Kuert Fried Rice

Fireworks

2012-02-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

We had the amazing opportunity once again to experience Chinese New Year here in Kunming. We love the transformation that happens in the city on the eve of the weeklong celebration. Packed markets turn into ghost towns and crowded streets finally have a chance to breathe. The day is eerily quiet, devoid of the usual hustle and bustle as families gather to share a special meal. There is a peace that falls over the city...until dusk, that is. That's when the fireworks begin. Nothing compares to what transpires in the sky over a Chinese city on New Year's Eve. I think I’ve finally figured out what sets this experience apart. In America, a few people "behind the scenes" are responsible to make sure the whole thing goes off well. Everyone else finds the best spot to sit back and watch the show. In China, nobody sits in a crowd to watch and there are no bad spots. Everybody is out on every corner adding to the spectacle with their own explosive offering. The outbursts thunder from every corner and back alley and flare up in every direction. The effect is a stunning display that lasts for hours.

There's another scene that comes to mind with striking parallels. It happens every Sunday when a few people work desperately to create a spark, but the vast majority are sitting back watching the show. If your experience of church has become dull and dry it could be due to the fact that you have become a spectator when Christian community was meant to be so much more of a collective effort. Something amazing happens when everyone contributes and everyone is involved. The excitement is palpable, the joy is sustainable, and the impact is impossible to ignore.

2012 is here!

2012-01-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

It is a new year! For Jon and I, it should be a year of huge changes, as we hope to see our adoption finalized and become parents in 2012. We have waited over five years for this blessing of seeing our family grow.

This morning when we woke up, we looked out the window of our bedroom at Jon's parents house, and saw two deer in the woods. Looking closer, it appeared to be a mother and baby deer. I think it was a little promise from God to me, and I'm holding on to it for this year ahead.

getting closer...

2011-11-19T17:19:00.000-08:00

It seems like every day there’s a new baby belly photo posted from someone on facebook. It’s the only time that women love to document their expanding stomachs and share about their food cravings. Those nine months of intense joy, fear and excitement are a journey we have yet to experience, but our “pregnancy” road has also been crazy and wonderful in a way all its own.

My belly hasn’t bulged, but we feel like we’ve grown in so many ways through this adoption process. Our patience has been tested, our determination challenged and our faith strengthened as we’ve walked through each step. The first application we filled out was on May 10, 2010, so our “pregnancy” has already lasted over 18 months - I’m way overdue. The incredible joy we've experienced hasn't come after seeing an ultrasound but rather after successfully getting a document notarized or completing another form. We’ve felt fear as we were interviewed, and had our house tested to assess our qualifications as parents. Nursery preparation is underway, but the closet is still bare, as we don’t know her age, size or special needs yet. We’ve humbled ourselves as we invited our family and friends to help us raise the nearly $26,000 in funds needed to pay adoption fees. Morning sickness? Not so much. But, sleepless nights wondering if we forgot a signature and might have to re-submit an entire government application, has happened more than once. Our daily prayers are for her health and safety but also that she is feeling loved by the orphanage workers. We pray for her long-lost mother, who must have found herself in extreme circumstances to let go of this beautiful little girl. And we give thanks to God that we will be so blessed to love her, and become her forever family.

Our “pregnancy” has been longer, and filled with more uncertainty and unpredictability than we could have imagined. Our nine months is actually going to be over two years by the time we hold our baby in our arms. But we’ve been told that this joy we are anticipating will be more than worth the wait, and we believe that with all our hearts. We long for that day when we don’t guess at her size, dream about her face and wonder what her name should be. God has our perfect little girl already picked out for us, and we can hardly wait to give birth to our new family.

Please continue praying for the remaining months of our journey, and for our daughter as well. At this stage, we are just waiting to be matched with her, and go through the final stages of our adoption. Please prayerfully consider helping us with the last push for finances - we just need $4,255 to finish paying our fees. Finally, THANK YOU for all of your kindness, prayers and support through this adoption process. We are so incredibly blessed by all of you.

Rollin', Day 4

2011-08-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Looks a little unstable, but at least it would be a soft landing!

Rollin', Day 3

2011-08-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

What's not to love about a bike full of flowers?!

Rollin', Day 2

2011-08-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

You think you're carrying a heavy load?!

Rollin'

2011-08-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

I decided this week that it might be fun to share some of the more interesting photos we see during our daily life here in China. You can find just about anything rolling around on wheels over here.

Seriously haven't seen one of these since I played my Huey Lewis and the News cassette tape back in 1985. Awesome.

camping in china

2011-08-14T04:26:00.000-07:00

As hard as we've tried...we just can't seem to find that same 'out in the wilderness' feeling on our camping trips here in China. This weekend we ventured to a nearby, very large lake to try and find something simple and quiet for one night of tent living. It started with just 3 couples, but the further we drove, the more people & cars we had to stop and wait for to join our party. Our final numbers were 10 adults, 4 children, 6 tents. The drive was nice - right along the edge of the water, well maintained road, blue skies above. We dipped in and out of small villages and finally began to stop at a few spots where one of our friends had said 'he knew of the perfect spot'. Turns out, there were about 4 of these spots to choose from, none of which came close to our idea of 'perfect' camping. Jon and I like to be fully self-contained when camping - all gear fits into our backpacks, we park the car, and walk into the woods at least one hour, so we can't hear cars & don't see people. This trip was not that kind.

Each time we saw our self appointed "group leader's" car brake, we held our breath to see where he was taking us next. It was basically a series of beach-side, drive-in campgrounds that were filled with people frolicking in the water on a lovely Saturday. The kids in our party wanted to swim, so we landed on the busiest beach, chock full of people, blow-up toys and grilled Chinese meats. We parked our row of cars snugly between the road and the sand, within 6 footsteps of where we stuck our tent stakes in. All 6 tents fit neatly at the edge of the parking lot, just barely on the sand. Between honking cars, passing tractors and excited people, it was not the peaceful spot we had dreamed of. HOWEVER, when the sun went down, our crew began to trail off to bed, and we hopped into our cozy Marmot tent...all I could hear was the sound of sweet waves hitting the shore as I drifted off to sleep...and then a big truck roared by.

whirlwind

2011-07-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

it's amazing how quickly time goes by. we looked forward with so much anticipation to coming back to visit friends and family in the U.S. and just like that, it's already coming to an end. We started off in Rochester with the Cookmans for two weeks, headed to Minneapolis to visit friends for 4 days, visited some family and the beach in Florida for another 4 days and are currently in PA maximizing our time with the Kuerts and Bogaczyks. In just a few short days, it's back to MN and then on to Kunming. We have loved every minute of our visit and will miss everyone here when we head back. however, we also miss our friends in China and look forward to getting back into the flow of life there once again.

Easter Funnies

2011-04-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

I guess it’s probably not a bad thing, but this was one of the most non-traditional Easter Sunday’s we’ve experienced in awhile. To start, we schlepped 3 dishes, on our scooter, in the rain to church on Sunday morning to meet the requirements of our Easter potluck at the international church. The service was incredible - powerful worship, adrenaline filled speaker and great fellowship with our brothers & sisters from all over the world. And then we started the lunch line, with lots more people than there were dishes. Although we prayed for the food to multiply like the loaves & fishes, we were still left with a few spoonfuls of lettuce and white rice by the time we hit the start of the line. As we leaned against the wall with our near-empty paper plates chatting with our friends, we figured at least we will get a good taste of some desserts, right? After Jon was recruited to ‘guard’ one dessert table as it was set up, we began to worry about the level of enthusiasm from people wanting to get their sweets on. In the end, we did each get a cookie for dessert, so that was nice. Then Jon and I came home & made ourselves some ‘Easter’ egg omelets.
The thing that struck us about this day was that we walked away remembering the service more than anything else. Often we walk away from Easter and remember most fondly the food, the chocolates and the marshmallow bunnies. This year really allowed us to focus on our communion with the Lord and celebrating his powerful resurrection, which really is miraculous.

