These last few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster, hence the lack of attention to my blog. But I hope (fingers crossed) to finally move my blog to a private host soon so I can do more with it, and try to get into more regular posting as I get into a routine (hopefully more interesting postings as well).
So whats the deal here? Well Shanghai doesnt seem to have much of the good ol fashioned Chinese hospitality Im used to. Its been quite an adjustment. Last week I was informed that the landlord of the apartment I was staying in didnt want a foreigner staying there as it was too much trouble to deal with. I didnt get the full story, but it was something to do with the fact that she didnt want to pay the extra taxes on her rental: IE: the powers that be probably dont know shes renting this place and since Im a foreigner and must register with said powers that be, it could be cause for suspicion. After days of apartment searching, trying to be frugal and save a buck, Id found several suitable places, only to be turned down for similar reasons. Needless to say I was rather frustrated after spending all my free time looking at countless rooms and apartments, often with false information. Not too mention knowing the fact I was going to have to pay a 35% commission again on a new place. Anyways, one of my co-workers, Fabian had been commuting to our school from Peoples Square, which is a giant park right in the center of the city. It is THE center of everything. There was a bus right outside his place that goes directly to the school we teach at (which is strange as our school is no where near much good public transportation) and it took him about the same time to get to work as it did me, even though I live 4x closer. So I went and had a gander downtown, and found a few really nice places. More expensive of course, but for a bit more money you get an infinitely better place to stay. I paid the extra cash and got an amazing flat on the 25th floor of a high rise. Im a block from the subway, and 10 minutes to Peoples Square, where almost everything in Shanghai IS. I have a Chinese roommate, Ben, who is cool, and seldom around. I have my own balcony off my room, and a full kitchen that Ben never uses. Seriously, the fridge wasnt even plugged in, and theres not even a chopstick to be found in the whole kitchen. His bedroom has a private bath, and my end of the apartment has its own bathroom as well. Its a really amazing place, Im really lucky, actually blessed is definitely the better word to use. The living room is shared, including the big screen TV, and the 2nd balcony looking south with an amazing view of Peoples Square and the rest of the city. Check out a few pics of the view:
These two are from the balcony in my room, first one looking north, and the second one looking west with the river below.
View from the living room balcony facing south, with the park a few blocks away. You can barely see the trees because of all the buildings, but its there!
View to the east, you can see the top of the famed Pearl Tower on the left.
Night shot looking south towards Peoples Square out the living room.
On top of all of this, that bus I previously mentioned has a stop about 7 minutes walking away from my new place, and takes just over 20 minutes to get me right next to my school. Its really a great spot, and I will have much easier access to many things here, namely the fellowships Ive found here and have been attending, as well many of the friends Ive made. I praise the Lord for this! A great guy I met when I first arrived here, Don, prayed over me last week and told me some big changes were coming and they would ignite a fire within me. Ive already seen the evidence of this, as I unexpectedly had to move. And its not just the landlords forcefulness that made me move, but also I felt I had to because i was falling into complacency. I didnt really know anyone near my place because it was outside of town, except for a few Chinese ladies, and I was quickly falling into lazy habits. The morning of the day I moved, I had a LONG conversation with my neighbor and got to share the gospel with her, share my beliefs and why I believe them, as well as listen to her views as well. It was one of those divine meetings Id been praying for, as she was someone whom the Lord had put a burden on my heart for. And we had a really great conversation, I hope to have many more like it soon. I pray that she would continue to seek as the Lord is clearly doing something in her heart, please pray for her with me.
October 1st marks the start of the annual National holiday celebrated in China. We are fortunate enough to have a full week off, and I was again blessed, with my brother Tim C coming down from northern China (He teaches in Hebei where I used to teach) to hang out and travel. Together with his girlfriend, Michelle, and another sister, Rena, we all went to a nearby city called Suzhou. Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East, famed for its waterway alleys throughout the city. It was a very tranquil and serene place, even with the bus loads upon bus loads of Chinese tourists. Right now though, we are on a train on our way to another city called Hangzhou, also famed for its beautiful West Lake. Just how beautiful is it? I guess Ill find out soon. More info and pics to follow! But for now check out these shots from Suzhou:
Here is the biggest bell Ive ever seen. The walls were a foot thick, I have no idea how they made the supports strong enough to hold it. The whole thing shook when they hit it with the battering ram.
