Busy Busy Busy

Hello there! Our VPN has been down for the last couple of days, so we haven't been able to blog, get on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube and have wanted to do all of the above! We've been really busy with my parents! They are only staying for a week, so we are cramming everything we like to do into one week! That makes our days pretty busy! We have been tourist shopping,taken them to our classes, seen acrobats, and we have taken them to all of our favorite restaurants excepts for a couple of them. We are going to take them to the airport on Wednesday to see them off! We have a day full of classes on Thursday and we are going out of town on Friday! Whew! This coming weekend is the Labor Day weekend for China. So we don't have to work on Monday! We are going to Central China, to Wu Han in the Hu Bei province. We will be meeting up with some other believers there to encourage them and be encouraged!! So, I'll be out-of(blogging)-pocket for a couple days. We had a wonderful night tonight with Bob and Linda King. They are some Chinese friends of ours! Please be thinking of them! Anyway, there's a short update for ya about this week with my parents. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to think of me in China! I love you all!!

Share your Milkshake

We LOVE Chick-fil-A milkshakes! Especially the cookies and cream ones! Yum Yum Yum! Before we left for China, we took every opportunity to eat whatever we wanted (probably almost to the point of being glutenous) and this was one of those things in which we indulged ourselves. My mouth is watering, just thinking about it! I digress...

Anyway, one of these times when we were in the drive through at Chick-fil-A, waiting for our milkshakes, Stan and I began to have an argument, as husbands and wives do. (Who knows what it was about now, that's the way it goes a lot of the time. Something silly in hindsight.) Anyway, so we got our milkshake, and this particular milkshake we had decided to share. (We were getting a little pudgy and decided splitting one was healthier than having our own...right? Riiiiight.) So amidst our argument we are sharing this milkshake: angry with each other, and frankly, not wanting to speak, but still sharing the milkshake.

In the middle of that scene, I got an idea in my head and I couldn't stop laughing. Stan probably thought I was crazy, because I went from feeling angry to instantly laughing. So I explained to him that I had a new philosophy on love. I said, "Love is sharing your milkshake when you're in an argument." Despite being angry with each other, we were still sharing. And that's been our philosophy. I apply it to every kind of love there is. If I have a friend who is annoying, and obnoxious, and rude, I "share my milkshake". I do not keep the milkshake to myself by keeping my love to myself. I share my love. I give that person what they need. When you're not feeling like sharing your milkshake, that's the time you need to do it the most. It's a good chance for you to love our Father, if you are loving others. I see so much hate, and so many people who are treated badly. I myself do it, and I need a reminder!

So "share your milkshake" please. Don't keep it all to yourself just because you are angry, or have hurt feelings and want to gossip, or are feeling mistreated yourself! We are commanded to love. So let's do it! I am so often reminded of the wonderful words, (And please read it, even though you know what it says. Read the words.)

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Well, thanks for reading! Don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all! Share your milkshake!

P.S. My parents are coming to China!!! They will be here in less than two days! We will be busy, so I'll blog about it, but I don't know when! Yay!!

Romeo and Juliet

I was planning to do this blog before now, but I hadn't gotten to it yet. So I had decided to do it today. Then I got a message on my last blog from Ashely (a college friend, now blogging buddy) and she asked if she could call me Juliet! Well, I know I mentioned Juliet in the last blog, but I thought it was funny that she asked that, and I had decided to do this blog today. I hope that wasn't confusing...haha, anyway...


Stan and I have some friends who are students on our campus. They are "skaters". They are incredibly talented! This is an example of what they can do! It's not them, but they do things like this everyday on our campus! (The video doesn't have sound, but it's still cool!) We haven't gotten good footage of them during the day because we always see them at night time, and the video ends up not turning out good! So, we hang out with them after our night classes we teach and they are great fun! One night about a month ago, Stan and I were talking to them and they said we should have Chinese names. So we said, "Ok, you name us." They said my name is Juliane and so close to "Juliet". They asked us if we knew the story of Romeo and Juliet, and I said yes! They told us there is a Chinese love story just like that story and it is so "romatica". They told us our names should be these two names. So, now we have Chinese names! My name is (phonetically): Tsu Ing Tie. And Stan's name is (phonetically): Leeong Shong Boa. So there you have it! Two blogs about Juliet in a row! haha! So if you come to see us, you have to call us by those names when you are around these kids! Ok, ok, you don't have to. :) Thanks for reading and don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all!!

This is normal...Oh China

No really, what I am about to tell you is normal in China. I was teaching class today and we were doing a listening activity. I was playing different songs in English and they had to write down a certain number of words they heard. I kept playing music as I dismissed class and everyone was leaving. I was gathering my things and a Chinese man walked in. I said, "Hello" and stopped the music. He said, "Hello, glad to meet you." I reciprocated and asked if he was a teacher here. He said he was. Then the expected awkward silence set in as I was gathering my things. I just let it hang there until he said, "Can you come to my class?" I was confused. I said, "Uhhm, what would you like me to do?" He said, "I would like you to teach the students something. Maybe say something to them." He was guiding me to his classroom and I still don't know what he wants me to do. He finally said, "I have something for you to read to them and then maybe say something after." Ok... What's going through my head? "Oh China..." So I agreed, of course.

