I have now been in China 7 months. Many things that seemed so strange just a short time ago are now normal. Taking the bus to work, shopping at open markets, having an Ayi clean my apartment have all become normal. But I still have occasional moments when I am amazed at the difference. Last weekend I planned to go on trip with some friends as we had a long weekend off school. It was ideal for travel as it was not a Chines holiday so we would not be traveling with a millions of our closest Chinese friends. We decided on Qingdao, a city on the coast along the Yellow sea. Chris discovered that we could fly cheaper than we could take the train. The flight was actually about 90 US dollars. It was so bizarre to me that I could fly away for a weekend, stay at a nice hotel, eat great food, and do lots of touristy things for a very small amount of money. I thought of all the scrimping and saving I would have had to do in the US to take a similar trip. It was so nice to just be able to afford it.
So the city we chose is known for three things. Beautiful beaches in the summer (it is still quite cold here), a famous brewery (none of us on the trip a beer drinkers), and a big mountain not too far from town (I am the only one of the group who really enjoys hiking). So we arrived in Qingdao with a very fuzzy idea of what we would do there. We did have a few suggestions from the teachers who went there on a field trip with the 8th graders earlier this year. We found a tourist magazine that listed 20 things to see in Qingdao. It was so much fun trying to find and see all twenty things on the list. It included a pagoda, a pier, beaches, several different buildings famous for their architecture, sever
al high places that you could see a great view, and the brewery. We managed to see all but the brewery. We also included a couple things not on the list such as the Olympic sailing venue and the underwater world aquarium. We managed to pack a whole lot of stuff into a very short three days two nights. It was such a sweet time hanging out with friends, exploring a strange city, and trying to achieve a fun goal. What a great blessing this trip was. I can't wait for the next long weekend. My goal is to visit XiAn and the famous Terra Cotta warriors!
The rest of my life is going well. I am blessed each week by my small group. We have started meeting at my apartment for the past few weeks and it has been fun getting to open up my home on a regular basis. I am staying on track with my plan to read the Bible chronologically in a year. I am doing this with a group of friends that I teach with. It has been great accountability and made for good discussion as we read the same plan together. I feel like my life is so full here. Most evenings have something planned or spontaneous. I rarely spend an evening home alone. My circles of friends are growing larger and it is great to have such diverse groups of friends. I am enjoying getting to know Chinese friends as well as colleagues from many countries around the world. I feel like all these relationships are causing me to grow as an individual.
My class is doing well. They have definitely shown signs of turning middle schoolers on me, but I am trying to reign them back in fifth grade for a bit longer. They are a really great group of students and I am regularly impressed by the effort they put forth in everything they do.
Well, I feel like I am rambling a bit so I will go for now. Time is flying here in China. It is so exciting to be part of this land, this people, and this work at this time.
So the city we chose is known for three things. Beautiful beaches in the summer (it is still quite cold here), a famous brewery (none of us on the trip a beer drinkers), and a big mountain not too far from town (I am the only one of the group who really enjoys hiking). So we arrived in Qingdao with a very fuzzy idea of what we would do there. We did have a few suggestions from the teachers who went there on a field trip with the 8th graders earlier this year. We found a tourist magazine that listed 20 things to see in Qingdao. It was so much fun trying to find and see all twenty things on the list. It included a pagoda, a pier, beaches, several different buildings famous for their architecture, sever
al high places that you could see a great view, and the brewery. We managed to see all but the brewery. We also included a couple things not on the list such as the Olympic sailing venue and the underwater world aquarium. We managed to pack a whole lot of stuff into a very short three days two nights. It was such a sweet time hanging out with friends, exploring a strange city, and trying to achieve a fun goal. What a great blessing this trip was. I can't wait for the next long weekend. My goal is to visit XiAn and the famous Terra Cotta warriors!The rest of my life is going well. I am blessed each week by my small group. We have started meeting at my apartment for the past few weeks and it has been fun getting to open up my home on a regular basis. I am staying on track with my plan to read the Bible chronologically in a year. I am doing this with a group of friends that I teach with. It has been great accountability and made for good discussion as we read the same plan together. I feel like my life is so full here. Most evenings have something planned or spontaneous. I rarely spend an evening home alone. My circles of friends are growing larger and it is great to have such diverse groups of friends. I am enjoying getting to know Chinese friends as well as colleagues from many countries around the world. I feel like all these relationships are causing me to grow as an individual.
My class is doing well. They have definitely shown signs of turning middle schoolers on me, but I am trying to reign them back in fifth grade for a bit longer. They are a really great group of students and I am regularly impressed by the effort they put forth in everything they do.
Well, I feel like I am rambling a bit so I will go for now. Time is flying here in China. It is so exciting to be part of this land, this people, and this work at this time.
