upon returning home

In 1995, my mother did something she had always wanted to do. She had always dreamed of going skydiving at some point in her life. Little did she know, that 'sometime' would come in the form of a Christmas present that year. Her time had come. For those of you who know my mother, the last thing you'd think she'd want to do is jump from a plane... at will. Mom is not that adventurous. Her idea of adventure is braving the crowds at Wal-Mart.

Dad and I just knew she'd chicken out, especially after all those medical forms she had to fill out - "If in the event that death should occur...", and after the training videos we had to sit through. Finally, she was ready. She was going tandem, so that made us all feel a bit better. We watched the plane go up. We looked for Mom's parachute to open. What we didn't know was that Mom and her instructor would be jumping last. As other parachutes would open, our hearts would skip a beat, hoping that Mom wasn't plummeting to her death. Finally, her chute opened, just as planned.

Once she had made it down safely, we ran over to where Mom and her instructor had landed. With a smile painted across her face, she gave us the thumbs up! Her hands were a bit shaky, but she was more than willing to do it again.

Looking at pictures and video of my mother, it was hard to believe she actually did that... Who would want to do something like that? Can that actually be fun?

My parents and I had these same thoughts as I made my move to China. My time overseas was much like my mother's experience in skydiving. Leaving the United States, I was thinking, "What AM I thinking?"... I knew I had wanted to live in a foreign country, and though I seemed prepared to jump, I wasn't sure if I'd actually make it. And I wasn't going tandem - I had to do this all on my own, which made things a bit more complicated and much more crucial. Once you jump, there's no turning back. You can't climb your way back in to the plane. The first few months in China I was free-falling, waiting for my parachute of acclimation and know-how to open up so I could soar through the rest of the year and enjoy the view without the nausea and the whipping wind. Once I adjusted, there were moments of turbulence, but overall, the ride was incredible... Skydivers rarely land where they are projected to; it's virtually impossible. I, too, did not land in the same spot from where I started, spiritually and emotionally speaking. I am a different person in these aspects. I have hit the ground running, like skydivers must do as it makes the landing much softer and easier. Life has continued since I've been away. I have to move on and keep things going for my next phase of life, taking my experiences and learning from them. My hands are a little shaky, but I am more than willing to do it all again.

Folks do this kind of thing all the time (both skydiving and living abroad), but that initial plunge requires a sick individual. Heh. Though I have been away for a year, China went as fast as a skydiving jump. It really feels like a dream. My time in the sky is over, and I'm back on solid ground.

calendar of events

July 15: Arrive in HOUSTON! This will be home, for now.

July 17: Welcome Home BBQ get-together at my parent's house
(Email me if you haven't received the evite so I can send you one)
Dallas friends purposely didn't get the BBQ evite.... keep reading, Dallas.

July 23, 24: HOT SPRINGS
Starbucks! for two days straight! ha

July 25 - August whenever: DALLAS
That first weekend - I'd like to get a group together and do something, so someone email me some good ideas.

October 8 - 12: NW ARKANSAS (the JBU Choir Alumni weekend)
Fayetteville and Siloam Springs
Abundant Life COG on Sunday morning!

If you're not in any of these places, don't feel cheated... we'll work something out. :)

It's going to be so good to see all of you; I've missed you.

*Please don't forget to email me with your cell phone number when you get the chance*

a bicycle, a box and a brainstorm binge

A bicycle.
"Hello, Teacher," said a chubby boy on a bicycle.

I didn't see him coming; I was in debriefing mode as I was walking home from a tutoring session one early evening. "Hello," I responded, though not sure if the boy had heard me, as he was riding by at a decent speed. His greeting stuck with me the remainder of my walk. It was if I had somehow strangely forgotten I was a teacher, and he was there to remind me. It was as if I needed to hear it from an unfamiliar voice. Teacher Emily.... that's me. I took a sense of confidence in that title, almost an ungodly amount of pride, to be quite honest.

Enter first brainstorm here: my mind suddenly paralleled this title to the titles we have received in Chr-st; the titles we so often forget... the titles we have to dust off every now and then when we're discouraged and dismal. Loved Emily. Forgiven Emily. Accepted Emily. Redeemed Emily. New Creation Emily. Freed Emily. Chr-stian Emily. If only we were addressed by these names on a daily basis, how altered our lives might actually be... one can hope, at least.

