Chapter 14: Time is Flying

Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is coming... fast. I'm convinced that this saying is true: "As you get older, time goes faster." Better than slower I guess...
I spent about five days in Kunming for Thanksgiving. It was really fun! 
 

Lexi was really sweet and make me a welcome home sign. :)
For Thanksgiving dinner we celebrated on Friday, and we had some of our Chinese friends over. They liked all of the food, except for the pumpkin pie. Apparently, to the Chinese, pumpkin pie tastes like traditional medicine. So some of those that have tried it have grimaced at its taste. It's pretty hilarious...
But for those of us who actually like pumpkin pie (my family), we loved it because Xiao Zhang (our house helper) made it from fresh pumpkin... mmm...

For dinner we also had stuffing - sosososo good because it was made from scratch by Mama - two chickens, green bean casserole (made by myself!), jello salad made by Lexi (using 8 fingers instead of 10... observe the picture of her cutting the pineapple), cranberry sauce, and some peas and corn. It was definitely a sweet taste of home.

Xiao Zhang and the kids! Er, young adults I should say...

Lexi's fingers, sprained because a car door opened
while she was biking and hit her hand :(

Deliciousness :)

Thanksgiving in Kunming was a good time of relaxation and enjoying family. But now I'm back in Wen Shan, and I'll be staying here for a longer stretch before returning to Kunming at Christmas time. But it's going to go by really fast!
It was really good to be with the kids at the PT center today. I missed them! And I'm really happy that I'll be able to focus on them more now that my college apps are finished!!! I applied to Azusa Pacific, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Sonoma State, and a junior college called Alan Hancock. Now I just have to wait and see what happens. Honestly, I have no idea where I want to go... probably my top
two choices are Azusa Pacific and one of the UCs. But I would also be very happy to start at Hancock and then transfer after two years. But I'm still asking Daddy what he wants me too... I've got time to decide, so I'm not stressing too much.

But anyways, I feel like I'm rambling in an unorderly fashion. But I guess to sum it up I'm doing pretty well. Daddy is good and faithful, and I'm excited for these next few weeks. I think my schedule will finally become steady, and I'm going to get plugged into working with the kids and learning Chinese - the two most important things of why I'm here in Wen Shan. So, keep me in your thoughts. It's going to be a challenging stretch I think, but I'm looking forward to the changes as well as blessings that will come from it.
I'll do my best to get pictures of me and the kids at the center up on the blog. So stay tuned! Thanks for following me!

PS Thanks Meredith and Michelle for your comments on my last post. I still have had no success with making the velcro stick on the plastic posters (except on two posters...for some reason), so I'm going to try to make plastic pockets. But we'll see how it works. I'll keep everybody updated! If anybody else has any ideas in case the pockets don't work, gimme more ideas! Thanks!!! :)

Blessings, Na Na

Chapter 13: Stumped...

Hey Friends! Hope life is good for all of you. :)
Life is pretty good here. The only sad thing is I think I have the flu... so I've had to stay home from work the past couple days. So good thoughts that it would go away before I have to travel back to Kunming for Thanksgiving would be super appreciated.

There is one thing I am stumped on, and slightly frustrated with... well more than slightly.

I'm really excited because my posters are all finally up in the PT center - and I have to say, they look really awesome. Unfortunately, there is a BUT in the situation. The Velcro will not stay on!!! I've been trying to figure out how to make the Velcro stay on the posters and the backs of the cards I want the kids to use. I've tried two different kinds of double-sided tape, super glue, and pure pressure out of frustration, but to no avail.
My next idea was to try to use push-pins or some kinds of hooks, but I don't want to poke holes through my posters and I would need small enough hooks that there would be enough room for all the cards to fit. So, really, I would prefer to use the Velcro... but I need some kind of super hero adhesive to make it stick.

If anybody - anybody at all - has a clue as to what I could use to make the Velcro stick on the laminated posters and laminated cards, please leave a comment and let me know. I want your all's help, so please don't leave out your ideas if you have any at all!

Here's pictures of the posters:

this is how the cards are supposed to stay...
currently they're all on the ground because the
tape wore down

 

So anyway, there's an update on that. Seriously, please please please comment on any ideas you may have - whether I know you or not!

Thanks!

Chapter 12: Life is FINALLY Starting!

