Updated on August 2, 2011
All about the kids
Today is Children’s Day, which apparently is an international holiday. Speaking from personal experience, I don’t think the holiday is acknowledged in the States. But China? In China it’s a day for children to eat copious amounts of junk food and let’s be honest, be spoiled rotten. It’s also a day that I avoid KFC and the local parks at all costs. Even trying to drive by the park today in a cab was an extreme headache due to all the illegally parked vehicles.
So instead of going out and braving masses of children hopped up on high doses of sugar, I’m going to share some recent shots of some of my favorite kids round these parts.
Updated on August 2, 2011
The beginning of the end
In three weeks I’ll be boarding a plane to begin the journey back to the States. The tiny seats, terrible food, and limited entertainment will be just like the numerous other times I’ve hopped the pond the past six years. One thing will be different this time, though. This time there’s no return ticket. This time my visa expires shortly thereafter. This time I don’t know if or when or in what capacity I might return to China. And that is an emotion filled fact that is hard to wrap my mind around.
When I first started blogging, I chose a Brennan Manning quote as inspiration to describe my journey to China. Many of you have likely stumbled on these words on the “about me” page:
The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of the Father acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because the Father has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.
Little did I imagine at the start of this journey that China would become for me what is nailed down, obvious and secure. That the ambiguities and strains of being a stranger in a foreign land would become a tension that I could not only survive in, but also thrive in. Despite living here six years, the word “outsider” (the literal translation of foreigner in Chinese) still echoes in my wake just as frequently as it did my first year, and just as frequently as it would if I lived here twenty more years. And yet I feel entirely at home being an outsider and a stranger here. In America, no one will point or stare or label me as an outsider, and yet I’m not quite sure I’ll ever “fit” in America like I did prior to living here. And I think I’m ok with that.
Contemplating leaving this land that has shaped, and molded, and broken, and healed, and challenged, and frustrated, and blessed, and nourished, and stretched me is something that quite frankly overwhelms me. I know a season of my life is coming to a close, but I’m not quite sure how, or even that it’s possible, to tie it up with a neat little bow. Ready or not, though, the end and the goodbyes are rushing upon me and “the lasts” have already begun to take place.
Yesterday was my last set of office hours in the foreign teacher’s library.
Fittingly, Stella was right by my side.
And afterward, she took me to my favorite hot pot restaurant to celebrate. I’m determined that that will not be my last hot pot dinner. This is one food I know I’ll crave in the months to come, and something I know I won’t find in the States.
Something tells me I also won’t be feeding any ligers in the coming year.
Something I do know, and this without a doubt, is that goodbyes stink. That’s not elegant or poetic or poignant, but it’s a simple fact. I firmly believe that we were not created for goodbyes. However, I also know that goodbyes till the soil for new growth and new fruit and new promises. And I know that’s a truth I’ll be clinging to in what is sure to be a difficult three weeks.
Updated on August 2, 2011
The man with the big camera
We rarely get a picture of our entire team together. First of all, there’s a lot of us. Second of all, when we’re all together, there’s usually not anyone else around to take our picture. Thirdly, it’s just a pain. However, realizing that we didn’t have a single picture of the entire team from this year, we knew it had to be done during our team retreat.
Our first attempt was snagging a random lady at St. Sophia’s and asking her to take the picture. It quickly became evident, though, that she didn’t have much photography experience, and most certainly not with a larger camera. The results being slightly less than satisfactory, we moved to attempt number two: propping the camera up on a bag and setting a timer. This produced a decent result, but shooting up at people is not the most flattering of angles (and all the women with hips said amen).
Lastly, we resorted to possession profiling, as in looking around for someone with a large camera who might be fit for the task. We spotted a guy with a big Nikon, squatted in an awkward position taking someone’s picture, and knew we had found our guy. We went over to ask him to take a picture of the group, little knowing how seriously he would take his job. After looking at us, he quickly shook his head in disapproval and came up to reposition some of us. He started doing charades with me and pointing at Lauren, and when I failed to understand his directions, physically picked up my hand to place it in the desired location–grasping the side of her sunglasses. He then proceeded to stage a few other people as well, for example, Rachel’s hand was placed on top of Maddie’s head. Anthony was supposed to be playing with my hair, but compromised with a hand on my shoulder.
The result is not only a picture of the whole team, but one likely to induce laughter for all of us from here on out.
