My journal from the trip, copy-pasta'd right here for you guys to peruse. Hope you guys like it, hope you get something out of it, hope it's inspiring, etc. Enjoy.
Day 1: December 18, 2009
It was really hard to get to sleep last night... way too excited. I got up bright and early and had a nice waffle (the breakfast of champs!) before we left for Shreveport Regional Airport with Luke and his momma. Saying goodbye to my family was hard and really weird (it still doesn't seem like I'm actually going to China, I guess) but God's been dangling China in front of me since August. I know I'm going there for a reason, and that makes it a whole lot easier to deal with being away for the holidays. Flying was pretty neat. I didn't even cry haha. The plane to Houston was a tad claustrophobic, but the plane to LA was really nice. The view from an airplane is amazing; even Shreveport looks good from above. We met the other Luke in Houston, and we met Lauren in Los Angeles. Our little group is united! We met a lot of other folks too, and about 30 of us walked to In-N-Out Burger for dinner. That night some of my old insecurities (read: Satan) crept up on me, telling me that I'm fat and awkward and stupid and ugly and fake, that I don't belong, etc, etc. But I know better. This trip's not about me. After a brief quiet time, Mary Beth (my roommate) and I talked a little bit and we ended up crashing at 9:30 pm.
Day 2: December 19, 2009
Had breakfast with Luke, Luke, Lauren, Mary Beth, and A1! It was really great to see her again. At our first CiC meeting of the day (crammed into a conference room with a "max capacity: 42" sign, haha) the whole room was buzzing. I think Mike was having trouble talking over us. We divided into groups and went on a scavenger hunt through a Chinese area of Los Angeles. My partners were Luke and Chris. We tried boba tea, sesame candy, and steamed BBQ pork buns... it was all really good, and cheap. A very nice baker at the Hong Kong Supermarket helped us translate what we needed. We visited a Mandarin Baptist Church for a little bit of praise and worship (in Chinese... very cool) and the "talking" part of orientation. Got to see Jessica again, which was nice. We had dinner a couple blocks down the street and shared our testimonies over an amazing 10-course feast. I cried, of course. I'm so good at that whole being humiliated thing haha. After dinner we went back to the church and had a "mini-commissioning" where we shared Bible verses and prayed for one another.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
--Hebrews 12:1-2
On the bus to LAX I might have had a mini panic attack if not for Luke and his reciting Bible verses all ghetto fabulous and stuff. We prayed for each other before we got off the bus. At LAX, Lauren and I had our last diet Cokes on American soil, and then we all got in line to board a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong...
Day 3: December 21, 2009
I watched Enchanted on the flight and then fell asleep (thank you Benadryl). When I woke up we were only 5 hours out of Hong Kong! I managed to preoccupy myself with Scrubs, the Big Bang Theory, and Pokemon for those last few hours. It was a pretty good flight, and we landed at Hong Kong International Airport at about 5:30 a.m. two days after we left (but only 15 hours later!). After getting our luggage (and noting the gorgeous Christmas decorations) we met A2, who stuffed us into a taxi and then disappeared, leaving us alone with a taxi driver who spoke no English! But we managed. He dropped us off at a bus terminal (with a Christmas tree) where we met up with A2, Haddie, and Annie once more. We missed our bus by 20 minutes, and there were no more buses to our location until Christmas Eve. So... we decided to camp out and be hobos until then. A2 took a group to the bakery, while Haddie and I stayed back and watched the luggage. They brought back some goodies and Lauren got me a Coke Light! Ballin! A very nice couple who works for the company put us on buses to cross the Chinese border with Hong Kong. Great scenery. We shuffled through a couple buses and then Lauren and I boarded a taxi for the craziest ride of our lives... to another bus terminal! We had lunch with the couple at a very nice restaurant (where the police were all up on us). I had an eggplant and rice dish... hao qa! I had my first squatty potty experience. It wasn't too bad, just... different. We then boarded a six hour bus to another city. I tried to sleep, but I mostly just prayed and listened to music and stared out the window. The bus ride ended in a pretty big city, where we were at once pretty much shoved off of the bus and smuggled into a van (once more, by ourselves with a man who spoke no English)... and this driving was way crazier than the taxi. I was praying straight up. The driver (Brother John) dropped us off at a totally swanky hotel where we had serious issues with the elevator haha. After we took our bags up we met D and our translators, A3 and L. They took us to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for a delicious dinner. Our quote of the day: "We met a lot of nice people, but they all left us." I got to call home from D's office, which was nice. He told us some amazing stories about how much the Chinese believers have sacrificed for their faith. A3 has been questioned multiple times, and Brother John (a house preacher) has been arrested. T (another translator, though we didn't meet her until later) got demerits at school and almost had to drop out because she was telling people about Jesus. This didn't stop any of them, though, and they're continuing to do God's work in China. It's amazing and very humbling. Back at the hotel, we all went to bed to rest up for an early morning.
