[March 7th-ish]
Yes, I'm a terrible blogger. But at least now I have a lot to talk about! We've officially been in Oz for two months now. It took us about a month or so to really get accustomed to the culture and food and such, but alas! We're enjoying the new customs! I actually prefer some of the food here to food back home, along with the students fashion, attitude, and overall welcoming spirits. The other day we went out to celebrate our friend Tracy's birthday. Some of her students came and they brought their roommates and friends, people who don't even know Tracy. But they came and we all dined together and before we ate the meal, every single one of us gave a "birthday toast" to Tracy, wishing her a year of happiness and telling her what we love about her. Those who didn't know Tracy toasted her as well, as if they'd known her their whole life. They're just the sweetest people who truly wish happiness for everyone they meet. Following dinner, we went to KTV.. aka- Karaoke. It's what most university students do on the weekends and for birthdays. They would sing some Chinese pop song, then hand the mic to us foreigners and we sang Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston (long live the Queen of the Night). That night was probably the first night we felt like we were finally meeting and making friends.
It hasn't been the easiest transition from spending a month practically hibernating in our apartment while all the students were gone for the Holiday and now going to class every morning and meeting new friends. Our bodies seem to always be worn out and our minds are fried from practicing language all morning. But then I stop and think, I'm in China! When will I ever get this opportunity again? Hopefully some day, God willing.. but I'm not going to waste the time I have here now.
Anyway, Chinese class has been quite the adventure in itself! Danielle, Tracy, and I are the only students in our class so it's a lot of interaction and it's not like I can doodle in my notebook. We're all on the front row and the professors have us repeat and write every single thing they say. It's pretty fun at times and I really love our professors. They're so sweet and interested in American culture just as much as we are interested in theirs. But it is also very exhausting. I've never been the greatest student. I actually despised my first two years of college in Oklahoma. But learning the language is not only a necessity here in Oz, it's also kind of fun to learn. Because once I understand a few words and characters, I can at least have a basic conversation with someone on the bus or in a shop or restaurant. It's a challenge, but it's definitely rewarding.
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[April 22]
Welp, I'm sure I intended to finish and post the above entry, but, that was over a month ago. Oops. Sorry, Ma. :)
I decided it's time to post. Mostly because I fell in love today. Some fellow americans and I traveled 3 hours in a jam-packed van to visit an orphanage; little did we know our hearts would be captured by the hearts of little Chinese tikes. We went with the intentions of teaching them about Easter and why/how we celebrate it. There were roughly 250 student ranging from 2nd-7th grade and we divided them by their grades. The facility had about 10 classrooms and dorms for the kids to stay in, about 4 to a room. Here's a pic of one of the rooms (they wash their hair in that bowl):
With the help of a translator, we taught our assigned grade the meaning of Easter, played games, and let them color easter eggs we had brought. After class, we ate lunch in the cafeteria with them, then it was game on. I hadn't finished my bowl of mystery meat before I was bombarded by a group of girls from the 4th grade class I had taught. I asked them the only questions I knew how to say in Chinese: "Chi fa le ma?" (Did you eat?) and "Hao chi ma?" (Was it good?). haha I need to work harder in my Chinese classes. They watched me eat until I was done and ready to play. Immediately a game of tag/tickle-fight was created and we ran around the cafeteria and then out to the "play ground"-- rather, an empty field with some sort of attempt at a soccer goal -- and ran around some more. When I looked around, I noticed every American that came with us was crowded with a group of students. They all wanted us to sign our names in their journals, like an autograph, if you will, because to most of them, I'm sure we're the only white people they will ever lay eyes on.
One little girl in particular really took to me and I to her. I'm going to call her Joy. Because that's what she was to me today. We held hands everywhere we went and eventually she took me to her dorm (the first picture). It broke my heart to see their living quarters. For all the places I've seen, it really was a pretty nice facility. But I think seeing where little Joy slept at night, made it really sink in that this is where they LIVE. Where they are growing and learning and making their childhood memories. Maybe it was just because all of us foreigners were there, but they seemed happy as could be just hanging out in their dorms.
Today for them was hair-washing day, so they all grabbed their bowls, filled them with hot water, and leaned over it, washing their hair. Some of the other leaders helped get the suds out and combed their hair, but little Joy just wanted to stick to my side and play with my camera. She snapped pictures like paparazzi! It was wonderful and she captured my heart more than anything. I couldn't understand most of what she said, but our laughs and smiles and hand holding and me telling her "piao liang"-(you're beautiful) was all our time together needed.
(little miss Joy)
When the time to leave came, I didn't know how to say "i'll miss you" or "be good, remember you're daughters of the King", or anything like that. I wish I could've. So I just told my little huddle that again, they were beautiful, and goodbye. Before loading the van, Joy pulled out a piece of her hair and handed it to me. The rest of my huddle saw and before I know it, all these little black hairs are being handed to me. Then they point to my hair. HA! Yep. I start feeling all these little yanks on my head and one by one, hairs were being taken for souvenirs and ways to remember "Mo Li Hua" (my Chinese name:]) by. It was awesome. We load the vans and the kids are crowding around it reaching their hands in our windows. I grab Joy's hand as she starts bawling. My heart sank as we drove away and we all kinda sat in silence for a little bit just trying to process what just happened in the past 4 hours with those precious little chinese cookies. It was a wonderful, eye opening, heart warming experience.. but a heavy one. It really made me aware of 1. how incredibly blessed I am, 2. how incredibly sovereign our Father is, 3. how deep our faith must be to trust that He will make His Spirit and Love known and evident to those kids. As I lift them up, I can feel the Father's love for them, I know He wants them to have salvation more than I do, so I trust His pursuit of their hearts will be no less than the pursuit He has shown me over the years. His sovereignty astounds me. Keep them in your prayers they they'll find the true Light and that Joy will find the most beautiful joy in knowing her only true Father.
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Besides this morning's journey, the rest of this adventure has been good. Concerning spiritual and emotional things, it's been a roller coaster, but the highs outweigh the lows by a long shot. I've learned SO much about myself and new characteristics of God I've never known. I've learned (and still learning) how the joy of the Lord truly IS my strength. Feelings are fickle, emotions sway, but the truth of the Word is what I can and should and need to depend on.
I have about 2.5 months left on this adventure. Please keep lifting us up!
Yours truly.
P.S. A few weeks ago, we traveled to Beijing for a day to see the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. Below are a few pictures from that adventure. :)
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