Packing

My parents came out to visit last week, and that was fun. They were relatively amazed by the low humidity, the constant sunshine, the desert plants, the smog, and the traffic. We ate at In-N-Out (of course). We visited with Kevin’s parents and grandparents (Dad and Opa had a great time talking about old cars), went to the beach (which was cold and windy as always), went hiking, and visited the San Gabriel Mission. We went to the Huntington Gardens and Library, a 150 acre area with bunches of different kinds of gardens (desert, jungle, rose, Chinese, Japanese, etc.), a fancy house turned art gallery, and a huge collection of old, rare books. We played Scrabble, which I won (just by one point, I’ll admit). We saw half a dozen parrots perched behind our apartment. We took my parents to see our large, beautiful library (they were duly impressed) and look at rich people houses.

I realized my parent’s visit was the only substantial event standing between us and packing and moving. My mom spent their last night here helping me pack up the kitchen. Now there are a pile of boxes in our corner and a general state of disorder throughout the apartment. The bookshelf is half emptied (the other half is mostly masters books for the summer, plus my “last chance to check books out of the library” stack).

In the process of packing and moving we are also trying to pack for China and starting to feel the constraints of the luggage weight. We are spoiled, I know: Anna could only bring a carry-on backpack to India. Still, it seems like half our weight will be used up with masters books. I have started a teeny tiny box of things I want to take to China. So far it includes things like:

-Collapsible giraffe toy (must start with the essentials, right?)
-Stuffed giraffe (he has been with me through so much it seems wrong to leave him behind)
-2 Tupperware cups
-French press travel coffee mug (I’ve stopped drinking coffee at the moment, but this is still one of my most valuable possessions)
-The books I always keep on hand to read every year: Christy and Till We Have Faces
-Stack of paper gnome Christmas decorations

Clearly logic and common sense are prevailing in my packing. In more practical matters, I am having a harder time. Shoes. I don’t even like them, so why are they causing so much trouble? All I’m asking for is the perfect shoe that will match with everything I have, look good enough for teaching, and be comfortable for walking long distances. Since this does not seem to exist, it appears I will have to take multiple pairs of shoes to China thereby taking up valuable luggage space that could otherwise be filled with…more books or another giraffe or a box of Bisquick.

Anyway, the countdown has begun –nine days until we move out of our apartment to begin our temporarily nomadic life, and sixty-seven days until we settle again in China. For the time being, I will continue to agonize over whether I really need so many socks.

Random Comments

1. We just bought tickets to China! We will be leaving on August 25, the day after the Olympics end. We will be flying through Beijing. I imagine the airport will be a little crowded.

2. I am excited that Weinan has a McDonalds, even though I never go near one in America.

3. My hair has started to get sun highlights this year. That is only interesting because it stopped doing that in China. I guess we never got enough sun…

4. Last week we tried to talk to the little 2-year-olds about me going to China. After about 45 seconds it deteriorated into a conversation about Disneyland. Oh well, we tried.

5. I drank coffee yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks and six hours later I was still jittery. This means my body is no longer used to caffeine. How strange.

6. Apparently we will have no team leader on our team. We asked our teammates and they said, “No, I thought maybe you guys would be…” At least we are all on the same page of (a) not knowing what’s going on and (b) not wanting to be leader.

7. I just finished reading a book (Saving Fish from Drowning) in which the narrator was a dead person. A little different take on the omniscient perspective.

8. Corrine is about to ship some boxes I left in Yangzhou to Weinan (by railway). I don’t really remember what I left, so I guess I won’t know if it all gets there.

9. Kevin and I were wondering: Would cactus be a fruit or a vegetable? Any votes?

10. Kevin and I were thinking of starting a combined blog, and we checked out five different blog site possibilities. Unfortunately, they are all blocked in China. Back to the drawing board.

Just Sick

I’m ending my last week of work with a bang - or rather, with a cold. Which seems extremely appropriate. I have been working at the preschool for six months (hmm, seems like longer). For the first three months I got sick about every other week, and for the second three months about every three weeks. So that’s at least ten times in the last six months. Mostly it has just been colds, plus one bout of Bronchitis and a probable sinus infection. The problem is, I start to get well and then I go back and get inundated with all those germs all over again.

Tomorrow is my last day of work! Whether I am sad or happy about that depends on whether a kid is being cute or having a horrible tantrum. Mostly I am happy. I will miss having kids around, since there won’t be any on our new team, but I’ve experienced quite enough dirty diapers for the time being. And now that I won’t be around constant runny noses, hopefully I can be healthier for a while. At least until I head to China and overwhelm my body with a whole new set of germs (plus pollution). As one of my friends once so kindly told me, regarding my frequent sicknesses, “If this were a hundred years ago, you probably would have died young.” Comforting, but perhaps true. Good thing we live in the age of Airborne.

