining junk in the garage!

and it goes on and on! We couldn't have done it without you!!

Thanks to all for a great event!

Thank you to everyone who came to the Pedley's tonight. It was a wonderful evening!

Special thanks to Jon & Daniela for hosting and the Beckers for playing emcee.

It was so good to see everyone.

Thanks also to all the well-wishers who couldn't be there but chimed in on the evite.

We will be updating here as our departure on August 23 nears.

If you want to join the 'team' you can contribute via

www.errchina.com

or

ERRC
1405 Arch Street
Berkeley CA 94708