The Puzzle is COMPLETE!

2011-04-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU to all of our Family & Friends for helping us get this whole puzzle sponsored! You sponsored 300 pieces of this puzzle at $20 each, and many of you even gave above that. We have raised an incredible amount of money towards our adoption, and we are so grateful for such loving, generous people in our lives. Our daughter will never forget all of you as she sees your names written on this puzzle. Thank you so much again.

March Madness in China

2011-03-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking about our brackets here (although Jon suffered a severe hit with Duke going down), but the kind of madness that we've been having this month over here. We've been searching for a new apartment, which is positively hilarious in China. Every single place we've looked at makes a freshman guys dorm room feel like paradise. They haven't yet caught on to the idea of 'staging' a place to make it more appealing. Instead, we walk in to pools of soy sauce on the floor, random items left behind by the last tenant and dust piled up like MN snow drifts. Needless to say, the real estate agents are so excited to help us, that we regularly get a chance to see apartments that don't even come close to meeting the requirements we've told them we want. "We're looking for a clean, un-furnished apartment, with 2 bathrooms." Agent: "Oh, okay, let's go see these two places we've got that are suitable for you." The first one has dust piles in every corner, smells like a dumpster and has 1 bathroom. Strike 1. We are polite and say something like "Thanks, but it doesn't quite have what we are looking for...", and we move on to the second one. There is soo much furniture crammed into this place that we can hardly walk anywhere! We're talking full living room set, full bedroom sets, large Chinese vases, random kitchen table set and tons of other junk. Not exactly UN-furnished. Still, we find the humor in these moments and give our best foreigner smile and positive attitude to the agents, thanking them so much for their time.

After many days of seeing places that make us cringe, we happen upon an agent who has helped other foreigners like us find a nice new apartment. She's very kind, and says she understands the kind of place we are looking for, and she has one that sounds just perfect for us. We don't get our hopes up too high as she walks us through a beautiful neighborhood, filled with cherry blossoms, sunshine and amazing landscaping. We arrive at a building in the back of the complex, hop in the elevator and go all the way up to the 18th floor, the top of the building. As she turns the key in the door, we catch a glimpse of a place that makes our hearts smile so big. It REALLY was clean! It REALLY had 2 bathrooms! It REALLY had no furniture. AND, it had an incredible view of the mountain we love to climb.

So last weekend, we sealed the deal on that place, and are so excited to get ourselves moved over in the next month or so.

In addition to that madness...we've experienced some other mad goodness this month:
~ We've raised nearly $9,000 towards our adoption! This is an insane amount of money, and we feel overwhelmed at the generosity of our family & friends.
~ We have FINISHED one big step in our adoption process! This month, we wrapped up our Home Study process, which is one very large step now behind us. We are moving on to Immigration Forms and gathering our Dossier.
~ We both had birthdays this month, and celebrated by taking a couple days away at a beautiful little guesthouse near Dali. You can see below that we were surrounded by a peaceful village atmosphere - it was a great escape from the busy city life in Kunming!
~ And another wild thing happened this month...STARBUCK'S began construction on their first shop in Kunming. Yes, we are very, very excited. Please consider increasing your support by about $20/month so we can indulge. kidding...

Adoption Puzzle Update: We're Over Halfway There!

2011-03-05T23:37:00.000-08:00

We're so thrilled to share that our puzzle fundraiser is more than halfway there! THANKS to everyone who has participated so far, and become part of our daughter's story. It has been really cool to write the names of our family members, old friends and even many new friends on these puzzle pieces. God has brought these funds in from so many different amazing places!
BUT...we aren't done yet! Would you take a minute to share our chipin link & invite everyone you know to buy a puzzle piece to help us reach our $6,000 goal? We know we can do it with your help.
Here is where puzzle pieces can be purchased:
http://kuertkid.chipin.com/kuert-adoption
Thanks so, so much! We love you guys!

shock and awe

2011-02-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

We were standing on a friend’s 11th floor balcony at about 12:02 am on Chinese New Year amazed yet again at the sight and sound of approximately 5 of the 6 million giddy people in our city shooting off fireworks together. There are not many non-Chinese people who get the chance to experience what we did during those 40 minutes of constant explosions and we’ve had the chance twice...pretty awesome. If you have a 50 by 50 list of things to do (aka: bucket list), this should be on it. While it gives you an idea, this video seriously doesn’t do justice to Chinese New Year Kunming Style. Enjoy!

Be A Piece of our Little Girl's Puzzle!

2011-01-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

We could use your help to raise $6,000 towards our next step in the adoption process...so we created a way to not only allow you to be a part of raising funds, but your name will also be a part of the incredible visual reminder to show our daughter how God provided a way for her!

Here's how it works:
When you sponsor a piece of the puzzle for $20, we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece. As pieces are purchased and the puzzle comes together, our daughter will not only have a beautiful picture on her wall, but a reminder of all the friends that came together to help her join our family.

To reach our $6,000 goal by March 1st, we only need 300 friends to buy one piece each!

Buy your piece of the puzzle through our ChipIn! account on the right!

Yeah Baby!

2010-10-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the newest addition to our blog? Check out the ChipIn box on the right side bar...we're on the road to adopting a Chinese baby! We're so excited for the days ahead, and anticipate her arrival. We'd love your help as we work hard to raise the necessary funds to make this happen. Thanks so much!

sweet kicks

2010-09-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Since we met, Elissa and I have had the same conversation about footwear countless times. It goes something like this:

Elissa: Which shoes should I wear?

Jon: Which ones are more comfortable?

Jon: Which ones are warmer?

Jon: Which ones will keep you more dry?

Elissa: Oh, forget it, these ones are cuter.

Clearly my footwear creed is function over fashion. So, the picture below of me in Crocs should not be surprising. What is surprising, however is the second picture of Elissa ready to go out IN PUBLIC in her $1.50 teal blue chinese galoshes. Looks like all those conversations are starting to make a difference.

i want to ride my bicycle

2010-09-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some seriously generous and thoughtful donations, I now have my very own bicycle over here! Thank you so much friends! Jon is saying that I now have my wings, and I think he's a little sad that i don't need a lift on his scooter for every single little errand i need to run. I have to admit, I have a new feeling of freedom when I hop on and take to the open road here...even though the open road is super cramped, loaded with cars, bikes, scooters, people and tons of other unimaginable entertainment. And I truly thought that I would obey the laws of the road once I started peddling on my own here in China. What a joke. There hardly are any laws...and the ones that exist are only there to be challenged using your own creativity. I better wear my helmet.

State Fair?

2010-08-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's State Fair time in Minnesota, and while you may have deep fried pancake wrapped, bacon rolled hotdogs, we have some specialties of our own here in China. We wanted to share some photos from a recent annual festival we went to in Dali, China. It's just like the MN State Fair...kind of.

can demons possess scooters?

2010-08-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

When I got off my electric scooter and tried to engage the alarm, there was only silence. It had been "losing it's voice" steadily over the last week, but now the voice was gone. That was a little unsettling considering the fact that i have already had one scooter stolen here. As it turns out, the alarm was the least of my problems last Wednesday.