In answer to your questions

One of the most common questions Kevin and I have received over the past few weeks is, "Where are you going to be in China?" And we answer, with as much detail as possible, "I don't know." Guess what? With three and a half months left to departure now we do know! So let's try that again.
You: "Where are you going to be in China?"
Me: "Weinan!"
You: "Hey, that's great!...But, uh, that means nothing to me, you know."
Me: "Excellent. Now I can tell you something you don't know and thereby sound smart and informed."

Weinan is located in central China in Shaanxi province (not to be confused with Shanxi province next door). It is 39 miles from Xian, which is where the Terracotta Soldiers are. Weinan itself is a pretty small city, something around 300,000. The area is mountainous with a famous mountain (Huashan) nearby.


I am happy about this location because:
1. It is north of the heat line! North of the Yangtze River, the buildings are actually heated during the winter! I might be able to teach without gloves.
2. It is not too far north. It looks like the climate is pretty agreeable, not too much colder than Yangzhou, though probably a good deal drier. It is still a good deal south of Beijing.
3. It is a small city, which is what we requested. I like to visit places like Beijing but it makes me feel a little claustrophobic.
4. Xian is only about an hour away and has an international airport! It also has several western places, so hopefully we'll be able to find some things there we can't get in our city.
5. There are mountains nearby.
6. The Hanings, my former teammates, will be in a city close by during the fall.

Speaking of teammates, Kevin and I will have two teammates this fall - a single girl, Christina, and single guy, Wes. They have both been around in China for at least several years. We don't know them yet, but they look familiar. We'll be finding out more about them in the upcoming months and much, much more during this next year.

I have included three images for your benefit.
1.The first is presumably a panorama of the valley area of Weinan. I say presumably because I found these things on the internet and everyone says you can't believe everything you find. I've never actually been to Weinan so for all I know, it could be a picture of Mississippi.
2. The second is a map of China with Shaanxi province in red. I took the liberty of marking the approximate locations of Weinan (where I will be), Yangzhou (where I was) and Beijing (where everyone knows about).
3. The third is presumably a photo of Huashan. This is doesn't look much like Mississippi, so I think it's the real thing.

*All of my information comes from what I could glean from scant references on (that's right) the internet. No doubt when I get to Weinan half of my information will be proven false. Hopefully we'll be finding out some more pertinent details soon. I just hope the part about the heat is true...

Distantly close

I think I miss my family more in America than in China. For one thing, China is a whole different country on the other side of the world, so it makes sense for it to be far away. While California is quite different from Georgia in many ways, it is not oh-so-foreign. (Although I must say, many people are a little afraid of the South. They think they'll stumble across a lynching or something.) They even have a few Chick-fil-a's out here. So now that I share the same country as my family and we are even on roughly the same day/night schedule, it seems like they should be closer.

Another thing is, I am around a lot of people with family. In China, most people don't have family nearby. English teacher friends have family on the other side of the world. Even students are separated from their family for the first time and feeling it much more than me. But here it seems like lots of people have all kinds of family around. All those born and bred Californians. A number of the people I work with are even born-and-bred Pasadenans. I wonder what that would be like - to live all your life in one place? It sounds confining.

Some people even live in the same place as their friends, which I think is a pretty cool idea. Difficult to accomplish, though, since it seems like people move all the time. My friends can't even settle on the state or country to stay in (I'm one to talk, huh?).
Even if I stayed in one place though, it wouldn't really help. Usually my family is spread out across three or four states and/or various countries in the world. I rarely have more than one or two friends living in the same state. They are also spread across a dozen states and/or various countries, plus the whole of China.

I admit that I have seen more of family and friends this year. Getting married is apparently a good way to accomplish that. I have seen all of my close friends once or twice this year. I have seen all of my family twice this year. So this is definitely a step up from the normal summer-back-from-China. The extra 10 months have helped.

So, thank goodness for cell phones and email and skype and blogs and facebook and increasingly expensive air travel. Face-to-face is apparently out of date.

The Dentist

Today was a sadly monumental "first": I went to the dentist and found out I have my first cavity. :( Here we go: the beginning of the end. It's all down hill from here. My teeth will all decay and fall out and I'll have to get dentures. It's rough getting old.