Not that it never began before... but technically speaking, work is finally going to be regular; I have finally found a Chinese tutor; I will be in Wen Shan for longer than 2 weeks; and finally, I have a schedule! My Wen Shan life is beginning!!! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY... etc :P
I just got back to Wen Shan from Kunming an hour ago. I spent the weekend in the world of "Beauty and the Beast." It was so good! Everyone was fantastic, and I'm especially proud of Lexi and Wyatt for how awesome they did in their acting. So good job Lex and Wyatt! You both are amazing!

I'm really excited about things really starting up here in Wen Shan. I've been waiting... for a really... really long time... and I just realized it this weekend, haha. For this whole semester I've been hanging around waiting for things to start. But at the same time, I know it's been for a reason, and I'm thankful for the way Daddy has allowed me to transition into living a life as an independent person - more or less.

So keep me in your thoughts this week! It's going to be a rough start, I think, as I get used to my new schedule. It's going to be pretty busy. I am working at the center 4 days a week, taking Chinese lessons 4 days a week, and tutoring one of the L's kids and helping AL and BL with babysitting 5 days a week (possibly 6). That's just a rough overview, too. I'm really, really, excited about it and know Daddy has amazing plans.

The little bit I worked with the kids at the center last week was really cool. I've connected with a few of them really well and know that a relationship has already begun to develop with them as well as their family members. Also, one of my posters is up on the wall in the center! This week I want to start working with one of the kids on it to see how she responds. I'm going to make sure to take pictures this week of me with the kids and the poster(s), and hopefully pictures of progress throughout the next few weeks so you guys can see what we're doing.

There's nothing else important to report, except I will admit I miss America and all the cool people in it. :) Hope you all are doing well, and thanks for reading up on my blog!

PS still haven't figured out the whole response thing... working on it! but please feel free to leave comments, I love them!

Chapter 11: Ethnic China

The backyard of Xiao Zhen's home

 Three days ago, some of my team members here in Wen Shan and I went to a village to celebrate that they have running water. The water project team worked on a well in this village for a very long time, and finally they got it to work and the village has running water for the first time. So it was a big deal!
All of us who went took different directions, and I happened to go with the a family who is living here in Wen Shan. BL and AL (for your reference) are from Oklahoma, and they have 8 kids who are absolutely adorable and so much fun!

oink!

They have asked me if I would be able to baby-sit them while I'm here - um YES!!! :D So that's probably going to be happening sometime soon... :D

So the L's and I went to the village together, but we first stopped at their old house helper's village that was on the way to our final destination. She is a young Chinese woman, and she has one son and is pregnant with her second baby. She lives with her husband, mother, father, and husband's younger sister. They cooked lunch for us and we spent a couple hours visiting with them.

Xiao Zhen's first son

i just really like this picture...

An Chuan's village

Then we went to An Chuan's village where we celebrated the village's running water. (An Chuan is a Chinese friend who lives in this village.) It was beautiful scenery and a gorgeous day - particularly for photos!

We walked through the whole village to get a look around, and it was such a cool experience for me. "I'm walking in a Chinese village... a real Chinese village... this is so cool!"
I kept feeling like Ingrid Bergman in the movie called The Sixth Inn of Happiness. Anybody seen it? You would understand if you have ;)

they have a ton of chili peppers throughout the village hanging up to dry ou

mooooooo

heading down to the school to see the dancing and to eat dinner later

i've never seen a duck that looks like that. have you?

the whole village gathered to at the school to celebrate that they now have a well and running water

the elderly ladies of the village

We eventually got to the village school, where everybody was gathered to watch dancing for the celebration. There were several groups of Chinese women dancing and all dressed up in costume that represented their minority.

 Later on, everybody put tables together in the school and a few guys brought out trays of food for the whole village. It was really cool, I just can't get over the idea that I walked through an ethnic, rural village in China. It was a totally new experience of the Chinese culture.
Supposedly I should be able to visit a lot of villages while I'm here in Wen Shan! :)

That's all the news for now. The kids at the PT center come in on Monday, and I'm super excited to start working with them. Keep me, the kids, and their families in your thoughts! I'll let you all know how it goes. :)

PS Sooo I kind of messed up the little reactions thingy at the bottom... I wanted to add more and it just wasn't working with me. So for now, if you have any of the reactions listed below, just click the box. I'll fix it as soon as I figure out how!! :P

these little girls were hanging around me for a little while, so i decided to have fun with them and take pictures :)

so cute!

this is my favorite picture

Stuffed Zucchini! So Simply Delicious :)

Hey Friends! I recently came upon this very tasty recipe for Stuffed Zucchini. It's really, really good, and I think a hearty vegetable dish for any meal, or even a main dish on its own. It's very simple, and a really nice recipe to have in China since it's mostly fresh vegetables - nothing complicated.


