Check it out.
lh
Friday, October 15, 2010
Another video...
The people group we live and work among are closely connected to the people spoken of in this video.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A video!
I have finished up the story part of our trip to the village and want to take a little break before sitting down to write a bit more explaining certain things. In the mean time, enjoy this short video! :)
--da
--da
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Village Trip--Part Four
After we returned from the temple, the women once again set to work on cooking food. Logan sat downstairs w/ the men where they had set up the grill to cook some pork. I went upstairs into the house and tried to be of some assistance, but pretty much just got in the way. YH's dad kept telling me and Logan to watch tv or take a nap, and Logan eventually made his way into the house to sleep for 20 minutes or so. They finally let me peel and slice cucumbers, but SY didn't like the way I was using the knife, so that job didn't last long. (Chinese and Americans seem to use knives differently. I've experienced this twice here.)
Around 11:30, a few of Mr. Luo's co-workers arrived from the school. Logan and I sat under the house w/ them in the shade and talked about what it would take for them to go to America. Almost any conversation w/ new acquaintances goes this way....how much does a ticket cost, do you need a visa, how much does the visa cost, where does the plane land, how long does it take to get there, and so on. The night before we had the same conversation w/ three of Mr. Luo's other friends, and one of them declared that if he ever had the chance to go to America, upon arrival he would get off of the plane, eat a bowl of soupy rice noodles, and then get on a plane to come back to China. At this, his friend replied that he surely would not be able to find soupy rice noodles in America.
The women called us all into the house, and we were all able to sit down to eat. That is, everyone but Yi Han, her parents, her brother and sister-in-law. They kept cooking and replenishing bowls of food and sliced cucumbers and DL hot sauce. (Which is delicious.) After I had eaten enough food and had sat there for a long enough time to be polite, I excused myself to go sit w/ Yi Han and her brother and sister-in-law at the entrance of the house. Her dad and mom were nowhere to be found, and in fact when we left about an hour later, they still weren't there and she did not try and find them to say good bye. (Perfectly normal I'm sure....)
After Yi Han had finished eating and we had all talked for a little bit longer, we gathered our things to leave. We were given left over food to bring back home w/ us, and then we loaded up into a van and headed off to the bus station. We found a bus and arrived back at home 2 hours later.
And just like that, our weekend in the village was over. We are hoping for a chance to go again soon!
--da
Around 11:30, a few of Mr. Luo's co-workers arrived from the school. Logan and I sat under the house w/ them in the shade and talked about what it would take for them to go to America. Almost any conversation w/ new acquaintances goes this way....how much does a ticket cost, do you need a visa, how much does the visa cost, where does the plane land, how long does it take to get there, and so on. The night before we had the same conversation w/ three of Mr. Luo's other friends, and one of them declared that if he ever had the chance to go to America, upon arrival he would get off of the plane, eat a bowl of soupy rice noodles, and then get on a plane to come back to China. At this, his friend replied that he surely would not be able to find soupy rice noodles in America.
The women called us all into the house, and we were all able to sit down to eat. That is, everyone but Yi Han, her parents, her brother and sister-in-law. They kept cooking and replenishing bowls of food and sliced cucumbers and DL hot sauce. (Which is delicious.) After I had eaten enough food and had sat there for a long enough time to be polite, I excused myself to go sit w/ Yi Han and her brother and sister-in-law at the entrance of the house. Her dad and mom were nowhere to be found, and in fact when we left about an hour later, they still weren't there and she did not try and find them to say good bye. (Perfectly normal I'm sure....)
After Yi Han had finished eating and we had all talked for a little bit longer, we gathered our things to leave. We were given left over food to bring back home w/ us, and then we loaded up into a van and headed off to the bus station. We found a bus and arrived back at home 2 hours later.
And just like that, our weekend in the village was over. We are hoping for a chance to go again soon!
--da
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Village Trip--Part Three
12:45 am. I need to go to the bathroom. Bad. The house is completely pitch black. If I got up, would the door be locked? Is there another door at the base of the stairs that lead up into the house that might also be locked? I didn’t pay attention enough yesterday to know the answer. What if I got up, and woke everyone up, and Yi Han had to find the key to let me out of the house? I decided to risk it and not get up.
So I prayed. “Please God, let me make it until morning!”
Off and on throughout the rest of the night I would wake back up….because I still needed to go to the bathroom, and also thanks to the fact that Mr. Luo snores. Big time. The fact that he smokes like a freight train and had a cold on top of that probably aggravates his ability to breathe at night, and I had to wonder if he was just going to completely stop breathing at some point during the night.
6:45 am. Its light enough that I can make it outside now, and Yi Han is building a fire in the kitchen stove. Walking out to the bathroom her dad meets me and says, “You’re up early.”
The food starts again as soon as I walk back into the house. Yi Han’s mom offers me some sticky rice and as much as I love sticky rice, I couldn’t manage to eat it all….still so full from the night before. There would be a special noodle dish this morning as well for breakfast. Stinky Noodles. Those of you who know me in this Asian context know that I’m not big on noodles for breakfast….much less ones that will be stinky.
The sister-in-law was in charge of the whole noodle making process. There was a bag of some special type of homemade rice flour that had undergone some special process and was then steamed in banana leaves before she added a lot of water to it to make a very sticky dough. She kneaded and kneaded the dough and then used a type of press to make the noodles.
The dough and the press.
Sister-in-law making the noodles. Notice the turtleneck and pants. I was wearing a light cotton
skirt and a t-shirt. People here start to think its cold if its less than 75 degrees outside.
Much to my surprise, the noodles where not as stinky after being cooked. Logan and I were encouraged to add chives, cilantro, pepper, salt, and MSG to our noodles, and they were really pretty good.
After breakfast, Yi Han took me and Logan and SY to see the temple. Yi Han had talked awhile to some of the ladies at the temple, and then we walked back to the house to start preparing for lunch.