All those little things on top are coins, and that support must have been 6 feet tall. The U-bolt holding it up, probably several feet thick, solid steel. Solid something. The whole thing just dangled there and shook when it was hit. They should have done a modern marvels episode on this thing!
And this guy made our day! He was transporting his recently purchased doors. Fortunately, they were screen doors, so he had at least some visibility
Well the first campers arrived about a week ago, and to be honest, this has been a grueling week. Over 200 kids signed up, and we had some Chinese volunteers come and help, but after a few days some of them decided to leave. Apparently the word volunteer doesnt translate well into Chinese. Being short staffed has really made me realize that Im not the patient, calm person I thought I was. The Lord definitely is revealing my complete depravity to me more and more, and how I need to rely on myself less and less, as I just make a mess of things on my own.
So imagine, over 200 Chinese kids between 8-14, all of whom are from the one child only generation (meaning they have precious little emperor/empress syndrome) and have never been away from their mums & dads a day in their lives. Talk about wound up. The vast majority of the boys did not sleep a wink the first night, nor did I or any of the other counselors. The cool part is we get to sleep in yurts; a sort of Mongolian tent like enclosure (see pics). But these kids are wild, and it really made me think about when I was their age. Was I like that? Maybe. Probably. If I was, sorry Mom, Dad, and any camp counselors I may have annoyed. On one hand, encountering cultural differences can be frustrating, awkward, and downright annoying. On the other hand, if I came here and it was exactly like the US, that would be even more lame. So one has to learn to appreciate the differences, take them with a grain of salt, and grow from the lessons learned, as opposed to just giving up. Plus my Chinese is quickly improving, and Ive mastered how to say "quiet, go to bed, listen to me, and shut up in their native tongue, as well as many other key words and phrases. The one phrase I refuse to embrace is: Oh my Lady Gaga. One of the FIRST things they learn in English is Oh my G*d. Sigh..yes its sad but true. And since the conquerors of the American pop scene usually trickle over to China, Lady Gaga is literally blowin up here. I dont really know her music that well, but Im sure its mega uber pop, and the Chinese kids have started the latest fad phrase with Oh my Lady Gaga. All I can do is laugh. And laugh some more. Despite the times and trials, my time here has been good, and Ive made some great new friends. Theres John and Mary (older couple who started and run the camp) and 2 other Americans, Tyler & Kelsey, who are here for the summer, also very crazy cool brothers and sisters. A group from Tianjin came for this first of two, twelve day camps, to help us out with activities. Their group includes several more Americans, Koreans, and other cool Chinese people, and they have been a huge blessing. We are hoping the next 12 day camp, which starts June 28, will only have around 50 students, especially because the Tianjin group will be gone then. Its truly been a fly by the seat of your pants week, which is very standard in China. There is seldom order or much planning, and sometimes that just works. But it can also make a person like me lazy and complacent, so we try to plan the best we can. None of us knew what we were getting into with this many kids, but were doing our best. But if one is not flexible when they come to China, they will be in for a major trial. One of the biggest things I still struggle with to this day is the lack of the get in line concept. Its usually just a free for all, and chaos ensuesgood fun, and somehow, it just works. Organized chaos I call it. The questions us foreigners always want to ask is Why do you do it that way? To which the response is always No why. So now when I think to myself, why? I just dismiss it from my mind immediately, as I will never know, so theres no point to think about it. Chalk it up to cultural differences maybe? Example: Saturday and Sunday were sports days from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. My station was Frisbee, and every hour a new group would come. I was teaching one group of kids how to catch the Frisbee. At camp, we have a giant grass field, probably 200 feet by 600 feet, plenty of room for many activities at once, and then some. I had my kids line up, run out about 15 feet and I would throw one of my six Frisbees to them, and they would come running back while the next kid went, and so on, very rapidly. While we were practicing, they were getting better and faster, and then this older Chinese woman came walking up, slowly of course. The whole time the kids were running back and forth and I was throwing, it was clear we were using this small section of the field with intensity. Without a care in the world, she decided to walk right in between the 15 foot section from where I was standing with the kids, and the other kids who are running out to catch, rendering my activity momentarily useless. She took her time, walked through, while we stopped and waited, and she seemed to have no clue that we were playing a game, though I dont know how she couldnt. I asked myself, why? Then I remembered the rule I made for myself. Then I disobeyed my rule and came up with the theory that maybe the elder Chinese have a free pass to do whatever they please. Not sure how I can test my hypothesis though, nor would it be worthwhile. This type of thing has happened to me on numerous occasions doing activities here. I guess I cant blame them for their curiosity, but where does cultural difference stop, and common sense begin? This is why I love China. But to be honest, I must submit that every culture, and person for that matter, has its moments; none is better or worse, just different.