A box.
Just shy of a week later, I had prepared a sandbox for my afterschool class filled with... sand, among other things, namely 10 chocolate coins and some plastic letters (I was to teach the children about coins. We were going to have a coin digging competition for one of the activities). So as to keep the children focused on the introductory part of the lesson, I had the box covered with a beach towel. I began to ask the children what they thought could be stowed under the towel.

Once the first student deduced "a box", I began to pry them for ideas about what was inside the box. "Turtles!" one shouted. "Water!" said another. "Bugs!!" declared a boy. Finally, one girl raised her hand. "G-d?" I was quite astounded, though I simply replied literally and without hesitation, "Good try, Connie, but we can't put G-d in a box."

Enter the second brainstorm here: Though the words were leaving my mouth, I was eating them right back up again. "She's right, Emily," He said. "You can't put Me in a box, can you?"

These epiphanies, these moments of vision... it's not so much what was said (as it's all very elementary), but Who gave the words and how they were given... so random, yet perfectly timed.

Matthew 21:16 says, "...and [they] said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself'?" Through these two instances with students at the school, I am giving praise to my Father. One way or another, He will receive the praise. How incredibly powerful... I love when He speaks.

A State of Mourning and Alert

A State of Mourning
The faculty and staff received this email shortly after lunch today, along with some earthquake survival tips:

各位同仁：

根据中国政府的公告，从5月19日起到5月21日，是中国的哀悼日，以悼念四川汶川地区大地震死难的人民。为此学校决定哀悼日中全校降半旗致哀，5月19日下午2：28将和全国人民一起默哀三分钟，今天下午2：25时，全校将通过广播告知各位，请大家组织好学生在原地肃立、低首、默哀。我们公司凡是工作上许可的，一律参加全国的3分钟默哀，
请大家做好准备。在此期间将全校停止一切娱乐活动，特此告示。

校长 郑延定

2008．5．19

Dear all:

The government announced an official three day mourning period starting Monday (May 19-May 21) in memory of people killed in the powerful earthquake in WenChuan Arean SiChuan Province. The national flags at our school will fly at half-staff and join the three minutes of silence at 2:28pm with the whole country today. We will announce the event at 2:25pm through school PA System. Please organize all your students to Stand up, Bow and Keep Silence for three minutes while horns of vehicles, trains, ships and air raid sirens wail in grief. All public recreational activities in School will be canceled.

Principal Yanding Zheng

May 19, 2008







Today is exactly one week after the earthquake struck the nation of China. Please keep our country in your thoughts*.


A State of Alert
Children under 8 years old are facing a scary time and heightened alert as an epidemic called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease is showing up in Kindergartens across this city and in others.



From the International Herald Tribune --
"BEIJING: The death toll rose to 43 from the hand, foot and mouth disease virus that has sickened tens of thousands of children across China, a report said Friday.

A 22-month-old girl from eastern Jiangxi province died Thursday in a local hospital, health officials told the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

As of Wednesday, the hand, foot and mouth disease virus had sickened more than 24,934 children in seven Chinese provinces plus Beijing, Xinhua reported.

The number was expected to continue rising after the state Health Ministry last week ordered health care providers to report cases within 24 hours.

The virus has been yet another major concern for Chinese authorities as they prepare for the Beijing Olympics in August. Cases have been reported from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast, and in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

Three people in Jiangxi province remain in critical condition from the virus, Xinhua reported Friday.

Most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in China this year have been blamed on enterovirus 71.

The virus spreads through contact with saliva, feces, nose and throat mucus or fluid secreted from blisters. There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children with mild forms of the illness recover quickly after suffering little more than a fever and rash.

The disease is expected to peak in the hot months of June and July."


As a result of this, sinks have been placed outside of our Kindergarten. All students must wash their hands (using a detailed procedure that even the faculty and staff had to be trained on) and visit the nurse for a quick morning check-up before attending class. Teachers must also wash their hands at these sinks before entering as well. The Shanghai Government Authorites have requested that all major functions that involve the gatherings of parents and children in a small compact space be cancelled. Our classroom observations by the parents were scheduled for last Thursday, but have been postponed indefinitely. We have an annual International Day scheduled for Saturday, May 31. No news yet has been given as to whether or not it will still be taking place. We are assuming as of now that this event will continue. Logic tells us we should cancel it, but the way the Chinese teachers are still busy with decorations and planning, we are assuming it is still scheduled as normal... We are yarping* that the children can still participate in Kindergarten graduation on June 12th.

