To Three or Not To Three??

Wow, really long time since my last post! But don't I always say that? As I type this, I'm relaxing in Raleigh with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew. This semester FLEW by in a flash- lots of great stuff, topped off by a visit from my parents. Those of you who know Bev and Dwight know that this was no small feat. I had a great time showing them my China life and watching them interact with this foreign culture that's become so familiar to me. They did wonderfully, and were using chopsticks like professionals by the time they left. A couple snapshots:

With one of my classes, who all got hugs from Mom & Dad

Working out in the park on the Chinese version of the Gazelle

But the real reason that I'm back on the blog is that it occurred to me that many of you might not have any idea what I'll be doing once summer is over. Will I be returning for year #3 in Langfang, or moving on to a new adventure? To three or not to three, that is the question. What do you think, do you have a guess?
Well you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right, and those of you who guessed "three" are correct. Yes, I am going back to Langfang! It did take a little longer to come to this conclusion this past year, but I am no less confident in my decision. I've only been back in the States for 10 days, and I'm already missing my home and looking forward to getting back there. I shouldn't be surprised; I've spent the majority of the past 2 years over there, so why wouldn't it feel like home? Either way, no matter what, I'm excited and ready to see what #3 has in store for me- definitely feel like the Big Man's not done with me yet. Thanks to all of you who are taking the ride with me- the adventure continues!

Fire in the sky

The Chinese equation for celebration goes as follows:

Fire + (BoomBangPow*Infinity) - Sleep = PARTAY!!!

So I missed the first and second acts of the Chinese New Year celebrations, but made it back just in time for the finale- Lantern Festival. Now, I have a hard time keeping up with the many holiday traditions around here, but I think I've found my new favorite. And no, it's not the 21-gun salute of fireworks that began at 6 am. On this last day of the Spring Festival (Feb. 28th this year), the other tradition is to light a giant paper lantern and send it, along with your hopes and wishes for the new year, off floating to never-neverland. It's really neat to see a sky lit up with lots of tiny little fires, and the process of getting yours to actually fly away is pretty fun- it takes lots of lighter fluid (and a little hairspray doesn't hurt, either), many hands, and patience. Extra patience in our case, as Mother Nature graced us with another snow storm that evening.

Here you can see Carly and Peter waiting for it to heat up:

And...liftoff!

Thankfully it went around and above the trees, which is more than I can say for our first attempt from a few nights before:

After our lantern floated out of sight, Carly decided that she needed to add to the noise. She spent 10 RMB (about $1.50), and we made our own bit of magic:
Happy Year of the Tiger!

So to rewind just a bit, early February was also pretty exciting and eventful. After our annual IECS conference in Shenzhen (south China), Carly and I headed over to Hong Kong for a few days. Definitely the biggest and most diverse city I've ever been in- and it hardly felt Chinese at all, especially because they were driving on the wrong side of the road! Not surprising given HK's history, but still. We decided to skip out on HK Disney and hit the track- the horserace track, that is! It was my first time ever at the races, and it was a total blast- the weather was great, the backdrop was gorgeous, we wore our "Southern lady" hats, AND I won some moola! Who could ask for more?

Turns out these hats were gorgeous AND functional!

Here is my horse-#2- coming in third and winning me 40 RMB! (I bet 10)

Sunset behind Hong Kong Island:

"The biggest light show in the world":

And as if all that were not enough, I got to fly back to the States for two whole weeks to see my family and have some quality time with this cutie:
(my nephew Owen, 8 months old)

Life. Is. Good!

So Long, 2009!