I follow him to the classroom and he asked my name and I told him. He said, "Oh like the love story, Romeo and Juliet." I said, "Well...yes, but it's JuliANE." He replied, "Oh yes, of course." Of course...because he knows me. haha, the way they say things is so funny. Anyway, so I got to the classroom and the students gasp in awe of a foreign teacher! Oh China... The teacher introduced me and said that I was going to teach them something. So he pointed to a passage in the English book and told me how much to read. So I did. Then I tried my best to act like these were my students and not feel awkward, haha. I was finished explaining the passage and I looked at the teacher and said, "Would you like me to do anything else?" He replied, "Thank you, xie xie, xie xie, thank you, thank you." Xie Xie is Thank you in Chinese. So I gathered my belongings and said good bye to the class and they responded with a resounding "Bye Bye." I heard the teacher continue to explain the passage, and that's all he wanted me to do.

That's the first time that's ever happened to me, but I've heard of it happening to other teachers. Interactions like that are pretty likely in China, but it's always different when it happens to you. I was nervous at first because I thought I was going to have to give a lecture, then I realized it's a Chinese teacher, wanting me to give a Chinese type lecture. Not so difficult, especially because we (first language English speakers) are experts on the language here! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to think about me in China!! I love you all!!

Encouragement!

One of Kyle's friend's from the school he use to teach came to Hangzhou this weekend. It was so fun to be with him! We have met him before and we were excited to spend time with him again! I was going to talk about how encouraging he was at our Family Meeting this morning, but Kris did a wonderful blog that says everything and more! Check it out! Here are some fun pictures of our Saturday with Jackie! We went mountain climbing and it was beautiful!

This man was making popcorn, so we stopped and talked to him on our way up the mountain!

Taking a rest after walking up the mountain.

Jumping between two rocks! Jackie did it too, but I just missed him and didn't get a picture!

Then Jackie climbed up in a cave we found! It was so cold in there!

Then, I was thinking about adding here at the end a little bit about our decision process in staying and new things which have surfaced, but my husband did a wonderful blog which said what I would have said and more! Check it out! Last week was kind of a rough week, and I don't really know why. It just happens and you move on. Well, this weekend helped us all to get through it! Thanks for reading and don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all!!

Hello's and Thank you's

Ok, so I'm feeling a little guilty about not doing a blog about our wonderful trip through Southeast Asia. Well, maybe this small one will make up for it. We did so much and hopefully you can look at all the pictures on Facebook! Anyway, on our trip, the words we learned to say in the countries we traveled were "Hello" and "Thank you". These are the essentials, you know. Here's the list of all the words we learned and the countries in which we learned them! (I am spelling these out phonetically for you.)

Hello's
Cambodia (Khamer- pronounced "Kuh My"): Sue Seh Dye
Thailand: So Wa Tee Kah
Vietnam: She Chow
China: Knee How

Thank you's
Cambodia (Khamer- pronounced "Kuh My"): Ah Kuhn
Thailand (female): Kahp Koon Kah
Thailand (male): Kahp Koon Krub
Vietnam: Gahmb Uhn
China: Shea Shea

If you count my own language and add Spanish to that, ("Hola" and "Gracias") and French ("Bonjour" and "Au revior") that makes 7 languages! I know how to speak in 7 different languages!! (It doesn't matter if it's just hello and thank you, right?) Right. Well, thanks for reading and don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all!

Teaching Re-cap

This week was a blast! Sometimes these students say things that are so thought provoking, and sometimes they say things that are absolutely hilarious! The Proverb I used this week was as follows: "Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself." Before I wrote this on the board, I asked my students to tell me what their goals are. Here are a couple of examples of what my students goals are.

"I would like to be healthy and happy everyday, and if possible I would like to be a CEO of a company. And also if possible, I would like to found a business to help the poor." ~ Sam

"I want to invent a machine to keep my hair clean everyday, because I hate washing my hair." ~ Hilary

"I want to be a breaking dancer." (break dancer) ~ Shy

"I want to buy an island in the Pacific and be the queen of it."

"I want to be happy and live as an Eskimo."

"I want to be superwoman and heal the world." ~ Livia

Ha! They crack me up! We talked about the importance of money in life, but that it is not the most important thing. We finished up class by playing a game. And that's class in a nutshell! Thank you for reading and don't forget to think about me in China! I love you all!!

MORE!

MORE Magazine! We love it! MORE is a magazine that we, as ex-pat's can get to help us around the city a little better. It has been so helpful! A lot of the things I have blogged about, have been places we've gone because we saw it in MORE Magazine! It really helped us at Christmas time, because it listed events that were happening and places we could go to celebrate Christmas. It lists all the places we can eat Western food if we become tired of eating Chinese food, and those places are a little more expensive, but not much! We really have enjoyed having it here with us! We can speak a little Chinese, but we can't speak enough to have a conversation with anyone in Chinese. So, when we need to go buy train tickets, we take the MORE Magazine with us and say what little Chinese we know and point to the time we want to leave! That simple! It makes our lives a little easier! I just wanted to give a little credit to MORE Magazine in my blog since it has been so helpful to us! If you come see us, you will see that we use it a lot! I haven't blogged in a couple days because Sarah Dodson and her friend Ashley were visiting us, and we used it when they were here! They kept us busy and on our feet! It was great fun! Thanks for coming guys!

Don't forget to think about me in China and thanks for reading!! I love you all!!!