-da
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Village Trip--Part 2
The van pulled up outside of Yi Han's house. Her mother was waiting at the gate, much like my mom and dad will walk out and wait on the front porch once they see headlights or hear my brother's pick up headed down our section of dirt road.
It was a traditional house on stilts that Yi Han spent most of her growing up years in. The house was built in 1984, and when her dad was asked how old the house was, he had to turn and look at the beam where "1984" was painted in what probably used to be a bright red before he could answer us. Or rather answer Yi Han. Yi Han's mother doesn't speak a word of Mandarin, although she understands some. Her dad speaks a little, but he relied more heavily on speaking to Yi Han in DL rather than speaking to us in Mandarin.
We were instantly welcomed and told to sit out on the patio. And as soon as we sat, the food starting coming and it didn't really stop the whole time we were there. We were served cucumbers and purple sticky rice w/ peanuts and some sugar wrapped in banana leaves and steamed (delicious). Yi Han immediately started cooking various things, catching up w/ her mom, and talking w/ her sister-in-law. We sat and sat and talked and talked, and every so often someone would yell at Little Luo to stop messing w/ the chickens. I pulled a stool inside the house to sit with Yi Han and her sister-in-law and watched them spoon a mixture of sticky rice flour mixed with brown sugar and a mixture of crushed red beans and more brown sugar into more banana leaves to wrap and steam for later that night. Yi Han said, "When I get done we can go buy something to drink besides water, I know you're thirsty, and we can go see something, or do something, because I'm sure you're bored." I replied, "Yi Han, don't you know that you are the only person who has invited me to their home? We are more than happy to be here with your family and sit and talk and just be." I don't think she fully believed me at first, but finally I convinced her that I was telling the truth. When she believed me, she then asked whether or not we wanted to sleep there at the house or for them to take us into town to a hotel for the night. I didn't want to impose, but secretly wanted to stay there, so I said essentially, "As you please. But I know that sleeping here would be a lot of fun." So it was decided that we would stay w/ her family and sleep in the living room on the floor w/ Yi Han, Little Luo, Mr. Luo (her husband), and SY--the friend who had accompanied us.
We all kind of sat around until it was dinner...well, the guests sat around, and the family worked. And then suddenly Yi Han carried out onto the patio a small wicker table full of food. Logan, I, SY, Mr. Luo, and Yi Han sat down to eat, and a few of Mr. Luo's co-workers from the school joined us. Yi Han's mom and dad weren't hungry, being used to eating around 9 pm, and Yi Han's sister-in-law and brother went out to cut the rubber trees...which is mostly done at night after it gets dark, or very early in the morning around 4 or 5 am.
We cleaned up the patio area after we had all eaten entirely too much and Yi Han said, "The girls will now go next door and take a shower where there is hot water, and the boys can stay here to shower." I didn't expect to get a shower, so we didn't bring towels, so there was a lot of 不好意思 (so embarrassed b/c I didn't bring a towel) going on until a fresh, clean, unused towel was produced and we girls marched off to shower. (It did feel good to get the sweat off, even though I refrained from washing my hair for the sake of time and trouble.)
When we got back to the house, YH's brother and sister-in-law had returned from the rubber trees, and their daughter was entertaining every one in the house. She is about 2 years old and super cute. She loves her grandmom and granddad, and followed her granddad just about every where that he went.
We unrolled our mats and blankets and hung up mosquito nets and essentially were ready for bed. Everyone was pretty tired, and I didn't have a problem going to sleep. Staying asleep was going to be a different story.
--da
Two pictures from the afternoon at the White Pagoda. I had to beg Little Luo to take this with me.
And here is Little Luo and Mr. Luo. No begging had to be done to get this photo. It seems like with Mr. Luo gone all week teaching, Little Luo really, really wants to spend any moment he can w/ his dad. He needs both of his parents at home, and he needs his dad to be more of the primary disciplinarian in the home, but the Chinese family and discipline practices and education system are another post for another day too.
It was a traditional house on stilts that Yi Han spent most of her growing up years in. The house was built in 1984, and when her dad was asked how old the house was, he had to turn and look at the beam where "1984" was painted in what probably used to be a bright red before he could answer us. Or rather answer Yi Han. Yi Han's mother doesn't speak a word of Mandarin, although she understands some. Her dad speaks a little, but he relied more heavily on speaking to Yi Han in DL rather than speaking to us in Mandarin.
We were instantly welcomed and told to sit out on the patio. And as soon as we sat, the food starting coming and it didn't really stop the whole time we were there. We were served cucumbers and purple sticky rice w/ peanuts and some sugar wrapped in banana leaves and steamed (delicious). Yi Han immediately started cooking various things, catching up w/ her mom, and talking w/ her sister-in-law. We sat and sat and talked and talked, and every so often someone would yell at Little Luo to stop messing w/ the chickens. I pulled a stool inside the house to sit with Yi Han and her sister-in-law and watched them spoon a mixture of sticky rice flour mixed with brown sugar and a mixture of crushed red beans and more brown sugar into more banana leaves to wrap and steam for later that night. Yi Han said, "When I get done we can go buy something to drink besides water, I know you're thirsty, and we can go see something, or do something, because I'm sure you're bored." I replied, "Yi Han, don't you know that you are the only person who has invited me to their home? We are more than happy to be here with your family and sit and talk and just be." I don't think she fully believed me at first, but finally I convinced her that I was telling the truth. When she believed me, she then asked whether or not we wanted to sleep there at the house or for them to take us into town to a hotel for the night. I didn't want to impose, but secretly wanted to stay there, so I said essentially, "As you please. But I know that sleeping here would be a lot of fun." So it was decided that we would stay w/ her family and sleep in the living room on the floor w/ Yi Han, Little Luo, Mr. Luo (her husband), and SY--the friend who had accompanied us.
