Baby Meeting.

Happy November! (how did that happen so fast?! do you feel the same way?!)

Anywho, today was good.

I love checking people's license plates to make sure I am getting in the car with the right random stranger.

It happens to me more than the average person, I think.

Today after my classes I found myself checking the license plate of Li Na's husband to make sure I was getting in the right car. He was to drive me to a farmer's restaurant about an hour away from Hangzhou.

We were having a meeting about me taking over the orphan program at chrch and setting up a time to visit another orphanage. I have a group of students from last year who have organized a drive of milk powder and are ready and waiting to deliver the goods to the babiez. (awesome-ness!)

Because this is Ch.ina (well, to be fair, I think this happens everywhere...) everything takes a lot of time to happen. Nothing is really efficient. We have to have 800 meetings to discuss a little thing like a orphanage visit because there are a lot of rules concerning who can go when outside people don't have a relationship with the orphanage. This is why these meetings are so important. They keep up our "guanxi" (Chi.nese business practice of relationships that is hard to obtain).

Eating and hanging out builds our guanxi, allows the chrch and the orphanages to have continual partnership and keeps us all safe. Of course, the real benefit besides all that serious stuff is that I sincerely love these people and could not imagine my life without them.

I met the two hospital worker women 2 years ago. The older one, Li Na calls me her kid. And allows laments how she doesn't take good enough care of me. haha. Precious. Both have become family* in the past 2 years.

Today's lunch was productive in business and personally. We have decided an orphanage to sponsor, have divied up the work of collecting children's winter clothes and milk powder, and we had a darn good time doing it.

I love these meetings. I love the wheeling and dealing that goes into Chin.ese business practice. It's all a game. And I like to play.

I also love the bonding that comes when a group of women come together. It's powerful. We do most of our business/chatting in Chin.ese with the help of my iTouch dictionary and a woman from chrch who is of Chin.ese descent.

Today's lunch was fresh from the farm and it was DELISH! I love these farmer restaurants. The food is legit.

Here's some proof:

Chinese mom (who is now retired) and sis:

there was some dancing from our Scottish belle:

and lots of eating, I wished this meal lasted forever:

Kitty cat also had a great lunch:

Hangzhou International Fellowship orphan committee and Hangzhou Orphan Rehabilitation Center Sponsorship Secretaries, an amazing partnership that is changing lives one child at a time (haha when did I start writing Hallmark cards?!?!):

I can't wait to get some warm clothes on some babiez!

Now I'm off to the grocery store then studying for the evening...Midterms next week! EEK!

"If you can't feed one-hundred people, then feed just one." -Ma Teresa.

Walk Slow. xoxo.

Wan Sheng Jie Kuai Le!

...or "Happy Halloween!"

Halloween is bitter sweet because it means the holiday season is coming. October-January are difficult in Chi.na. But I've done it twice already, and I always come out at the end of the holiday tunnel with great memories and deeper bonds with friends whom I spent the holidays with.

Halloween is fun here in particular because it means walking around on an otherwise normal Chi.na day dressed crazy. I was a tiger (it's the year of the tiger in the Chin.ese zodiac and I already owned ears and tiger running tights). This meant that I got to growl/purr at a the guards for my neighborhood, a taxi driver, the store clerks at the corner mart, and random Chin.ese people on the street.

Let me tell you what, that was therapeuric/hilarious/awesome!

I also ran into one of my old students from two years ago on the street. Dressed as a cat. "Oh hi, here I am with painted whiskers on my face, what's up?!" That was awesome. We just had a normal conversation like it was any ol' day and I just was dressed like a cat.

Some friends of mine were having a gathering on the roof, so I bundled up and headed out. We barbequed meat on a stick, sang songs, took pictures, and spread Halloween cheer to the natives who thought we were slightly crazy.

Here's some photographic evidence:

This is my, "I miss Mirabelle" pose! (my rabbit I gave away last year):

Go USA/Packers? And is it strange that a homemade cheesehead reminded me of my sister?

bonding moments galore:
party on the rooftop, with lights! We even saw Orion's belt and the MOON! (first time seeing a constellation in Chi.na....normally we get no stars at all.)

Cecilia stabbed me!
Yin Jia the motorcycle girl:

random group shot inside trying to warm up:

Best quote of the night goes to my dear friend Zack:

"I'm 28 years old and here I am on a rooftop in Ch.ina talking to an 18 year old Chi.nese girl in a chicken costume."

Holidays here are...surreal.

One holiday down...some to go.

Eat some good candy for me. And while you're at it, have some caffeine for me too.

Happy Halloween from Asia!

Walk slow. xoxo.

Seaweed and other joys.

Today I woke up in a no-good-very-bad mood.

I might be the fact taht winter has shown up with a vengence, leaving Fall completely out of the picture and I was shivering in my sleep. I'm not sure what it was, but for some reason I woke up with a scowl.

