Learning to like my washing machine (sorta)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!! New Years in China has (and still is) an experience. Winter break centers around Chinese New Years (also called Spring Festival), instead of Christmas in America. So currently I'm on break. Spring Festival is truely a crazy time period.

1st Craziness. Trains. Ever seen a living ocean of people? mmm, try the train station during the 3 weeks before New Years. Lines are INSANELY long too. My teammate was trying to get back to our city and had to wait for 3 litteral hours in the freezing cold just to get a train ticket.

2nd Craziness. Grocery shopping. Now, any average weekend day at the grocery store China is like going Christmas shopping. People, lots of them. Lines, long. Pushing, impatience, and crazied merriment preparation turned stress. Now, for Spring Festival thu....w-o-w. Seriously that's like the only words to describe it. Lydia and I went grocery shopping b/c most everything will close down for 3 days completely for New Years so we'd better buy groceries to ensure we eat (thu the very very pricey restaurants are open) Really, each of us were only buying a full basket's worth. So not that much. It took us from 2pm-5pm. It took us 3 hours to buy 2 basket's worth. It was like trying to swim upstream--upstream a stream of people. Many sales, but...oh my goodness the people and lines. Going average grocery shopping (at the big supermarkets) is normally exhuasting--afterwards u always need a nap to recover. After this trip, any ideas of cooking dinner totally went out the window as we collapsed on my couch.

3rd Craziness. Chinese and fireworks.. Yesterday night it sounded like the sky would fall, or a building, or that we were being bombed. Every family lits them. Really, every family. Like even the old people. Uncle, the man who guards the gate to our complex with his wife, is like nearly 70 years old, lit a firecracker with his cigaret. Seriously, if I could have taken a picture of that I sooooo would have. Then he lit another long belt like series of firecrackers which he held nonchalantly in his hand while twirling in a circle--never thinking that it could hurt him as it slowly spits fire upward towards his hand. Lydia and I on the other hand are like running away b/c we're afraid of being hit by the fireworks spitting in a crazy circle all over the place. We also saw several folks throw fireworks out of their window. Really, just pop open the windows and throw them out onto the road with pedestrians who walk nonchalantly by. Fireworks hanging on the trees, in the street roads, cars roaring at 40mph while firecrackers go off mere feet from their vehicles. The pressure of the fireworks was so much, that u keep hearing car alarms sounding off. The fireworks commenced 2 days ago (the 16th) but really "commenced" in earnest around 7pm yesterday and kept themselvesd up until 2AM. At 8AM today we started our 2nd continuous round of fireworks for the day/evening. At 11pm today, most of them stopped.Yesterday Lydia and I ate some seeds, candy, and many dumpings with Uncle and Aunty. People eat dumplings New Year's eve and New Year's morning. Spring Festival is a major time of family and friends getting together. Friends exchange gifts with each other and every one puts up decorations of the zodiac animal and auspicious sayings. Apparently fireworks will continue for 5 more days and on the 5th day, something happens. Not really sure. The people telling me about the traditions are telling me all of it in Chinese and so...I can only comprehend so much, lol.

To all, Happy New Years/Spring Festival!!

新年快樂！ 恭喜發財， 萬事如意！   

3 sides to the story

A harder tone

There are days, when I am tired, when someone was unkind/impatient me me after a long day of having to be patient w/ 36 students and smile for 4 hours straight, when the fatigue of trying to navigate and simply live in China weighs u down .. u look around u and everything seems to both close in on u and expand to a vast emptiness at the same time. I sit in my kitchen/living room and feel alone. There is nothing comforting here, nothing beautiful to even rest my eyes upon. My meal--was not comforting. The couch and the chair I am sitting on is hard. I can not simply pick up a phone and call a friend. I can't go look for my cat and plopp her on my lap.  There is a pile of hw and quizzes piled high waiting imperiously to be graded.  An e-mail I send my friend will take 12 hours for her/him to be awake for them to even see it. I feel alone. It is in those moments, that truely, the words of training, that "in China, Gd may be more real to u than u have ever felt before in the States" comes to my mind. On such nights, what do I have? I feel alone and I feel tired and I want the comforts of home. It is in those moments, that suddenly, truely, I realize, Gd really is my all. What else is there around me to take any comfort or refuge in? There IS no object in my house and there is no person naer me to distract me, no good thing to take refuge in. Where can I go, but to the Lord? And...this is a good thing. It is a hard thing, but it is an amazingly good thing. Gd is more real to me here. People are far away, but Gd...but is near.  It is in those moments, I must make a choice: to cry and cry and cry and wish to go home bitterly. Or, I must realize and refocus my hope on the truth--that Gd has sent me w/ a purpose. That Gd works ALL things for my good, and Gd sends me, allows difficult things to happen, and causes me to do at times difficult things for my BEST. There, I must hang my heart as one would a hat on a coat hanger or else...there I must hang my hope and heart on. And I know it is of the Lrd. Praise the Lrd.

