The Recycling Program and Education

There are different recycling systems here, depending on the size of the city, it seems. In ZJ, the most effective way to get your bottle recycled was to give it to a kid scouring the streets for bottles. They'd carry plastic bags in their hands or big baskets on their backs to collect bottles for recycling. In return, they get some cash from the recycling depot. Kids would operate either individually or in packs. Sometimes they'd argue over who gets to have a bottle. Lesson learned, never give your bottle to a kid in the presence of other bottle searchers.

In Xichang, kids were competing with adults for the bottles. Both kids and adults would roam the city in search of that special used plastic that could bring income. Kids would operate in packs, but adults would operate individually.

Here in Chengdu, it seems to be only adults. And not only do they collect bottles, they also collect paper. I presume that Chengdu has a paper recycling facility that ZJ and Xichang do not. It is quite funny to see them hanging around the computer stores. When you walk by the computer or mobile phone stores, there are often people handing out flyers to anyone they see. Walk a few more steps, and there is someone collecting those same flyers from people for recycling.

We have bottle collectors in Vancouver too, but they operate with shopping carts, not baskets on their backs. It's kind of weird to compare how it all works. And with all these bottle collectors, I wonder if something's actually left in the recycling half of the trash bins on the sidewalk when the official garbage people come around to collect the trash.

What's crazier is the kids. I don't ever recall a kid being a bottle collector before. But here they are, collecting bottles for either their families or for themselves. It'd be much better for these kids to be in school, but until last year, it'd be too expensive. Finally, last year, education was made mandatory (and therefore free) for nine years. It's still not the full 13 years we'd get in Vancouver (Kindergarten, plus grades 1 to 12), but it's a start.

The Chinese really value education. When we were in Xichang, there was a kid who had been accepted into China's #1 or #2 university. They had banners celebrating this kid's entrance into university. Like the CITY had banners. That's crazy.

However, it's a little different in ZJ. Many parents can't see the point of their kids going to school, it seems, for several reasons. Firstly, when you graduate, what are you going to do with all the stuff you learned? There are hardly any jobs that you can get and apply yourself. What's the point of preparing for a bleak future? Secondly, you can help out your family right now, on the farm or in the shop, or whatever it is your parents do. And that help is really needed. And thirdly, is all the stuff you learn really necessary? It seems many of the parents believe that all the education is good for their kids. But many more do not, simply because of the environment in which they live. We're talking about ZJ here, not Xichang or Chengdu. Please keep them in your thoughts. This mandatory 9-year education thing is a major step forward.

We're not in Zhaojue anymore, Toto...

Yesterday morning, we left Zhaojue by bus to come to Xichang. Then we took the overnight train to arrive in Chengdu at 5:30 am today.

Our last week in Zhaojue was spent doing a variety of things. One of those things was helping out at the Sunshine Farm, a place run by MSI to grow many different things. These vegetables and animals are then sold throughout Zhaojue, or something like that. I don't have all the details. Many agricultural students learn how to farm here, I think. Or rather, there (we're in Chengdu now).

The team did everything from building and painting fences to picking vegetables. One really interesting part was cutting the grass and then bringing it to feed the pigs. Watching the pigs eat was interesting to me, mainly because of their eyes. While they were eating, they would sometimes look at you. A pig is a large animal, and they have large eyes. Plus, their eyes seem to have an intelligence that they know that you're looking at them, so they are in turn observing you to see what you are doing. It was a little unnerving. The farm will start breeding the pigs soon.

Something I ate during our last night in Zhaojue doesn't sit very well with me. But I think I'm nearing the end stages of my sickness. One of my team members gave me a lot of advice as to what to do. I'm going to now go out and find some Gatorade to drink with some of these Loparamide Hydrochloride Tablets (that's what it says on the back).

We'll back in Canada soon, Toto. Kind of strange to think about it. We're probably most worried about decompression now. Back in Canada, we'll be out of the greenhouse, and we have no idea how we'll react, being off the field and back into normal life. Please think about that for us.

Conversations with a 5-year old

Guess who was waiting outside my door this morning? A former student, and two others. The youngest was five years old.

Kid: Bobby-wawa!
Me: Wo bu shi wawa!
Kid (clinging to my leg): Wo de Bobby wawa!
Me: Wo bu shi ni de wawa! Ni shi wo de wawa!
Kid: Wo de Bobby wawa!
Me: Wo yao zou la!
Kid: Bu yao! Wo bu yao Bobby wawa zou la!
Me: Wo bu shi ni de wawa!!