Dear 2009,
Alas, our time together is quickly coming to a close. And, as with many of the years before you, I feel as if we have not had quite enough time together. Short as you may seem, we sure did have some pretty awesome times together. You graciously brought me many things: adventures galore, excitement, new friendships, joy, challenges, two championship trophies, the cutest nephew, countless train rides and over 30,000 frequent flyer miles. We started our journey together in Langfang, China- and that is also where we'll part ways. That fact alone is pretty amazing! Years ago, I never would have or could have dreamed that we would spend the majority of our days together (almost 10 months!) walking the streets of such a foreign land- teaching college students, bumbling through their language, cooking toaster oven feasts, rediscovering a love for long johns, and eating (enjoying) lots and lots of eggplant. Who knew that we would study the Word together with so many new sisters, learning and growing together in ways that go beyond spoken words? I never could have imagined it, but Someone far greater than you or I had this plan in His mind long before either of us came to be. It's because of Him that I can look back on everything that you and I went through with a smile on my face and a great sense of peace and purpose in my heart. I can only hope that together we brought Him more glory and honor. I'll miss you, 2009- but I won't soon forget you. I dare say that I will never forget you- the thousands of pictures bearing your mark won't let me do that. When I think of you, I will most definitely recall the many sights, faces, sounds, and smells that are yours and yours alone. And I will smile. Thanks 2009!


January: Chocolate-chip cookie party

February: Spring Festival parade

March: Hiking the Great Wall with Hannah

April: The return of all things green and alive!

May: Game break during class

June: Graduating with DanDan

July: Hanging with my China man

August: Fab Five karaoke reunion!

September: Biggest. Cricket. Ever.

October: Jam-packed English club

November: 2nd Annual IECS Turkey Bowl

December: Christmas party with my favorite class!

It's a [dead] MOUSE!!

Warning to all of those who are squeamish and/or animal lovers: you might not like what you see at the bottom of this blog post. But the speculation and accusations have gone on long enough! Is is a rat, or is it a mouse? If you'd like to, you can see for yourself what crawled up from under my sink- definitely not your common, everyday, ordinary AMERICAN field mouse. I'll give you that. What we are dealing with here is a well-fed, super-gross, gargantuan CHINESE mouse. I'm sticking with that. I don't think I could live with the fact that a rat is creeping around my sweet little home here. Besides, I've mentioned the giant cricket down the street in a previous post, so we can conclude that they just grow their creatures a bit bigger in these here parts. Blame it on the rice, blame the MSG- doesn't matter. What matters is that this Goliath has been taken down! Sweet dreams, mighty mouse!

On a lighter note, here's a fun picture of me, Lucia and homemade pizza! Lucia is a transfer student, new at our school this year. The crazy thing is that she comes from the city of Qinhuangdao, from the college that I visited on my very first English week trip to China back in 2007. Even crazier is that she was there back then, participated in that English week, and ended up taking a lot of jumping pictures with me- though we didn't even really meet or talk to each other at all. And now here she is, going to my school and taking my film class! She also happens to be a sister, so she's joined our Tuesday night girls' study. The funniest part of it all is that this picture, from that first English week, has been on my "wall of jumps" here in Langfang since last year:
She's in there-can you spot her? (I know it's kinda small- she's the fourth from the right) It's like I've been waiting for her all along, and we both recognize the Father's hand in our friendship. When I pointed out the picture to her, she said that it was just further confirmation from Him that this is where she is supposed to be, and that He prepared the way for her. I say that it's more proof that jumping pictures are the best! :)



WARNING! HERE COMES THE GROSS PICTURE!!
To put this into perspective, the trap itself is quite large, about the size of a 4x6 photograph. Industrial sized traps for industrial sized rodents.

Sealed in Him

Saturday, November 14, 2009 is a day that I hope to remember forever. There is much that could be said, but it comes down to this: three of our beloved students-one brother and two sisters- confessed their need and love for J, and were b-tized and as sign and symbol of the great work that is being done in their hearts and lives. It was a small gathering, done in the privacy of Carly's apartment, with my boss Newt officiating, but our hearts were bursting with joy and I know that there was a seriously loud celebration going on up in the sky, if you know what I mean! His presence was most definitely with us, and the images of what I saw are forever in my heart. It was truly a special and sacred time.
I wish I could write more, but I must refrain. Instead, I'll tell you about our second English club of the year. Club really is one of the highlights of each month- especially for someone like me who used to do this kind of stuff all the time. No where else to we get to be in front of so many students at once-and so many different kinds of students at that. No where else do we get to have so much fun with students- playing "human musical chairs" and watching them stuff their faces with bananas. And we get to share life lessons in the classroom all of the time, but there is something extra special about speaking to 200 totally tuned-in students. This month the talk is on joy, delivered by yours truly. Students are constantly asking me how I am so energetic and optimistic all of the time, so I decided to tell them: I’ve got joy (joy, joy, joy down in my heart). Not happiness, but joy- something deeper, and something not dependent on mood or circumstances. You and I know where it comes from, and the students who got wet on Saturday most certainly do. The world can’t give it, and the world can’t take it away!

