Read it. Love it. Live it.

Tonight at study we had a really good life lesson/reminder.  One of the ladies who came told us that every time she learns something new from the Book she thinks about how can she use it in her life.  In many situations, especially more difficult ones, she thinks about the different things she has learned and tries to apply it.  What a great example and reminder for all of us to not just read the Word, but to live it! This friend has been coming to studies since before I got here. It was a bit sporadic, coming when she could, but sometimes having to work late.  This year, she has come to almost all, if not all, of our women's studies.  Tonight she even worked overtime and still made sure she came.  She has many questions, and many things that she doesn't understand, but she's not afraid to ask, and really thinks about the things we talk about. HE is working hard in her.  Please keep her and others like her in your thoughts.

Other happenings since last time:
Two Fridays ago, Jess and I had Andy and David over for some midtown bonding. We cooked them ranch chicken and corn on the cob and taught them how to play the wonderful game of majiang.

This is from the summer, but just so you know what I'm talking about :)

The next day, I got to meet up with a friend who moved to a different city in July. We met up for a couple of hours before she had to go meet her her family for lunch and I had to meet a couple of co-teachers from our first year here.  Eva really loved when I would make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and she's been asking to bake them with me for the last two years, so we finally got around to doing it. Eva and Daisy each have a son and they brought them with.....they were cute, but little menaces.  Nothing in my apartment was safe. Not even Rom's cage.  He was smart enough to hide in the bedroom.

Eva and Daisy

They loved the chocolate chips :)

At our women's study in Hankou, one of our friend's said she wanted to make crab for us sometime. We decided this coming week would work well. She needed to know how big of a pot Kelsey and Hannah had.  Kelsey and I went searching. Kelsey found a cockroach in the box in the cupboard. I left. Hannah came over to try and help.  Hannah and Kelsey asked if I could come and shake the cockroach out of the box so they could kill it.  I laughed. Then they asked if I could just come over for moral support.  I came and stood in the doorway to the kitchen.  I asked our Chinese friend's if anyone was braver than us. They all shook their heads emphatically, except for Angela, who came into the kitchen confident that the cockroach was no longer there. She took the box out and started taking things out of the box, repeating that it was gone.  When almost everything was almost out, she exclaims "Oh, there it is."  I was gone. Again.  I ran into the living room and squatted on my chair until I heard confirmation of the cockroaches death.  Once it was dead and removed, we could begin our study :)
The next day, I went back to Hankou for a Halloween party.  We started in Steph and Lisa's apartment, which we helped decorate, but then soon headed to the KTV in their building because we had around 30 people, which is just way too many people for one apartment. It was a lot of fun. Almost everyone dressed up for it.

I'm a character from the Big Bang Theory....can you guess which one?

       

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! (and Amy Farrah Fowler)

Maid Marion

Hankou Study friends Eliza and Laetitia, and Kelsey

Saturday we had the rest of our apartment tour, Wuchang edition.  It was miserable. It was cold and rainy. We couldn’t always find busses or taxis because of the rain/the area of the town we were in. But we made it. And we finished off with a good meal and some Catch Phrase and Sarah and Nathan’s apartment.

Bruce getting dinked to lunch by David on Sunday

Sunday night I was riding my bike back with Jess from Dingziqiao when I heard a loud pop and instantly felt like my bike was riding through cement. I yelled back to Jess if my tire was flat and she confirmed it.  Sadness.  The part we were biking through is a really rough patch, with broken cement and construction, but it’s the easiest and quickest way home.  I’ve been awaiting the day that that section would be the cause of injury to my bike.  Thankfully, we were about a 10 minute walk from home so it wasn't so bad.