When i came out of the store and hopped on the now silent scooter, a strange and funny thing happened. To be honest, it's only funny now as i look back on it. The only way to describe it is to have you picture a shiny blue mechanical bull in a bustling public parking lot with a confused 30 something white male on top as dozens of slightly amused Chinese people stare on. Yeah, that about sums it up. I am only partially kidding when i say that my scooter became demon possessed. I jumped off and backed away looking around as we all do in situations like this, scanning for a friendly sympathetic face. Then, without warning, the unmanned scooter began to rock back and forth as if taunting me, daring me to have another go-round. I cautiously inched forward and snatched the key thereby solving the problem...or so i thought. Imagine my surprise as the unmanned and now keyless scooter gyrated wildly adding bewilderment to my embarrassment.

I tried for the next several minutes to ride the scooter home. I am sure now i know how my mom felt sitting in the chevy chevette the first time she tried to drive a stick shift. Sorry for ever laughing at that, mom. Finally, when all attempts at driving failed, i was reduced to the ride of shame sitting atop the electric scooter, flinging both feet backward and working way too hard for every inch. I must say, most days I love my scooter. Last Wednesday was not one of them.

Business Class...the rest of the story

2010-08-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

With the taste of chocolate drizzled strawberry cheesecake lingering in our mouths, we reluctantly disembarked the plane and made our way to the luggage hall where we quickly discovered the downside to our upgrade. As the last of the bags trickled off of the belt we saw a few familiar faces...the other poor saps who took the bait in Minneapolis. That family didn’t get any of their bags either. We had wondered about this scenario at the decision point, but the lure of the fully automated reclining seats was much too strong.

Thankfully, we had already planned to spend two nights in Shanghai on our way home, so waiting another 24 hours for our bags to come wasn’t too much of a disappointment. The only real drag was having to don our trans-pacific flight clothes again the next morning and endure the 97 degree Shanghai heat as we traipsed around the city. By the end of the day when we finally received the call from the airport that our bags had arrived, we contemplated sending our clothes to pick them up as they were now able to walk on their own. You’d think we would know by now to pack some extra necessary items in our carry-ons.

In the end, all of our bags arrived full of clean clothes and deodorant and we were happy and content again dreaming of the next upgrade which we would take in a heartbeat...if it ever comes.

Business Class

2010-07-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever, Jon and I were thrilled to enjoy traveling Business Class on our flights back to China. With an overbooked flight out of Minneapolis, Delta asked if we’d be willing to fly 2 hours later, and take a slightly different route to get over to Shanghai...in return they would upgrade our seats, and give us some vouchers for future travel. They hardly got the the full offer out before we both said an enthusiastic - Yes! I can’t even begin to tell you how giddy we felt when we boarded the plane through the ‘priority’ line, and turned left onto the plane instead of right. If you’ve ever flown on one of these big planes, you know what I’m talking about...always looking longingly up at those cushy seats with comforters, everyone having their pre-flight drinks, and having enough leg room that even Shaq could lay straight. And the flight attendants were actually sweet too - amazing! Needless to say, I slept like a baby, ate like a queen and even wished we had 10 more hours of flying to enjoy. I’m totally ruined...I’ll never be able to fly coach class without complaining again.

God Bless America

2010-07-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you that didn’t know, we are currently in the US on a quick visit to see family & friends and raise more support for our next year in China. As you would guess, our time is flying by faster than we can comprehend. We’ve had some incredibly fun times with people already, and have just a couple weeks left of all this USA hamburger goodness before we head back for our second year to serve in China.

We’ve gotten a few slaps on the wrist for slacking on our blog recently, so we wanted to at least put something new up here while we are in the US. Here are a couple of family photos of all the fun we’ve been having!

Every day here reminds us of how beautiful this country is, and how much we love it. We love being near our families, friends and American food...but even still, wouldn’t change our lives in China for anything right now. We’re looking forward to the year ahead with great anticipation about what God’s going to do through us.

I live in...

2010-05-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

My parents used to make up names for the cities around western Pennsylvania. I'm not sure whether it was just for fun or to show what they really thought about the places. Either way, Aliquippa became Ali-creep-a. Coraopolis, became Crappy-opolis. Leechburg became Leech-bed and on and on it went. Recently, while driving out of Kunming we saw a sign for a town that really fits on my parents' list without a lot of editing. If you ever complained about the name of your hometown, rest easy. It could be worse...

(for those of you who speak chinese a little liberty has to be taken, but who's checking...)

back in business

2010-05-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

The outpouring of love and compassion you have all shown us regarding our coffee pot has been...quite funny, actually. We received loads of suggestions about what to do and three people even offered to send us new ones! For all those of you that shared our pain, today I have good news. We got the coffee pot fixed! We found a "fix it guy" next to our vegetable market. You can tell he is a "fix it guy" by the mountains of half torn apart blenders, tv's, radios and dvd players spilling out of his shop. I approached timidly because we haven't quite hit the crucial "my coffee pot is broken" lesson in our Chinese book. Turns out I had no need to worry as our communication was more than adequate and two days later i walked out of his shop with a working coffee pot that cost me a whopping 40RMB ($5.88).

On a side note: through all of this we borrowed a french press from a friend that actually worked a lot better than ours and i have been re-introduced to the joy of the press. It's a good option for those of you that care enough to try.

keeping it real

2010-04-23T03:06:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I look back on my days here and realize just how different our lives have become since we move to China ten months ago. For example...

1. I'm beginning to believe that I'm actually quite tall, at 5'3".

2. I try to haggle over the $1.25 price of a scarf at the market.

3. I don’t leave home without toilet paper.

4. I’m no longer flinching every few seconds when I take a taxi ride.

5. I know how to re-set the power in my kitchen three different ways.

6. Although I will never think it’s okay, I no longer take a second glance at seeing a small child going to the bathroom on the sidewalk. Which also leads me to share the fact that people do NOT splash around in the puddles that scatter the sidewalks and streets…even when it’s raining.

7. We think nothing of a parent pointing directly at us, and in a loud voice that we most certainly can hear, saying to their young child “laowai, laowai!” (which translates “foreigner, foreigner!”).

8. Our options of transportation to get around town are: an electric scooter, a crowded bus, or a dirty taxi.

9. Getting groceries takes a minimum of 2 hours and 3 stops.

10. Receiving a box in the mail is the equivalent to finding gold at the end of a rainbow (thanks family & friends!!).

11. I might start a side business of charging the Chinese to take their picture with us. What? Our support could be cut in half!

12. We buy XXXL size shirts over here.

13. My definition of a western restaurant is any place in town that brings me a fork with my meal.

14. I browse the import aisle of our food store like it’s a new JCrew spring catalog.

15. We own a purple, two-headed, scooter rain poncho that we use often during rainy season. (and we laugh every time we put it on – quite a sight)

All of these things, in a funny way, warm my heart because they are becoming more and more like home to me. And as long as we can laugh, snicker and truly find the humor in these moments, I’m pretty sure we’re exactly where we should be.

i miss you

2010-04-06T00:51:00.001-07:00

We lost something special this week...

our coffee pot died and you have no idea how much that can affect your mornings! The first morning i took it apart and promptly realized that i don’t have the slightest clue how to fix it. So now we have a real problem on our hands. We have been stalling to buy a new one because anything more than a 4 cup glorified barbie tea pot is too expensive. Finally, today I have turned to music to express my feelings and who better to borrow songs about difficulties in life from than Miley Cyrus. I have adapted her song, “I Miss You” to fit my particular situation. I hope you enjoy it.

