A Very Important Thumbs Up

Hospitality is a word that often gets thrown about lightly and for many different purposes. This weekend, we discovered hospitality in a way unlike anything we had known before.

Background: This past weekend was a BIG one in the small country of China, for every year, around this time in January, the Chinese celebrate Spring Festival aka Chinese New Year(the traditional Lunar Calendar is a bit slow, haha). This is a time when over 300 million Chinese travel home to be with family and celebrate a great past year, and, hopefully, a fabulous upcoming year. Entire cities are closed, fireworks reminding you of D-Day are set off, but above all, you are together as a family.

Our Story: For the past couple of weeks, we have had a student, Lisa, living with us in our main apartment, with the girls. In return for our hospitality, she invited us to experience some of her own hospitality. Before we knew it, Margaret, Judit, Chad, and I were hours away from our city and in a small farming village surrounded on all sides by mountains; Spring Festival was a day away, and we were about to meet the parents...

Our Story (Part Deux): What followed was three days of meeting family, extended relatives, and friends and classmates. Each time we went to another house to visit, we were greeted with smiles and more peanuts, oranges, and sunflower seeds than you could shake a stick at (I honestly thought about trying). Constantly asking if we needed any more of anything, our hosts made sure each and every one of our needs were met. One of Lisa's uncles pretty much forced me to wear his coat to go outside and use the bathroom, even after I assured him I was quite warm and didn't need it (for some reason they didn't understand English so well out there...huh). We were never allowed to help with dishes, though I was able to in a sneaky way :), and helping cook was right out!...so instead we asked it we could "learn" how to make Jiaozi (dumplings), again we had to be very clever. Haha that turned out to be a fun time, from being ashamed of our one dumpling that took us 2 minutes to make, to taking 15 seconds and even getting the thumbs up from Grandma(coolest old Chinese lady ever)! I made sure to have Lisa tell her grandmother that I thought I made better dumplings than her...Grandma got a good laugh out of that. A lot of nothing happened there, but at the same time a lot of something happened. There are many stories from this weekend, so feel free to ask one of us some time :)

The Road Goes Ever On and On: This weekend we learned that hospitality is not just opening up your home for someone, it's giving of yourself, all you have, even the coat off your back, to someone you've never met, who doesn't even speak the same language, and expecting nothing in return other than for them to except everything you give them. That was an amazing lesson learned.

Culture Shock

Margaret here. Again using Tys again!

China and I agree with one another, until a few days ago. There was a certain instance that occured during ice skating. I rented a pair of very beat up skates and found myself stuggling to put them on. Right when i felt as though my fingers where going to fall off a random Chinese man pushed my hands away and began to work. My stomach dropped. To make this worse, Ty began to laugh and take picures! All the while a million thoughts went though my head.
Who is this guy?
What does he want?
Oh man... please don't ask for my number!
I wish i knew how to say not interested!
Then the man did something that surprised me. He finished helping, I thanked him and skated away. For the rest of the day he didn't even say "hi." I was slightly stunned. A stranger of the opposite sex was simply being nice! China is a very special place no doubt. Everyone is so willing to help one another becasue that is just how it is. Wow. Now i understand the meaning of culture shock.

A New Roommate

Margaret here, i know, i know, i need to get on this whole technology thing. For now I will be using Ty's

-Lisa

She didn't catch my attention right away. She is shy, which i found rare among the chinese people. Turns out she needed a place to stay, but only for a sort while. With one glance at Judit i knew we were thinking the same thing. so later i offered her our home.

"Thank you! Thank you! You are a good person. i am so happy. You are a good person. Thank you! thank you!....etc"

Her eyes glowed with appreciation, and it was in that moment I realized something: to show people our Father is not just sharing his Word with them, it's showing them his love though us. I know its a "duh" factor, but it was the first time I took notice of how important the small acts of kindness really are.   

So...basicly are going to have a chinese person living with us! HUZZAH! And she is going to teach us how to cook!

The Three C's of New Year's: Celebrations, Campanadas, and Clotheless Men

Ty Stutsman, Captain's Log, Stardate: 64538.32

A very happy New Year to everyone! Well needless to say, this past week has been one full of excitement, adventure, and naked, sweaty men (to be explained later). The week started off with a very busy Sunday, in which we attended two Meetings; the latter one required us to take 3 buses on an approximately 45min-1hour trip! This Meeting was smaller and more personal. Seated in a circle the whole time, we first sang songs and were asked after every one to sing the English version, followed by a hearty applause from our new Brothers and Sisters. As the Meeting was coming to a close, we were formally introduced, after which all our friends got down on their knees, grabbed our hands, and sang a beautiful song of welcome to us. It was quite a touching moment, and it was there that I officially decided "Sweet action, these guys are awesome!"

