Christmas

I spent 6 hours on a bus Friday afternoon, heading to Wuhan for Christmas. Once Heather and I returned to her apartment she gave a me Christmas gifts! I had told her I needed to buy some winter clothes since I did not bring many with me. Heather bought me a few clothing items and I tried them all on, layer upon layer. Of course we took pictures!

Sunday I attended a Three Self Church in Wuhan. It was incredible to worship with so many different people. I have never seen so many Africans and Indians together in China with a common purpose! The room in the church was packed! We sang in English, Chinese, and French! It was quite an experience, an unforgettable one!

Christmas Eve we had a dinner at Matt and Caitlin's with some friends. We cooked all day Saturday for the feast. We enjoyed the feast and fellowship with each other. After dinner we had various conversations and dessert! Following desert, those of us that remained watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and read out of the Good Book what the movie quoted. It was great!! We ended the night with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and cleanup!

Christmas day I travelled that 6 hour bus trip home. We had our own Christmas party with our friends and students! They were so excited with everything we did. We ate some Western food (mashed potatoes and spaghetti) and played the Dirty Santa game. They had a lot of fun and really got into it. We had a few small gifts for them and Melody made each of us a scarf for Christmas.

It wasn't quite and American Christmas but it was still pretty good!! I miss all of you!!

Wudang Mountain

6 friends of ours came to visit us and go to Wudang Mountain, the birthplace of Martial Arts and Tai Chi, which happens to be only about 1.5 hours away. A group of 7 of us went to climb Wudang Mountain. The weather was not particularly what one would desire for this venture. Wudang Mountain are very large mountains and when standing on them you can see a great distance. When we left it was very cloudy (not pollution, but cloudy - sorry, needed to clarify!) After using another assortment of public restrooms and buying tickets we took the bus up some of the mountain to the beginning of the hike.

The beginning of the hike was cold and misty. We could not see very far in front of us. We climbed down many steep, slippery steps and up the same as well. The hike took a very long time. Even when you are in good shape (or think you are) it is tough.

During the hike we met some students from Virginia's school in Wuhan that had come to hike as well. We stopped and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and oranges. At this point it was still misting. Once we began walking again the weather changed. It began to sleet for a little while! We continued to pass the students when they stopped to eat and rest and they passed us when we stopped. It was good to see that we, Americans, were not the only ones having difficulty.

After taking some pictures with them it began to snow. It snowed the rest of our time hiking the mountain. It was quite an adventure. I do wish we could have seen further into the distance. But I have to say that the snow made it an incredible experience. Not many people would go hiking like that in the snow!! I was blessed more than I could have imagined!!

Of course since it was the birthplace of Martial Arts we had to take some pictures!! After pictures we took the sky lift straight down the mountain. I mean straight down the mountain. I thought we were going to drop. Of course in the sky lift with the clouds, we could not see a thing! It was a bit frightening but we made it through. Once we were safely back down the mountain we had a little time to buy some souvenirs before meeting our taxi.

It was an unforgettable experience!! I hope to return in the springtime, maybe with my sisters, Beth and Debbie!

Thanksgiving in Wuhan!!

I spent my Thanksgiving on a 5 hour bus trip to Wuhan the capital city in our province. There I reconnected with an old church camp friend of mine, Heather. I stayed in her apartment with her. When I arrived Stephen, Kelli's husband picked me up and took me to Heather's. She and Kelli were busy cooking desserts for our Thanksgiving shin-dig on Saturday. We chatted, watched a movie, and just relaxed! I stayed from Thursday afternoon until bright and early Sunday morning.

Friday, Heather had to go to class (she is taking Chinese classes to learn the language), so I went with Kelli to the Hotel and Metro. We went to the hotel where we would celebrate Thanksgiving with approximately 60 other Americans, most teaching in Wuhan and a few travellers. At the hotel we explained how we wanted the room set up for Saturday and what we needed from them. After that was all worked out we headed to Metro (a Chinese type Sam's club thing). I bought a few American items and we bought another turkey!! I even bought a Santa hat, when converted to US money it was about $2! For the evening Heather and I hung out. We ended at Dairy Queen for dessert!!

