All 5 in California

The girls and I made it this morning. It's great to have the family all together again (although the girls disappeared instantly with friends, haha). I can't wait to start seeing friends and family! Here we come!

It's nice to not need the vpn to get into the blog, facebook, etc. Freedom is a good thing! Hopefully we will see YOU soon (reader).

First Day, Last Day

Yesterday was my last day on campus. I was struck by the gigantic contrast from our first day on campus a little over a year ago.

That first day in May 2010, Bobbie and I both said, “There is no way we are coming back. We can't do this.” Culture shock hit hard those first few days. The smells, the food, the accommodations. But we were also encouraged that week that it was what we were supposed to do and had some wonderful new friends help us adjust.

Here is a picture from yesterday.



The two on the right, Steve & Andy, I’ve had in English Corner almost all year and have been able to get to know them well. I’ve seen them mature a lot this year. Pharrel, on the left, is a new friend. To sit with these guys, discussing life issues -- the really important things in life -- is amazing.

As Bobbie already said, this year has been one of the toughest but also one the most rewarding experiences of my life. I can’t wait to get home to the US for the summer. But I have a lot to look forward to when we return in the Fall.

From Lexi:

Schools out! In the past, this time has always been one of the best times of the year; no more homework, beginning of summer, time to hang with friends. It’s awesome! I was surprised how different the end of school and beginning of summer is here in Kunming. Most of the foreign kids left the day after school was out to head back to the USA, Australia, Korea, Britain, Malaysia, or wherever their hometown is. I, however, stayed. I must confess Kunming is a raining, thundering, and lonely place for a foreigner in the summer.

I have however, had a few adventures I could share with you while I still have time left in China this summer:

The day after school was out a few people were still here in Kunming. There is a sort of “cooking club” I’m a part of here that set a date to meet the Friday after school finished for dinner, dessert, and a movie. When we had decided what we wanted to make (tacos) we split up the four of us who were there already and went off to shop for the ingredients. I and my friend Kevin headed towards the garage for the bikes we would ride to our twenty minute destination. Ironically, we both commented on the hot weather when we came out of the house. It was a cloudy day but neither of us could have guessed it would rain…pour. After some difficulty with his bike’s gears, we headed out. No later than five minutes on the road the sky opened up and hailed sheets of water on us. I have never been in so much rain before. It literally felt as if someone was pouring a bucket of endless water on me. We were soaked to the skin, our clothes heavy with water that we’d squeeze out one second only to have them soak up even more the next. Our hair was dripping wet and our faces peppered with drops of water we didn’t even bother to wipe off. At first it was funny; we both looked comical soaking wet and dripping. But it wasn’t so funny when it only started to pour harder and our skin started to sprout goose bumps from the cold.

When we finally came to the shop, we parked our bikes and went in, quite embarrassed, to the foreign food shop. Kevin grabbed ingredients while I stood there making a puddle of water at the entrance. The Chinese women who ran the shop looked at me with amused and pitied expressions. They asked us to sit but we thanked them and communicated we had another shop to go to in the area. We got our last ingredient and headed back towards our bikes. Huge pools of water surrounded the area and were quite entertaining to splash at one another; it wasn’t like we could get anymore wet. One woman at a Chinese restaurant offered to give me an umbrella, however, I had to refuse it after trying to bike with it. The bike I was borrowing was very tall and I could barely touch my toes to the ground when on it. As a result, I had little control of the bike and couldn’t maneuver it single-handedly. They did eventually give me a very long blue poncho that is common for moped and bikers to wear in China. We reluctantly started to head back, shivering and barley able to see through the sheets of rain.

We were two minutes back on the road when the inevitable happened. As we approached a driveway that had a pool of water a couple inches deep, I lost complete control of the bike. The handle turned all the way left and straight for Kevin. He let out a loud cry when he saw the movement and tried to maneuver. Somehow my bike slid under his and I slid under my bike. My knees made the first impact with the ground with a loud splash in the pool of water. The rest of me followed with the final thud of the bike on top. I slowly pushed the bike off and sat up. Kevin somehow stayed on his bike and was turning to come back around at that moment. I must have looked quite comical, sitting in a pool of water, soaking wet, wearing an oversized tarp-blue poncho.

Cold, wet, shivering, and in aching, throbbing pain, I somehow made it back to the house. Kevin’s older sister, Louisa, made sure I had a hot shower and provided me with a complete set of warm, dry clothes. Even in steaming hot water, I was still shivering and it took forever to feel the least bit warm again. When I had finished, wrung and hung up my wet clothes (it was amazing how much water I squeezed out of them) I proceeded downstairs on achy knees and sore feet. (Did I mention I had been wearing sandals??)

Except for the throbbing pain I felt, the rest of the evening was quite pleasant and fun. The tacos were delicious and dinner was delightful. After watching a movie and battling each other for about ten minutes of video games, we said our goodbyes to those who were leaving for summer the next day.

I have some interesting bruises up and down my legs from the trip that like to spasm with pain now and then. Yet although at times unpleasant, it was an amazing day I wouldn’t have missed for anything. Thank Gd for the friends and adventures He has given me in China.

Welcome to Summer

I have to admit, I’m glad we aren’t going to be here for the summer. The sun has disappeared and southern China summer doesn’t match up with a West Coast definition of ‘summer.’ It rains every afternoon and sometimes it rains all day. It’s warm but because of the elevation (about 6,000 ft) it’s not really that hot, just a little sticky. Storm drainage (among other things draining) isn’t the most efficient, so when the downpours pile up, certain streets become rivers. Nasty rivers. There are also ‘land mines.’ The sidewalks aren’t hardscape concrete like we are used to. Often they are just square flat bricks, and not mortared together. So when the rains are really bad, the earth under the bricks gets saturated. You step on a land mine and dirty water splashes up your leg, into your pants and then down into your socks and shoes. Have fun for the rest of the squishy day. Okay, I know I’m just grousing. I’m actually really missing Wyatt and Bobbie and ready to come home for a bit. Even as I finish typing, the sun is coming out! : P

And this is the garbage man. He has more to complain about the rain than I do, but probably doesn’t.



PS - I did meet a couple of new friends the other night, one from America and one from England. I am really looking forward to hanging out with them next year.

Berry Picking "Yangmei"

The college took us berry picking about an hour outside of Kunming Saturday. It was a beautiful day and so fun. The prepared lunch for us too when we were all done. We have berries coming out of ears! The berry is called yangmei and the English name is waxberry.
We gave some to our tailor friends the Wangs. And when we told them we were headed back to the States, Mr. Wang teared up and turned away. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, it makes all the hardship of coming to China worth it to me. I have often said that marriage is the hardest and best thing you will ever do. I would say China has become a close second. Hard hard hard & good good good.
So now I've been told to prepare for reverse culture shock. So tell me how you plan to shock me??
Blessings on China!
Hello U.S.!

Sticky Rice

The woman above is making sticky rice. Mmmm!

These are shoe inserts that Xiao Zhang embroidered. They are beautiful! This is a very commom past time for minority groups here. They are far too pretty to wear, but wear them they do. We received 3 pairs for Christmas this year.
Wyatt and I leave in 2 days to head back to the Bay Area. We can't wait to see family and friends! Jeff and the girls follow in a couple weeks, after Savana is all done with school. Happy Graduation to Savana! Yeah!