The culprit

Bikes in China are very convenient to beat traffic and get exercise.  Broken bikes in China are very inconvenient because you can't just stick it in the back of your car and drive it to a shop to get it fixed, and there usually is not a big sign saying "get your bike fixed here!" You have to search for it and hope it's within walking distance.  Jess and I have a bike guy about a ten minute walk from our apartment, so Monday noon time, I walked my bike to the bike place, told them my tire was broken and asked if they could fix it. The lady said bu hui (can't) bu hao yisi (sorry!). So I asked where can I go, hoping I could recognize something that she said. She said something and pointed to the right, but I had no idea what she could be talking about, so dejectedly I walked my bike back home.  My friend Renner lives around here and I told him my story and asked if he knew a place and he just laughed and said he knows a place because the same thing happened to him when he went to the bike guy with his own bike. So hopefully tomorrow Renner and I will have a more successful venture.

This week is midterm exams which means I get to listen to about 45 product pitches.  They work in pairs, the presentations are about 7-10 minutes long, they can use a powerpoint or poster or whatever else to pitch it, and they have to try and convince me to buy their product.  I have three different classes so I hear each product 2 or 3 times.  Some of the students do really well with it. They get really into it and even make really cool posters along with their power point.  Some of them not so much. I had one group ask me right before they started what they are suppose to do with the product.  Ai ya.  The one partner told me the company history and told me that he wouldn't buy this product, and that the company probably wouldn't be around in a few years.  The other partner did at least pitch the product to me, but it still took all my will power not to smack my head on the desk. Here are some of the posters:

These three are from the same group

That's what has been going on here. Hope all is well with you! Send me a message filling me in with all your happenings if you get the chance :)

Read the Word. Love the Word. Live the Word.  Until next time.....His will be done.

Random Happenings

So I've been back a week and a half. It's been busy making up classes and meeting up with people. The first week back I was awake before 7 almost every day. Not cool. Although I did get a lot of work done in the mornings so I guess that was a good thing. Here's some of the fun stuff I've been up to this week:
Thursday:

Baking cookies with our Hankou Women's Study

 Friday: I met with my new Chinese tutor, Joan. She is the wife of Dean, the head of the foreign English teachers. She lives on the same floor, which is very convenient.  Should help with the motivation and sticking with the lessons.  Friday afternoon, I made up my first 2 hours of classes, then headed next door to Jess's apartment to play games with a bunch of our Chinese friends. My good friend Bella came too and afterwards, gave Jessica and I back massages.  Quite relaxing.  We also played some Twister, decorated for Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving, and had a nice late night chat.

Saturday: Jess was not feeling well in the morning, so I taught her first class from 8-10. After lunch I headed to Hankou to hang out with Lisa (FoC member in Hankou) for some PB&J time (pr@yer buddy and J-s-s). Hannah joined us, and we went to the mall, got some smoothies, people watched, read some of the Book, then headed back to Hannah's apartment for dinner.  After dinner, I headed over to Aaron's apartment to play Super Mario 3 with Aaron and Jolie.  It wasn't our worst night of playing, but it definitely wasn't the best. It was still a good time though.

I have seen this bag in a couple different stores.  I would like to purchase it. Unfortunately it costs a LOT of money and apparently others already have it (See below). Not so much of a unique bag. I'm still thinking about it :)

Sunday: We had our last Chinese Sunday meeting together as a whole group. This coming Sunday, a sister group will start Chinese meetings in Hankou. Our Sunday schedule is going to change now, so our English meeting is going to be in the evening now so that everyone can get together. This past Sunday, Johnny and Jonathan were installed as Leaders of the two Meeting groups. Please keep them and the Meeting groups in your thoughts.

The iPod touch: How to keep two 2-year olds quiet on Sunday mornings.....until they start fighting over it.

 

After the afternoon Study,  I invited two of our friends, Chen Jing and Rachel, over to bake. They cooked curry for Jess and I first and then we made apple crisp.   It was all very tasty. The apple crisp was a little sweet for Rachel, but they both really enjoyed making it.

Rachel and Chen Jing cooking curry

Making the apple goodness

Super tasty!