Stuffed Zucchini
Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2-3 zucchini
1 tomato
1/2 onion
2 green peppers
1 red bell pepper
2 cloves chopped garlic
One small package seasoned crackers (about 20 crackers)
Grated Cheese (here in China all we have is white cheddar - use the cheese of your choice!)

Directions:
Cut each of the zucchini in quarters. Steam the zucchini until you can fork it. While it's steaming, chop up the rest of the vegetables and mix them together in a large bowl. Crush the crackers pretty finely and mix them in with the vegetables. Mix in the cheese.
When the zucchini is done, scoop out the insides so that the shells are left. Put the shells into a metal pan. Mix the insides of the zucchini with the vegetable mix. Use a spoon to stuff the mix into the zucchini shells - fill them up pretty good.
Put the pan of shells in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they look a little golden brown.

Bon apetit! If any of you try it, let me know what you think! :)

Chapter 10: I know, I'm way over due...

It’s been really busy these past couple weeks, thus preventing me from making myself sit down and blog an entry… sorry! BUT last week was really awesome and intense. I went through Physical Therapy training in Kunming. I wish I had taken my camera to take pictures so I could show you all the sweet children I saw and what we did. But the training was really good and I feel more equipped for working with the kids in Wen Shan.

I’m staying one more week in Kunming, then I’ll head back to Wen Shan – but I’ll only be there for about two weeks, because in about two-and-a-half weeks from now “Beauty and The Beast” opens at KIA!!! I forget if I mentioned earlier that Lexi was cast as Belle and Wyatt as Lafou for the play, and I’m so excited to see it. I keep hearing it’s going to come out really well.

My project for the kids in Wen Shan is pretty much finished! I have the posters and cards made and laminated, and they look amazing, basically exactly how I pictured them. Now all I have to do is make songs and get pictures of animals, and then make it a functional learning tool for the kids. But I can’t do that until I actually use it with the kids… we’ll see how that goes!

There’s not much else to report, really, except that Gd is definitely stretching me here in China. He’s challenged me to look at the world, myself, and my faith in different ways. One really cool thing he’ taught me is I can have peace whenever I want to – it’s just a matter of obeying him with a willing heart, and he fills it with his peace and assurance. I’m excited to go back to Wen Shan and to see what it’s like to live with the different perspectives he’s given me.

Hope you all are doing well!

Chapter 9: Beautiful Places

It's been a long time since I've blogged, I've been busy moving from one place to the other!
I got into Kunming this past Thursday, and left on Friday with my family and the other foreign teachers from the college for Gui Lin and Yang Shuo. These two cities are known as some of the most beautiful tourist spots in China, and they definitely live up to that title!

Gui Lin and Yang Shuo are both famous for their hills that pop up all over the place. And everything there is so green, so the scenery is just gorgeous.

  We climbed mountains, saw caves, walked through the cities, and had a lot of fun just exploring the tourist spots. In Yang Shuo we spent one evening in the West Street, which is also known as the Foreigner's Street. It has a ton of restaurants and pubs with western foods, and it's a popular place to hang out on the weekends for foreigners and locals alike. So it was a good balance of seeing the pretty sights and hanging out in the fun places. 




One really cool thing we did in Gui Lin was a visit to a Pearl Museum/Store, and a tour guide at the museum showed us how they take the pearl out of the oysters. It was so cool! I had always wondered where the pearl sits inside the shell.

 

Probably my favorite part of the whole trip was connecting with Caro, the girl I'm standing with in this picture to the left. She is Chinese and teaches English at the college where Dad teaches. She's a few years older than me, but we connected and spent pretty much the whole trip together. She's a really sweet girl and very fun to talk to. We had some really awesome conversations. She and I shared with each other about our cultures, our beliefs, our hopes for the future - so many cool topics. I have great hopes for her life, especially as I'm going to be connecting with her more and talking to her in the future. So keep her in your thoughts!
So, all in all the trip was good. Now I'm back in Kunming and will be here with family for a week and a half. I'm still working on my project, and hopefully this week I will go shopping for the materials I need to make the posters! I'm so excited for this, especially as I keep doing research and ask people for ideas - Gd is definitely providing me with ideas and opportunities that I never could have found or thought of on my own. He is so good!
More to come next time! Hope you're all doing well. :) Blessings!

