And we're off again.

Our time at the YMCA in Chiangmai was really nice. The class was so wonderful, and I learned more than I could begin to tell in a short blog. I'm excited about the semester ahead and hopefully being a help and support to teachers. It should be a learning and growing time for everyone.
  We are heading off today to the conference site. The actual conference doesn't start until Wednesday, but we are going early so that Steve can help out with pre-conference tech support. Sometimes the pre-conference time is just as busy as the actual conference.
  The weather in Thailand is nice and the atmosphere is great, but the things we love the most about the conference here is the time we get to spend with wonderful people in the organization that we only see during this week long event. The kids have a great program and get to interact with so many other children. It can be trying at times when they (or we) get sick, but it is usually a wonderful time of fellowship and learning. We are inundated with ideas and encouragement from the Word and interactions with others. We are inspired in our teaching as we hear others talk about the joys of teaching and how we can better strive for excellence in our own classrooms. We talk with old friends; we make new friends. It is a blessed time.
  So, as we end this phase of our journey and begin the next, please be lifting us up as transition. We asked for continued prayer for our health. Many people get sick as they interact with the mix of germs from six or seven different countries! We love it, but we don't want the urgent to override the good things that the time can hold.

See ya' later! 再见！

Back in the classroom again

   We are on our third day of my class. I am learning so much about teacher mentoring, but I feel like a small fish in a big pond. When back in Harbin, it is easy to feel competent and confident when people come to me for teaching advice and feedback, but when I am sitting in a classroom with such capable and qualified teacher mentors, I feel a little intimidated.
   In a paper I turned in for this course, I wrote a reminder to myself from 2 Peter 1:3 (New International Version) that states, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” This is true no matter what role we find ourselves playing. Teacher in China, teacher mentor, janitor in a factory, vegetable seller in a market....  It isn't our competence or goodness but His. I don't have to worry about getting everything right all the time. All I have to do is rely upon His divine power. He's already given me all that I need.

   So, as I am in the classroom tomorrow giving my little presentation of the article I had to read tonight, I will rely upon that power to keep me standing there as I go over questions I prepared. I have much to learn from my teachers and fellow classmates. I wait with eager expectation to see how the knowledge gained from this course will help me serve new teachers better as well as help me become a better teacher myself and bring glory to the One who called me into teaching. 

     Oh, and I will be teaching next semester. I will only have four hours which translates as one group of students twice a week. I will have the same students for four weeks and then get a new group for another four weeks. It isn't much, but I am excited about being in front of the classroom again. :) I think it will help me be a better mentor as well as give me access to some of my own students. They are all masters level non-English majors, so that should be interesting. :) 

See ya' later! 明天见！

Same same, but different

In Thailand, it is common to hear Thai people say, "Same same, but different." I don't know if it is a direct translation or what, but it always strikes me as funny. At the same time, I quickly pick up the phrase and the mindset that although things are similar here, they are very different.

Thai people are Asian, but they are NOT Chinese.
Thai food looks somewhat like Chinese food, but the taste is different.
Thai people love to smile, but I don't know if their faces are truly reflecting their hearts.
It's winter but not cold here.
   It's not cold here, but I have to wear a light sweater every morning because I  am chilly. Ha.
The list could go on, but I won't.

In China, I often feel very connected to the local community, and I find it hard to get used to being an outsider to an even greater extent than I am there. Thankfully, over the years of coming to the same locations, we are making a couple of friends. There is a couple who owns a small store across the street from where we are staying. Every year we get to know them a little more. The man is almost exactly the same age as Steve. Steve's birthday is the 17th of January and O's birthday is the 21st. The couple has been married five years (we've been married six). Every time we go over there to visit, the connection is a little stronger. Having that relationship really makes this feel more "same same" to us since we are not the kind who like the tourist lifestyle of whip in and out without touching the real culture and people.

Who knows what difference we will make here with this sweet couple, but we long for the brightest light to shine forth from us as we live and go about our days here. May this be more than a vacation of sorts, but an extension of our work as we seek to find ways to be light and salt to a very deprived world.

See ya' later. 再见！ สวัสดีค่ะ

Where am I now?

Well, we are in Thailand. I meant to write a post before we left Harbin, but well, that didn't happen. I guess the "must do" and the "need to do" took priority over "would like to do" lists.

We got here a couple of days ago, and things are going really well. We came a week before my class begins so that we could adjust, enjoy the warmth, go to the zoo, get doctor's appointments taken care of and simply relax a few days before the crazy of my class and conference take over our lives. It has been nice.

The first day, Olivia and I went and got our toenails painted. She wanted hers RED, so red they are. :) Fun for a dollar and some change isn't bad.

Today, we found the Chiangmai Zoo. It was really nice to walk around, see the animals and be warm. Being warm outside is a real treat. :)

Tonight we plan to celebrate Steve's birthday more officially with some of our teammates and a couple of other friends.

Summers are nice in the States when we get to visit family and friends there, but it is usually a busy time of running around and not really getting time to stop and evaluate life. In the past three years, this is the first time I have been able to go to Thailand for the annual conference, and I am really enjoying this little bit of calm. I'm glad we came early.

Tummy adjustment is a major factor right now, and that can be an area of prayer for us. We don't want to be sick for sure.

So, here we are in Thailand!

See ya' later! 再见！ สวัสดีค่ะ S̄wạs̄dī kh̀a

Picking up a package

This afternoon was a pleasant one. We had a package that had to be picked up at the train station post office. That meant one of us had to take a bus to the station and back around rush hour.

I was eager for an adventure.