I miss you

I miss your smile (your smell, your sound, your gold basket filter)

And I still shed a tear (and get massive headaches)

Every once in a while (every single morning so far)

And even though it's different now (we’re using the lame french press)

You're still here somehow (in pieces in the closet)

My heart won't let you go (and neither will Elissa’s)

And I need you to know (that i went to stinking kfc one morning this week for coffee)

I miss you, sha la la la la (blah blah blah)

I miss you (until we go to metro and replace you...hopefully tomorrow)

our holiday 'hike'

2010-03-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Why is 2010 going by so quickly?! We can hardly believe it is already March, but as we look back at the first few months of the year, I guess we have been busy. We talked about Chinese New Year in our last newsletter, and how it was a sweet little re-start of the year. We had a pretty cool time celebrating New Year’s Eve with some of our friends, watching fireworks light up the sky all over town from the 27th floor. The fireworks continued every night for the whole week, so it was loads of fun.

We also had a chance during the holiday to take a little hike with some of our friends. What we are learning is that we need to get more involved in the research and planning of these hikes, rather than letting all of our Chinese friends plan them. At first, we were supposed to go camping for a couple nights, but then it went down to one night, and eventually was reduced to an afternoon hike…which was really like an afternoon walk…in a park…with a restaurant...where we played mahjong and ping pong before and afterwards. So again, our dreams of really ‘getting out there’ turned into something so very different. It’s always a fun time, don’t get me wrong…just usually never what we imagined. Next hike, we will be the leaders and there will not be a restaurant for at least 25 miles around us.

happy valentines day...everyone!

2010-02-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

We are just wrapping up our first experience of the week long celebration of Chinese New Year. It has been really fun to see the joy and excitement of our Chinese friends during this time as nearly everyone travels to their hometown to visit family, share extravagant dinners, give gifts and light lots and lots of fireworks. Because of the great Chinese migration to big cities like Kunming for work, when Chinese New Year happens, all the workers go home to their villages leaving things really quiet around here...by China standards at least. With the exception of a few markets and grocery stores, nearly every other store, shop and stand has been shut down for about 10 days. We were so amazed by the ghost town feel on New Year's Eve (February 13) that we let ourselves be fooled into thinking that New Year's Day (aka Valentines's Day this year) would be quiet as well. Not so fast, silly foreigners! Clouded by visions of ourselves lounging on a big blanket in a grassy park around Lake Calhoun (Minneapolis), Elissa and I planned a romantic Valentines Day picnic around Green Lake (Kunming). "We may have the whole park to ourselves," we uttered in sheer blissful ignorance.

As our pictures can attest, we were not on a blanket, there were no patches of grass and we were definitely not alone. All in all, though, it was perfect. We laughed a lot, loved being together and had a great Valentine's Day picnic with all of our friends.

the journey back to china

2010-01-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

After a really great time in the US with our family & friends, we began the journey back to our beloved China. Mom dropped us off at the airport in plenty of time, and as we said our tearful ‘see you later’s’ (we don’t like goodbye’s), we were just about 2 hours away from departing Minneapolis….or so we thought. We savored our last Starbuck’s as we boarded the 747 and got all situated for the 11 hours to Tokyo. It’s a whirlwind of emotions to drop in and out of the people’s lives that you love so much, and leaving is just never easy.

After many announcements and a couple false starts, we were informed that our plane had some mechanical issues, and we would have to spend one more night in Minnesota. We lugged ourselves off the plane and back inside the terminal where we began waiting in lines to re-book, get meal and hotel vouchers and make plans to spend one more night in MN. People were not happy. We generally were not thrilled with the delay, because we had mentally prepared for the big trip back. But we quickly turned our misfortune into a wonderful memory, as we planned one final evening together in America. Complete with one last trip to the MOA, one last night of NFL football, and one more morning Starbuck’s latte, it really wasn’t too bad a deal after all.

efficiency, kunming style

2009-11-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

1:52 remembered that i need my passport to pick up an international package. ran back up 5 flights to our house to get it.

1:57 scooter fully charged, postal slip in hand, ready to find this place! excited that it’s not all the way to Beijing Rd. where we usually pick these up.

1:59 asked my first traffic cop if he knew the address on my package slip. his short and unhelpful response was, “nihojjrrrrrnnr”. after the third try, moved on.

2:09 asked two nice gentleman on the street if they knew. one pointed north and one pointed east. felt good that at least i had a quadrant. they could have pointed north and south.

2:18 chose north and lo and behold there in front of me was the post office! feeling good until i was told by the mail carrier that I should have gone east.

2:27 asked a grandma who knew the place. gotta be close now.

2:33 found the place and handed them my slip. was asked to show my passport and sign the slip. obliged and was promptly given new slip. asked where my box was. apparently the slip I had was only the slip to get my new slip.

2:39 back on the road, headed all the way to Beijing Rd. where we usually pick these up.

2:59 arrived at the Post Office and finally received our package...yes! back on the scooter, package in hand.

3:17 giddy with success, stopped to pick up cash at the ATM. card didn’t work. moved on.

3:25 home at last, package in hand, swimming in homestyle popcorn, riesens and coffee!

btw: thanks mom and dad!

the new "familiar"

2009-11-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a quick trip down to Sapa, Vietnam. Many people in Sapa spoke English, but of course we also found ourselves in situations where nobody did. Naturally, we attempted our Mandarin on the Vietnamese people...didn't work so well. Just because they share a border with China, doesn't mean they all have to share languages. We laughed at ourselves as we continually thanked people, said hello and tried to get prices in Mandarin. After just about five months of living here in China, we actually feel like we're getting along really well with our language and communication. And although we really enjoyed the incredible time we had in Sapa (see photos...there was much to enjoy!), as we made the walk back across the bridge to the Chinese side, we felt a huge amount of excitement to get back where people could understand us. It was definitely good to be back where things are familiar...almost immediately got hit by a big gob of spit, the bus we wanted to take was broken down so we had to wait 2 hours for the next one and lots of people were staring and calling us 'foreigners'...home sweet home.

joe

2009-10-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

I am typically a starbucks guy, but the other day i had a longing for Caribou...i had just brushed my teeth and took my first sip of black gold (coffee, for those of you who aren't joseph fehlen) and WHAM...Caribou Mint Condition.

We love a lot of things about China and for the most part we do not lack, but we do miss our coffee drinks, so today reserve one sip of your grande 1 pump vanilla latte for those of us who regularly go without.

kunming commutes

2009-09-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

When we lived in minnesota, driving to work was rather uneventful for elissa and me. On our 10 minute commute we would typically see 15-20 cars as we leisurely rolled along. If it was a crazy, day we might have to slightly adjust our steering to avoid a stray garbage can that some 7th grader forgot to bring back to the garage. (gasp!) I am aware that city commuting is a little more intense than that, but Kunming commuting is in another category altogether. Sometimes we scooter riders just smile at each other after a close call as if to say, “aren’t you just glad we’re all still alive!” You have probably heard the saying that getting there is the adventure. In Kunming it’s definitely true.

How bad can it be? Well, do you drive on the wrong side of the road in a continuous game of chicken with 4-6 million potential opponents? Do you have to doubletake at kids peeing and pooping on the sidewalk? do you jump up curbs and slide down make-shift ramps on your way through construction zones? Do you dodge big loogies as they whiz past your face? Do you lose sight of the road for seconds at a time when busses spew out enough carbon to use up all of Al Gore’s credits with a single shift?...we do.

Enjoy some of our recent photos from Kunming commutes!

