Birthday Sentiments

Beth (thoughtful as always) had my old students (her current students) make me birthday cards in class...Here are a few classic sentiments:

(This one in the shape of a boat)
Proceed smoothly without a hitch!

Here's my best wish.
I wish you have a nice day.
I wish you find a BF as soon as you can.
I wish everyday in your life is birthday.

Wish you would become more and more beautiful. (There were several of these.)

I wish you would smile from now day and dance better and better!

You just like a panda, is so lovable.

Everday's is birthday time when thinking and I shall keep one sublime. (What?)

Don't forget me! I'll remember you never!

Remember: smiling always on face.

Now let me give you my best wishes! I hope you will get a trim figure one day.

Wow. Turning 25 is awesome.

Chinglish Excellence

Now I've seen a lot of good Chinglish in my day, but surely this wins an award!

Place: a milk tea shop

What I think it should say: pineapple milk icee

What it really says:
















I have no idea what the Hundred one means.

Thirsty anyone? :)

Indian dance party

For my unbirthday (a week before the real one since Brad was leaving) we had an Indian dance party. Some of our Indian friends let us borrow some clothes and they showed us how to move!

It's always been a secret dream of mine to wear a saree, so this was super fun.




























And what's more...
















My awesome friends arranged for our favorite restaurant, Up Down, to cater my birthday dinner! It was soooo delicious. They have the best sweet and sour pork in the world!

Hong Kong!

First impressions:
blue sky with white puffy clouds = happy Amy
trees and water = happy Beth
Hong Kong is like China's sophisticated, rich, way cooler, distant cousin by marriage.

Day One
We arrived in Shenzhen early and went through customs to Hong Kong. We got settled in our sweet hotel then headed off to explore the city. We took the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island where we had an AMAZING lunch at Taco Loco. Guacamole. Need I say more? We experienced the tallest escalators in the world, then headed to Victoria Peak where you can see an overview of the cityscape. We enjoyed window shopping on the Peak, then enjoyed Starbucks and wrote postcards. We had Burger King (who knew you could ever strongly desire Burger King?) and then made our way back to Kowloon. We enjoyed our nice hotel rooftop pool, end of day one.

Day Two
We woke up, had a delicious glass of MILK, went for a morning swim and then went to Disney! Yep, two 25 year olds at Disney alone. It was a fun day. Beth got to fulfill some childhood dreams, and I got to see the Lion King performance. Let me just take a moment on that one. It was sort of a Broadway rendition of the Lion King where actual people played the parts with dancing and singing. I was deeply moved. We're talking, I almost cried more than once. I've realized lately my deep love of musical/broadway/dancing/singing stuff. I can't think of anything more fun. So we'll call this my ridiculous dream and guilty pleasure. Live musicals. Plus it was multicultural which really gets me.

So Disney was fun, aside from the fact that it was BLAZING HOT and Chinese people push. It's just a fact. They're pushers. And it makes me so angry, but words can't do it justice, so moving on...

After Disney we had dinner, walked along the Avenue of Stars to see handprints of people like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and tons of other Hong Kong stars we don't know. We stayed along the waters edge to take in the view of Hong Kong at night, then watched a laser show on some of the buildings across the water. Meanwhile, Beth plotted and planned how she could move to Hong Kong...

We packed up the next morning and went back to Shenzhen to see some old friends. We certainly didn't want to leave Hong Kong, but Shenzhen made us crave Yichang. So back on the overnight train. We stopped in Wuhan long enough to grab another Starbucks, then came back to our sweet Yichang.

It was a great short weekend, and I'd love to go again. I'm not sure what I would think of it if I hadn't lived in China before, but now it's the perfect little getaway. The perfect fusion of concrete and nature, East and West.

For more Hong Kong pictures, check out facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031523&l=ba669&id=147801990

A Good Morning

Woke up when I woke up. No alarm.

Sun shining.

No plans. Sitting in my robe.

Talking to my brother online. Wow, he's an adult! Miss that heifer.

Now the task of blogging...

Stay Tuned...

Hong Kong was fabulous. We're back in Yichang, safe and tired. Pics and tales to come tomorrow...

Hong Kong Baby!

Exams are finally over, grades are almost done, Brad is gone, and it's my birthday. Sounds like a great time to go to Hong Kong. :)

Beth and I are taking off this afternoon, first to Wuhan, then taking an overnight train to ShenZhen, then walking/busing/boating over the border to Hong Kong. (Overnight trains are the only way to travel...you wake up and you're there!).

We splurged on a little nicer hotel with a pool as we normally stick to cheap hostels and are planning on relaxing and enjoying a little girl time before the craziness of packing Beth up. We might even go to Disney!

So keep us in mind as we travel! Pictures and stories to come!

The end times...

The end is drawing near here. Another semester nearly over. Two years in China. At times it hardly seems like two years. But then I look back to where we all were two years ago and I hardly recognize those people. We've been molded and changed and grown. Broken and repaired. Polished and refined.

Who would ever have thought that China could become my home? A land literally half-way around the world from what I always knew and loved. Who knew that I could be surrounded by so many people I love. Who knew my life could overflow with such abundance? such joy? such purpose?

At the close of this term I just feel overwhelmed by where He's brought us. How He's blessed us. Things certainly are changing. Brad left for America yesterday. Beth won't be returning in the fall. Kim and Katie are moving to Yunnan Province. New people will come. The times, they are a'changin'. But in all that I have no fear, only excitement in seeing the next chapter.

Brad and I are very excited about returning in the Fall, so happy to be able to continue the work set before us, though we'll miss our co-laborers terribly. As much as I want to see my friends and family in America, part of me dreads this upcoming pause in steady progress we've been making. It seems like just when you get going it's time to take a break already.

Keep us all in mind as we wrap up the term and aim to finish well. Aim to look forward to next term. Aim to see Harvest.

Only a few weeks left...

The most infuriating time of year...

Exam time. I hate it. Not because of making the exam, or printing the exam, or grading the exam, no no. Giving the exam. Trying to be an executor of justice in a room full of...CHEATERS. Nothing enrages me more it seems, than someone cheating in my class. I never knew I felt so strongly, but I feel it is an injustice and a personal slap in the face. And they aren't good at it. And for the time and effort they invest in a terribly flawed system, you'd think they could just learn the answers. Only two more.