Back From China

Hello friends, family, and random people who have stumbled across my life!

I am back from China!

How do I put a 10 day miracle into a single blog post and post pictures from a really slow internet connection? I don't think I can, but I'll do my best.

My trip to China was amazing! I couldn't help but giggle out loud on the plane ride there. I am a missionary. I have no salary and in fact am paying to be able to do what I am doing. (That is to say that any extra things like juice, toilet paper, and phone service that are not provided for me, I pay for from my savings.) Yet, the entire trip to China was paid for- my visa, my flight, my taxi services, my meals, my hotel, massages, facials, my trip to the World Expo, everything! God is so good and so fun! I love being His daughter!

Oh, how do I put this into words?! I think I'll post pictures separately as there are so many I don't think I can do it and type all of this in one sitting.

I arrived Monday night and Judith picked me up. We went to the hotel and went to bed. The hotel was very nice. I had a real shower!!! :-) There were slippers and wi-fi and a TV. AND THERE WAS AIR CONDITIONING!! It was like living in luxury!!! I felt so spoiled there!

The first day of teacher training, I just adjusted and "surveyed" who we were working with. The teachers were mostly Chinese teachers who had little experience teaching and who were far from fluent in English. It was such a challenge to take college level material and put it into words that would be comprehensible by a five year old.

We spent the whole week laboring to convince the teachers of their need to be creative with their presentation of materials and assisting them in their pronunciation of English. We had numerous practice sessions for the teachers. It really was a difficult thing.

Remember, adventure is created by overcoming adversity. Without adversity, there can be little to no adventure. I love the adversity not for its sake, but for the sake of the adventure and joy that it brings once it is overcome.

The second night there, the director of the school in China took us out for a welcome dinner. We ate "hot pot." It was at this place that I had my induction to the Chinese food. I ate cow's stomach for the first time. It was really good! They offered me duck blood and duck intestines, but I passed on those. I just couldn't shake the laws of Exodus and Leviticus from my brain and conscience entirely.

Since I didn't get to blog while I was there- the internet is monitored, so I didn't want to even try, I'll post a corrected email I sent to my family.

I did get to go to the World Expo, but only for a few hours. We toured
parts of the city and did some shopping instead. Then, once we were at the
Expo, the lines were so long just to get into the pavilions that we didn't
go in. But I talked to the boss asking him to send me to each country that
we passed by. I want to help his businesses there and maybe start some new
ones. We'll see what he says about that in the future. We did get to go in
to the Philippine pavilion. They had dancers there and at one point, they
pulled me up on stage with them! Haha! It was fun! I wish we'd spent more
time at the Expo, but the boss knows best and he knows my heart for his
business to expand to the other countries represented there.

I got to get a facial and a back massage while I was here, too. When I got
the facial, the lady thought my eyelashes were fake and tried to pull them
off!!!

Shanghai is very nice. Besides obvious cultural, language, and procedural
differences, it feels very much like America. It is very developed and the
people don't stare at me as much here. It's nice. And, places are air
conditioned! Granted, buildings are not kept as cold as a refridgerator
here, but it is definitely cool inside places. I don't know how I'll adjust
to being back in the Philippines! Maybe I'll learn how to sweat while
sitting in front of a fan again! (Ugh!) This is totally what I am doing!

The teacher training is over now. Most of the teachers still have a long
way to go. Unless the boss makes it very clear to me to do otherwise, I'm
planning on doing homeschool for my future children- no matter where I live!

We had a very nice graduation dinner for the teachers. I love the way the Chinese eat! They have like 50 courses that are brought out in little bits at a time. One of the courses was boiled frog. I ate that, but passed on the duck head again. Nonetheless, I think I gained a few pounds while I was there! It's time to get back into my Pilates routine!

Thursday, one of the teachers showed me around the city. He
is from New York but has learned enough Chinese to be able to translate
things for me. My plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 12:30AM on Friday (so really
Thursday night) so I didn't have to leave Shanghai until 8:30pm. That gave me
the entire day to tour!

I went all over the city. I saw the Bund, the Pearl TV tower, this other really tall building, the Chinese Mac store, the Jiang Temple, People's Square and People's Garden, and took a ferry to the Pudong area. It was SOOO fun!!

I LOVE working for God! Judith and I never did do an official prayer walk. However, everywhere we went, I was so conscious of my role as an intercessor. Shanghai has been covered in prayer, asking for God to raise up Pauls who are unafraid to speak His name. There will be a shift in that nation regarding prayer and the people's boldness. There will be evangelists and intercessors that will be risen up from that place. Dad loves the people there.

While I was there, I was very careful to talk about God as the "The Boss" or as "Dad." I am back now and there is not a restriction on my speech here. However, to only be able to talk about God like that was really fun and kind of hard to shed. It brings new light to the meaning of those words. To be a Christian truly means to make Jesus your Boss and to put Him in charge every appointment: all of your time. Time is life. So, to make Jesus the Boss of your life (also known as Lord of your life) is make Him Boss of your time. And He is the best! He has as way of organizing all the little details that we never could have fathomed.

With that being said, my plane was delayed in coming home by 2 or 3 hours. It provided for a divine appointment! My seatmate was from New York but had worked in China for 10 years. We talked about everything under the sun and I know that God did some things in him through our conversation. I also came to some cool understandings that I will be chewing on for the next lifetime.

I arrived at Manila Airport around 6:30am on Friday. I went straight to sleep yesterday and didn't see anyone the whole day. I woke up for lunch and dinner and to do my laundry. I also slept all night and part of the day today. I think I'm caught up now!

This next week, classes are cancelled so that teachers can prepare for our national educators convention. I'm not sure what that means for me. I just know that I won't have students this next week. :-( I feel like I am getting off to such a slow start in developing this reading program!! It could be frustrating, but then I know that Daddy has His perfect ways and knew this was going to be happening before I even signed up to come.

Things I learned in China:

I like cow's stomach.

I can eat with chopsticks.

I need sleep in order to be nice.

I like air conditioning.

I speak very quickly.

Let no one look down on you because you are young. God supplies all the experience you need.

A good meal for 2 can be purchased in China for only 20 Yuan (US$2.94).

Chinese people don't know how to translate to English- even if they think they do. Example: "The faucet said don't let me cried all the time." This is a real sign telling students to turn off the sink. Example: "No Photoing"

Fish jerky and sea weed can make a sufficient meal when combined with waffles, peanut butter, and mandarin oranges.

There is nothing that can compare with Turkish Coffee.

I have a lot of energy, even when I'm sleepy.

Earth is not my home. Heaven is. Only in the presence of God do I really belong. We sing this song all the time, but it is not until you are stripped of every place that you could call home that this becomes a reality. I am in the Philippines, but this is not home. America is not home, Argentina is not home. Heaven in home. My job is to be like an interior decorator and bring the flavors and styles of my home to my temporary dwelling places.