Changes

2009-09-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

In the last week or so, our world has changed for the better in a few different ways. For one, we moved into our own apartment. (finally!) No more living in someone else’s space, looking around at random photos of families that aren’t ours or taking care of someone’s 10 cats. We have our own home in China - and it feels so great. The second thing that changed for us, is that we are now living much closer to the sounds, smells and sights of the city. Sometimes those are good, and sometimes rather obnoxious, but we love them all and welcome them into our daily routine. Finally, and most importantly, we are back on our feet - literally. We’re hitting the pavement rigorously every day...walking to get our groceries, walking to have a coffee, walking to catch the bus and walking to and from our 5th floor apartment. It feels so good to be back brushing shoulders with people all day, all the time. We are so in love with our neighborhood (Bei Chen) and all that makes it come to life. On our first visit to this city a few years ago, we stayed in this neighborhood with our friends, and wondered when our chance would come to make this place our home. The day is here, and we feel so blessed.

The Waterfall

2009-07-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it was time for another adventure, so we packed up our backpacks, and hit the trail this weekend with our Chinese hiking friends. The eight of us met early at the bus terminal that would lead us out of the Spring City and into the rice fields of Yunnan. We had to make a bus transfer about halfway there, so we bought our seats and waited a bit. Nothing out of the ordinary, the (16 passenger) bus was oversold by about five tickets. And to boot, there was no underneath luggage storage for our eight enormous backpacks. We managed to get everyone on, even the extras, sitting up front with faces smashed against the dashboard, and our backpacks cramming us in all along the small aisle. A common question foreigners often have about these busses is 'how many people can you fit on a Chinese bus?' And the answer is always...'one more'. On our brief route to our destination, we pulled the 'one more' rule an additional four times, including a 5'5'' man carrying a 6' piece of marble on his back.

We managed to arrive safely and begin the 4 hour hike to our camping destination. We were so excited because we'd seen pictures, and heard about this beautiful campsite right next to a waterfall. The hike was really quite incredible...teetering on the edges of rice paddies, through fern covered jungle-like areas and across dozens of little streams. We stopped for an occasional rest, where we would open up our granola bar or trail mix, and the 3 guys with us would smoke a cigarette or two.

We began approaching the 4 hour mark when Jon and I realized we were not close to the waterfall, or even on the marked trail we had been following before. We graciously continued to follow our crew and enjoy the views. At around 5 hours of hiking, just when you think, ah, yes, we are getting away from it all out here - just us and nature...we began to hear some really loud music. And as we crept our way over the next hill, we realized we had come upon an entire village, and they were cranking up the karaoke in this valley as if it were downtown Beijing. Well, it was a perfect place to ask for directions to this alleged waterfall we'd been searching for. We were just one mountain away from where we wanted to be, so we creatively carved a path in the right direction. And roughly 1.5 hours later, we caught our first glimpse of it! And honestly, it was amazing to finally see it. Everyone cheered and hollered as we made our way down the steep path and towards the promised campsites sitting nearly in range of the dropping waterfall.

The time was perfect to set up camp, get our jetboil stove fired up, and put together the delicious camp meals we had packed. Except what nobody told us, is that we were going to a nearby restaurant for dinner! (what?!) We got a really, deep good laugh out of this one. After hiking for half a day to this beautiful, and what we thought, remote spot...we began to look around a little more and realize that there was another way to arrive at this waterfall camping location. Drive your car, walk down a few steps (past the full service restaurant), jump on the cable car, and get the same views we worked so hard to earn. Even still, it's all about the journey, not just the destination.

head out on the highway...

2009-07-23T06:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sat in the passenger seat of my friend’s car cramming furiously for a drivers test that I just failed the day before even though I have been driving for nearly 20 years. The irony was looking up from my study guide to see hundreds…thousands of cars skippered by Chinese people with a year or two of driving experience, swerving down the highway, careening to the shoulder and avoiding near misses as they stared at the sky to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse.

There is a happy ending here…I passed on my second attempt with a solid 97. Today, I rejoice in solidarity with all of the 16 year-old Americans who can say with newfound swagger…“I got my license”.

buckle up.

2009-07-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have been studying for my Chinese drivers license for the past week…from what I hear the test can be difficult, but the good thing is if you fail the first time you can head right back in and immediately re-take. If that doesn’t work, you can take it again twice the next day! I am liking my chances and will keep you posted. I wanted to share just a few of the 1500 grammar-challenged, head scratching questions that you might find funny:

There is an entire section of “When encountering…” questions about what a driver should do in real life driving situations that I assure you I had never thought of as necessary until I came to China…

WHEN encountering…
…a flock of sheep
…pedestrians on the road who are highly concentrated in speaking over cell phones
…a blind man on the road (it begs the question…)
…someone herding animals
…an old man riding a bike (it’s a whole different story if he’s young, I guess.)
…a man powered cart
…pedestrians carrying farm tools on shoulders
…an animal drawn cart
…pedestrians wearing cotton padded caps or overcoats in winter (if they're wearing wool, i suppose you can just ignore them.)

I also found some other helpful tips in the driving test study guide…
1. Refrain from competing with a train
2. When a vehicle wades across the water lightly apply brakes
3. A driver is not allowed to drive a motorized vehicle for 4 hours running without stopping the vehicle and having a rest.
4. When there are many wounded persons, those who should be sent to hospital last are the persons suffering cervical vertebra damage NOT those whose intestines and veins are exposed.
5. If the traffic police discover a driver is suspected of driving a motorized vehicle after taking drugs, they should test his intracorporeal content of psychiatric substance.
6. When carrying the wounded persons in coma or in danger of suffocation, they should lie face down and on their side. (huh?)

Have a great day and watch out for cotton padded caps.

good thoughts

2009-07-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

I just took a nostalgia inducing sip of some starbucks pike place brew (thank you family and friends for packages...they are like gold here!!). It’s almost like I was transported back to the States. My mind flashed to liss and me grabbing a starbucks and heading to the north shore for a couple of nights. What a great thought! There is almost nothing better than packing up everything you need on your back, setting off together into the woods and enjoying the Creator God. I am picturing us thoughtfully staring at the fire, flipping through a good book and finally crawling into a warm sleeping bag only to wake up to crisp morning air inviting us to do it all over again. Mmm…sounds good, especially on a holiday weekend like this! Happy 4th to everyone and if you can, enjoy Minnesota for us!

China's Got Talent

2009-06-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

We were walking around Green Lake the other day, and about every 20 feet or so, there was a group of aspiring artists (some good, some not so good) playing their instruments, singing and even dancing to their heart's content. There were some incredibly beautiful tunes played by people who had obvious talent. Some of the women dancing were so elegant it was amazing to watch. But here and there, were some people who might have over-estimated their talents. However, they were out there, with their speakers set up and singing loud enough for the moon to hear. And though some of the sounds reminded me of the cries that one of our kittens makes when they are stuck under the deck, I just had to respect them for trying. And you know what, they were happy - smiling widely as they belted out crazy notes, strummed the wrong chord and forgot lyrics. I was humbled at the joy these people were finding just giving it a shot. It didn't appear to me that anyone was nervous, or wondering what people were thinking of them...they were just finding true creative freedom in music, dance & song. What a beautiful thing.

functionality

2009-06-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

I have always been a function over fashion person for the most part and living in China has solidified that philosophy. Cases in point: I posted a picture of myself in capris (big mistake), I am seriously considering buying some crocs (to elissa’s horror) and I must admit, no matter how silly it looks, the scooter poncho below is pure genius! Liss is actually making great strides in the functionality area too as evidenced by her smashing foot attire. Cheers to all the Minnesotans who have been ridiculed for wearing socks with Jerusalem cruisers.