We all kind of sat around until it was dinner...well, the guests sat around, and the family worked. And then suddenly Yi Han carried out onto the patio a small wicker table full of food. Logan, I, SY, Mr. Luo, and Yi Han sat down to eat, and a few of Mr. Luo's co-workers from the school joined us. Yi Han's mom and dad weren't hungry, being used to eating around 9 pm, and Yi Han's sister-in-law and brother went out to cut the rubber trees...which is mostly done at night after it gets dark, or very early in the morning around 4 or 5 am.
We cleaned up the patio area after we had all eaten entirely too much and Yi Han said, "The girls will now go next door and take a shower where there is hot water, and the boys can stay here to shower." I didn't expect to get a shower, so we didn't bring towels, so there was a lot of 不好意思 (so embarrassed b/c I didn't bring a towel) going on until a fresh, clean, unused towel was produced and we girls marched off to shower. (It did feel good to get the sweat off, even though I refrained from washing my hair for the sake of time and trouble.)
When we got back to the house, YH's brother and sister-in-law had returned from the rubber trees, and their daughter was entertaining every one in the house. She is about 2 years old and super cute. She loves her grandmom and granddad, and followed her granddad just about every where that he went.
We unrolled our mats and blankets and hung up mosquito nets and essentially were ready for bed. Everyone was pretty tired, and I didn't have a problem going to sleep. Staying asleep was going to be a different story.
--da
Two pictures from the afternoon at the White Pagoda. I had to beg Little Luo to take this with me.
And here is Little Luo and Mr. Luo. No begging had to be done to get this photo. It seems like with Mr. Luo gone all week teaching, Little Luo really, really wants to spend any moment he can w/ his dad. He needs both of his parents at home, and he needs his dad to be more of the primary disciplinarian in the home, but the Chinese family and discipline practices and education system are another post for another day too.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Village Trip--Part One
On Friday, I finally was able to nail down the details of our weekend. We would leave on Saturday around 5:00 pm and then come back on Sunday, sometime in the afternoon. On Saturday, Yi Han called me at 11:00.
“Business is slow today, so let’s just go after you eat lunch.”
Logan and I threw a few things in a bag, ate lunch, and met Yi Han at 1:30 at the newspaper stand. She and her husband would ride on the motorcycle, and Logan and I would accompany their son Little Luo and one of Yi Han’s friends, SY, on the bus.
We got off the bus at MFL, about 5 kilometers before YH's village in order to do a little sightseeing in the area. MFL is the home of the famous White Pagoda of Xishuangbanna. A woman caught us at the beginning of the road that led to the pagoda and insisted on the foreigners buying tickets for 5 kuai (74 cents) a piece. I've always joked that most times it seems that nationals get in free, or for cheaper at least, and we get to pay what we call the “white face discount”. Whether it was because Yi Han argued w/ the woman that she was from right up the road, or it really is the case that all this business about buying tickets to get into places is just to make a buck off the foreign tourists, Logan and I were the only ones charged.
Legend has it that Buddha stepped here and left his right footprint on a rock. His left footprint can be found about 3 miles down the road, where the Black Pagoda was then built. We spent maybe half an hour looking around. The place was deserted of all tourists but us, probably due to the fact that it was incredibly hot. Here is the image of the Buddha.
Legend has it that Buddha stepped here and left his right footprint on a rock. His left footprint can be found about 3 miles down the road, where the Black Pagoda was then built. We spent maybe half an hour looking around. The place was deserted of all tourists but us, probably due to the fact that it was incredibly hot. Here is the image of the Buddha.
The pagoda from the front entrance. It was build in 1204 AD.
The back side of the pagoda. Pretty much like the front side...but I liked the clouds and the super blue sky in the background.
After we looked around to our heart's desire and couldn't stand the intenseness of the sun any longer, we all marched back down the stairs and found a van that took us the few kilometers to Yi Han's village.
--da
Monday, September 20, 2010
Village Trip--Intro
Around the time of Chinese New Year (February), I met someone who is now my very best national friend in all of JH. She works all day every day in a small stand where she sells newspapers/magazines/milk/yogurt/water/etc. To buy fresh milk here, you purchase it from a shop like hers instead of the grocery store….the grocery store sells self-stable milk, and I don’t even know how you make milk shelf-stable, so maybe that will be a post for another day.
Anyways, I bought milk from her a few times in January and February, and then suddenly her shop was closed for about a week. Because I walked by her shop almost every other day, I immediately noticed when she reopened. I bought milk from her that day and told her I was glad she was open. She explained that she had had to close when her father-in-law got sick and had to spend some time in the hospital. (Hospitals and the whole health care system is also another post for another day.) We talked a bit, and I headed home. You could say it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Since then I have frequented her shop often, and we will sit and talk for a few hours, or as long as my Chinese can hold up for the day. About a month ago, we really started working on English together, and I can honestly say she is the only person I have ever really enjoyed teaching English to. When we had some friends from Lubbock here for the summer, I took the girls by one day and we chatted. Here is a picture two of the girls took w/ 玉罕。 (Yu Han would be how you pronounce the characters…but b/c she belongs to a minority people group, her name is actually Yi Han, and so 玉罕 (Yu Han) is just the Mandarin (Chinese) version of her name.)
A few weeks ago she invited us to come out to her village. She rarely goes home (because she works every day), and so we were super excited to accept her invitation and travel about 45 kilometers to her hometown. Over the next few days, I’ll blog about our time there. We did manage to take some pictures while we were there, but not many. I’ll admit that it makes me feel really strange taking pictures sometimes…kind of like its an invasion of the person’s privacy to just go around snapping pictures of their way of life. Anyways, look forward to at least a couple of posts over the next week!
--da
(Thanks to Elizabeth for letting me jack the photo from facebook w/o asking.)
(Thanks to Elizabeth for letting me jack the photo from facebook w/o asking.)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The Gospel in Prose- Part Four
My Salvation
21 Now when my time came and I placed my faith in Jesus, God instantly granted me salvation.
22 He forgave all my sins, past, present, and future.
23 He made me his child, adopting me into His family.
24 He gave me the gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives me God’s power, who pours out God’s love within my heart, and who tenderly communicates to my spirit that I am a child of God and an heir of eternal glory in heaven.