Day 4: December 22, 2009
Took a hot shower at the hotel this morning... muy excelente, cause I was mucho nasty from the flight and a full day of travel. D, L, and A3 took us out for an amazing breakfast of dumplings and noodles with peanut sauce... my favorite so far! Then we piled up in the van with Brother John to head to our city, finally! We stopped about half-way there in a "village" of about 600,000 to drop of some supplies for the workers in that area and we met a few of them. They seem pretty cool. Our city is a "small" city of 5 million folks... yeah, I don't know what to think about that haha. It seems nice, though. Some parts of it look like a coastal city or something. However, there aren't really too many tourists here apparently (with as many stares as we're getting...). We finally got to our school at about noon; it's in a really really poor area of the city. About 7 little boys carried our luggage to our rooms for us... on the 8th floor... no elevators! I'm getting my workout for sure. Then we went to Lotus--the Chinese Wal-mart--and loaded up on candy, caffeine, and snacks (and toilet tissue haha). Under the pretense of "girl stuff", Lauren and I snuck off and bought Luke a cheapo little birthday cake. Haddie and I met some sweet girls at Lotus who took pictures with us and spoke a little English. They told me I was beautiful, but I'm pretty sure it's just because I'm white haha. We had lunch at Northern Restaurant (which served Beijing-style food) with the principal and his wife. They are both believers. After lunch we went to the new school (where Haddie and Annie are staying) and played with the kids for a few hours. They practiced their English with us:
What do you like? CHICKEN AND FRENCH FRIES!!!!!
We played games and signed approximately abazillion autographs. A cute little boy and his sister gave me some stickers that I'm going to treasure forever. The Chinese are so giving. L has gone out of his way multiple times to make us comfortable, and the kids just want to give give give. The teachers at the new school made us a home-cooked meal, and I tried chicken feet... it's like really really fatty chicken. Not my favorite haha. We went to the principal's office and sang some praise songs (in Chinese and English) before we left, and the principal had us sing "All in All" on our way back to the school. He said it was his favorite praise song because it told his story. He truly does have a heart for Christ, and he's in a great position to share the Gospel.
P.S. Luke 1 locked himself in the bathroom. It's unfortunate, but none of us could deny the humor in the situation.
Day 5: December 23, 2009
So I woke up at 3 am and played Pokemon Platinum until 5 am when I could finally get back to sleep. I woke up two hours later and had some Chinese Frosted Flakes, evaporated milk in a juice box, and an orange for breakfast. Pretty good stuff! Luke 2 and I taught together today. It was sufficiently awkward... but that's just what happens when he and I are in the same room haha. We had an amazing home-cooked lunch at the school, and then we taught first grade. They were so precious, and such a blast! We taught all of our classes "Jingle Bells" for the Christmas party tomorrow. After classes, L took us to Lotus (again) to buy Christmas decorations. We got him a thank-you card that said "You are a Gift from God", but it turns out it was a birthday card haha.... "Happy birthday Jesus and thank you L!" We also got him a little gift together from the stuff we brought from home. Just a little somethin-somethin. L is a great guy, and he deserves so much more than our puny little gift. Godliness just radiates off of the guy in waves. I would love to see him preach, and he's totally the reason we haven't crashed and burned. He wrote our names in Chinese for us. Mine is super-complicated, and it's pronounced "Soo-wanna" haha. After another delicious meal, we came back to the room to put together Christmas decorations. Stella (the principle's wife) brought us some Chinese potato chips... they had some very interesting flavors. Korean barbeque, barbeque chicken pizza, etc. We spent the rest of the night in the room blowing up balloons and making streamers and stuff. It was just an awesome time to spend time with fellow believers, new friends... I think we all really bonded. We make a pretty good team, I must say. I feel comfortable around everyone. Luke 2 and I had an epic 5 second swordfight on the roof and then I got ready for bed. I feel like I'm doing Christmas right. It's not about me. It's not about presents or food or fancy decorations. It's about love so deep and pure and powerful and sacrificial that nothing can compare. Pray without ceasing!