Kids are too cute to be strict. :(

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...

Hannah ate a fly today. It was gross. I don't know she swallowed the fly. OK, I do, but I would never do it. :p

We went to a hair salon to get a shampoo and head massage. 5 yuan, right? Sounds good. :)

/after massage
Hair stylist: Blahblahblahblah
Me: Keyi (OK)
Hair stylist: Blahblahblahblah
Me: Keyi (OK) (yes, I didn't know what she was saying)
Hair stylist: Blahblahblahblah
Me thinking: Um, maybe I better get a translation first.
Me: David! Ni fang yi xia keyi ma? (David, can you translate for me for a second?)
Other hair stylists: /laughing
Me: Duibuqi! Wo shi hanguoren. /big smile :) (Sorry, I'm Korean)
Hair stylist: Blahblahblahblah
David: Ah, she wants to know if you want gel. Gel, ok?
Me: Hao, keyi. (OK, good).
Hair stylist: /starts cutting my hair
Me thinking: Uh, what is she doing?
Ruth: Bobby... ni xiang jien toufa ma? (Bobby... you intended to get your hair cut?)
Me: /nodding
Ruth: /puzzled

During post-analysis, David and I determined that when the hair stylist heard David say gel, she thought he said jien. She then repeated jien to me, and I gave the OK signal to go ahead. @@

It's not a horrible cut, you know.

Our last day of classes are tomorrow. Then we have closing ceremonies on Saturday. So tired... but ok. :) Many of our team members are healthy again, so looking good. Big daddy gave us lots of help for many things.

Our kids have to make up a presentation for the closing ceremonies, just like the other classes. So far we have... Hot Cross Buns? We'll see what happens. :)

I got really angry today. These kids that we've been trying to teach about good values made one of their classmates feel so horrible that she didn't want to come to class anymore. That student's younger sister is in my class. Normally, she's very happy (today, we gave her an award for having "The Biggest Smile"). Today, she was crying, and wouldn't explain what was going on. Found out that these kids that we've been working so hard on were the cause of it all. I was very upset. It was hard to control my anger for a while. But big daddy didn't come here to help those who needed no help, right? He came here to help those who had problems. These five kids have major behaviour problems. And others too. Four of these are the ones we caught smoking. I get to see these guys when it's their class's turn to come to Game Period (Bryan, Tim, and I manage Game Period).

We had several rounds of talks with them. In my round with them, I told them many things. I told them how angry I was. I showed it. I went through everything. Why did they want to attend these classes. Why is respect important. How is responsibility distributed among culprits. What is chivalry supposed to be. How could they have such a lack of self-respect. Why did they insist on acting like trash. What kind of trash did they have in their lives that influenced them to become this way.

I think I did some things that I shouldn't have done. Like explicitly state what I felt like doing to them. Maybe calling them trash. I'm not sure. I was very angry, but I'm sure that is no excuse. Big daddy's anger is carefully chosen and revealed only when it is necessary. Was it necessary for me? I don't know. The only thing I had going for me was that they sometimes respected what I said and therefore valued whether or not I respected them. But I had lost all respect for them today. After so many sessions of talking with them, they finally got around to hurting one of my own students.

They decided that they would make a public apology in front of the whole school. They said they wanted to do this because they felt regret and wanted to be people of value, not trash. It's very nice to hear, but who knows if they can keep it up? I know with many of my own personal problems, it's not easy. That's why grace is so important. The short-term outcome of this whole thing was perhaps good, but this incident has only made it clear to me as to how unconfident I am in my abilities to say and do the right things in resolving conflicts and applying discipline. It scares me. Big daddy is smart. I hope he teaches me. Please keep these troublesome kids in mind. I don't know how many chances they will get to have some sort of good foundation in place for good values. If this little thing can spark a yearning in them to search for how to become good people, and realize that it is not possible, and that is why big daddy does what he does, then I will be thankful. We can only plant seeds here and think hard about them.

Remember that second name of mine? It's Bobbydoe. I couldn't figure out for the longest time what the kids were saying until finally I realized that they were saying Bobby Wawa in English.

Still a wawa.....