Man, I Love Cats

2009-06-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

We are settling in and getting used to China all over again and it’s so good to be back! We have already started to connect with friends again picking up where we left off last summer and it feels really good. You may know that our incredible friend has allowed us to stay in her house for the first 6 months and we feel truly blessed. She has been so kind and generous. What you most likely do not know is that she has a cat who just had five more cats for a total of six cats. Man, I love cats and I’m really good with them. Liss is too as was evidenced by our first morning here in china running around in slippers trying to corral the mama and “the one that got away”. We “sppspsp’ed” til dizzy, “here kitty’ed” til hoarse, and “ttskk ttskk’ed” til spitless. I finally snagged the little one only to have him scratch me at the brink of the garage and dart off when I dropped him. Man, I love cats.

Anyway, sorry for the delay in our first blog, but blogspot has been off limits most of this past week - if you want to know why, just look back in your China history books about 20 years or so. My friend Jeremy is actually posting this blog, so thank you Jeremy. We should be back online soon.

pack less. be more.

2009-04-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is a tagline for a backpacking company that encourages their people to travel light. I'm hoping to carry this 'lightweight' slogan into my life in the next month as we begin packing for our year in China. Lots of people have been asking me what I'll bring with me, and what I will leave here. My answer to this question mostly comes from the attitudes and expectations I will leave behind, rather than deciding between my black heels or black flip flops. I happily invite simplicity into my plans for moving. I scrutinize the word 'need' and what it really means to me. I actually anticipate the challenges of my life over there because I'm forced to discover so many new and amazing ways to live...sans all the 'stuff'. I continue to remind myself of the reasons we are moving...and that alone helps me re-focus on what truly needs to fit into my suitcase.

Having said that, I still might pack a pair of heels for good measure ;)

familiar different little big

2009-04-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

April is here and that means May is next, followed by June....so what, huh? In a normal year, that's no big deal, but this is no normal year because on June 1st we start our new chapter. Most days it feels like a strangely familiar 'new' chapter except with a few more pages. Every once in a while, though, it seems like a completely different book....like the days when you walk potential renters through your house, or erase the monthly income line from your june forecasted family budget or handout prayer cards to friends with your name next to the phrase, "Serving in China".

This is just a step and this is familiar. This is big and this is different.

Is it really possible to feel all those things at once? absolutely. Honestly, this whole time could be really scary if not for the confidence that we are doing our best to follow a God who loves us and has incredible plans for us. Thankfully,that knowledge can wipe away fear and turn it into freedom and excitement which happens to be where we are living these days.

we just can't stay away

2009-03-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

...so we're going back. Back to the morning school song that echoes all around the neighborhood to start a new day. Back to rubbing shoulders with dozens of people as we walk all around town. Back to waiting at the bus stop and shoving our way onto a crowded, creaky old bus. Back to smelling fried food cooking everywhere...and all the time. Back to the controlled chaos of the traffic - full of bicycles, motorbikes, cars and donkeys. Back to many smiling friends who gracefully help us perfect our mandarin! Back to serving people in creative ways. Back to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes that we have grown to love so much. In June 2009, we're going back to Kunming, China for a year!

back in the usa

2008-10-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

family and friends,
thanks so much for reading our blog and experiencing our 4 months in china with us. we are back safely in MN and are enjoying catching up with family and friends that we missed so dearly. what a beautiful time to be back in minnesota - we love the fall colors and cool temps! we plan to continue blogging about life, work, our love for china...and anything else exciting going on in our lives, so feel free to continue tuning in.

love, jon & elissa

bust a move

2008-10-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

people dance here a lot - ain't no shame in that.

breathless

2008-09-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

in so many ways, this word for me describes the entire 5 day experience we had up near zhongdian. as i get older, i realize just how much like my mother i am...the 6 hour drive had me ducking under the seats, clenching the seat in front of me and leaning away from the cliffs we were driving along, to make sure the van was tilting the right direction. i tried to sleep, but at almost every bend, i jumped awake into a frenzy thinking for sure we were up on two wheels. breathless.

once i got my feet back on solid ground, i thought i was home free. at the start of our long trek, there were donkeys available to ride up the trail, or to haul your bags for you. hah! are you kidding? we're way too tough (and proud) for that. we're athletes, we're americans, we're perfectly fine carrying our "lightly" packed backpacks. we even walked past one local donkey owner who said to us in mandarin "you DO want a donkey" ... but we laughed it off. we hired a local guide so not to get lost up in the mountains, and off we went. jon & I, our friend windy, and our tibetan guide. the air was cool & slightly crisp, and there were faint drizzles dropping on and off. we were about 20 minutes into the hike, when windy & i stopped & looked at each other with glassy eyes, bright red cheeks and hands on our hips...completely breathless. our guide (cigarette in mouth) turned around and looked down at us (because we were lagging behind him already), and insisted he carry windy's bag for her. she quickly obliged and she and i began 30 minute rotations of carrying my backpack. the transport donkeys continued to walk past us, some heavily loaded with hikers bags & some loaded with hikers themselves. i began asking every single one of them if i could rent a donkey for the rest of the (7 hour) hike. but to no avail. so i changed my tactics and started asking windy to translate, "how much to buy your donkey?!" still nothing. i was knee deep into this hike and i was going to finish it, donkey or not.

i can't even explain how steep this trail was...it was muddy, there were 'land mines' of donkey poo everywhere, so you had to really watch your step, and if i stopped and leaned back a bit, my backpack would most certainly tip me over and i would tumble downhill for an hour. it was intense. after the first 2 hours, we approached the ironically named 'Easy TeaHouse'. it took me 10 minutes just to feel like i could breath normally again...i guzzled a bottled of water, we ate some dove chocolate, chatted with a couple fellow hikers, and just when i was thinking, 'i honestly don't know if i can make it', our guide jumped up and prompted us on. this continued for about 3 more hours. uphill.

in the midst of my suffering, however, i began to stop and look around. though i watched my feet as i walked, i began to stop frequently so i could appreciate the vast expanse of beauty that surrounded us on all sides. i had never seen in person, anything like these sights. the mountains literally engulfed us and begged us to stare at them. closer to us, there were patches of every color of green you could imagine, and in the distance, stood boldly, and often covered by passing puffs of bright white clouds, meili mountain & her family. snow capped and touching heaven, there are two tall, almost perfectly cone shaped peaks, which are the mother & father...and between them are their 5 'children'. the sky was blue with ocassional clouds moving slowly across the sky. we just had to stop and soak it in. even between my gasps for air, i was almost brought to tears at the beauty God had plopped us in the middle of. it took my breath away.

so we climbed up for about 5 hours...and finally hit a spot of level ground! it was quite a sight actually - the trail is part of a pilgrimage that buddhist monks make annually...so it was draped with prayer flags of every color. it felt almost like a celebration for us to enjoy this 45 minutes of flat walk...which ushered us into 2 hours of downhill!! praise the lord. as we approached our destination, i realized we had hiked to the very top of one mountain, and then down the back side, to reach our place of rest for the night - lower yubeng village - at the foot of meili mountain. our tibetan style guesthouse welcomed us happily and for a moment, we just stood there and looked at the view. it was outrageous. it was breathtaking. and that's when i fell in love with the mountains.

what followed was two more full days, and many more hours of uphill battles, downhill reprieves, and views that couldn't be painted more perfectly. i will never forget this experience. the valleys, the mountains, the green, the snow covered peaks. the struggle it took to get there, and the reward that outweighs any sore muscle, or struggle to breath, that i could think of. check it out for yourself...