Our days have been super busy, and finding alone time is literally impossible, something Ive really struggled with. Please lift me up in this, as Im feeling a bit distant from the Father. Getting up early is hard, especially because my kids take awhile to settle down and get to sleep, I still manage to get up around 6-6:30, grab a quick shower and head to group devotions with the Americans. Then we have a teachers meeting, breakfast, class until 10:30, then I get a break while the Tianjin takes the kids for activities until lunch. Then after lunch, my favorite Chinese invention: the xiuxi (pronounced She-oh-she). Xiuxi is, more or less, national naptime until 2:00pm. This is standard throughout the country, and classes are never scheduled at this time, and workers of all occupations usually have this break as well, unless you run a restaurant and have to cook through the xiuxi time. At 2:00pm its English class again until 4:00, then free time until dinner. After dinner we have activities ranging from movies, hiking and bonfires. We also started river rafting this week, which was a great time, especially at the end when we all through each other in the river.
Weve already seen a lot of cool things happening here, lots of chances to chat and share our lives with the people weve encountered, and I know it will only get better. Some people have begun reading the Word and weve had loads of chances to sing, do skits, and shine a little light over here in China. Please lift them up. Please also ask that we may be well rested, energized, focused and unified. I know something big will happen this summer, and is already happening. The day before camp started last week, we were invited to a middle school to be guests of honor for a program they prepared. They changed the date of it twice, just to accommodate us foreigners coming. The school is about 5000+ students, and we walked in and had special seating as guests of honor right up front. They put on a really cool talent show, lots of skits and lip-synching songs, and some real singing too. It was one of those surreal moments in China again, where I thought to myself how crazy it is to be here. We watched as several students sang Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and of course, Lady Gaga. The best was one group of kids who did a rendition of Rammsteins famous tune, Du Hast, which means You Hate in Ge
rman. It was funny because they had guitars and keyboards, but you could barely hear them over the playback of the actual song, so it was more or less lip-synched. Ive never seen a Goth Chinese kid before, but he was all decked out in his white make-up and Cannibal Corpse T-shirt. A little Chinese metal head. I was shocked simply because 99% of the Chinese youth listen strictly to pop music, and they all know the exact same songs. Even most interesting was that one of the biggest groups to perform, probably 100+ kids, sang He Knows My Name, which I wasnt too familiar with, but the subject of the song was crystal clear. There is definitely some cool things happening up here in Inner Mongolia. His hand is evident, despite the trials, or perhaps because of them, as we continue to immerse ourselves in this Chinese subculture. The life of the people here doesnt seem to have changed a lot over the centuries, but its fascinating nonetheless. Herding, farming, and villages abound. I was fortunate to run across a rather concise book about the history of Genghis Kahn before I headed up here on the train. Its really quite amazing how much the 13th century Mongols have effected ALL modern cultures. Genghis Kahn established foreign trade, religious freedom, and ensured the protection and safety of millions of his followers. Some of the methods they used and things they did were rather cruel by todays standards, but Genghis Kahn, aka Temujin, was really brilliant despite his acts; centuries ahead of his time. The Mongols conquered more land and more people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400, and created the biggest empire the world has ever known. Not bad for an illiterate herdsman. And reading about the steppe life, it gives me a greater appreciation, and almost a sense of tranquility when I look out at the hills of rolling grass, knowing Genghis Kahn himself likely roamed these areas at some point. If anyone is interested, I would highly recommend the book, if for no other reason than just to know how many things he did, politically, economically, etc, came to shape the modern world.
The weather is dry and cool instead of hot and muggy; the mosquitoes have subsided some. Weve had lots of opportunities already to show and share; thank you Lrd for hearing, and answering our prayrs! Supper time, signing out.
I arrived in China May 24th, and alas, on June 1st, have finally had a chance to take some time to relax and get this blog going. Much to my dismay, I found out the blog I had originally started in the US just before leaving is actually banned here. So I’m starting over . . . → Read More: CHINA!!!
