Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...

One of our teacher's insisted that we study Kung Fu for the first several weeks of this new semester. So every Thursday morning after class we head out to the soccer field for an hour or so to give it a try!

Our instructor is really good, and pretty intense! The 1st video is one of the warm-ups he has us doing...

Haha!!! I'm still trying to figure out how to say, "My body doesn't do that!"

And this next video is one of my classmates and I following him through a sequence of Kung Fu moves.

If we get some speed going, perhaps it'd be a little more intimidating! ;)

But anyways, please remember Mr. S and the last few weeks we have together with him!

Country Roads....Take me Home

This past weekend we traveled out to the countryside to visit our friend Sally's family and hometown. I had such a great time...so great that I've dedicated the following 4 posts to stories and pics of our time there!

The first night we arrived, we went out for a walk around the town. We got to watch ladies dancing, people singing karaoke to the sound of ancient Asian instruments ("erhu karaoke"), and eat some sugar cane!!

The next day we went out to her relatives homes, and spent the day with them! Her relatives were so gracious to us, and really made us feel like part of the family! I was absolutely blown away by the Maker's handiwork...that these people call their backyard!

This is the house of one of Sally's aunts.

When we first arrived, we went trekking through the fields to pick oranges.

As I was walking around I kept thinking about how everything these people are as farmer's of the land depends upon the hand of their Maker...though they've yet to acknowledge it.
"The Maker is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love...
he is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made...
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."
Ps. 145

Eatting Up

All of our dishes for lunch came fresh from the fields and water and livestock!

All the family pulled together to create a feast! It kinda felt like Thanksgiving Day!

This is the biggest wok I've ever seen!

La Jiao (pepper)...this is a favorite to put in the dishes in our neck of the woods! I've actually acquired a taste for spicy food...one of the many miracles the Maker's done!

The lunch feast!

The Son says,
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

Hanging Around

After lunch we got to spend time talking and hanging out in the shade!

I got to teach all the cousins how to play spoons...using peanuts! And they played with all their heart!

We made jokes about catching a chicken all day (there were plenty of them running around)... and our friend actually got ahold of one!

Sally with her Mom and Dad! Her looks are a combination of both of them! Her Dad was so sweet...he took pleasure in cooking meals for us all weekend!

A shot of the whole family gathering. This is just part of her Mom's side of the family.

Turns out that one of her Aunts is a sister of ours!

Going Fishing

In the late afternoon we headed out to an uncle's pond to go fishing!

Val was bravely helping get our bait...fresh worms straight from the dirt!

One of the lil cousins hopped in the pond for a swim. We weren't getting much action on our hooks...so he started catching fish with his bear hands! He actually swam over and tried to put a fish on the end of my hook...but it got loose before it made it on there.

But finally...after a couple of hours...I caught one!!!

Don't hurt your eyes trying to find it...it was pretty small! But it was a catch none the less. I actually got to eat that fish the next day in a soup!

Thank Sally's maker for such a wonderful time...may she and her precious family soon acknowledge his worth!!!

The Gift that keeps on Giving

This past week we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Day Festival. There are lots of stories as to how this day became a time of celebration...and they all have to do with the moon, yet none to do with it's incredible maker. The festival is always celebrated in the 8th month of the lunar calendar when the moon is full! The speciality for this holiday is the Moon Cake! The outside of the moon cake is sort of like pie crust...but the inside is always a surprise. The inside may be filled with anything from fruit, egg, meats, to sometimes even local favorites like hot peppers or "sea" flavor. We've been given many to try, and we've also given many away to friends, only to recieve more...which we then give away again...only to again recieve more...haha...they're definitely the gift that just keeps on giving!

We were really excited to spend time at a new friend's home on the night of the festival. She and her husband are teachers at one of the universities, and they invited us over with some of their former students who are now working in the city. We actually got to catch a glimpse of the moon as our new friends walked us home...beautiful...but only for about 5 seconds before the clouds covered it back up again.

I think this was round number 5 on coming back to the table to eat!

Bright Sun-shiny Day!

One of my student teachers, Fish, just got a job as a tour guide. She's been dying to take me places so she can practice. She knows so much about the city...so I've been soaking up the history and culture of the people as she's shared it! Last week she took me to a park in the middle of the city, that I'd never even heard of, but it was beautiful!

After we walked around for a while she lead us to a large pagoda. She'd been telling me about this pagoda for days and how it has the best views of the city. So 20 flights of stairs later we finally reached the top!

Not too foggy! Yay!

After making a few circles around the top and taking lots of pics I figured we'd go back down. But Fish told me that if we stayed until nightfall the view would be worth the wait, and that it'd be silly to pay and climb up the stairs twice in one day...so we chatted, practiced language, told stories...for nearly 3 hours hanging out at the top of the pagoda.

During the wait we got to watch the sunset (above), and the moon appear (below). My heart was just about to explode with joy watching our Father's creation! And our Maker provided the opportunity to teach Fish this poem:
"The he@vens declare the gl0ry of the Father;
the skies proclaim the works of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is NO speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."

And we finally got to see the skyline fill up with lights as nightfall came over the city!

On the way back to our school we got off at the wrong bus stop...so while searching for another bus...we ended up getting another great view!!!