老人车

Today I tried my hand at driving a 老人车 (Old Person Car... literal translation) and to my disdain proved myself not to be an adequate driver of this three-wheel scooter that belongs to my supervisor's wife.

Here is the story... I was sitting at my supervisor's house when my friend Nick called asking our supervisor's wife is some one can come pick him up at the apartment's front gate because he has recently hurt his ankle and is on crutches. I willfully volunteered to drive her 老人车 and pick up Nick having never received any instruction on how it drives. Eban and I (Supervisor's oldest) jumped into the scooter and went on our way. Keep in mind we are in an apartment complex where no one drives over 5 mph. Before we even got to the end of the aisle where their apartment is located a car began to turn in and stopped in the middle of the street to let me pass. The path between the car and the curb was indeed narrow, but after trying the hand brakes and not slowing down at all I decided to commit (or should I say the scooter committed for me). While squeezing into this small space the scooter indeed did come to a stop... right up against this poor person's car. They backed up exposing some substantial damage to their bumper. The man jumped out of his car and was completely baffled. I looked at the scooter and seeing that it was in good shape (despite a bent fender) told the guy I will be right back and need to go pick up a friend at the front gate. I then told Eban to go get his dad and I will be right back.

Upon returning to the scene of the accident the man suggested me giving him 500 kuai (around 70 dollars) to compensate and calling it even. Knowing that it was totally my fault and delighted at how little money he wanted to fix his significantly new car (I estimate it was 300-400 dollars damage to US standards), I gave him the money and we went on our way.

I eventually learned that the hand breaks didn't work at all and that there was a foot brake that I didn't notice which is what should be used to stop the scooter.

Just one more example where I have proven myself the stupid foreigner who cant even drive a Geriatric-mobile in a 5 mph residential zone.

Another Entry on Running..Minus the Rain

Call me ridiculous, but this morning while running across a bridge that spans the MeKong, all I wanted was to be able to run like this man, minus the mustache of course.

I know, I know...ridiculous.  

--da

2 points to whoever knew who it was before having to read the caption in the picture or googling the name.  

One Long Day

Today (and yesterday) I traveled to BJ for my dental work and it proved to be quite the ordeal. First of all there was a direct flight from our current place of residence directly to BJ (good news) but it departed around 9:00 pm putting me in BJ around 1:30 AM. I deemed this undesirable since I am not too familiar with this mega city and did not want to be stranded in the middle of the night... with little language I might add. Option two, take a flight that had one layover in out provincial capital and then arrive at BJ before midnight. Deal!

Well I choose the later option which after all the delays put me in BJ around 3:00 AM. Add an hour taxi ride to that and that puts me in my hotel at 4:00 AM.

I am mainly telling you this because I made some good friends along the way and why I am thankful for the 12 hours of air travel I was able to experience.

One way a young Jewish lady heading back to Israel after many months of study in CHN. She invited me and DA to Israel where she will house us and show us around. Cool girl.

The other and perhaps more exciting acquaintance I made was the guy sitting next to me on the plain. I didn't say anything to him (my regret) until we were landing and my question was 'Ni shuo ying yu ma?' (Do you speak English) in which he replied 'keyi' (I can). I asked him if the subway was running and he told me no and this began a deep conversation. He had been visiting his mother in the hospital who is dying of cancer and he was returning to BJ to go back to work. What is crazy about this is this guy is from the province the team worked for many years prior to us joining, and even more amazing than that is that his english is great. I told him that I would pr-y for his mother and his eyes got big and he immediately asked if I was a X-ian. I told him I was and he told me he was too. So we immediately became friends and hopefully over the next few days of me being in BJ I will be able to meet with him and encourage him and he me in each of our own trying situations.

Lesson learned.... Don't hate delays

Teeth Story...Cont

As you all know last month I had to go to BeiJing to get a root canal for a tooth that was bothering me. The story goes on...

I though about not telling anyone because for some reason I am slightly embarrassed about it, but as I was walking to class last week an old crown on a different tooth popped off. The diagnosis... back to Beijing for a week. Resetting the old crown would be the simple and normal procedure for fixing this problem, but after the crown came off I noticed a hole in the top of the crown that the previous dentist (7 years ago!) made getting the crown to fit in my mouth. So what would have been as easy procedure has turned into a slightly major ordeal. I will be heading out tomorrow or the next day and will be in BeiJing for 4 to 5 days.