Day 6: December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve! Today was Luke's 21st birthday. We sprung the cake that his mom sent with me on him; Little Debbie chocolate, smuggled across the Pacific Ocean, what what. We didn't teach today--we spent the morning putting up our ghettofied Christmas decorations and planning our performances for the party. We had an epic balloon fight with the kids who live at the school, and this was the first day we've been without L--he's off doing work in other cities. We had lunch just the four of us, and I think the cook knew that it was just gonna be the Americans... because we had McDonald's chicken nuggets with our ramen and greens. Yum! The party was a blast. We played a name memorization game that had all of us stupid foreigners flailing and stuttering and you know, embarassing ourselves because we couldn't remember Chinese names. Then Annie and Haddie arrived (yay!). Our first performance was Silent Night, followed by Lauren telling the Real Christmas Story (which she wrote as well--she's like super good with kids), followed by Go Tell it on the Mountain. Our second performance was Joy to the World and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. We also played Chinese Telephone and Simon Says. The kids performed for us too... lots of singing and dancing and a little bit of kung fu thrown in for good measure. After the party the 6 of us got to hang out for a little bit. It was really nice to see Annie and Haddie again. Stella and Ivan visited us for a little bit, and we finally got Ivan to play with us. He and I played balloon fight and rock-paper-scissors! He's a total sweetie. After they left, the six of us talked about why we're here and our situations back home and stuff. I realized that I'm really blessed to have an accountability partner like Luke because a lot of people don't. We played with the kids on the roof before dinner, and I gave a little girl named Amy my feather headband. She's trying to teach me Chinese (and it's not working very well so far). After dinner we had our first Chinese open church experience! It was... different. Open churches aren't allowed to preach on Christ's second coming, total depravity/sin nature, or evangelism and ministry. So it's very watered-down, government-run ideas... it was so laid back, too. There were people walking in and out, talking, playing games, the kids were screaming... the principal was talking on his phone! There was also a Christmas (?) production with random people dressed like shepherds doing stuff that definitely didn't happen in the Bible I read haha. And lots of sequins and random dancing. I really had no idea what was going on. I love China.
Day 7: December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas! Woke up at 6:45 am this morning wide awake. It was pretty lametastic, but I had lots of time to twiddle my thumbs haha. Had a crazy intense quiet time today... read through the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke and through the Beatitudes; they really hit me hard today. It was a great time of prayer. After everyone was up and ready the four of us went walking around the city; we only wandered a couple blocks from the school, though, so we wouldn't get lost. Chinese cities are full of interesting sights and smells: we witnessed a hobo yelling at an umbrella today... and we survived crossing the street! Thank you Jesus! After our adventure we had a nice lunch (with our favorite food so far: bread... deep fried. We're all southerners haha). And the girls and Peter gave us massages while we ate. They're so sweet. After lunch we were off to the new school for Haddie and Annie's Christmas party! Stella's Christmas present to us was a Chinese bat--it's a gift that Chinese people give to their friends who live far away, a token of friendship. I'm going to cherish mine forever! We added our janky Christmas decorations to Haddie and Annie's GORGEOUS ones, and then we had Jesus' birthday party in Haddie and Annie's room. The cake was pretty ghetto and the candle almost set the building on fire, but I'm pretty sure Jesus knows it's the thought that counts. The Christmas party at the new school was so much fun! Lots of kids performed and we played Musical Chairs and the name game again haha. Also... an impromptu skit by US! I was the vomiting one! The kids loved it. We had dinner at the new school with Haddie and Annie and then came back to the old school. We all sat around and read the Christmas scriptures from Matthew and Luke, and then Stella and Ivan joined us. We all prayed together, and Stella prayed in Chinese--really cool! It was a really great time of fellowship. The first time all day that it actually felt like Christmas. But I feel like maybe this is how it should be. Either way, it was amazing thanks to the Birthday Boy.
--SaVanna