The rest of the week was filled with a variety of events. We officially started studying Mandarin, the Chinese language, this week! We met with our tutor on Tuesday and Thursday, and were equally frustrated and brain dead after each lesson. Judit was a real trooper and even decided to do some in-depth English study after our Tuesday lesson; from one confusing language to another, I tell you what : )

As some of you might know, New Years was this week. 'Twas the day before the New Year, and Chad and I decided it was time for an adventure; our location of choice: The Bath House!!! Walking into this place, you feel like High Society, but are quickly shocked at the cover charge of only 28 Kuai (about 7 American dollars). Inside, you are free to use the near Olympic-size swimming pool (freezing cold) as well as, for lack of a better name, the "Hot Room" (not freezing cold). We used the pool first, in order to appreciate the warm things in life that have been so graciously bestowed upon us. Next we visited the Hot Room, or Heaven, as I dubbed it. This room is filled with creatively designed pools of hot water, a slew of saunas that stifle your breathing to the point of fearing for your life, masseuses,  showers along the sides (complete with free shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors, and toothbrushes). And now for the moment you've all been waiting for: there were no clothes allowed! Afterwards, you're treated to a free pair of pajamas to relax in whilst you sip your Jasmine Tea or eat, or get a massage, or whatever your heart desires. And all this for 7 dollars (tea and massage not included). That night, hours before the new year, we attended a party that had real, American-style pizza (be still my heart)! And so rang in the new year in a language we didn't understand (always a good time). After midnight, we returned to our main apartment, where Chad and Margaret watched a Chinese award show (Margaret had a crush on about every boy band haha) and Judit and I rang in the new year twice with Spain and the 12 Campanadas (bell chimes), via Skype. Not a very eventful New Year's Eve, but spent with friends we care about, so all was good.

The rest of the week, including today, was pretty uneventful, with the exception of taking care of the kids of a family that we are close to here. That was an interesting day filled with loud noises, make-believe, and twenty things always going on at once. One of those days you sleep really well after : ) We were very glad to help out our friends as well.

In general, we are all still making friendships and connections here, deepening relationships on more than one level, and learning more about each other, our Father, and our extended family here.

Requests:

-Continued help with language learning

-That we would not fall into a "rut" going into the Winter Break here where there possibly may not be a whole lot to do

-We could continue to have students over to our apartment to fellowship and simply hang out

-Margaret's package from home with important items still has not arrived

-Communication amongst the our team would continue to be open, and would flourish even more

-That we would be protected from devices of the Enemy...like smog :) (and serious devices too)

Praises:

-Ty now has access to his financial resources!

-It has been very easy to make friends and contacts

-We are finally adjusting to living in China! Crazy!!

-We have all been able to make contact with our families lately, which has helped a lot

Happy New Years

Well, Christmas and New Years are completed; 2009 has just arrived. While we all missed family and friends over this past holiday season, we worked hard to make the best of holidays in China. New Years Eve saw us eating pork and saurkraut on mashed potatoes, and then staying up late watching movies. New Years isn't celebrated much in China, as the big holiday is Spring Festival, the start of the Chinese calander's New Year, and that is coming later this month. We hear that we can expect quite the party that night...

The past week has been great for making new friends. The girls hosted a girl's night a few days ago, simply having around 20 girls over to watch "A Walk to Remember", and were quite excited when they had the chance to Share what love means in a Book. We have been practicing the art of hospitatlity here in China, having students over for meals and just to hang out. Its been great, we've been free to engage in some interesting conversations, and just make friends. 

On a lighter note, Ty and I had had the opportunity to go to a Chinese bath house the other day. First we clad ourselves in swimsuits and jumped into the mixed sex cold swimming pool, which was, quite frankly, COLD. Then we went into the men's only section, were we disrobed and spent some time in the huge hot tubs, saunas, and showers. The place was amazing, once we got used to it. After this, we received some pajamas and went into the mixed sex lounge area, where we hung out with some friends and drank some tea. The bath house was beautiful, it fealt like some type of resort, and was definately the type of place that would cost an arm and leg in the United States. Bath houses are very popular here in northern China, simply for the fact that there really isn't anything else to do during the winter. It was a great way to celebrate New Years Eve. 

Please keep a few things lifted up for us:

- The next 2 months may be a little slow for us. Students are all going home for winter break, and we don't start our language classes until the beginning of March.

- Every Friday night we get to go to a fellow American's house, who invites all his Chinese students over for the evening to spend time with them. 

- A few of us have received hard news from home.

Thanks! - Chad