25 In saving me, God also freed me from slavery to any and all sins.
26 I no longer have to sin again, for sin’s mastery over me has been broken!
27 In saving me, God also justified me, and being justified through Christ, I have peace with God that will endure forever.
28 In justifying me, God declared me innocent of my sins and pronounced me righteous with the very righteousness of Jesus.
29 God also allowed his future and present wrath against me to be completely propitiated by Jesus, who bore it upon himself while on the cross.
30 Consequently, God now has only love, compassion, and deepest affection for me, and this love is without any admixture of wrath whatsoever.
31 God always looks upon me and treats me with gracious favor, always working all things together for my ultimate and eternal good.
32 God’s grace abounds to me even through trials.
33 Because I am a justified one, he subjugates every trial and forces it to do good unto me.
34 When I sin, God’s grace abounds to me all the more as he graciously maintains my justified status as described above.
35 When I sin, God feels no wrath in his heart against me.
36 His heart is filled with nothing but love for me, and he longs for me to repent and confess my sins to him, so that he might show me the gracious and forgiving love that has been in his heart all along.
37 God does not require my confession before he desires to forgive me.
38 In his heart he already has forgiven me; and when I come to him to confess my sins to him, he runs to me (as it were) and is repeatedly embracing and kissing me even before I get the words of my confession out of my mouth!
39 God does see my sins, and he is grieved by my sins. His grief comes partly from the fact that in my moments of sin, I am not receiving the fullness of his love for me.
40 He even sends chastisement into my life; but he does so because he is for me, and he loves me; and he disciplines me for my ultimate good.
41 I don’t deserve any of this, even on my best day; but this is my salvation, and herein I stand. Thank you, Jesus
(From Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer)
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Gospel in Prose- Part Three
God’s Work on My Behalf
16 However, what I could not do, God did - and in doing it, He did it all, sending his own Son into the world to die on the cross for my sins, thereby showing me unfathomable love.
17 God loved me so much that he was willing to suffer the loss of his Son, and even more amazingly, he was willing to allow his Son to suffer the loss of him at the cross.
18 Jesus loved me so much that He was willing to lay down his life for me. No one could ever love me more or better than Jesus.
19 On the third day after Jesus’ death, God raised him from the dead, thereby announcing that his death was completely sufficient to atone for every sin that I have or will commit throughout my lifetime.
20 God then exalted Christ to his own right hand, where Christ now reigns from on high, granting salvation and forgiveness to all who call on Him by faith.
(From Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Gospel in Prose- Part Two
My Sin Against God
10 Yet I could not have failed this great God more miserably than I have.
11 Instead of giving thanks to Him and humbly submitting to His rule over my life, I have rebelled against him and have actually sought to exalt myself above him.
12 Going my own way and living according to my own wisdom, I have broken countless times either the letter or the spirit of every one of God’s Ten Commandments.
13 Thinking myself to be wise, I have shown myself to be a fool; and because of my arrogance, God has every right to damn me to the everlasting experience of his terrifying wrath in the Lake of Fire.
14 So as for myself, apart from Christ I am bound by the guilt of my sins and also bound by the power of sin, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures.
15 Apart from Christ, I am also utterly deserving of and destined for eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, completely unable to save myself or even to make one iota of contribution to my own salvation.
(From Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Gospel in Prose- Part One
The Glory of God
1 My God is immense beyond imagination. He measured the entire universe with merely the span of his hand.
2 He is unimaginably awesome in all of his perfections, absolutely righteous, holy, and just in all his ways,
3 He has also been unbelievably good and merciful to me as the Creator and Sustainer of my life.
4 Every breath, every heartbeat, every function of every organ in my body is a gift from him.
5 Every legitimate pleasure I experience is a gift from his loving hand to me.
6 All that I am and all that I have I owe to him and to his goodness.
7 My life in every way is, and will continue to be, utterly dependent upon him in whom I live and move and have my being.
8 This wonderful God is the most supremely worthy Object of admiration, honor, and delight in all of the universe;
9 An he has created me with the intention that I might glorify him by finding my soul’s delight in him and by living in joyful obedience to him in all of my ways.
(From Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Gospel in Prose
Today I am starting a four part blog series that is extracted verbatim (no apologies) from a book I recently received called A Gospel Primer, by Milton Vincent. In this book Vincent does a wonderful job of applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of life. I warmly commend it to you and I warn you to not be surprised if next time you see me, I give you a copy of this helpful little book. It is probably best not to rely on me, so and go ahead and do your soul a favor and buy yourself a copy.Within his book, Vincent has beautifully written 'A Gospel Narrative' in both prose and in poem as a means to help Christians better preach the Gospel to themselves daily. I will be dividing this prose up into four different blog posts that will be posted three days apart. My prayer is that you are blessed and helped by the Gospel articulated in a form that you do not hear too often (if ever).
Read slowly and make sure you stop to marvel at what God has done.
Part one will be posted tomorrow.
Buy the book here.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
All Will Be Well- a lesson on hope
Through the love of God our Savior, All will be well
Free and changeless is His favor, All is well
Precious is the blood that healed us
Perfect is the grace that sealed us
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us
All must be well
Though we pass through tribulation, All will be well
Ours is such a full salvation, All is well
Happy still in God confiding
Fruitful if in Christ abiding
Steadfast through the Spirit's guiding
All must be well
We expect a bright tomorrow, All will be well
Faith can sing through days of sorrow, All is well
On our Father's love relying
Jesus every need supplying
Yes in living or in dying
All must be well
Free and changeless is His favor, All is well
Precious is the blood that healed us
Perfect is the grace that sealed us
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us
All must be well
Though we pass through tribulation, All will be well
Ours is such a full salvation, All is well
Happy still in God confiding
Fruitful if in Christ abiding
Steadfast through the Spirit's guiding
All must be well
We expect a bright tomorrow, All will be well
Faith can sing through days of sorrow, All is well
On our Father's love relying
Jesus every need supplying
Yes in living or in dying
All must be well
_______________________
I am deeply encouraged by this hymn. It teaches me how to understand the hope Christ secured for me through the cross. It shows me that the hope I have for tomorrow, "all will be well," is not a shakeable hope. Nor is it a hope that only exists in the future. It is a hope that was perfectly secured over two thousand years ago, and because of this hope I can rise up with the hymnist, look at the work of Jesus and boldly say, "precious is the blood that healed us, perfect is the grace that sealed us, strong the hand stretched forth to shield us, all must be well." So when I cannot find it within myself to "sing through days of sorrow", I can boldly proclaim, "all is well"!