Well that's no way to start a day. So I decided to change it.

And look for things that made me happy throughout the day.

Here's one: the view from my workplace:

On Fridays I rush after class to work to facilitate an "english corner" of sorts. It's supposed to be an hour long lunch time english lesson for whoever is not signed up for my evening classes. It has turned into a close group of 7 women doctors who I really like. We meet in a conference room on the 15th floor of the hospital. Today we played Taboo on cards I home-made, last week we read poetry. (and I get paid for this, haha). This photo is the gorgeous view of the West Lake from our room. Having a job I like (again) and Hangzhou's scenery are for sure things to be happy about.

Seaweed Pringles:

Yes, they are green. They were a new discovery at the grovery store today and despite the hefty price tag (15RMB), I had to try them. I may or may not have just eaten half the can. Oops. I love all things seaweed! And look at that hilarious picture on the can!

Today I had 2 classes, work, poetry group (!!!!), grocery shopped, walked 2 miles home with my crap because there were no taxis, cleaned my room, and now I'm baking a cake in my crockpot for a picnic with some old students tomorrow. Then I'll study a little bit and call it a day.

Happy Friday to you.

walk slow. xoxo.

how to make a reservation in China.

True story:

Yesterday I needed to make a reservation for my class dinner. (see previous post).

I was having lunch with a Chinese friend, Ting Ting. On the restaurant card it had one street name with two different address numbers and two phone numbers. I was not sure which one to call for the reservation. I was mulling this over while Ting Ting was in the kitchen.

Finally she cried out, "Just call one of the numbers and ask them if you have been there."

"Um, what??"

"Of course they remember you. Who could forget..."

So I called the first number listed and asked them if a large white woman with red hair had been there before? Sure enough, I had.

Only in this country.

Walk slow. xoxo.

the mini-UN.

Today was good.

I'm exhausted.

But it was good.

I couldn't sleep last night because I was so worried about the class dinner that I had planned for tonight. Because I am class leader, it is my duty to plan class events. I decided that tonight would be a good night for a dinner at a local restaurant near my dorm. I wanted my classmates to experience a different part of the city and eat my favorite of China's regional food: Dongbei food. (from the northeast of China, sooooooooo good).

I called at lunch to make a reservation and they would only take us at 5:30. Because I had told everyone to meet at 5:30, I decided to go ahead of everyone and order the food and then wait for them.

This gave me so much stress.

I hate ordering food. In the past 2 years in China I have had little to no influence on what I eat at Chinese restaurants. I let others choose for me (since usually I cannot read the menu anyways). This way I always get to try new things. This hands-off approach has worked up until now...when it was my job to order dinner for 17 people.

I did the resourceful thing and posted a "HELP" message on my Chinese instant message site this morning. I asked for names of Dongbei dishes in pinyin, the chinese alphabet system that I can read. When I returned home from class today, there were 10 dishes listed by my previous students. I wrote them down, went to the restaurant, and ordered them with a few old favorites that I know of.

It turned out fabulous. Many thanks to my old students.

We are like a mini-united nations. Not all of us speak good English, so I felt kind of bad about that, but everyone laughed and had fun. The food was good and the waitresses were really nice to us after I chatted them up a bit.

The only thing I think that could have been improved is that I did all the talking. I went and got more rice, ordered more drinks, and called out when someone's chopsticks fell. I should have forced my classmates to practice, but other than that, all was well.

I was just so happy to see them all laughing and bonding.

our restaurant, one of my faves in the area:

These are the people I see every day...17 out of 23 members of our class. Introducing from left to right: David from England, Dimi from Belgium, yours truly, Makastaka from Japan, Kenneth from Hong Kong, Joe from USA, Steph from England, Evi from Germany, Monse from Chile, Kaung from Burma, Luis from Spain, Jan from Germany, Blas from Spain, Ondrej from Czech Republic, Hye Ju from Korea, Inna from Ukraine, and Isa from Ukraine.

We spend more time with each other than with anyone else. We are in class everyday together, same schedule. I'm so glad it all went well. Now that the first "event" is over, I think I'll be more relaxed at future ones. I was a little worried how everyone would gel together, but it was all magical. I don't know why I ever worry. What a waste of time. It always works out.

I have an interesting feeling when it comes to relating to these people. You see, they will all leave soon. Some in December, some in January, most by next summer. While I am here for 4 more years. Language learners will come and go while I am here studying for my PhD. This is the only time I have foreign classmates who are not Chinese. I have this feeling that it is my duty to serve them, to show them the way around here, treat them to some good times, and to help their memories of their short time here be good ones. But I don't feel like I can get too close. Because they will go. And I will stay.

It's such an eclectic crew. So many different points of view and so many different life stories. Around one table playing "never have I ever." For 2 hours. haha.