Bobby Wawa

Kids are so free here

It amazes me how free the kids are here. They go everywhere, alone, or with friends their age, with no adult supervision. All over the town. Many of them are already starting to work, like carrying baskets on their backs to sell plums or other fruits or vegetables. Others carry their younger siblings in baskets or cloth slings on their backs until the babies can walk. Even the babies walk the streets alone, though usually their parents will be watching from a short distance.

Life is just so safe here, that people don't need to worry about their kids. It's amazing. I wonder how long it can stay that way. I'm sure it's easier in a small town.

Our class teaching team ate lunch at the restaurant run by the family of one of our students. We had these fantastic noodles. Yum. :) Our student was helping her parents prepare some vegetables for the restaurant while we ate.

You see it everywhere here. Kids grow up young and fast. They learn about life young and fast. And they start to work hard young and fast.

One of our kids cried because she got nothing write on our test. David gave her a pep talk on perseverance. Two other kids got the top two marks in the class (one of them got 100%). These were the same two that we had given the same perseverance talk last week because they were also crying for academic reasons. There's such a wide range in our kids.

home stretch... already?!

Due to my inability to use a Mac, you will have to scroll down to read the few words that I wrote before uploading these pictures... but meanwhile, please enjoy the visuals! ^^

May I introduce you to Mark (top) and Steven (bottom). As you can see, they are a bit rough-and-tumble, but we are always entertained by their antics. Both their parents work (and live?) at the Youth Center, so these boys hang around us a lot after classes and in the evenings. We were even led on a hike up the mountains by them! This is a prime instance of seed-planting opportunity ;)

Crafts class! The best afternoon activity ever!! (In addition to games, sports, and drama/reading of course)

Some of the finished products. Amazing what joy can be brought by a few pompoms, glitter, and other cheap decorations! I wish I'd brought more...

English classes happen every morning. Here is the wonderful Class 3 (around Gr.6) :D

Here's our big group picture before Daniel and Cenia (TAs) left. The program for teachers teaching teachers (Chinese teachers learning to teach English) ended on Saturday, so we've had to say farewells already. Please remember Daniel, a new C with a lot of big decisions on his plate, and Cenia, not yet a C.

Most mornings we perform a skit during the opening session. Here is the popular "Farmer Dave" playing the Good Samaritan.

Sidewalk Chalk! Here are the 30cent Walmart purchases in action. They just loooove it~

A close-up of said wonderful sidewalk chalk

Bobby and Bryan doing some outdoor games. Beautiful sunny days ^^

I'm glad one of us got a shot of this group... please bring these 5 students especially before the Throne. Larry, Jay, John, Lamont, and Chris -- they are all in my Gr.6 class, and 4 (not so sure about the fifth) were caught smoking in the washroom last week. They are troublemakers in a sense, very rowdy, but also really sweet boys ... just breaks my heart that they would abuse their bodies in this way. I'm so glad they were able to hear what Bobby mentioned in the previous post.

Thank you to the guys for keeping the updates rolling! It's been an exhausting few weeks, yet we simply cannot believe that there are only a few days left. Last Saturday has already hostd a few farewells -- please remember Daniel (one I don't think any of us are ready for all the goodbyes we will have to say this coming weekend. Saturday morning will be the last day we have with our students... a few team members and all the TAs will be leaving on Sunday... we just keep asking Him to move mightily during our remaining time together.

Like Bobby said, there have been so many seeds planted... from simply talking to Father in the presence of our students to making crafts with crosses on them... we've been noticing that they've been noticing.

Please keep us in mind as we wrap up the teaching portion of our journey -- may we finish the race running strong!

Corellation is not necessarily causation

I have learned that washing clothes by hand is extremely hard work. Crazy. I spent what felt like an hour washing four pairs of socks. My clothes were soaked from the shower head. Finally, the socks were sufficiently clean (not all the other clothes that still need washing), so I took them outside to dry. There's a long wire where everyone hangs their clothes.

As I stepped out, Harry Potter was sitting there. And it started to rain. I couldn't believe it, it had been a sunny day up to the point when I brought out my socks to dry. I brought them back inside to hang them somewhere in the hallway. And just when I finished hanging them, it stopped raining. So I brought them back out. Harry Potter said to be careful because obviously my socks had power over the rain. And of course, it started rain again, just as I stepped out. But it was only sprinkling, so I risked the chance that it would stop.

We had a carnival for the kids outside today. In the pouring rain. Emphasize pouring. Why did I have to leave my socks outside??