In the Gospel all must be, all is, and all will be well because of the God who loved us and gave himself for us. Praise be to him.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
An Opportunity to Complain about the Heat
Oh dear, we have really neglected the blog. I hope those of you who actually come here weekly/daily to see if there's a post (opposed to just relying on your feeder to update) are not too disappointed in our lack of writing. We really started the year off well, w/ a considerable amount of posts in the spring..but summer happened, and updating the blog was the last thing on my mind.
I'll try to commit to write some later about what we've been doing the past month (most of July was spent in Thailand..however, no pictures). This morning, though, as I was folding clothes and sweating, and faking complete despair as I opened the curtains that separate the rest of our house from our kitchen/patio area (and therefore also the blazing sun) to hang up clothes to dry, I was reminded of an Andrew Peterson song. It was one of those moments when you say to yourself, "Gosh, you really do complain a lot, don't you?" Here's the first verse:
Little Elba how's the sun in South America
Does it shine upon the faces of the poor?
Do they see in it the brilliance of the place that's been prepared
And dwell upon the hope of what's in store?
Or are they just like me, do they only see
An opportunity to complain about the heat?
So....thank you God, for the sun today. I repent of my complaining heart. Thank you for the sun and the rain that you have shine/fall on the righteous and unrighteous.
--da
go here for more Andrew Peterson music and books.
I'll try to commit to write some later about what we've been doing the past month (most of July was spent in Thailand..however, no pictures). This morning, though, as I was folding clothes and sweating, and faking complete despair as I opened the curtains that separate the rest of our house from our kitchen/patio area (and therefore also the blazing sun) to hang up clothes to dry, I was reminded of an Andrew Peterson song. It was one of those moments when you say to yourself, "Gosh, you really do complain a lot, don't you?" Here's the first verse:
Little Elba how's the sun in South America
Does it shine upon the faces of the poor?
Do they see in it the brilliance of the place that's been prepared
And dwell upon the hope of what's in store?
Or are they just like me, do they only see
An opportunity to complain about the heat?
So....thank you God, for the sun today. I repent of my complaining heart. Thank you for the sun and the rain that you have shine/fall on the righteous and unrighteous.
--da
go here for more Andrew Peterson music and books.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Cable TV and Bathroom Repair
After having a conversation yesterday w/ a good friend of mine about why we don't have cable (among other reasons, there's only one English channel), within a half an hour of returning home, Logan comes in w/ the cable box and an announcement that he's just paid for our cable through December. The World Cup starts tomorrow, so I guess that alone makes it worth it for him.
Today I'm watching the news while catching up on housework, etc. I've heard about the World Cup, a bust in a neighboring province on a group of people making fake money, the quality of meat and vegetables right now, a meeting Obama had w/ officials in Japan, the amount of rain the country is getting, and a meeting between Russian and Chinese officials regarding unrest in Kyrgyzstan. (The Russians looked like the cast from The Godfather, by the way.)
And, repair has begun on the bathroom upstairs. :) Two men were waiting today when I came home from class to look up above our false ceiling at the pipes. I asked them what their method of repair would be, didn't understand, and then rephrased and asked if they would repair it from our bathroom. He looked at me like I was stupid. "No, it is their bathroom that is leaking down to you, so it isn't your problem." "I know THAT," I replied. "But from here, our bathroom, it is more convenient, right, to repair?" He understood that and said, "No...we'll just 挖 (wa...which means dig) from up there." So...less trouble for us, but I am currently listening to them break up the concrete upstairs. In all honesty though, it will probably be fixed in a day or two. Not a bad time table when you have to bust up the floor first.
--da
--da
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Around the House
Yesterday I read part of an article in the April issue of Real Simple magazine that concerned time...saving time, taking time to do things, etc. One of the suggestions was take time to make your bed...it makes you feel like you've accomplished something almost immediately after the start of your day. I have a friend who once told me that if nothing else got done around the house, she at least wanted the bed made. It just makes your room look clean, even if there is a pile of clothes to be folded at the foot of the bed. (For both of these reasons, I make our bed every day.)
Another part of the article suggested taking a week to document every mundane part of your life...from taking pictures of your half empty coffee cup to saving receipts of all the things you buy that week...and then taking some of your pictures, receipts, movie ticket stubs, etc and putting them in a scrapbook. I don't have time to do that (not many do), and I would have to translate all of my receipts...which I guess would be good practice. However, I did walk around the house yesterday afternoon and documented a few random things around the house. So..here's a collection of unprofessional pictures from June 9, 2010.
Shelves hung above our bed. Bought the brackets (braces? what are those called?) at the fake IKEA around Thanksgiving. Got the wood at the second hand furniture store. Books we've got up there: Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry...I love his stuff! Chinese Stuff, a book w/ a bunch of pictures of Chinese stuff. The Two Towers, by Tolkien. Two books of poetry/story on Ruth and Job, both by John Piper. A National Geographic magazine on China, and a photo album that Karl and Liz gave us w/ a Bed Bath and Beyond gift certificate in it for our wedding gift. (Now there are pictures...we spent that money a long time ago.)