I'm so glad I'm here. But now I need to sleep.

walk slow. xoxo.

Camp Ridiculous.

Sometimes stupid ideas turn into really fun times.

A couple of weeks ago Hannah, Nate and I were having lunch during class break at a place we have dubbed the "Noodle Palace." It is a palace because the little muslim boys who work there call back your order in an intercom system and the kitchen has a window (semi-cleanliness!).

There are muslim noodle shops everywhere, always run by little families and always dirty and delicious. This one puts them all to shame. But I digress, this post is not about the Noodle Palace, it is about the great/stupid idea that started at Noodle Palace and became a reality.

Anyways, we were eating and somewhere along the line of conversation it was decided that we would go camping on the mountain that sits behind our campus, Lao He Shan. Nate is an uber-nature person and I guess his love of camping was contagious because around 11pm last night we found ourselves at the base of Lao He Shan ready to ascend.

The thing is, it has been raining for three days. And is still raining. And was forecasted to rain all night (it did).

But we didn't care. We were going camping on the mountain by school.

Nate loaded up a pack with his 3-person tent and 3 sleeping bags and junior choir sing-a-long books. Hannah had a broken star-making machine and snacks, and I brought Peeps and toilet paper.

Most of the scenic mountains in Chi.na have concrete steps going up them (they ruin it), so we just marched our way up the mountain in the rain, stopping once in a random pagoda to take off some layers where I showed off my brilliance and put my rain jacket back on backwards and got soaked. haha.

About half-way up the mountain we stopped for our breath and decided that our camp needed a name. After a short brainstorm session we looked around and realized it was all ridiculous. We were on a mountain in a city, at midnight, in the rain. Thus, Camp Ridiculous was born.

We made it to the top around midnight, set up the tent, peed in the woods, ate tuna and crackers, and sang songs and read from Nate's journal until 3:30am.

A short two hours later we were woken up by Chinese men yelling outside our tent.

Talk about an adrenaline rush.

(no-offense, but)- Chin.ese people can be unpredictable in their behaviors. You can't really ever tell what someone is going to do or how they are going to react because logic here is um.....different and they've been exposed to less modern things and behaviors.

We were a little worried with how our bright blue tent would be greeted by the natives. Especially since we had no idea if we were even allowed to be there, just sleeping in a tent. haha.

So we sat and waited. It is a known fact that when old Chinese people hike in the morning they like to yell out. "Ahhh ahhh!" We heard the men hiking back down and yelling into the distance. Since it was so foggy, there is a good chance they didn't even see us in the rain.

We waited a little while longer, then decided the best thing to do would be to pack up camp and head back before more natives showed up. While we were packing everything up in the rain, several people walked by and we just told them "zao shang hao!" (good morning) like it was no big deal we were hanging out in a tent at the top of the mountain. Everyone greeted us with smiles and was really amused.

We hiked back down and witnessed more old people doing their morning exercises - hanging from trees and bouncing rhythmically up and down. It scared me at first because I was jumping from no sleep, I round the corner and there's an old lady hanging from the tree. That gave us a good laugh.

We eventually made it down, three-way high-faved, and parted ways.

And I just slept all morning/afternoon when I really should have been grocery shopping/doing homework/planning my lessons/hand-washing my laundry...etc.

But it was worth it to sleep at Camp Ridiculous.

hahaha. We are convening again for lunch at the Noodle Palace tomorrow. I wonder what crazy idea we will come up with next...?

Walk slow. xoxo.

love.

My beautiful friend Olga got married today.

It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.

Two months ago Olga and Abel had a civil ceremony in their home country - the Congo. But being as they both live longterm in Chi.na (for school) they knew that they needed to sanctify the marriage and decided to do it here with their chrch family around them.

It. was. incredible.

The officiant was from New Zealand. The ring bearer was from Ecuador and the flower girl from Nigeria. The bridesmaid was from Ghana. The songs were sung in English and the vows were said in French. The photographer was from Germany and the videographer from Hong Kong. A woman from the Bahamas caught the bouquet. People in the crowd were from every continent but Antarctica.

And when the groom kissed his bride a Congolese chant erupted through the rafters that sent the New Zealand-ite pastor into a bouncing frenzy of happiness.

There was dancing. There was unrestrained joy. There was praise for this new life beginning. It was casual yet reverant, loud yet peaceful. Unlike any wedding I have ever heard of.

It was contagious joy.

Take a look at some kodak moments:

baby Grace waiting for the ceremony to begin:

the HICF (Hangzhou Int. Chrstian Fellowship) people in attendance:

the bride and groom walking down the aisle:

the bridesmaid and groomsman:

listening to the sermon:

me and the beautiful bride:
right after their parents called into the service!

It was moving. We are all far away from our homes, yet surrounded by love.

Here's wishing a lifetime of happiness to Olga and Abel.