Children over the age of 8 years apparently have a stronger and more developed immune system to fight off the virus. This disease is very uncommon in adults, though one may contract it.

For more information on this disease, please visit the Center for Disease Control and Protection website at: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm.

So much is happening in China right now...

*As I was ending this entry, the three minutes of silence began. It was such a chilling feeling to hear the car horns outside as they were the only ones wailing in mourning for those who lost their lives last week. It's a hard thing to describe, the fact that I am being able to experience some of this first hand... wow.

One more quick piece of lighter news -
The Olympic torch will be ran a few blocks away in ZhangJiang tomorrow afternoon (this is the suburb of Shanghai where I teach)! However, the teachers and I won't be able to see it since it will be ran during the school day... bummer.

I love birthdays!

Did you know that when you add the four numbers of my birth year together, you get 23? 1+9+8+5 = 23 (some of you may have seen the movie The Number 23... if you haven't, you should).

I looked online for some interesting things about the number 23. It just so happens one website gave me 23 interesting things about the number 23. Here are a few of them.

1. 23 is one of the most commonly cited prime numbers.
2. The number has been the subject of not one but two films: the 1998 German movie, 23, and The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey, released (naturally) today. Each has a main character obsessed with the number.
3. Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published in 1859 - 1+8+5+9 = 23. Two divided by three makes 0.666 recurring (allegedly - actually it makes 0.6666666667). The Hiroshima bomb was dropped at 8.15am - 8+15= 23.
4. The Ancient Chinese believed numbers conveyed sexuality - evens for feminine and odds for masculine. They considered prime numbers to be the most masculine, conferring special status on 23 which is made up of two consecutive prime numbers and the only even prime number - two.
5. The terrorist attacks on America on 11 September 2001 have been held up as one of the most portentous examples of the disturbing power of 23. The figures in the date (9+11+2+0+0+1) add up to 23. The independent US commission which investigated the attacks found the date had been chosen randomly by the hijackers and had originally been planned for later in the year. Alternative explanations for the date included the taking over of Palestine by Britain in 1922 and the fact that 911 is the US emergency code.
6. Each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to the start of human life. The nuclei of cells in human bodies have 46 chromosomes made out of 23 pairs. Egg and sperm cells in humans have 23 chromosomes which fuse and divide to create an embryo.
7. The Birthday Paradox states that a group of 23 randomly-selected people is the smallest number where there will be a probability higher than 50 per cent that two people will share the same birthday.
8. "W" is the 23rd letter of the Latin alphabet. It has two points down and three points up. White supremacists use 23 to represent "W" as a mark of racial superiority.

I can't believe I've made it to 23. I remember when my cousin Rachel turned 23... My 19-year-old brain thought she was gettin' pretty old. Now, here I am. And to have a birthday in China! How exciting! I was so thankful to have spent my birthday with my new friends. We had a great time -- bowling a couple of rounds, with a game of speed bowling to wrap things up; heading to dinner down the street at TGI Friday's; finally, the remaining friends and I went to Whisk (an amazing little dessert place).

So, how will things be on my 24th birthday? Quite a lot can happen in one year. Last year at this time, I was closing a big chapter in my life with college graduation. This year, I am closing yet another big chapter, though short-lived. I'm excited to see how this next year pans out.

On a rather sad note, while I was celebrating my birthday, thousands of others were mourning and grieving the loss of loved ones, their homes, and their lives. I encourage all of you to please keep those cities and those people in your thoughts*. It is such a sad thing to see so many people in need...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS - random piece of information: Some of you know how I've been bombarded with hints of Spanish as of the past few months... I found out today that the kindergartners will be doing a salsa dance (to a Spanish song, of course) at the Kindergarten Graduation ceremony. Just thought I'd throw that out there for ya. Oh yeah, one more thing... I've been assigned the country of Spain for International Day at the end of May.

The Good, The Bad, The Beijing Trip

Well, friends... to be quite honest, I'll never go back to Beijing. Heh.

I'd rather not spend my time complaining about the polluted air and the unfriendly locals. I'd rather not discuss my near nervous breakdown due to the crowds of people in tiny cramped spaces. I'd really like to refrain from a rather long discourse on how I feel the city of Beijing, both its people and the buildings themselves, is in no way ready to host the Olympic games (for various reasons that I will not discuss, like I've discussed).