In the midst of all this I can not but remind myself that God is not only in control of the state of my teeth, but also the glorious reality that anything he permits his children to endure he also provides what it takes to get through it. I can recount situation after situation of God providing for me in my times of need (the biggest one being his son for my sin), and I know this will be no exception. So pr-y for DA and I as we once again will be apart for a week or so. I am actually excited for the opportunity to send 4 or 5 days in strict study, of both the Chinese language, the system of B-ddhism, and most importantly the beauties of my King. Pr-y I will make the most of it.

LH

Haircut

Logan got tired of his long hair....it was too hot.  So this was the outcome.  This first picture is kind of half way through the hair cut.

Not for the faint of heart, here is the massive amount of hair we cut off.  Kind of gross when it isn't on his head.
Ah, much cooler, but I kind of miss his long hair.  Oh well.
--da

Two Pictures from the House....

Upon moving in, there was a little bit of work to do...moving furniture, cleaning, etc.  While moving the cabinet the TV was on, I found this jewel....corn on the cob.  And not just corn on the cob, but nice and black and fermenting corn on the cob.  THAT'S where that stench was coming from!  

Yesterday, I took this picture..around 1200.  My cooking thermometer, reading right at 90 degrees Fahrenheit....32.222 degrees Celsius for those of you who care to know.  The kitchen wall facing out is straight windows facing the east, so in the morning it is toasty in there if the sky is clear.

Thankfully, we have an A/C in our bedroom that keeps us nice and cool at night so that we can sleep.   

--da

Funny Story

So, today, I decided to get back on the bandwagon and start running again. It has been hard to keep a consistent schedule due to lots of moving around and general busy-ness. However, I woke up this morning, got up, donned my running clothes, grabbed my IPOD and headed out the door.

Ran down a road we hadn't ventured yet, but no problem. I was plodding along and enjoying both Collective Soul and some Coldplay when I came to a good turning around point. As I turned, what previously had been a light sprinkle turned into a slightly heavier rain. I wasn't too worried, I just reminded myself that it was like running in the rain in Lbk, which I have done before. However, it quickly changed into a torrential downpour. Literally, I felt like I was in the middle of a tropical storm. The rain and wind grew stronger, but what was I to do? If I stopped and waited it out, I could be out for hours....I was already pretty soaked, why not just keep going?

So I did. It was pretty bad, and then got worse when I continued to go straight (instead of veering to the left ever so slightly) and wound up about 6 minutes away from my house. I knew I was lost, but had no idea just exactly where I was. I stopped, walked, and said these exact words to an old man, "I got up, went for a run, and now I don't know where I live. Do you know where Jing Shui An is? I live there, near Peacock Lake. Do you know where Jing Shui An is?" He replied that he didn't know. So I thanked him and continued to walk. At this point, I could tell where I was, and just trudged home.

Before getting safely home though, I saw a guy try to kill a rat by stomping on it....when it rains a lot, the sewers flood and the rats come up through the grates in the street ("There were rats, Dad."). Instead of freaking out, like I did last week when I saw rats climbing up through the grate, I calmly stepped back into the rain and around both the man and rat, which was still alive. As I neared my house, I was warned by a woman that the water was going to wash me away if I continued on the path I was on (by this point I wasn't paying attention) so I crossed over into the street and then back over through the gate to our apartment complex.

I was greeted by Logan at the door. He had attempted to go out and look for me. Next time I run, I will carry 10 RMB in my shorts....just in case I need to catch a taxi.

--da

Apartment Tour

Apartment de Logan & DA from Nitro on Vimeo.

New Name

Today our teacher gave me a name.  She desired it to sound similar to my real name, and although that wasn't my first desire, she actually found a name w/ a meaning that fits me more than other names that have been given.  

At first I saw that it meant gentle and flexible.  Yeah right.  But upon further reading, I saw that it also means "firm but gentle, an iron hand in a velvet glove."  I feel like that hits the nail pretty much on the head.  

So, Dai Rou it is. 

-da

代柔

New Place

I know it has been a while, but things have been crazy busy. We officially are moved into our permanent home and almost completely settled in. It is perfect for us. We are having a lot of fun with it. We don't have internet so access to us may seem sparse for the next few weeks, but hopefully that will clear itself up soon and we will once again be electronically connected to the west.

A team of seven from Oxford, England are joining us for around two months. They are great and we are having a ton of fun learning some British English.

Anyways, we will do our best to keep you in the loop.

LH