Chapter 8: A Vision

This week has been really busy with team-building that I haven't had the time to sit down and write a new entry. But since right now I'm sick I definitely have the time... I was home all day yesterday watching movies, eating below minimal amounts, trying to sleep. Today I'm still not feeling well.
Two nights ago, YY (my Chinese roommate) made dumplings from scratch, and we had people over to help. It's a Chinese tradition to get together with friends and to make dumplings at home, and it's really good and fun. But YY put some shrimp in one of the meat fillings for the dumplings, and I think that's what I'm having a problem with. Everything else that was in them I've already eaten before in Wen Shan and never had a problem, so I'm pretty sure it's the shrimp. But oh well; at least it's not food poisoning!

The baby on our BCI team. SO CUTE!

Fei Yen - 4-year old girl with cerebral palsy we work with in  PT center

Other than that, though, I've been doing really well. Monday and Tuesday my team and I went to the physical therapy center, even though we're on break and not working with the kids for the next few weeks. But during those couple days I started to work on a project! I have a vision for how I want to work with the autistic kids this year. The team working at the PT center wants to move the office to a larger apartment - it's three or four floors I believe. It's really ideal for the PT center because it has a wide open space on one of the floors with no walls, so it's one big room. But the place needs to be cleaned, and we also want to put decorations up. So, part of my job is planning for the decorating! But the decorations I'm making are going to be used for visual stimulation stations for the autistic kids. I want to make big posters in the shapes of trees and clouds, and I want a sun and a rainbow too. On each of these posters I want to put pictures and flashcards for the kids to practice with - shapes, numbers, objects, people, etc. They need practice with listening and visualizing their surroundings. They also need to learn general things like their shapes and numbers and colors. But what I also want to do with this is write songs for the kids to sing and listen to while they do these activities. Musical therapy is huge for autistic kids, and it is known to help them speak. So I want to incorporate as much music as possible into the daily routine of the kids at the center. It helps make their activities and exercises more fun and interesting. And if the songs are catchy, then they will be replaying them over and over in their minds and out loud so the words and sounds stick with them - and they learn! It's exciting for me because I love music! I may even teach Niu Niu piano. She loves music and is super sensitive to it, and it would be a privilege to teach her even just the basics. Hopefully my many years of lessons pay off!
So anyway, it's been really cool jumping right in with ideas and doing research for this project. My team leaders are really supportive of it, and I have hope that it will help bring out the personalities of the kids, help them feel secure in themselves.
I go back to Kunming on Wednesday. I'm excited to see my family! I miss them oodles!
Hope y'all are doing well. :)

Chapter 7: The First Week

Wen Shan is pretty awesome. Hands down!
This week has been pretty busy meeting a ton of people from the team and moving into the apartment. Today was the first full day I spent at the center I'll be working at this year. I talked with my team leaders about what this year will look like, and I'm really encouraged by the team that's supporting me. They care more than anything about the well-being of each team member, and make an effort to do as much team building as possible. So I feel very secure in knowing that I can be myself as I spend my time here.
We also talked a little bit about what I'll be doing with some of the kids at the center. They said I will work with Niu Niu, a 6 year old girl, and Hang Hang, a 4 year old boy. They both have autism, and Hang Hang has cerebral palsy on top of it. They need physical therapy as well as mental stimulation exercises. I may also be working a little bit with two other kids that have cerebral palsy, and they work mostly on physical therapy. I don't know yet what exactly my duties will be, but I shadowed around the center rustics a bit today and have a general idea of what I'll be doing.
I'm particularly excited to work with Hang Hang. He is just so precious... I don't really know what it is or why I'm so drawn to him. But I just see something there in him that is waiting to burst out. Every time I look at him I have a hard time looking away. I can feel my face brighten and my spirit uplifted when I see him... it's a little strange! Part of it is probably his cuteness, because he really is so adorable. But I think Gd has a strong claim over his life, and has amazing plans to use him. I'm really excited to see how he will grow while I'm here, and it certainly won't be because of anything I do or teach him. He's probably going to teach me things I could never learn from anyone else.
Another exciting thing that happened today... A guy attempted to pick pocket from my backpack while I was shopping for vegetables with my roommate. Thankfully I heard him open my zipper and turned around fast enough to make him go away. I decided to wear my backpack backwards so that it was in front of me. After he moved pretty far away, I watched him and this other guy pick pocket this woman. The guy cut open her bag and dug his hand in there, while the other guy walked by and snagged some cash or something out of it... They dug in her bag on and off for more than 5 minutes and she had no idea! So crazy... It's so subtle how one minute they look like they're just walking by and the next they're right behind you or next to you. I'm going to be much more careful about my stuff from now on...
Anyway, that's pretty much the news since last week. :) Next week is the beginning of vacation, so it'll be cool to spend more time with the team here. I'll also be returning to Kunming for a little while to do some vacationing, and also to attend a physical therapy training session.
I'll try to add pictures soon. I haven't had the chance to take any yet, but I'll make sure I do soon!
Later, gaters :)