However... Even though the experience itself was not quite what I had expected, and even though I wore a bare face and am in desperate need of a tan, I was so thrilled to have stood in some of the most famous places on the planet. How insignificant I felt when I walked the Great Wall. How intimidating to stand in a section of the 980 buildings that make up the Forbidden City. How chilling to view the body of one of China's most notorious leaders. How naive I felt to have walked through the Summer Palace, not knowing any of that beauty existed. How athletically inspiring to stand near the Olympic Stadium. I even witnessed these things at a very pivotal point in China's history. Who am I that I would get the chance to do this? And to think, none of the splendor and beauty of these things will last. All of this fades and will perish in light of Him! He is more famous than any of the places where my feet were planted. I thought of this as I was standing in line to see Mao's dead body. I thought, why am I wasting my time to see a man, a man who is called the Son of Heaven?? I know the True Son of Heaven, and this guy ain't him... What an incredible perspective to have in life; to know that we are here for His glory and not for our gain. He chose to allow me to see these things last week so that I might have a greater understanding of who He is and how He is working. If only I could have been thinking this way in my frustrating times last week (sheepish grin).

Sitting Indian Style

I recently attended a yoga class at the gym on campus with my friend Buffy. I had done yoga in the past and have paid for DVDs that I have yet to crack open, but I had never been to a class in Shanghai. Since I'm not the avid yoga-er, I forgot my non-existent yoga mat at home. Luckily, some mats were provided, though the mats were all connected into one big mat at the back of the dance studio. I was actually quite thankful I was forced to bend and stretch in the back of the room... the Chinese naturally stare at me enough. However, since the wall we were facing happened to be a giant mirror, it was hard to escape their blatant glances. Needless to say, I was trying something new.

Buffy and I were the only two white faces out of 30 that joined the class that afternoon. For the first twenty minutes, as other women were still entering in, we ourselves were entering in to a state of relaxation. The Chinese women see this time as meditation for religious purposes. The first few minutes were pretty neat -- the Chinese instrumental relaxation music, the quiet... but then by the fourth minute, I opened my eyes and looked at Buffy. This is boring, I mouthed. She nodded in agreement. Little did I know it would continue for another 16 minutes. I'm not sure if it was my American way of wanting things to move a little quicker, or if it was just my natural ability to become easily distracted that caused me to realize how much I am in need of a pedicure. My toes are disgusting. I began to find other impurities, moving up to my legs, thinking, I need to shave. I haven't shaved in weeks. Buffy and I began to have an almost silent conversation about how it's been winter and it's too expensive for the good razors, so why waste your money when no one sees your legs anyways?

The next 16 minutes were spent mentally outside of that room for the two of us, our miming ranging from vanity to school assignments. I thought at one point I'd surely fall asleep... why not when my legs had already done so... I enjoyed the rest of the class, laughing at myself, and others to be quite honest, in these ridiculous positions. Since we don't speak Chinese, we had to look to the other women around us to see what to do, some of the time looking at them while our heads were upside down.

Later on that night, I was struck with some thoughts. This yoga class was in no way religious for me whatsoever though it might have appeared that way by my outward posture; I have no desire to follow the teachings of Buddha or Confucius. I began thinking of all the times I've brought a non-Chrstian friend with me to service in the States. I sit beside them, meditating and prying, singing songs that I just know will incline their hearts to grasp on to Life. I am suddenly discouraged when they leave unchanged. I now know that though their head might have been bowed, their heart was not. They looked to the others to see how to respond since they couldn't understand the language that was being spoken. They too might have been thinking of how much they were in need of a pedicure, or how they couldn't believe they walked out the door wearing a skirt and forgot to shave their legs.

Evangelism takes time. It takes patience. I always figured the lost friends who attended with me didn't understand much, but now I have a small picture of how far away their hearts really are. Thankfully, His word does not fall on deaf ears. Thankfully, His Spirit has the power to move and convict the hardened hearts. Buddha doesn't have that power. And neither does Confucius. It is imperative that I not lag in my efforts of reaching people, whether abroad or in the States. Their lives depend on it. They are spiritually contemplating things that have no significance, searching for something to fill their time, sleeping, and laughing at one's who believe, just like Buffy and me in that yoga class.

I love shifts in perspective. My eyes are so dry from all the wool that has been pulled over them, culturally speaking.

p.s. - I shaved my legs today.