Caught some kids smoking. They denied it at first, but the smell was clearly there. After emphasizing the importance of telling the truth, and the amount of respect one gains from being able to tell the truth, they were willing to admit that they were smoking. We had a discussion on the negative effects of smoking. But I did not command them to stop smoking. I said that it was my preference that they not smoke, and focus on fulfilling their potential. I asked that they make the decision for themselves, as young men. These kids are 11, 12? I wanted to give these kids the ability to develop respect for themselves, that their opinions mattered, and that they could make decisions for themselves that depended on their own thoughts, rather than external factors like peer pressure. I wanted them to feel like they were making a positive decision, instead of being punished. Was I taking the right tact in dealing with this matter?

I hope that every single lesson I give to these kids is taken seriously. They seem to be listening on some fronts, but not on others. They don't fight as much anymore. Some of them have really responded to the talks on leadership. Some of them have responded to the talks on helping those who can't do things on their own. A lot of them still disrespect each other, while others have become very good friends. Is this really working? I don't know. But I hope that these kids are really learning. We are so limited as ST, and also, the local rules complicate things, so that we can only use allegories, stories, lessons, and so on, without being able to discuss what we really want. Frustrating, but also so positive when we see some of these kids actually growing. :)

They stopped calling me Bobby Wawa. I'm not sure what it is they call me right now. I'm trying to figure it out.

Eric's a superstar. He made pizza for all the kids, and for most of them, it was the first time they've ever tasted pizza. Today, kids were bringing him gifts. Not just any gifts. Porcelain figurines, hourglasses, etc. We had some pizza too, it was great. But it was insane about how much it filled up my stomach. My stomach seems to have shrunk, and pizza doesn't seem to fit in there as well as it used to.

I hit my head. There's a small gash there. I was in the home ec room, watching some of the YC's home ec students make pizza, according to Eric's recipe. On the way out, the door frame is really low, and I crashed into it and fell down. Which gave me a nice burn on my right forearm. I'd forgotten what peroxide feels like.... It seems like we're becoming the walking wounded. Bryan sprained his ankle. Carrie's immune system has acted up. Sarah has a bit of a fever. Please think about us. :)

We're entering our last week with the kids. Oh please keep them in mind. Also, we planted some seeds the other day. With the rain here, these plants should also be able to grow really well. But who am I to say? Big daddy says that they could grow well. I hope they do, the beans would be great.


Bobby (something? not Wawa anyway)

GOOD news of GREAT joy! :D

Somedays the Father just blows your socks off... or in my case today, dries your socks off. That's right, after rain every day for the past week, with our clothes getting ever dirtier and no place to dry them well, He has gifted us with an afternoon of bright warm sunshine! The sun brought a smile to many faces...

...but the REAL great news is that the Son brought even BIGGER smiles to us this evening. Every night, we have a time for team sharing. Usually, one person shares his/her personal testimony and we pray for that brother/sister together. Father has used these "family" times to the true glory of His name...what we've heard and learned has been nothing short of amazing. During tonight's gathering, not only did we get to hear yet another story of His grace & love, but we also celebrated a Very Special Occasion -- one of the TAs from Chengdu (they have been invaluable in helping us get through these weeks) has decided to give his life over to Him!!! WOW. We are so humbled and honoured that we were invited to be part of this significant step.

For more details, please email one of the team members... We can inform you that his name is Edwin. Please remember him. If you wish to address a short message to him too, please leave a comment and I'll make sure he receives it. ^^

Longer update with more pictures later! Here we are about an hour ago, our whole team (minus our illustrious leader who took the picture) plus the TAs ... very sleepy but very, very happy. :)

May I thank you once more for your faithfulness in talking to our Abba about our various requests...here He is, answering us.

I have a new name

Bobby Wawa. All the girl kids call me it. So here's the story.

Remember the blog thing I wrote on my personal blog about how Korean people always get so confused about my name and call me Barbie? Apparently, Bobby sounds like Barbie in Chinese (Mandarin or Sichuanhua, I'm not sure). And wawa means doll. So they call me Bobby Wawa.

My shoes are wonderful. I bought them on Boxing Day. I needed shoes with good ankle support, so I got some basketball shoes. The guy at Sportcheck told me about these great vents on the bottom that let my feet breathe. All the guys there bought this shoe for playing basketball. Sounds great! I got them cheap because it was Boxing Day!