Zhongdian Trip (Part 1)

2008-09-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

We will never be able to express (in a way that feels adequate) how amazing our latest trip to zhongdian and beyond was, but you can bet we will try! There is no better place to begin than with the journey there. First, we took a 7am flight that lasted all of 45 minutes to the city of Zhongdian. This city and it’s mystical mountain ranges are thought to be the fabled paradise of Shangri-la. (For more about that, read the 1933 James Hilton novel, Lost Horizon.) Anyway, it is a sleepy mountain town at an elevation of 10,500 ft. and served as our launch point into the beautiful Mei Li Snow Mountains, the natural border with Tibet and home to Yunnan’s highest peak, Kawagebo (22,112 ft. unclimbed virgin peak). The drive there was an adventure passing through mountain ranges and the deep gorges formed by the yangtze and mekong rivers. Here’s a video from the journey with more about the hike to come.

hello dali

2008-09-02T03:37:00.000-07:00

we just returned from spending a couple days up in beautiful dali. we took the 7 (was actually 9) hour day train on the way there, and soaked up the gorgeous scenery on the way. we rumbled through countless tunnels, practiced chinese with fellow passengers that we were cozily seated next to, ate noodle bowls (of course), and played some handheld yahtzee. it was a great way to start our exit from busy city to relaxing dali. our guesthouse was nestled between the cangshan mountains and the enormous erhai lake. a close walk to the (touristy, but inviting) old town of dali made our place just perfect. we are certain we found the best breakfast (a bakery run by a german woman), and the best pizza we've had yet in china. to be honest, we did not have a single meal there that was not western! the options were so great we just had to indulge. the weather was impeccable our first day there, so we rented bikes and leisurely made our way down to the shores of the lake. it could not have been a better day. any direction we looked held a view worthy of a framed photo...we could hardly capture it. of course, jon also dragged me along on some shopping time, and we found countless cups of yunnan coffee to keep us going. time well spent.

chewing the fat

2008-08-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

most of you have heard the phrase, "chewing the fat". for me, the phrase used to conjure up images of friends sitting around at a coffee shop discussing issues and talking about life. since living in china, the phrase has taken on a new and much more literal meaning. it takes some getting used to as evidenced by the pictures of elissa and me enjoying a pork barbecue with friends. the longer we're here, though, the more our culinary boldness increases. lately, we have found ourselves eating more hot pot and tofu, more spicy lamb kebobs and lotus pudding, more duck and chicken parts, more bitter roots and mystery stuffed dumplings. and as we frequent more street-side restaurants, i'm beginning to realize, there's a reason why people eat this stuff...most of it's pretty darn good!

the garden of kunming

2008-08-18T00:24:00.001-07:00

most of our days here are filled with studying chinese, meeting with people, prepping for our next english lesson or just taking the extra time it requires to get normal things done here in china...but last friday, we had a little bit of time to go out and enjoy a fun site in kunming - the Expo Garden. flowers everywhere, a fantastic bonsai garden that even mr. miyagi would appreciate, and dozens of wonderful little corners to sit and enjoy the great day together in kunming. jon especially enjoyed the beautiful hanging baskets (see photo). and it didn't even rain...until we got home.

cheapa

2008-08-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

although it is quickly becoming more and more expensive to live in china, there are some things that are still so cheap that i do a double-take every time i hear the price. take for instance this bunch of flowers that elissa is holding. these 3 dozen roses put a real dent in my wallet at a whopping 8 yuan! (that's a buck twenty-five for those of you without a currency converter handy.) at that price every man can be a hero! Anyway, in case you're interested, here's some other notable cheap stuff...

big dinner for 2 with plenty of leftovers - 4 dollars

one hour hair wash, head massage and haircut - 2 bucks

new pair of kicks - 5 big ones

16oz Coke - 35 cents

cab ride across town - 2 big d's

tenwest english camp

2008-08-05T05:32:00.001-07:00

Originally, we were going to bring a team over here to run this camp, but since that didn't work, we basically had 3 teachers, and the two of us to run the whole sha-bang. so jon and two other american guys shared the classroom teaching, while i managed all the afternoon & evening activities (of course i recruited jon as my sidekick). with our past castaway camp and youth camp experiences to glean from, we created some memorable moments for the kids - our own tenwest olympic games, an afternoon of relay races, and of course an amazing race around camp. we also had a movie night, a game night and a chinese favorite, the talent show - complete with fashion show of the guys dressed in the girls clothes...very interesting. the weather cooperated every day, and it only rained our last day there. we are so thankful for some small seeds that were planted as well - and hope to maintain those relationships.

tenwest

2008-07-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

picture with me for a minute, if you will...large stones as chairs, old cardboard boxes balancing on knees as desktops, no chalk boards or projectors and early morning classes by candlelight ...this is NOT tenwest! Many of you have been here, so you can picture the big orange logo outside the door, those blue desks that threaten to bust every time you sit down, and the packed elevator on the way up to the 20th floor. So for those of you that haven't seen, here are some pics of the place we teach our english class every thursday morning. (pics: views from the bottom, view from the 20th floor, and my fav student. her english name is Go-Go, after her favorite chinese cartoon character. she is actually albert's niece.) it's a wonderful facility and we love our students!

taxi

2008-07-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

after teaching last night at tenwest, liss and i were just planning on taking a regular taxi home, but when we walked out of the building there were a bunch of three wheeled motor scooter cabs there. it had been a while since we'd seen one and it only took us a second to remember that these are the little things that make living here an adventure. So we agreed on a price with the driver and off we went on what basically amounts to a garden cart pulled behind a motorcycle. I was giving our driver the benefit of the doubt when at first he took a different route than i would have, but then when we took the freeway on-ramp, I knew it was time to spring to action! i told him to turn around and that i knew the way. He agreed and quickly turned us around and headed back down the on-ramp in the dark playing chicken with real cars! Our little adventure was really seeming like a bad idea...and it only got worse when he went back up the off-ramp on the other side and hit a biker at the top. No biggie though. we just kept plugging away and eventually made it home safely. just got us thinking though...maybe the regular taxis here are adventurous enough.

sorry!

2008-07-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

hey, don't lose faith in us! we are gonna get back on track with the blog again. we have had an action packed 10 days or so with my parents visiting from PA. it has been so much fun to share life here with them. we have been all over kunming and even made time for a 4 day mini-trip to beijing to see the great wall, forbidden city, summer palace and of course shop in good old hong qiao market! In between the meals and travel and work and shopping we have definitely slacked a bit with our writing. sorry! We intend to change that so keep checking!! it means a lot to hear that people are interested in what's going on with us and reading! peace and love to you all.

cafe

2008-07-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

I closed the silver spoon tonight as the "veteran". It's funny how coffee shops always throw people into closing before they fully know how to close. I think it's the "experience is the best teacher" theory because as much and as good as they can train you, it all goes to mush when you're on your own. No big deal though cause I figured it out tonight without a whole lot of issues. I must admit there is something about slinging drinks (one for me, one for the customer, one for me, another one for me), dishing out desserts, closing the register, doing dishes, mopping floors and cleaning espresso machines that makes me a bit nostalgic. I can't help but think back to espresso royale on hennepin and 13th. I absolutely love that shop and thinking about it always brings to mind two people...Elissa and Kip. I met them both there. One will be in my life forever, the other was there for a season. I really hope i was a factor in Kip's life for that season. anyway, here's your pensive cafe thought for the day: you really never know when people are going to move in and out of your life...be a factor and make a difference while you can.

just like home

2008-07-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

this past weekend we had a night on the town with a few american (and one cali-british) friends. we met at the movie theater downtown to see Hancock, in english! It was wonderful, and just like home...except the A/C was broken in the theater, and our bucket of popcorn was soaked in sugar instead of butter. After the flick, we walked over to McDonald's for some grub. Burgers, fries & cokes, just like home...except the double fish fillet sandwich was smothered in wasabi. We needed to finish the night off with something sweet, a McD's soft serve ice cream cone, just like home...except they wouldn't serve it to us. (they had cones, they had vanilla ice cream, but for only china knows, they wouldn't put the two together. we could order the ice cream in a sundae form, or a cone with kiwi swirl gel ice cream on it.) Ah China, just like home...except not.