A softer scene

But there are other moments, perhaps lived even w/in the same day as those horrible nights.  U realize suddenly, how much u mean to these students. That during break, they come running up to the board to clean ur board, if they can't clean ur board, they scramble to find something else to tidy up for u. Why? B/c they care about u.  They want to show u they love u, are grateful for u. With the unfeigned look of deep sadness when I told them about my dad, in the way they straighten their backs and lift their heads w/ pride and joy when u praise their improvement, u KNOW u mean something to them. You have an impact on them. The other day, my student cried  b/c I had lowered her grade.Was she crying over her grade? No. (thu she was unhappy about that) She was weeping b/c she thought the teacher she held in esteem considered her a cheater. I have taught these kids for 6 weeks, what could I have done to make them care so? Surely this is of the Lrd. Students in China are predisposed to like their teachers and hold them in high respect (unlike America, lol) but...in the way they nearly cry when u tell them, that despite their dark skin, "they ARE beautiful" u KNOW u mean something to them. China truely is a 2 -fold story. filled w/ praise, and pain, and idioticness, and a molding fire of the Lrd.   

An idiotic scene

u really don't know ur fortunate until...

So, w/in the last 5 days I've been graced w/ the opportunity to wash my floor 3 times. How have I been so lucky? Well...my washer machine flooded my house 3 times. Sooo....i had a wonderful lake under my fridge, couch, trashcan etc. Of course, i was even more fortunate for each flooding episode, to have the added joy of the water exiting my house and creating mini lakes outside my front door and the stairwell outside my house. So embarassing. I'm sure the neighbors are like "oh , look that foreign girl can't use her washer machine again"  Will have to ask the school to fix it. The first time, the pipe that drains the water wasnt' properly aligned. The 2nd, I was stupid and forgot to manually put the plastic (yes, it is plastic) pipe into the drain for the water to drain. The 3rd time, the pipe LITERALLY jumped out of the pipe a couple of times.

You always hear how blessed we are in America. No, it's true, we really are. Stop a moment and think just how fortunate for all the amazing little blessings we have. 1) strong plumbing that is consistent as a rule. 2) 24-7 hot water 3) washing machines that work 4) big fridgerators/the space to have big refridgerators 5) a general lack of dirt--no matter how i clean, there is always dirt. we really don't have to clean our houses nearly as often as I do in China 6) the existence of dryer machines 7) space/racks to dry clothes--i am always doing laundry. Always. U simply can't wash more than one load--no dryer and no space to hang everything 8) beautiful color chordinated things. it is very restful on the eyes 9) the ability to read directions on things in our native language ie directions to ur washer machine, to how to wash ur clothes, to how to cook food for some instant pckage thing, to how to use ur microwave. 

There really are so many simple conveniances we simply do not think of nor thank Gd for.  Just look at whatever room ur in. Do u have internet access in ur room? I have work-mates who most take a 1-2 hour bus to get internet access.  Is the seat ur sitting on cusheny?--in China, really chushy chairs are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. The little chair matts u can buy to add cushening are cheap but like paper thing. Do your blankets keep u warm?  I have to sleep w/ two blankets on me. It's only fall too. In no way is this meant to be a list of complients, but a realization of how lucky we truely truely are and how we overlook and assume the most basic things. Really, Gd blesses us so much and we take so many things for granted. I would encourage u to stop now and thank Gd for whatever convienances u can think of. Truely, they are small daily blessings. Everything that is good comes from the Father. Even something as simple as coasters to put ur coffee mug on.

hey everyone! So I'm in California now. Been for almost a week now. having a marvelous time with relatives.  they have truely been so very good too me. only problem with chinese family members---they FEEED you more and moRE and MORE in proportion to how much they are good hosts and/or love u!!!! I'm going to become obess. lol!! but i've loved it here. training beings Sat. 15th at 5pm officially and I'll get there around 11AM. 

I saw a hip hop performance, saw the famous chinese movie theatre with all the stars' foot/hand etc prints and the stars of fame, saw the Kodak theatre (where the academies are held. it's funny i realized something. It was like 10pm at night and peeps and families and young people walking around and looking at shops flanking the famed red capret stairs and walkway and thought "this is just an ordinary place turned special one night fillled with ordinary people turned famous for a while (famous actors directors etc) kinda put stuff in perspective. I saw the Lakehouse (it was GREAT) and went to Ripley's Believe It or Not's museum, and continued on my preparations before training.