Inherited this around December. Dish towel is from Logan's MawMaw, and the cups we randomly found here in town one evening. It hangs above our coffee cabinet.
The wall of fame.
Got this idea from Lissa Anglin. Nails w/ buttons super glued to them, ribbon tied and wrapped around the nails, and pictures strung along. This is what I look at when I sit at my desk. Lots of good friends here in front of me.
The wall behind Logan's desk in his office.
Back in my office now, meet Ger/Frances. We inherited this lovely guinea pig in....April. She likes green beans, cabbage, carrots, and especially cucumbers. And toilet paper rolls on occasion.
My cookbooks...which have felt very neglected lately.....we've either been eating out, eating chicken salad sandwiches, or if Logan is gone, I have two pieces of toast or a scrambled egg and call it good.
My bamboo TEXAS cutting board! I love this! (Thank you, V!!!)
Another part of the article suggested taking a week to document every mundane part of your life...from taking pictures of your half empty coffee cup to saving receipts of all the things you buy that week...and then taking some of your pictures, receipts, movie ticket stubs, etc and putting them in a scrapbook. I don't have time to do that (not many do), and I would have to translate all of my receipts...which I guess would be good practice. However, I did walk around the house yesterday afternoon and documented a few random things around the house. So..here's a collection of unprofessional pictures from June 9, 2010.
Shelves hung above our bed. Bought the brackets (braces? what are those called?) at the fake IKEA around Thanksgiving. Got the wood at the second hand furniture store. Books we've got up there: Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry...I love his stuff! Chinese Stuff, a book w/ a bunch of pictures of Chinese stuff. The Two Towers, by Tolkien. Two books of poetry/story on Ruth and Job, both by John Piper. A National Geographic magazine on China, and a photo album that Karl and Liz gave us w/ a Bed Bath and Beyond gift certificate in it for our wedding gift. (Now there are pictures...we spent that money a long time ago.)
Inherited this around December. Dish towel is from Logan's MawMaw, and the cups we randomly found here in town one evening. It hangs above our coffee cabinet.
The wall of fame.
Got this idea from Lissa Anglin. Nails w/ buttons super glued to them, ribbon tied and wrapped around the nails, and pictures strung along. This is what I look at when I sit at my desk. Lots of good friends here in front of me.
The wall behind Logan's desk in his office.
Back in my office now, meet Ger/Frances. We inherited this lovely guinea pig in....April. She likes green beans, cabbage, carrots, and especially cucumbers. And toilet paper rolls on occasion.
My cookbooks...which have felt very neglected lately.....we've either been eating out, eating chicken salad sandwiches, or if Logan is gone, I have two pieces of toast or a scrambled egg and call it good.
My bamboo TEXAS cutting board! I love this! (Thank you, V!!!)
And lastly, a not so great shot of what our bathroom has been doing lately. Or, rather, what the bathroom sink of our upstairs neighbors has been doing. A slow and constant drip...which is making the area behind the tile wet (that's not a shadow) and dripping from our ceiling as well. We have told our apt. management about it, and they've come to check it out. The beauty of the situation: it will be easier for them to tear out our false ceiling to get to the leaking pipes instead of busting up their concrete floor to reach the pipes.......we'll see what happens.
--da
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Coffee Trip Round One
Last week I took out a group of dubious ruffians out to 'the mountain' to do a little coffee planting. Below are some pictures and a video of our travels. I think it was a good experience for everyone and I believe will be helpful for the work to continue in this village.
We are going back next week for a few days. Maybe enough will happen to give me new material to write Coffee Trip Round Two...
Above is a picture of coffee seedlings that were successfully (hopefully) transplanted into individual grow bags, 2500 in all. Below are bags that were filled and ready to be planted into, 12000 in all. All together there are about 20000 coffee seedlings that need to be transplanted. A lot of work is yet to be done.
On our way home the public bus was full. The next obvious solution was to call a private bus driver in. Only one problem... No electricity for over eight days, and the cell phone towers were out of service. Next logical option... Tractor... Enjoy the quick video... We were on the tractor for around two and a half hours. A ride that should have taken us 45 minutes.
We are going back next week for a few days. Maybe enough will happen to give me new material to write Coffee Trip Round Two...
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
No Water..No Electricity...maybe
There was a notice in our complex today....from 5 am tomorrow morning until 12:00 am tomorrow night (or the next day..whatever is easier to understand) the electricity and water will be turned off. Fun stuff. However, b/c our water is heated by solar panels on our roof, there are tons of water tanks on the rooftop and so I'm hoping for enough "reserve" water from those tanks for a shower in the morning. (I did fill the mop bucket in order to be able to flush the toilets...that's for sure.)
Logan says he'll believe it when he sees it. They have put up notices like this before but we didn't lose water or electricity. I can't help but think this time it is for real. I guess we'll see tomorrow morning at 5 if our A/C shuts off.
--da
Logan says he'll believe it when he sees it. They have put up notices like this before but we didn't lose water or electricity. I can't help but think this time it is for real. I guess we'll see tomorrow morning at 5 if our A/C shuts off.
--da
Thursday, May 6, 2010
anything can be qualified as typical when you live in a foreign country
10:00 am: Leave the house w/ my passport, Logan’s passport, and a copy of another friend’s passport in order to check at the post office for two packages that we are expecting.
10:05 am: Run into a lady that I have begun to love dearly over the past few weeks. She is one of the cleaning ladies for our apartment complex. She sweeps, mops and empties trash cans all day long, starting around 6 am, but not before applying bright red lipstick and painting her eyebrows on. After having tons of random, 30 second conversations over the past few weeks, she finally asks me what my name is, allows me to call her by her last name and the equivalent of Aunt, and then we end our discussion on the topic of how ridiculously hot it has been the last few days.
10:10 am: Arrive at the post office. I find the usual situation of a loud crowd of people all competing for service, and I am hesitant to elbow my way through to the front and to the guy I know is accommodating to my stuttering Chinese, but is busy at the time. My other option is to approach the not so accommodating woman who happens to be entering data into a computer, but without a crowd of people around her window.