So, I made sure all family needs were met and headed out the door with my coat, scarf, gloves, phone and passports... oh and the package slip.

Somehow I misunderstood where to catch the bus to the station and ended up walking all over asking for directions. It was nose-numbing cold so I didn't enjoy that as much as I could have. Once I found the bus and got on it, a nice old man offered to pick up his bag so I could sit down. He then proceeded to ask the normal array of questions and stated in disbelief that I couldn't be American. "You look Russian. How can you be American?"He then continued to talk and talk and talk. I caught about 80% of what he said. He might have had a few drinks. His breath was rough. The lady on the other side would chime in from time to time and I understood every word she said. So, either his missing teeth or his alcohol level made him a bit harder to follow. We'll leave it at that.

Thankfully an elderly woman who got on the bus along with her son and grandson caught his attention and I had a break for a bit. That woman was really sick though. Her family didn't have enough money to have her at the hospital for more than half a month, so they were heading home. She had a distant and confused look in her eyes that made me sad for her.

Once I got to the train station (I guess half an hour or more later), I got off and picked up the package. Nothing too special in that.

I headed back to the bus to go home. People were everywhere. I'm guessing a train had just come in since there were so many people taking the bus. It was crowded before it ever left the station. (The train station is the first stop on the line). I ended up standing near the back door with my very strong box. It looked perfect when I picked it up by the way. That is a rare treat indeed.

The bus kept getting more and more crowded. People at one point even got on at the back door. (That's something the driver doesn't usually like since you pay at the front.) My nice box started to get squished as people kept pressing into me.

Finally, I had had enough and got off. My plan was to take a taxi, but nobody would stop, so I took a different bus the rest of the way home. It too was crowded and I stood at the front door over the "Don't stand here" sign. At least my box was somewhat safe from the crowd of people. Eventually, however, I it ended up on the floor by the driver and I was pressed against the bar that protects him from the hoards of passengers.

When it was time to get off the bus, I think I fell out - gratefully.

It was a cold walk home from the bus stop and my feet were frozen. I was thankful that my box and I made it home in one piece - though the box was slightly flatter. Maybe I was too. :)

Love the 1.3 billion people I get to interact with up close and personal!
See ya' later! 再见！

Okay, so maybe we are crazy....

Harbin is famous for many things. Not the least of which are its underground tunnels that go on forever, Russian bread and sausage (which they call Harbin Big Bread and Harbin Sausage) and the Bing Deng (Ice Festival). I am in my ninth year in the NE of China and this year was my first time to make it to the Ice and Snow Festival. We decided to take the kiddos along.

As I was planning out their winter wear layers for the evening of snow, ice and lights, I was going through all the clothes we owned and wondering how I could put all of the these layers on Olivia and Joel's little bodies. In the end, I think I got 5 out of my choice of 7 (Steve made me take two off) layers on Olivia and I lost count with Joel. They were many things, but cold was not going to be one of them!

Thankfully, this has been a more mild winter, and it still  has not even really snowed yet. So unbelievable!

Anyway, we get all packed up and head over to the building where we meet the buses and off we go on an hour long bus ride to the festival.

It is a beautiful pain. Your hands and feet are cold, but you are enjoying the beautiful and amazing displays all around you. Joel fell asleep almost upon entering his warm stroller and didn't wake, stir or emerge until we were back on the bus. He also didn't go to sleep that night until 11PM! He was warm and toasty.

Olivia also didn't do too bad. She really enjoyed the ice slides. It was a fun time, and I am so glad we all went. Before going, I kept wondering if I was crazy for taking them along, but in the end was really glad I did.

Here are a couple of clips of our experience. Hope you enjoy. Bundle up while you watch! Maybe stand inside the freezer to get a small taste of what it felt like! :) Haha.

See ya' later! 再见！

Take a bite。。。

For a 20th floor (we live on the 20th floor of a building full of foreign teachers and students) New Years desert social, I made these...

They look like hamburgers, but they really aren't!

I got the idea off of pinterest (more specifically this site) and kept waiting for the right time to make them.
So fun! So deceiving! So cute! Aah!

What are some of your fun baking creations?
See ya later! Zai jian! 再见！

The realities of a 3 year old.

Yesterday, while I was taking a much needed shower, Steve decided to play the video of our wedding. Olivia had never seen it and seemed amazed by it. In fact, I don't think she has ever been to an American wedding. Throughout the ceremony, she was just watching and enjoying the colors and a few of the people she recognized. 

  When it got to the reception part however, she asked where she was. "Well," we tried to explain, "God had not made you yet." She nearly came unglued. What did we mean she wasn't alive yet!? "Was I dead?" she asked while her eyes filled up with tears. My heart broke. We explained that she wasn't dead but that God had not made her inside of Mama yet and that we had to get married first. 

  This went on back and forth for some time. She almost got it… well at least was slowing down on the "But where was I?" question and then asked where Joel was! We were almost coming to a point of acceptance or surrender (however you want to look at it) when a teammate came in and Olivia informed her that she was not at the wedding. When said teammate asked where she was, I almost wanted to cry. Oh no! Here we go again. But Olivia seemed to at least have the right words, "God didn't make me yet."

Reality can be tough when you're three. 

Here are just a few of her realities thus far…

- She wasn't before she was born, but that doesn't mean she was dead.

-She was born in Beijing but isn't Chinese; she's spent only a small fraction of her    

  life in the States but is American. 

- The inside of our apartment is NOT America. (She thinks it is only China outside.)

- Mimi, Papa, Grandma, and Grandpa do not live in the computer. 

Bless her very young and quickly growing heart.

再见！Zaijian! See ya' again. or Bye.