In Vancouver, this vent "feature" sometimes felt like a bug. Whenever you step in a puddle, you can guess what happens. Here in ZJ, where it has been raining for almost a week, I have experienced the "benefits" of this "feature" every day. Especially today, after playing soccer with the soccer camp's kids. It was raining, and I slipped too easily (four times?). I need new socks. Or I need to wash my old ones fast. I'm wearing Tim's socks right now.

Back to class tomorrow. It's getting interesting. We had an interesting discussion on fighting. When is fighting ok, when is it not ok? What's the difference between a bully and a protector? Why should fighting not be taken lightly, and why should one tread with caution? I hope that we have calmed them down a bit. This class in particular was very rowdy. Aussie-Rule Duck Duck Goose. I've never seen anything like it.

We are going to be going more into personal development lessons later this week. Please keep it in mind.

Bobby Wawa

Its Saturday!!! Tomr is Sun. !!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last day for teaching...ya teaching on sat., morning only, but had to do mini-Olympics (soo tried now). Thx the father for not raining on us (just mist), and it was perfect timing. It is done!!! (mini-o) and now its the time for rest, one day, then another 6 day of teaching. Lot of planing still needed! Everyone here is so fun to be with and so fun to talk and learn from. So much lessons learned and so much friends made. Sunday tomr!!!! one more hour of sleep (waking up at 8!!! thx JC) I need all the rest I can get and be ready for the next week. The kids are soo fun to be with, wait SOME of the kids are soo fun to be with. Next week is going to be fun but going to be a lot of hard work. ttyl (don't mind me, my thoughts are everywhere) :D

Dave

Eat and Sleep

The day is going so fast... Wake up, devo, eat, class, lunch, sleep, class, dinner, devo, sleep, and restart... The food is soo good!!! :D 2-3 bow of rice for lunch and dinner! Its 2:15 !!!!! wish that I can type more but g2g to class. post more later

Dave

The scene, the setting.

Alright, I've had alot of requests to hear about the conditions here. So here it is. The first day we arrived at the youth centre, it was warm and sunny, but every day since then has pretty quite wet. We were forced to bring the physical activity in doors, which actually worked very well. When we finally went out doors for phys. ed. it was actually very disappointing. The kids really don't listen to directions, and the rest just don't want to do anything. I actually did get to live out my dream though. I made Zhaojue history. I put on the very first street hockey camp. The kids just loved it. It was a dream come true. The food here is for the most part not bad. Some is great, but we have the same thing everyday. I'm getting kinda tired of eating rice. But it's humbling and character building to eat for sustenance rather than eating for desire. We just got hot water heaters installed in our showers, so that was an amazing blessing. The kids love coming to see us everyday, and it's so much fun playing around with them, and teaching them, and seeing how eager they are to learn. Being a teacher is really a special thing. All in all it has been a very unique experience, and it has only just begun...
-Eric

Crazy times and good fruit

It was a dark and stormy night. The fire raged outside, while the winds and rain smashed against the roof and lashed against the walls. We hid under our blankets, wondering when it would all end.

The fire comes from the steel refinery, and it's really bright. They work 24/7, it seems. The rain has been coming down for several days now, so I went and got an umbrella. Yay.

Very cool things. We got an apple the other day. Hopefully, the seeds will grow many apple trees. If you get my drift. It's a very cool apple. Big daddy loves it.

We had our first day of classes. Little chaotic, but very enjoyable. You can never stop loving kids. They're so enthusiastic about everything. Of course, you will always have your usual problem children, but we hope for wisdom on how to help them learn to really grow into their potential.

David and I have pretty much thrown out our plans for our English lessons because our kids know far less English than we anticipated. We did a diagnostic test where they had to write as many English words as they could within 10 minutes. Nine of them weren't able to write anything. Nine of them were able to write one to three words. So we'll go straight from scratch for these kids, as if they're learning English for the first time.

Apparently, there's a big ruckus out on the town. Some stuff happened, though I don't have the details. Just hope that nothing will turn for the worse. Vancouver Canucks 94 Stanley Cup Final Game 7 potential. Do you get the reference? It is worrisome. Thankfully, we're not close to town, but please think about the situation. I'm sorry that I can't say many details. But a lot of people are upset.

Bobby

Hey all in Canada!