After 3 minutes of indecision, I approach the woman.
“After you are finished with that, can you look for maybe two packages for me? One is for me, and one is for a friend of mine that has moved, but a package he was expecting did not arrive before he moved.”
She actually smiles, and quickly finishes what she is working on. Then she looks up at me, and without checking the back say, “There are no packages.”
“You are not able to look?” I reply. (There is a hint of sarcasm in the way this would translate; however I refrained from rolling my eyes.)
She gets up, consults another lady, who then tells me, “It isn’t a package, it is a letter.” (As if I don’t know the difference between the two words.) She does, however, allow me to sign and take the “letter”, which is actually a priority mail envelope..so smaller than a package, yes, but not simply a letter.
10:25 am: I leave the post office, head back towards my apartment, but stop to make copies first. 15 copies. $1.17 USD.
10:28 am: Cross the street to return to the apartment and pick up my bike before running another errand. At the entrance, I witness a man try to steal a woman’s wallet, although at first I am not aware that is what is actually happening. Here, he doesn’t run up to the woman w/ a gun and yell for her to hand over her wallet. There are no guns, so what you see is not a production of yelling and force and fear. Rather, I see him simply walking behind the woman, and then suddenly, but so subtly, he inserts what appears to be a long pair of tweezers into the pocket of her skirt. She feels it, grabs her pocket and then turns towards him. With the umbrella she is carrying to protect her skin from the sun, she hits him, and undoubtedly curses him too. As he simply walks away, her two friends have to refrain her from following him across the street and wounding him….both his body and his pride. Thief: Fail. But I have no doubt that he will try again, sooner rather than later.
--da
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Feeling hot, hot, hot...
With that title all I can actually think about is the episode of The Office where Michael and Jan go to Jamaica (or was it the Bahamas?) and Michael brings back the set of drums and plays "feeling hot hot hot" all day long in the office, that one line being all that he can play.
We've neglected the blog....so sorry. There are a lot of posts in my head, pictures that I want to take...but I just haven't done it yet. This post is to let you know we are alive...and hot. My meat thermometer says 92 degrees in my kitchen. My computer says it is 99 degrees outside. I am not for sure how accurate those are. But it feels like 105. (That would also probably be a total exaggeration on my part.) I know it could always be hotter...
Stay tuned for new and exciting posts....hopefully. :)
--da
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Dating or Married?
I arrived back home this afternoon on my bike after running some errands and seeing a friend. I parked my bike and walked over to our security guards' desk to retrieve the air pump we had left there under his desk and watchful eye. Naturally, we started talking...first of all regarding what an air pump is called in Chinese (打气筒), which led to what it is called in English, which led to me writing out the word in English and my security guard writing it out in characters. This led to a conversation about how, depending on how clear and precise a person writes, you may or may not be able to read and understand their handwriting. I immediately agreed, but countered that not all Chinese people write characters in a very (or even semi) precise and orderly fashion. Of course, he disagreed. The strokes are always the same, no matter who is writing the character. (I chose to not try and win this battle....) We moved onto to me writing and then signing my name for them, and at this point I showed them that my last name is at the end (opposed to the Chinese surname being at the beginning) and that it is the same as Logan's because we are married.
We continued to talk...about America and Chinese and Americans marrying each other and whether it is difficult to get a birth certificate....and then Logan returned home. And a few moments after Logan walked over to the desk, our security guard admitted frankly that he had up until today thought we were only dating. I threw my head back and laughed. Actually, we will have been married 3 years next month.
--da
We continued to talk...about America and Chinese and Americans marrying each other and whether it is difficult to get a birth certificate....and then Logan returned home. And a few moments after Logan walked over to the desk, our security guard admitted frankly that he had up until today thought we were only dating. I threw my head back and laughed. Actually, we will have been married 3 years next month.
--da
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Boat Racing video
The first day of Water Splashing Festival was Tuesday, and boat races were held that afternoon. The following is my first actual video to edit and put together! Many thanks to Nick and his patience in walking me through iMovie.
Just so you'll know, Wednesday's event was a parade that we missed. We were told we would be able to see it from our house...and at about 8 we heard something like monks chanting. So we ran outside, and caught what was the very end of the parade, although we didn't know it at the time. (So no video of that.)
Thursday was the actual water splashing, and you can be on the look out for a possible video from that day.
Oh, by the way, my translations in the video are a bit incorrect. It should be "good play" and not "good fun". Oops....I know this, and am not for sure why I translated it the way I did. Maybe because my brain knows that "good fun" doesn't sound as awkward as "good play"....unless you are referring to sports of course.
-da
boat races from L & DA Heinrich on Vimeo.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
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Friday, April 9, 2010
Nick's New Scooter
A few days ago, Logan and I went with Nick to help him pick out an electric scooter. The following video was supposed to be about a 45 second shot of him getting on the newly purchased scooter and driving off. But the lady wasn't quite ready to let him go, and continued to pull off the protective plastic wrap around the seat, etc...so it turned into about a 3 minute video.
I still haven't really taken the time to learn how to edit videos, but I have to admit, I kind of like the raw footage. In a small way, you get to see that as we live here and think we are about to do something simple like drive away on a new scooter, there are inevitable small delays. There are small delays as someone cuts in front of you in the grocery store checkout line, small (or rather large) delays as Logan tries to get all the paperwork done so he can obtain a drivers' license, small delays as you wait at a poorly designed intersection. None of these things are life altering. None of these things are really annoying. But sometimes it can be the little things that add up rather quickly.
Regardless, enjoy the video. (And please excuse the bad TX accent...)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Chinglish #5
At the park that we were able to visit while still on spring holiday.....the English is "Relife Lake."
Correctly translated, it should say "Free Captive Animals Lake", or even "Release Life Lake."