Chapter 6: The Day is Finally Here - Part 2

I made it!!! I'm in Wen Shan!!!
It feels so good to be here. I don't really understand why, but I still truly love and appreciate the feeling!
The interesting part of the journey was the very beginning: packing the mian bao che, or van. (Directly translated, it's "bread car." They call it that because it looks like a loaf of bread to them.) LA and I were a little worried in the beginning that our stuff was not going to fit... but after a very intense interlude of Tetris, the digital piano, the bike, the two big packages of floor mats and the T-frame for the clinic, and all the suitcases miraculously fit in the van. I wish I had the pictures we took to show you, because it is seriously amazing how perfectly everything fit in... So, it was definitely a huge blessing that we didn't have to leave anything behind!
The drive was about 6 hours without stopping. We made good time and got to our apartment (which is awesome!) and dropped our stuff off. Our friends P and S (team leaders and friends) were there to meet us and help us unload. I met them the first time I came to visit Wen Shan, so it was really awesome to reconnect with them.
We had a really good hospitable Chinese dinner with a local family and enjoyed friendship together for the evening, and now I am currently staying the night with a very cool couple from Australia. They are the "team supporters," you could say, and they are letting me stay with them until we get things set up in my apartment.
I feel so welcome and at home here in Wen Shan already. It's almost a bit strange, because I barely know my way around and am still getting to know the team members here. But they've already made it clear that I'm a part of their family, and everything feels so perfect. It's definitely a huge blessing, and I'm so thankful for the peace in me.
The only challenge I'm facing right now is learning the language... I'm able to understand mostly what people are saying, but my words and grammar are so jumbled up right now I can't say a proper sentence! So yarps that I would pick it up efficiently would be much appreciated.
Thank you so much for your support for me, friends. I really appreciate it!
Stay tuned this week for an entry about my first time working in the clinic!
Blessings :)

Chapter 6: The Day is Finally Here

It's September 10, 2011 on a Saturday morning. Today happens to be the day that I leave for Wen Shan. :) I am SO excited! It's finally happening!
I don't really have time to write a long entry, but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm moving today. I can tell you that I feel more than ready and I'm so looking forward to settling in and starting my adventure.

Thank you all for your support! Talk to you soon!

Chapter 5: Pressing On

Daddy is so good, it’s a little too much to handle sometimes. Today I kept catching a smile on my face just thinking about all the great and wondrous things He has done to provide for me, encourage me, and bless me. What a loving Father we have!

Officially a week from today I move to Wen Shan with LA and my mom, and we were originally planning on taking a private taxi – which is a car that can take only so many suitcases. Apparently Daddy must have heard an unspoken prayer to provide a moving van big enough to take suitcases AND furniture, AND that we would have help with the cost – because he provided just that! My mom’s boss assured my mom that he would make the plans and help get us set up to move, just so she could go to the school during the days she would have potentially been helping me get ready to leave. Amazing, isn’t it, how some things just work out a little too perfectly, and you know there is nothing else behind it except our amazing Gd himself? (Part of me also keeps thinking He’s making it clear that there’s no turning back for me now.) : )

I’ll admit, it’s been a little rough for me emotionally to grasp the idea that I’m leaving my family and friends in Kunming for another city in China (my second year here…) to help volunteer in a physical therapy clinic with no experience in the field, very little Chinese, and only a few acquaintances… (that’s a mouthful). These little pokey thorns have been used against me this week, and it’s needless to say it’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster… but thank the Father above he’s got the tweezers to pull them out and throw them away, if I just ask him to. And he has – now I just have to keep moving forward.

I would really appreciate your good thoughts for my trust in Him, that I would not lean on my own understanding, but would trust in His word and guidance alone.

On a very important side note: Lexi and Wyatt auditioned for “Beauty and The Beast” at the international school, and Lexi has been cast as Belle and Wyatt as Lafou! (Lafou is Gaston’s sidekick). I’m so proud of them and I’m already itching to see the play… they are perfect for these roles and they’re going to make it so awesome!

I hope you all are doing well!!!

Blessings : )

This is one of the little girls I'll probably be working with in Wen Shan.
She's such a sweetie and I can't wait to see her again!