Updated on August 2, 2011
Sunday Snapshot: Team Retreat {Harbin}
In the past six years living in Asia, I’ve had the opportunity to do many things I had never imagined myself doing. Riding elephants. Bunking with four people in a tiny one person steward’s cabin on an overnight train. Boating along the North Korean border. Eating delicacies far beyond what is considered normal fare in the states. Watching a live chicken get devoured by tigers.
The last was the primary reason Harbin was chosen for our team retreat location this year. This northern (very, very Northern) Chinese city is famous for three things: an old church called St. Sophia’s, the ice festival, and the tiger park. The latter is a refuge for a couple hundred Siberian tigers, and allows for a far more personal experience with the creatures than would likely be allowed in the States due to litigation concerns. Friday morning, with excitement in the air, we prepared to board vans to the park. And Lauren got into the spirit of the day.
Updated on August 2, 2011
Chinese Acrobats
I thought Chinese acrobats were primarily found in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai where they astonish and delight hordes of tourists passing through. However, lately I’ve become convinced that a few acrobats have fled their former occupation and moved into my backyard. My backyard where construction proceeds ALL. HOURS. OF. THE. EVER. LOVING. DAY. AND. NIGHT. Not that I mind in the least the incessant hammering and whirring.
Ahem, sorry, I got a bit off track there. Back to the acrobats. The great thing about having acrobats on your construction team is that you can forgo normal safety precautions. Acrobats can scamper along crane arms nine stories high with no wires or harnesses.
Acrobats are also useful {and here’s where I reveal my paucity of construction knowledge} when balancing on, uh, is it rebar? Sure, we’ll go with that. Balancing on rebar doing something.
Shall we take a closer look?
Yes, each man is balancing the other’s weight. One wrong shift and both are going flying.
But simply balancing their weight would require hardly any acrobatic skill. No, the acrobatic skill comes into play with the fact that the rebar is constantly and quite dramatically swaying. We’re talking swaying like the pendulum in a grandfather clock.
I think we can remove Chinese construction from the list of careers I’d be willing to do in the future.
Updated on August 2, 2011
Celebrations
About four years ago, the team was at a swanky karaoke bar in town Seth’s birthday when we received the call that Samantha had arrived just in time to share the day with her “creepy uncle.” Recently, we celebrated Seth’s 30th and Sam’s 4th birthdays in good old fashioned Siping style. Having been mocked mercilessly when she hit the same milestone, Rachel was out for a bit of payback when Seth’s 30th rolled around. Hence, the very mature theme for Seth’s party:
The party featured the team stand-by game “pin the something on the something,” reinvented this time as “pin the toupee on bald Seth.”
And a Sonny original game, featuring the music from Seth’s birth year.
Of course, no party is complete without presents. The theme for the presents? 30, of course. Including things such as 30 chopsticks.
30 one yuan bills.
And 30 old man diapers.
Which, unbeknownst to the purchaser, were actually old man diaper sheets, also known as perfect placemats for “poop” cookies.
Of course, no party is complete without cake.
The following day was Samantha’s big bash.
Featuring the very traditional “pin the tail on the donkey.”
Even Maddie had her chance to give the game a try.
Of course there were presents for Sam.
And a cake (as well as specialized cupcakes for the two other people in attendance who happened to share a birthday).
Wishing for another fabulous year for our favorite four year old!
Updated on August 2, 2011
The guy on the computer screen
How do you send flowers to your girlfriend who lives thousands of miles away in a country with no flower delivery companies? You enlist the help of said girl’s teammates and send them off to the local flower market.
So today, thanks to the ingenuity and care of a guy far away, and the willingness and care of teammates nearby, I got quite the pleasant surprise.
However, the most entertaining part was likely the conversation I had about said surprise with my four year old teammate Samantha, who had been in on the execution of the secret.
Sam: Hey Kat, did you like your flowers?
Me: Yes, they were so beautiful! Do you know who gave them to me? (this was a trick question to see if she would correctly identify the true source)
Sam: Jeff!
Me: Yep! Do you know who Jeff is?
Sam: He’s the guy on the computer screen.
You see, long distance relationships equate to many skype conversations. Since Sam frequently drops by for a visit (I’d love to say it’s because of me, but I have a sneaky suspicion the candy bowl is more of a draw), she has gotten to talk to Jeff more than a few times on the computer, the place where she apparently assumes he lives.