Teaching classes starts tomr. The classrooms are ready for the students this morning and our TA just came in this afternoon. We are all thxful for their safe arrival, and welcome their help. The days are going by fast and I hope the students are ready for the camp. We are all having a great time here, so I hope that the student will feel the same. A lot of preparation has been done and a lot is still needed. Miss you all in Canada, hope you all keep the team in your p**yer

GB from Zhaojue

Dave

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto....

We're now in Zhaojue. Yay.

Some quick notes about cultural differences. It finally dawned on me today what it is about cultural differences that are so different. There's a redundant statement. Perhaps I should say difficult to understand. It took a statement that our team lead had made about traffic behaviour in Chengdu. Since the city grew a lot from people coming over from the countryside to find jobs, many of the people just drive the way they always drove. That is, a countryside driving mentality. There is no need to have a complicated traffic system in rural areas, so they instead just take their incumbent driving behaviour and scale it up to work in a big city. There's no need to learn a new system. Just apply what you've always known.

It works here, because that's how everyone has always done it. No need for complicated right-of-way rules or traffic lights. The rules for driving in China seem like they can be summed up in two statements:

1. Don't kill or hurt anyone.
2. Don't damage anything.

As long as you can figure that out, anything goes. That's why I can cross the street in the middle of traffic and not be worried about being hit by a car. Of course, that doesn't mean I have the right to act stupid. What it does mean is that Chinese drivers are actually very considerate at their core driving ethos. If I may call it that.

Now you take Chinese drivers from Chengdu and transplant them into Vancouver, you'd have people screaming at them every minute. That's because the system's different in Vancouver, as is the way people learn how to drive. I might be able to sum it up in these statements:

1. The law is a system designed to protect people.
2. If you don't follow the law, you will be driving unpredictably.
3. If you drive unpredictably, you will be endangering other people. This is bad.

Isn't that interesting? If it's true. Two completely different ways of thinking about driving, both aiming for the same results, but completely incompatible with each other. In one system, anything goes, as long as you follow the basic rules. In the other system, people depend on complex rules to create a safe environment. And then when one sees a foreign driver in their environment, they curse that driver as an extremely incompetent driver.

Which leads me to my next point. If two systems have the same goals, but different ways of reaching them, can they really consider each other bad systems? I guess my point is that I've concluded that social systems cannot reflect on morality. A Chinese driver most likely does care about human life, even if a Vancouverite may not see it that way. Rather, the statement on morality is made by the goals of the system, not the system itself. Individual components in a particular system may be questionable, but those questions should be asked in the context of the overall system, intent, and decision-making processes for implementation. What made the Final Solution in World War II so horrendous was not what was happening, but rather, the goals that the Final Solution tried to obtain, and the premises that were used to construct those goals. For both Chinese driving and Canadian driving, both the goals and the premises on which they are built are sound, even though they vastly differ in the details.

Maybe I should have written this in my personal blog. It seems a bit weird for this one.... :)

On another note, we are finally in Zhaojue. We spent a few days in Chengdu for orientation and lesson planning. We took an overnight train ride to Xichang, and immediately got onto a bus/van for the drive to Zhaojue. Long day, but we're feeling pretty good about how things are going. Nobody's gotten sick yet! Had a meeting today, and my heart just breaks about some of the things here. The economic situation, the rocky people soil, everything. Ask big daddy to send us some good brain transplants on how to take care of the kids. We have less kids than we expected. Unfortunate, but also fortunate. We'll be able to give each a lot more individual attention now.

Bobby

touchdown!

Well, we have arrived safely in Sichuan's capital city, and everything has come together smoothly, as we can be sure it would under Father's hand. ^^ So many stories already, and it has only been one day! It was nice for 3 of us (BC, BP, CY) to meet up with other short-termers at the Vancouver airport. We all shared the flight to Shanghai together and then split up to our "final destinations." Of course, we took a group picture at the airport as requested ;)

At the Shanghai airport, the 3 of us made our connecting flight only by His work, we are sure!! In Canada, they had told us that we had to switch back to Air China once we got to Shanghai. So we went to line up at the Air China counter, only to be told that we weren't entered into the system properly! So we would have to line up elsewhere and pay for extra tickets. Since our flight left in under 45 minutes by that time, of course that wasn't even an option. Thankfully (perhaps this was a moving factor too), our luggage had for some reason already been conveyored through to the flight we needed to be on. Somehow, after running back and forth between counters, and thanks to BC's mandarin skills, we saw the Air China agent say something into the phone and then he looked up and gave us our boarding passes. *phew!* I still have no idea what happened. Anyways, we tore through the (big!) airport trying to find our gate, and caught one of the last busses driving out to our plane. *phew again!* ... & PTL!