Wednesday: Today Jess and I celebrated her birthday which happened way back in the beginning of September.  Why so late you ask? Well, in lieu of a present, I told Jess that I would bake whatever and watch whatever movie she wanted. This tradition started our first year in China, when Jess asked if she needed to get me a present for my birthday (this was a legit question because I didn't get her anything). I told her no but she could watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3, part of my favorite movie series, with me. She had never seen the movie before, which is shocking since we're friends. She agreed.  And so began the tradition of baking/movie watching for a birthday.  This is how she got me to watch Racing Stripes, her favorite movie, last year. This year she chose butterscotch brownies and You've Got Mail.  A win-win for both of us since I like both of those :)

So, that should have caught you up my life.  Hope all of you are having a wonderful week.

Until next time.....His will be done.

A Grand American Adventure: Steve and Katie's Wedding

As a friend recently pointed out, I have not been as faithful as a blogger as I promised in my first (and only) blog of the new China year. My apologies.  Here’s an update on my most recent adventures.
      The first week of October is always National Holiday in China. This means no school for the whole week and usually a trip somewhere. My first year I went to Chengdu. Last year I went to Jiuzhaigou. This year I went to America, and not for one week, but two (well, almost two).  As most of you already know, my brother Steve got married two Saturdays ago.  I flew back the Monday before, had a 20-hour layover in Detroit which worked out well because Steve lives about 20 minutes from the airport. I landed at about 11 am. He came and picked me up (with Taco Bell!), took me to his principals house so I could shower, than I walked to his school to give a presentation about China to his school and some members of the congregation.  At the end, I answered questions that people had, and my favorite question was from a boy in either 1st or 2nd grade. He asked me if I had ever seen any ninjas.  I told him I hadn't but they are very sneaky and don't like to be seen.  This seemed to satisfy him :)

That night I was falling asleep by 7:30, but forced myself to stay awake until 8:30. The next morning I flew to Milwaukee since the wedding was in Lannon.  Katie (Steve's new wife) came and picked me up.  I stayed with her, her mom, and her aunt for the week, helped them get final stuff ready for the rehearsal and wedding day.  On Thursday, my friend Amanda Bode and her daughter Aurora came to Milwaukee and we spent the day at a mall. It was really nice to see her and catch up. 

 Friday, I met my brother Andrew and his girlfriend Bethany for lunch.  Then helped get stuff ready for the rehearsal dinner.  Friday night after the rehearsal, Katie wanted to break in her wedding shoes some more. We also wanted to go to Walmart to by a movie. So, we dressed up Walmart style. Unfortunately, Walmart did not have the movie we wanted so we had to run to Target in our Walmart outfits.  Got a couple weird looks, but nobody commented on them. Sadness. Target did have the movie we wanted, so it was a successful trip.

We are the people of Walmart. Through mark downs, roll backs, and shopping carts.....

Saturday was the wedding. In the morning all the girl's came to Katie's mom's house to get our hair done and for brunch.  At noon, we headed to the church to finish getting ready and to take some pre-wedding pictures.  2:00 was the wedding. It was a beautiful service.  Afterwards were more pictures, first at the church, then at a park.  The reception was a lot of fun too.  Lots of good food, good company, and good quality dancing :)  The whole day was a great day. I feel very blessed to be part of Katie and Steve's special day.

(I tried adding more pictures from the wedding, but my computer wasn't letting me....)

 On Sunday, I went to the gift opening, and then met FoCers from last year Peter, Darin, Andy, and Julie for dinner.  I requested someplace I could get a big juicy burger. It was fun to catch up with all of them, and a little weird to be hanging out with them in America when I felt like we could have been in China. After hanging out with them, I had a second dinner at Bethany's house with her, Mom, and Andrew. I had to cram as much American goodness in me as I could before I left ;)
Mom stayed in Milwaukee til Monday so we hung out til she had to leave.  We were going to drive around and maybe do some shopping, but Andrew accidentally took his car keys to work with him. We just watched a movie and ordered in food.  It took us three tries because restaurants either weren't delivering yet, or their driver never showed up....aiya.  But when we finally got our pasta and sub sandwich from Domino's it was quite tasty. 
Other highlights from the rest of the week: basketball and line dancing with Carrie Schumacher and her husband, bike ride, and carving pumpkins with Katie and Steve during another 20 hour layover :)

Katie and Steve's pumpkins were craving some seeds, while mine wasn't really sure what was going on....

