I think its time for me to post, Shane usually does all the Blogs:) I believe it will be my experience in China to have this duel emotion- a great vision and passion to be here, and a desire also for the things of home: friends, family, food, and convenience.
So I decided these two pictures represent both. The picture on the left is Shane and I enjoying a real American meal (Steak, Mac and Cheese, and Green Beans) made possible by the lovely care packages my Mother and Jay have sent from the U.S. We are SO grateful. The picture on the right is from one of our "dates" a couple of weeks ago. Back when the weather was nice (sigh..) we took a walk along a river near our college. The setting sun (gorgeous even through the obviously smoggy sky), and our path provided a perfect view of the city in which we are living, teaching, and have a passion to help. We were able to pause from our walk to look out over the city and remember the many reasons why we have come, and to have great hope. These two months have been such an experience, I have learned so much. I am very glad to be here, especially now that things are really going in the direction we'd hoped. I am being more familiar and comfortable with the food here, and mom & jay's care packages have helped with some of the things we miss. (Jennifer- I"m on my last bag of Dove dark chocolate- what a blessing they have been). Perhaps now that I'm getting a bit used to the spice, I'll think American food is boring. Things are busier now for many reasons, good and ok. Shane was also asked by the college to teach two extra courses (four hours extra a week) which he volunteered to do, so his blog time is gone. This week, we had off on Tuesday and Wednesday for a special sports meeting (but you don't get to 'miss' school here, so now we teach Saturday and Sunday). I am continuing to practice Chinese, slowly but surely. I can order food and do some other basic things. I need a lot more practice. I am finding that I am enjoying alone time...those of you that know me well might be shocked. I have always said that I need little, "me" time, but here I've come to cherish those few hours when Shane has classes and I don't, to get things done, read the word, and do some cleaning. (I am always cleaning here...the dust is constant). Shane and I have started reading 'The Chronicles of Narnia" (we have all 7 books here) and that is a great way to spend some rare and precious alone time together. This week, on the Tuesday class was canceled, we also went to "window of the world", which has some rides but is more of a cultural exhibition- it has minitature models of the 7 wonders of the world, plus some other famous buildings (like the white house, etc). It was definetely interesting- and the signs had English! Shane and I have had a hair cut, as scary as that was to do with such poor Chinese skills, but they both turned out quite nicely:) Last week was Halloween, and we went to a Halloween party with our friend Cynthia, where they told ghost stories and had yummy food! We took a few students as well, so we had a good time. I hope we'll be able to post soon- Shane should upload some pictures from his camping trip this past weekend: He went all weekend with a couple of guys camping in the pouring ran- real 'man' stuff. So I'll let him do that blog. Much love to all our family and friends- keep in touch, come visit us, and be thinking of Benny- he's acting strangely. (Once I was afraid he'd die I wanted to keep him). Love, love, love!
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