Early morning devotions began the following morning, and the rest of today was spent meeting our team members (we have an awesome team!!) and doing some orientation at the house of some long termers here in Chengdu. One unexpected blssing popped up in the form of .... *drumroll* ... our very own TAs! Yesss.... we have teaching assistants for our classes! And they are just lovely people, I'm so glad they are here to help us out. They're fellow young students themselves who teach English to the Chinese here; not only that, they also teach Chinese to English people! :D Additionally, they are our dear brothers and sisters who feel the same burden to help demonstrate His love to the students at this Youth Center. It is just so cool to meet other Chinese C's who are around our age, and especially to sing praise songs with them (in English!) as we opened our orientation session. ^^ We all look forward to spending more time with them, and learning what we can from each other, including discipleship.

We got a good taste of authentic Sichuan fare too...mmm hotpot & buns & noodles & spice (well, for some of us)! Tomorrow will be spent preparing our lessons.

Please remember our time together tomorrow, that we will really be able to pool our thoughts & ideas ... not much time to organize it all! But we have lots of great material to work with, thanks to the experience of the long-termers. Also please remember CC's foot, as it is not feeling so well, and it's difficult to walk as much as we do during the day.

For now it's time to go and rest! Here's a shot of us during orientation...

and checking out the student dorms at Sichuan University. Let's not complain about the laundry being over a 2 minute walk away anymore :)

ps. we can't see the actual page here, but we can update. So we hope you can see the page! And your comments should be sent to us through email.

Leaving on a jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again...

OK, we actually do. :) In a strange twist of events, we are no longer able to fly with the airline that we were originally flying with. However, we were fortunately able to get an emergency switch to another airline, leaving at around the same time. It was a big flood of e-mails today trying to sort this out, and we're very thankful to everyone that worked so hard to make it happen. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to go!

I am really looking forward to finally meeting many of the team members for the first time! Please hope that we have a good flight, and that big daddy flies with us. He's very cool indeed, and we need to thank him for pulling strings and being able to make things OK today!

See you on the other side of the ocean!

Bobby

in the beginning...

...there were 14 individuals who heard the call of the Master to step out into the unknown.

For some, the entire location was unknown...for others, the people they were to serve were unknown...for all, the way the Master would direct their summer from day-to-day was unknown...

So, welcome to the online home of our teaching-English team to Zhaojue, Sichuan, July-August 2007, a place where we hope to keep you updated as the unknowns become knowns to us (& therefore, to you!). We are so excited to be stepping out this summer. Preparation started months ago, when each of us was led to apply to join this specific team. As we heard about our acceptances and geared up for the trip, we started to prepare for the teaching tasks at hand as well. Although communication has been admittedly rocky throughout these months, we can only trust that our Father knows better than us all what is in store, and we must lean on Him to carry us through together...

Hopefully, you are somehow connected to one of my team members already, and that's how you heard about this site...but in case the details are hazy, or it's been too long since you read that update, or your token team member is not so good at keeping up with the emails (i am definitely guilty of that oftentimes), here is a place you can read up on some more specific going-ons. Hopefully we will have Internet access on a regular or even semi-regular basis, though no guaruntees ... and we know that sometimes parts of China block these types of sites from our computers. But we'll do our best, and let Him do the rest.

And yes, if you do comment (& we'd all love to hear from you no matter who you know on this team!), please take care to use SENSITIVE language.

Things to pr*y for at the moment...

--last-minute prep and travelling. we're gathering from all over the world; some have already arrived in China for external visitation time with family and friends.

--the severe flooding going on in parts of China, including southeastern Sichuan. I don't think it'll affect our own destination, but I believe there's another team headed to Chongqing, which is one of the evacuated areas at the moment (correct me if i'm wrong).

--each team members' spiritual preparation. As one gentleman from my church mentioned, the rural parts of China especially are strongholds for spirit-worship (and we're not talking about the Wholey Spirit!). Must focus on Ephesians 6:10-18.

Where are we heading?
From big to small: China > Sichuan province* > Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture > Zhaojue county.

*on the right: the province of Sichuan, in southwestern China; Liangshan is in red.

-carmen :)