Saturday, we packed a coffee maker, creamer, coffee, tea, a pumpkin roll, 3 pumpkin pies, green beans, serving spoons, Christmas movies, and many games to take with us. We looked like we were packed for vacation! When we arrived at noon there were already at least 20 people there. People continued to filter in for the next hour. Being the type of person to not sit back and watch but to help, I ended up in the kitchen. For the big private rooms they have a big hotel kitchen. This is where our turkeys, gravy, and rolls cooked. I took many pictures and helped where I could! One of the older couples began slicing the turkey off the bone and the chefs (that had been following us around the kitchen and watching everything all morning) took over. But, we had to explain no bones! It is very common in China to cut the meat and bones together. They took over and Kelli got everyone seated.

They dismissed us like a potluck! There was more than enough food, reminded me of feeding the 5,000. We even had enough for everyone for dinner! Once we finished eating people started playing games and drinking coffee. Since the Chinese did not want to come in and disturb us we figured it would be easier to stack the dishes on a cart so they didn't have to wait late. So I went into the kitchen and stole a cart. A few of us began stacking and clearing room for people to play games. We had a lot of fun!! It got pretty entertaining! Though most would agree I generally am!!

We played poker, Cranium, Taboo, Checkers, Chess, Mrs. Pacman, and other card games. Some watched Miracle on 34th Street.

All in all we had a wonderful time celebrating the holiday together. It reminded us we have much to be Thankful for!

Hiking!

For the past two weeks we have gone hiking on Saturday with some students. It gives us a chance to get to know them more personally and build friendships with them.

The first week there were 13 of us. It was quite a large group. We are learning they tend to bring friends with them!! We hiked near school both times.

The second time there were only 6 hikers! Each time brought new experiences, conversations, and sights to see.

I am sure they are more than any of us think or know. Only time will tell!! So keep thinking about us!

Women's Retreat in YiChang!

Women from many cities in the Hubei province came together for a weekend of RENEWAL!!

Jessi and I left Danjiangkou Friday morning after class (10:15) heading towards ShiYan. In ShiYan we met the bus with 20+ ladies, friends, and sisters of ours! We then (noon) began our 6 hour drive to YiChang. We spread out on the bus and majority slept for the first 2 hours of the trip. After 2 hours of bumpiness, a bathroom stop was much needed! "Rest-stops" are also very different here. I think I kinda miss rest-stops in the US now! Once that problem was solved many of us played taboo for fun in the back of the bus. The game died down and singing began! We sang until we arrived at the college. The end of our singing involved children's camp songs, silliness ensued!!
Due to the lack of lunch and dinner we dropped our stuff at the apartments where we were staying and went to get street food. We chose from the many vendors cooking on the street until all hours of the night! It was an interesting dinner, not one you can find easily in the states. There were about 25 of us walking around the vendors. Many also bought fresh milk tea (similar to chai - I am not a fan!) When we returned to the apartment we sang and had a discussion.

Saturday we met in the morning for breakfast, singing, and discussions. We ate lunch, played basketball, rested, and went shopping (we were able to get some of the #1 seller books in the world - our life manual - in Chinese and English). We had dinner together in one of the Universities restaurants and then of course followed it with another evening spent enjoying one another's company! After talking Sunday morning and saying our goodbyes we had to depart.
Throughout the weekend we had many wonderful moments together. We had much singing, many conversations, discussions, celebrations, meals together, time to get to know eachother, and time to share our burdens with one another. It was very uplifting and enlightening!
Bonds were created that cannot be broken! We are bound together with love!!

Visitors!

The week of my birthday, 2 of our new friends from Israel came to visit us here in Danjiangkou. They, Eyal and Alon, were travelling through China and wanted to see the countryside, the true China! The college has been very generous in allowing our friends and visitors to stay in the empty apartment between Jessi and me. They came in Monday night and stayed through the following Sunday. Monday began with a "jam session" and conversations. You would think we were the oldest of friends!

We had a great time talking again!! Then it was off to bed!

All of us had an awesome week hanging out and talking to friends with a more similar understanding! We showed them our big out door market as well as the dam on the edge of town. It was a relaxing week full of good company! The weather even cooperated for the most part allowing us to walk a lot.

We each took turns cooking. The fellas even cooked for us in my kitchen (and helped me when I, for some reason, was having issues cooking!)

Other than my wonderful birthday (in a separate blog), the most fun was had at KTV - Karaoke Television!! We sang all the English songs we knew and the ones we didn't we made up how they should go, with a little ad lib here and there!!

Other favorite times of mine were:

The fighting! The match between Alon and me, the army guy and female!!

The random music!! Much singing and guitar playing!!!