--da
Correctly translated, it should say "Free Captive Animals Lake", or even "Release Life Lake."
--da
Monday, March 29, 2010
Baby Kittens
This seems like one of those stories that should have been written about 2 weeks ago in order to not have to give so much backstory now. However, we have neglected the blog lately, and so a backstory is necessary. But it is short:
Our friend Nick has moved into a new house. The previous tenants had a cat, who gave birth to 4 baby kittens about 3 weeks ago. Around a week and a half later she died. Yes, this is terrible and sad, but the four kittens are alive and well. Logan and I have been helping take care of them (which just means they have stayed at our house while Nick did some traveling and as he doesn't have a refrigerator right now, he can't really keep emergency kitten formula on hand.) They will move over to his house once he gets a fridge, and we will continue to feed them and let them live in my office until he is ready for them. Anyways, here is a video we shot today. Mostly you just hear them crying, and Nick has complete rights for renaming them, especially the one we've dubbed as Graham....she will probably receive the name Baz. (That's for you, Angus.)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Toothpaste (A Video Test)
When we first moved to JH, you may remember that I posted about getting caught in the rain and frying my IPOD. Two days ago, I received a new Nano in the mail...small, cute, blue, and it has the ability to take video. So here is my first test of what the Nano can do, and what all I have to do to get the video online.
Toothpaste from Daryl-Ann Heinrich on Vimeo.
enjoy.
--da
Toothpaste from Daryl-Ann Heinrich on Vimeo.
enjoy.
--da
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Manting Park
One of our teachers holds season passes to a park here in town. Before school let out for the holiday, she loaned us these passes. We found out that they are only good for the daytime hours....around 6:00pm you have to buy a much more expensive ticket to gain entrance into the park. During the day, it is really a large, quiet, enjoyable park. At night, however, it becomes the site of the "show of all shows"....or something like that. Regardless, you pay a lot for a ticket, but then you can eat all you want, drink all the BaiJiu that you want, and enjoy dancing and singing and minority performances. (Go here for a brief introduction on BaiJiu.)
Not wanting to spend the money, or experience what all you can drink BaiJiu is like, we opted to use the free passes for a morning at the park.
Here is the view from the entrance. A statue commemorating Premier Zhou Enlai's trip to our city to celebrate the Water Splashing Festival...can't remember the year he came, but it would have been in the month of April, since that is when the Water Splashing Festival occurs. Go here for an introduction to Zhou Enlai.....
The rest of the photos are just from around the park.
Not wanting to spend the money, or experience what all you can drink BaiJiu is like, we opted to use the free passes for a morning at the park.
Here is the view from the entrance. A statue commemorating Premier Zhou Enlai's trip to our city to celebrate the Water Splashing Festival...can't remember the year he came, but it would have been in the month of April, since that is when the Water Splashing Festival occurs. Go here for an introduction to Zhou Enlai.....
The rest of the photos are just from around the park.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Cash
With the release of Johnny Cash's newest posthumously published album, there has been renewed discussion on his life and music in the Heinrich family.
Here is a brief biographical sketch Mars Hill put together a while back.
Enjoy! -LH
Here is a brief biographical sketch Mars Hill put together a while back.
Enjoy! -LH
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Chinglish #4
In a western restaurant here in our town, Logan found this sign in the restroom. I really don't know if this counts as chinglish, but the characters read: Please do not defecate. I just think its funny.
--da
--da
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Why can't we just have, like, a salad or something?
There are two sisters who live here in JH who I have become more than acquaintances w/ over the past few weeks. They own and run a milk tea/smoothie shop. Yesterday they asked me what I did every day, since right now we are still on school holiday. I started off w/, "Well, usually I go and buy food....". They interrupted me before I could continue, saying, "Why? You don't cook!" I politely reminded them that I had told them before that I don't cook Chinese food; if we want that, we go out. And that I can cook a decent range of western food at home. So the younger sister handed me a note pad and pen and said, "Write down a recipe, for something easy...like...a salad!" My stomach churned and my head began to spin and ache immediately. She didn't know what she was asking me to do. Although I could say probably every word, I have no idea how to write most of the characters, except for the easy ones...like 个 (ge), which is a measure word. Thankfully, Logan walked by on his way home, and they took this as a sign that I should be going too. I told them I would type it up and bring it by today.
Of course, today, I sat down at my computer and wondered how in the world would I write a recipe for a salad. Not to mention that there is no true lettuce here. An abundance of different types of cabbage, and some spinach too, but no lettuce like we know it in the states. In fact, I made sandwiches a few days ago and didn't buy "lettuce" b/c I always end up w/ something slightly bitter. I have been told what I can use, but what exactly this leafy plant looks like escapes me every time I go to the market. (And regardless of what it looks like, most everything is called baicai, which we translate into cabbage.)
Anyways, this is what I came up with. I'm not entirely sure if it is all correct, chances are that there are mistakes. I'm not for sure on the word used for chop or tear, and I converted the dressing measurements to mL and grams, although I'm not for sure if the words my dictionary gave me are the right ones for those measurements. I am not for sure if it honestly matters, though. Every time I have seen a Chinese person cook, they just "eyeball" it. Oh well.....
沙拉 Salad
一些 菠菜 spinach
1 个 白菜 cabbage (不苦)(not bitter)
2 个 番茄 tomato
1 个 胡萝卜 carrot
1 个 黄瓜 cucumber
½ 个 洋葱 onion (紫色的)(purple)
½ 个 美国 菜花 broccoli
1 个 红青椒 red bell pepper (不辣)(not hot)
撕毁菠菜和白菜。Tear the spinach and cabbage.
剁其他的材料。Chop the other ingredients.
拌。Mix.
把酱放在上面。Put the sauce (dressing) on top.
酱 Dressing
120 毫升 油 oil
120 毫升 醋 vinegar
1 个 瓣大蒜 garlic （剁）
8 公分（克） 白糖 sugar
10 公分（克） 盐 salt
拌。Mix.
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