This club was also special thanks to some visitors from home- Newt brought his wife Claire and friends Rick and Beth Barr along to check out what’s happening in China. They came to club and helped out by participating in the “Little Nemo” skit with students. They each stood blindfolded behind a student, stuck their arms through and fed the lucky kids bananas and glasses of water. Here’s Beth, winning the competition with one of my sophomore students, Susan (who still has a mouth full of banana). She'll probably remember this moment for the rest of her life. Joy!

She's back! For real!

Yes, yes I know- it's been forever! But in my defense, this country that I am currently living in has tried its darndest to keep me off of my blog and out of touch with all of you. No, I have not outsmarted said country; I have paid someone else to do that. So here I am- where to begin?? I honestly have no idea. In some ways, it would just be easier to back off of the blog, but I watched "Julie & Julia" the other night and was inspired to get back to it. Cheesy, but true. Great movie, by the way- I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.
So yeah- it's my second year in China, back in good ol' Langfang. So much has changed, so much is still the same. New teammates, new students, new subjects to teach, but same apartment, same restaurants, same Father over it all. It's been a great start to the year for sure, and as always, China is delivering on the fun/strange/adventurous stories. I have deemed this year "the year of the animals". They seem to be everywhere these days- some good and some bad. There are 2 pet ducks on our street, along with a bunny and a giant cricket (though he's been gone since the weather turned cold). A new batch of kittens was stranded on the roof behind our apartments recently, and I have had 2 housemates of the animal kind. The first was a tiny lizard in my kitchen sink, and the second was a MUCH less welcome guest: a mouse. The story is long and spans almost the entire semester so far, but suffice it to say that he was eating the garbage out of the can under my sink and chewing his way through my washer drainage hose. I naturally did not appreciate what he was doing, so I fed him peanut butter attached to an industrial sized mouse trap. Good thing, because he was also industrial sized. GROSS. But at least I have now solved the mystery of the footprints that greeted me in my apartment when I returned in August...
I could go on and on, but I think I'll let some pictures do the talking now.
I ran and finished the 9K race in the Beijing Marathon on October 18 with my Baoding teammate Kerry. We met our two goals: no stopping and finishing in less than 1 hour! Our time- 59:45! It was such a great experience, I'm thinking that a half-marathon could be in my future...
Guess who? It's Flat Shamblee!! I was gone on a trip and my teammates decided that they just couldn't live without me. So they drew me up and took me around China with them. I came home to pictures of myself doing all kinds of fun things. I love my team! :)
One of the biggest surprises of the year so far: a freak snowstorm that dumped over 2 inches on November 1! It was the strangest sight- green leaves and white snow- and it brought winter here in a hurry. Though it was an extra special treat- I don't think I've ever had it snow on my birthday before!
And speaking of birthdays, can we talk about these awesome cakes??? Almost too beautiful to eat...almost. Did I mention how much I love my teammates?? :)
My birthday was also a great time of celebration with some of my closest Chinese friends. My great friend and sister DanDan (second from the left) rode the train for 7 hours from grad school just to visit for the weekend. We partied it up at KTV (Chinese karaoke) and had a great time singing, laughing, and sharing No Bake Cherry Cheesecake (thanks, Mom!)

Apparently I've reached the limit on picture uploads. More later!

The Finish Line- Finally!