All I know is, I’m quite the fan of the guy on the computer screen.
Updated on August 2, 2011
Be careful who your friends are
We arrived at the countryside late Friday afternoon and were set free to explore until dinnertime. Kami and I headed out, excited to have dirt instead of concrete below our feet. On the way we encountered Seth and Mark at the entrance sign. Kami foolishly suggested that Seth climb to the top of the sign.
Never one to turn down a challenge, Seth began to examine the sign for some sort of grip to climb up. It took him awhile, but he was eventually successful.
Leaving the boys to be boys, Kami and I began to wind our way through fields and eventually up a dirt road that seemed to head up the “mountain.” We stumbled upon three houses, one set after the other. The first appeared to be in the possession of a herd of chickens.
At the next, we met a sweet lady quite happy to tolerate my poor Chinese and engage in conversation. She invited us to come to the third house.
The house that eventually earned the nickname “Donkey Condo.”
While Kami and I made friends with the herd of about fifteen donkeys, the woman called to her husband, “Come out! We have visitors!”
He strolled out with a friendly grin and told us a bit about the donkeys, who were all apparently about 9 months old.
Soon after, Kami and I bid the sweet couple farewell, as dinnertime was fast approaching.
We sat down at the dinner table and told the rest of the team about our donkey discovery. Food began to be piled on the table, and we began our feast.
And about five minutes into the meal, our host (one of the vice presidents of the school) proudly announced that the plate of meat before him was donkey meat.
Moral of the story: Be careful who you make friends with. A moral obviously not learned by one of the Russian teachers, who we discovered the next day on our hike is quite the donkey whisperer.
Updated on August 2, 2011
Sunday Snapshot: The Countryside
I’m not gonna lie–when the foreign affairs office called last Friday announcing an excursion to the countryside, I was anything but excited. In fact, I’m pretty sure I let out a significant groan. We’ve entered the final push of the semester, which means around these parts the to-do list far exceeds the number of hours in a day. And unlike the construction workers outside my window, I find it impossible to work all through the night. Consequently, jetting off to the countryside during our precious weekend hours was about the last thing I wanted to do.
And then last week hit. The week was filled with ups and downs, celebrations and deep grief, visitors and goodbyes, great joy and great pain. The sheer volume of emotional events, added on top of the general craziness of the season meant that by week’s end I was exhausted. We’re talking on the verge of tears exhausted. And I was even less eager about our mysterious countryside excursion.
Turns out the Father is a better judge of what I need. And it turns out this little trip was exactly what was needed after a difficult week.
Twenty four hours in a quiet, still, green, secluded area.
Away from piles of papers to grade, emails to be answered, hammers and drills banging outside my window.
Testimonies of life in the midst of death.
Creation boldly pronouncing praise.
Much needed rest and much needed perspective.
Refreshment and healing to bolster me for this final push.
He is good and His ways are beyond me.
Listen! My beloved! Look! Here he comes, leaping across mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved spoke to me and said to me, ‘Arise my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, my beautiful one, come with me.’
Updated on August 2, 2011
Faster than the speed of light
Have you ever wondered how China could change at such an impossibly fast speed?
Exhibit A:
A dormitory is currently being built right outside my window.
Which means I get an up close and personal glimpse into the Chinese construction process. This might not be such a good thing.
I’m also learning that sometimes, construction projects will go on all night long. These pictures were taken around 9:30 last night. At 2:30 (that is AM, not PM), they were still pouring concrete. With two lights where the concrete went and a couple lights where the concrete was being mixed. The fact that the two lights below shine directly towards my window meant that I thought the sun was rising at 2:30. I was quite happy that indeed it was not time to get up yet.
In other news, I’ll be escaping the rapidly developing city in just a few hours. Last Friday, our Foreign Affairs office representative called to inform us that they were taking us to the countryside on Friday and we would return on Saturday. In my six years in China, this is the first time we’ve been whisked away to the countryside. We’re not exactly sure what all the trip will entail. The few details that have emerged in the past week are as follows: we’re going somewhere people pick vegetables, but it’s not a farm; we might climb a mountain (if you’d seen the topography in my area of the country, this would make you laugh), so we need to bring warm clothes; we will have a bathroom. If you don’t hear from me in a day or so, send out the search party. I’ll be in the vegetable fields.
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