anniversary

2008-07-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary last week here in china with cinnamon rolls for breakfast followed by an hour long hair wash and head massage, quesadillas for lunch, pizza for dinner and an hour long foot massage to cap it all off. The funny thing is the most expensive thing that day was the quesadillas at 3 bucks. while we're on the anniversary, I have to say that i feel like the most blessed man in the world to be able to share this whole china experience with my best friend who also happens to be the most incredible wife anyone could ask for...here's to elissa.

english class

2008-07-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

we taught our second english lesson at tenwest this morning. we are really having fun with our students. last week we gave one of them the english name, "peter" (you're welcome hallstrom.) we thought we were doing a pretty good job of teaching until we started an exercise where we showed the students pictures and had them describe what they saw. we showed them the following picture of our friend chris bechtel and the two sentences they came up with were, " he is very strong." and "he is wearing a beautiful and cool hat." apparently, we have to work a little harder teaching them vocabulary cause i'm just not seeing it.

land of eternal...rain.

2008-07-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

we've gloated about kunming being the land of eternal spring with clear skies and sunshine, but so far, the joke's been on us. the past couple weeks have been very seattle-esque, minus the city drainage system to handle the water (see photos). however, on a good note, today the sun was bright, warm and wonderful.

the destination of our journey

2008-07-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

you've seen the journey we took to get there...now we want to tell you the truly meaningful stuff. our hike took us to a village of about 20 people, all infected with leprosy. in addition to these people, there is one female doctor and one cook who live there that care for the sick. it was such a beautiful thing to see people who were once tossed aside by their communities, friends and even families, finally be cared for and showered with the love they so much deserve. our friend that works for habitat for humanity led us there, as they have re-built homes for the village. we cooked lunch for them, spent time with them, sang a few songs, and just sat and smiled with them. it was an afternoon of joy and we loved every minute of it. jon gained a buddy (photo) who stuck with him most of the day, i helped the women cook enormous bowls of tofu ball soup (photo), and the guy in the 3rd photo was the funny guy of the group - he liked to make goofy faces for our camera, and had us all laughing at his precious sense of humor that he's maintained through all of his trials. not to mention that the doctor & cook who care for these people full time, do it all voluntarily because they are just that amazing. True heros. What a spectacular day.

> Read a great article here about the village (written by our friend windy!)

saturday stroll

2008-06-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

Although we have only had 3, this weekend was the best yet! It started out with a really great hike to a village about an hour and a half north of Kunming. the village was a very special place and we plan to share much more about it in our next post. The hike itself was quite interesting and we put together a little video to share the experience. Notice all of the different people pointing in the pictures...that's cause nobody knew where the village was! What was supposed to be a 20 minute hike up the path turned into an hour of bushwhacking and trapsing through corn fields. We did make it and had a great time with our new chinese hiking buddies!

small victories

2008-06-26T21:59:00.001-07:00

Liss and I both feel like we are generally pretty efficient people. Liss especially can whip up a task list and start blazing through it, crossing things off before you can blink. We're finding that the China version of Jon and Liss is a little less productive, though....at least for now. Little things that should be so simple, take forever to check off of the list because of the uncertainty that comes with doing things for the first time. "Buy a notebook" is part of an easy Target run in the states, so we can't figure out why it made itself at home on our to do list for 2 days. I guess that's life though, when you try something new and different. Even though we are not quite up to speed, every day we are learning and expanding our experience. For now, we invite you to celebrate our small victories with us....grocery shopping at the market, charging the scooter, ordering (chinese) food, finding our way across town, making our first meal at home, locating a tennis court, buying a map, finding the park, learning new words, making friends, and of course...buying a notebook.

lost in translation

2008-06-23T03:55:00.000-07:00

last night liss and i decided to go out for dinner. you might ask us if we had fried rice or steamed vegetables or chicken and cashews or smelly tofu, cause hey we're in china, right? Well, after considering our options, we decided to really spread our culinary wings. We strolled right on by the street vendors and two-butt kitchens, past the tiny one room restaurants and straight on to...pizza hut. yep, i'm sorry to say, it's true. The funny thing is i think we actually have done better ordering in the chinese restaurants. We were ok until our waitress came back to inform us that there were no more "pan" pizzas available. That sent us and her into a semi-communicative frenzy of menu pointing, page flipping, broken chinese, blank looks, nervous laughs, and "ting bu dongs". (that means i hear but don't understand.) With a degree of success, we waited anxiously to see what would come from the kitchen. To our amazement we got the pepperoni pizza we ordered! Upon further review, though, we realized that through all of our antics, we are pretty sure we ordered a pizza with exactly one solitary piece of pepperoni on each of the 9 slices...snobby foreigners.

transportation

2008-06-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

we don't have any kids yet, so the minivan just felt wrong. hot red scooter just seemed right. we've already ventured around town and jon hasn't dumped me off the back once yet!

let's get physical

2008-06-20T05:16:00.001-07:00

these are just a few highlights from a 2 hour experience that we will not soon forget...

1. blood test: anyone that knows me well, knows that i have a problem with needles...giving blood in the US is a bad experience...i don't even have a category for this one. they took not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR vials of blood in one shot. i almost passed out.

2. EKG: reminiscent of a jack bauer torture scene - stark white room, one doc, 6 probes around your heart, and metal ankle and wrist clamps...chloe, help!

3. urine test: you try carrying a lid-less plastic dixie sized cup full of pee down a hallway past other people and sliding it across the counter...makes the spoon and egg camp game feel like a walk in the park.

4. X-Ray: doc playin solitaire upon entering the room...nuff said

...and i grew up 2 miles from the world famous mayo clinic.

New Territory

2008-06-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we took sam and katy to the airport and said goodbye. It was kind of surreal because so many times it has been the other way around. I could only dwell on the strangeness of the moment for about 4 minutes though because of the task at hand...driving their van home from the airport in kunming traffic! Sam told me to use the third ring road because it would be the easiest and have the least traffic and all i would need to do is turn right out of the airport and bada bing bada boom...we’d be home. It seemed easy enough, plus we had an ace in the hole. Paul, a chinese friend of sam’s came with us just to be safe. So i turned right after leaving the airport and bada bing bada...what the?!?...Paul didn’t know where we were either. We eventually did make it home a few wrong turns and tense moments later, but not without vowing to park that car for the next four months and lose the keys. Anyway, when we got home we were both struck with how absolutely quiet the house was. I am not sure we were prepared for the lonely pangs that silence could bring. Liss put it best when she compared it to the feeling you have when your parents leave after dropping you off at your college dorm freshmen year. You know it’s gonna be incredible, but it takes some adjusting.

We're here!

2008-06-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hello from rainy Kunming. We arrived here safely this afternoon and we're just trying to stay awake a couple more hours so we can sleep well tonight! It was a smooth trip over here and we've already had our first latte from the Silver Spoon Cafe!

checks and mates

2008-06-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Our last few days have been a strange combination of frenetic last minute preparations and meaningful goodbyes. It seems like we are constantly dancing back and forth between checking off the lists in task mode and enjoying our incredible friends and relatives in people mode. People mode is way more fun and Liss and I have enjoyed lots of great time with family and friends...Thanks! We love you all.

take off: june 13th

2008-06-02T12:08:00.001-07:00

loks like we will be taking off on friday, june 13th - one week to go! We'll post regular updates here to keep you up to speed on what we're doing in china! write us any time - we will miss all of you dearly!