I did it! I actually did it! Last Saturday, I ran my first ever 10K race- The North Face Endurance Challenge Run. I ran with perseverance, and I crossed that finish line!! I've only ever really run one other race in my life, and that was a dinky 5K back in Pittsburgh (I'm allowed to call 5K's "dinky" now). I don't even really know what possessed me to sign up for this race- I just remember Peter talking about it back in January and me thinking, "I should do that". So I found an 8-week training plan online, printed it out and told myself that I could do it. I laugh to myself now as I remember the first day of running back in February- I struggled to run 1.5 miles (10K = 6.2 miles). I remember thinking, "I have to do that 4 times, all at once?? Dang."
But I stuck with it, putting my miles in like Hal Higdon told me to. Then came an interesting and quite puzzling obstacle: my left foot would go completely numb after running about 2.5 miles. Strange how painful a lack of sensation can be. I tried everything I could think of- loosening my shoes, stretching more, switching running surfaces, changing directions, running slower, running faster- but nothing really seemed to help. Some days were better than others, but basically the only thing that would bring my foot back to life was having a seat, literally. I had to stop running and sit down until the feeling returned, which is a major bummer to someone who's trying to RUN. I basically resigned myself to the fact that I would have to stop at some point during the race, but was still resolved to run my best while I could and finish well within the 90 minute time limit.

Race day finally came, and it was so exciting! The race was held in ChangPing, just north of Beijing, at a reservoir where they held the Olympic triathlon. The setting and the scenery were gorgeous- our course took us all around the reservoir, with water on one side and mountains on the other:
I was also so excited to be with a great group of friends and encouragers- there were 8 of us running from IECS, plus one of Peter's Chinese friends. Pregnant Jess and her friend Cassie were there to cheer us on and snap some fun pictures:
(Ladies before the race)

Please notice the whitecaps in the first picture, and the wild hair in the second- it was super-duper windy out there!! 30mph gusts were coming at us, pushing us around and creating waves that were crashing against the side of the dam. Another interesting obstacle, you might say. No matter, my adrenaline was pumping and I was more curious than anything to see how this whole thing would play out. The first 3K were pretty tough- we had hills and the wind in our faces. But I had my running buddy Shannon with me, and we stuck together and encouraged each other for the first 25 minutes or so.
(no, we do not usually run with our arms in the air!)

I managed to pick up the pace a bit when the course flattened out and I turned to run with the wind at my back. After 6K and 45 minutes, I was amazed that my feet were not numb at all!! So I made like Forrest Gump and kept on running. And running. It was such a beautiful place that I found myself just looking around, praising and thanking Him. After 57 minutes, my calves needed a break, and I decided that walking for a bit would be better than collapsing completely. But my feet never went numb!!! A true miracle as far as I'm concerned. When the course finally started heading back downhill for good, I realized that I was actually going to do it- I was going to finish, and I was going to finish strong! I had an awesome song blasting in my ears, and I started to really pound the pavement. I came around the last turn and saw Peter, WanLi, Jess and Cassie waiting for me. Talk about a rush! I think my face says it all:
That is a true and honest look of pure joy. I get chills just remembering! And as if finishing were not enough, I came in faster than I thought possible, especially on a hilly course on a windy day with numb feet to deal with:
One hour, thirteen minutes and 20 seconds!! My previous (and only) trial run took me an hour and eighteen minutes. This is truly an accomplishment and I don't mind saying that I am so proud of myself!! I set a goal, worked hard, and then exceeded my expectations as I met that goal. If you haven't done this lately (set a goal and then reached it), I highly recommend it. I'm already thinking about my next 10K: a flat course on a windless day. Who's with me??


And now for the parallel lesson (there's always one, isn't there?):
I am less than 2 months away from going home. While that thought excites me to no end, my goal is to be fully present here in China while I am here, running the full race and finishing strong. The finish line is in sight, but there is still so much to see and do before I get there. As in the race, when I take a moment to look around me at all that's happening, at all that He's doing here, I find myself praising & thanking Him. I am loving this race!!