It's a Girl!!

For those of you questioning if you really know me, I am not pregnant, nor did I just have a baby. But my Chinese friends Tony and Lily did!! Today, little Xi Mei (English name = Simi) came into the world, all 9 lbs lbs or so of her. For those keeping score, that is pretty big by American standards- and it is quite huge here in China. We don't know any more details, but please be lifting up this new family over the next couple of weeks. I'm excited, because she's going to be like our own little Chinese baby- and they are just the cutest!! We'll be back in Beijing soon, and I'll try to get some pictures of her then.
My life isn't quite as exciting, but there's still a lot of good stuff going on. It's been fun to get back to hanging with students after the holiday. Tuesday night, we had our first English club of the year. It was the first ever foreign run English club here on the main campus, and it was a great time! We had them all play a game called "Finger Fencing"- you basically lock hands with a partner, stick out your pointer finger, and try to touch them before they touch you. They really got into it, and at one point we had girls throwing each other into the desks, refusing to give up! We sang some fun songs- Country Roads is a Chinese favorite- had a crazy skit, and then I had the privilege of giving the "inspirational speech". I talked about hope, how it is a great thing and how it is available to all of us. It actually was hard for me to give a talk like that, since I'm so used to giving a different kind of club talk in the states-the kind with more information. But I know He blessed it and will use it for His purposes- so it's allll good!
Yesterday I had a yummy lunch with my friend Danielle and some of her roommates/classmates. They are all actually biology students, but several of them are auditing my English class, and their English is just fine, if not better than some of my English majors. Lunch was fun, but the real fun came after, when they took me to play some ping pong with them! I think most Chinese babies are born with a ping pong paddle in their hands (I'll have to ask Tony & Lily); most of them are good- really good. But they took it easy on me, and I was even able to show them the fun "around the world" game: split into two teams, then each person takes turns hitting the ball, then dropping the paddle and running to the other side. A little chaotic, but a lot of fun. Did I mention that these tables are made of stone and the nets are made of metal and they are outside? Cause they are.

Danielle having a go at ping pong

Rachel was the ping pong champ at her high school. She was also the one to throw her partner into the desks during finger fencing. Don't mess with her!!

Our ping pong crew: Ellen, Jerry, Caroline, Danielle and Rachel. 'Twas a little bright, hence the squinting on my part.

Tomorrow I'll be having lunch with my friend Lindy and some of her roommates. Then it's off to our school's western campus for a curtain call performance of English club. The students there are all freshmen, and the campus is in the middle of nowhere, so we're hoping to be a light in their small world. Sorry I don't have any pictures from Tuesday's club; I'll try to get some tomorrow. Hopefully the finger fencing will be just as fierce!!

PS- the large bags of fruit from last week are still sitting on top of my fridge! Looks like we'll be having wine instead of grape juice...