 It was a really great time back in the States.  I'm glad I got to see as many friend's and family as I did. I wish I could have seen more people and for a longer time, but those visits will have to wait until summer, or via skype.
Congratulations Steve and Katie on your marriage.  May He bless your new life together!

Until next time.....His will be done.

Back for Year Three!

Hi everyone! I'm back in Wuhan for year 3! I've made it a goal to be better at updating my blog, so here we go :)
I had a great 2 1/2 months back home. I got to spend a lot of time with friends and family. I even got to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in years! There were some friends I didn't get to see that I wish I could have seen, and other friends and family who I wish I could have spent more time with, but all in all, it was a great summer. And.... I get to see many of them again for Steve and Katie's wedding...woot-woot!!!!
 Summer in the States ended with the Commissioning service in Stillwater, MN.  It was so great to be with so many people eager to serve in China and even more who are willing to support those of us who go!

New and Old FoC teachers

Mom, Steve, and Katie came :)

After commissioning, I stayed up in the Cities area since Mom and Dad had school that week. Jess and I flew out of Minneapolis with a layover in Chicago.  Our long flight to Shanghai was amazing! We each at our own little TV screens so we could watch whatever we wanted! They even had "The Hunger Games".  I sat next to the mascot from the Memphis Grizzlies.  He was on his way to China to do some performances and autograph signings.  He won mascot of the year last year. I should have asked for his autograph......
We got back to Wuhan around 7:30 PM Friday.  CJ, a friend from Sundays, picked us up at the airport. We got back to our apartments around 9. It was great coming back to an apartment that was already all set up. 
The next couple days were busy with getting over jet lag, unpacking, meeting up with friends, Sunday at Dingziqiao, catching up with more friends...... lots of fun stuff :)

My Sunday buddy Bruce!! Watching "Larry Boy and the Bad Apple"

Jess and I have taken up running in the morning since we were getting up early from the time change.  We've actually done a pretty good job of sticking to it.  It helps that we don't have school/studies going on yet so we have lots of time. We're hoping the habit sticks all year....or at least until it gets really cold.
Last year Andrea had a pet rabbit named Romulus (Rom for short). Since she is back in America, I have adopted Rom.  So far he's been a very good roommate.  He randomly chews on stuff, like the base of my fan, but so far he hasn't gotten into any big trouble.  Last night, he followed me around the apartment. He followed me in and out of the kitchen, and then when I went to sit on the window seat, he jumped up and joined me. It was cute :)

Fun story: Last night Brian, Kelsey, Jessica, Olli, Olli's friend, and I went to an outdoor basketball court to play basketball.  The way they play at this court, is 3-on-3, make it/take it, first to 5 wins, winner stays.  When it was finally our turn to play, the three guys played first. They won, so we got to play again.  Brian let me play for him. Now, in China, girls don't usually play sports and if they do, they don't usually play with boys. So, when I went out there, there were many laughs from the sidelines and nobody wanted to guard/be guarded by the girl.  I felt the need to prove myself, and prove myself I did.  In the first 5 seconds of playing I slipped and fell on my tuckus.  I blame worn out shoes.  Many people laughed. I laughed. The guy I was guarding rolled his eyes.  We did end up winning the game. I got better, I even scored a point.  The rest of the night we rotated in and out so we could all play.  Jess got a round of applause for a nice pick-and-roll. Most of the boys wouldn't touch us and some of them even backed away if we got to close to them. Apparently somebody told them we had cooties......

   

Tomorrow we pick up the newbies from the airport! Jess and I made our midtown boys signs:

Tomorrow we also move things from the Zhongnan apartment to the boys' new apartment, which is early in the morning, which means it's time for bed.  Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend!

Until next time..... His will be done.