Actually, it was two firsts because it was also my first time going to an adult dentist. I realize I stopped being a kid a good while ago, but it was just easier to keep going to my pediatrician dentist. Now that I'm married (and moved), I guess it was time to grow up. I kind of missed the multi-colored chairs, but I have to admit - the grownup chairs were a lot more comfortable.

Mr. Hygienist spent the first half of the cleaning trying to convince me that I would be a great candidate for cosmetic dentistry - teeth whitening or more straightening or something ("You should really consider it? Do you think you'd be interested?") Um, noooo. He pointed out a small indentation in one tooth ("Have you noticed that? I'm sure you have. We could get that fixed too.") I had no idea what he was talking about. He may spend his days staring at people's teeth, but I sure don't. I found the whole idea far, far out of my realm of "things I would consider necessary or profitable" but had a hard time convincing him that I really didn't care if I had a celebrity smile.

Then I mentioned something about returning to China and the conversation mercifully shifted. I find it interesting to bring up China just to see the reaction when people hear something out of the norm. I instantly transform from a normal, boring person to an interesting, adventurous person, and I don't mind that. Mr. Hygienist talked about how cool that was and how different China must be in an "I can't really relate to you anymore" kind of voice. The voice you use when you talk to someone doing something you have never ever considered doing, didn't know existed, or find incredibly strange. That suddenly distant, slightly admiring, definitely perplexed sort of voice. For half a second, I think he even forgot about that little indentation in my tooth.

The second passed and we were back full swing into America mode, with Mr. Hygienist trying to sell me on a new electric toothbrush. ("What kind of toothbrush do you use: manual or electric? Manual? Still? Haven't made the switch yet?") Apparently manual toothbrushes are a thing of the past, on their way to join the cassette tapes. Who knew... ("You should try it out. I really think you'll love it.") I didn't bother explaining that I usually spend an average of a dollar on my toothbrushes. I definitely didn't go into the China voltage difference. I just accepted the free toothbrush (Free toothbrush! I just saved a dollar!) and headed out to the receptionist.

I couldn't schedule an appointment in six months since I'll be in China then. I think that was a bit disconcerting for the receptionist. No closure, I guess. ("Well, when are you coming back from your trip? Next year?!? Oh, well...You're right. I guess we can't schedule anything.") I did make an appointment to get that filling done next week. (A filling. Should I be nervous? My poor grown up decaying teeth...)

A couple of hours later the receptionist called to confirm my appointment for next week. I'm sorry, wasn't I just in your office? Didn't I make the appointment mere hours ago? No, I haven't forgotten yet. Fine, I'll confirm. You can check me off your list and life can continue as we know it, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I never realized dental visits were so...American. Which is particularly ironic since this dentist--he's Chinese.

Thinking about Old Shoes

My friend Adam said he needs me to update my blog because he is tired of listening to teenagers talk about MTV all day and he wants to think about something deep and challenging. I am tired of listening to 2 year olds talk about Thomas the train all day. Even at night, at least half of my dreams are about changing diapers or calming tantrums or catching a kid from falling to their death. The problem is I think about my job too much, and believe me, hearing about my job would not be one of those deep thinking, challenging things you are looking for, Adam. But I did think of something interesting that happened earlier in the month…

A few weeks ago at church, we gave away our shoes. Our pastor (Erwin McManus) spent the morning talking about sacrifice. It was one of those inspiring messages that makes you want to sacrifice something…something big…sometime in the hazy future. But at the end of the message, Erwin said,

“Why don’t we take our shoes and make them a metaphor today of all of our possessions…our dreams… our concerns…our burdens…our wealth…our desires, of everything we have, and let’s take our shoes and say, ‘God this is a declaration of all of me, and I want to give them to you…I’m going to give them to You by giving them away to someone who doesn’t have any shoes’…I want to invite you to join me and give your shoes away.”

I thought, hey that’s cool, a metaphor. Then I realized that he actually wanted us to take off our shoes and give them away. What? But we need our shoes. You don’t just ask people to give away the shoes they are wearing. Does he really mean it?

When I saw several other people bending down to take off their shoes and walking up front, I saw that he did really mean it. As I took off my shoes I was struck by my first reactions to the request. How much do we really need our shoes? Who couldn’t go home and pick up another pair of shoes at home, or even buy a replacement without too much difficulty? Why is it so difficult to give when we aren’t prepared?

I looked at the pile of shoes at the front and thought were probably some really nice, expensive shoes up there. My sandals had just been cheap ones from China, but Kevin had given away his tennis shoes, and my sister Anna, who was visiting, her favorite pair of Chaco’s. We walked home barefoot and got along just fine without our shoes. When we got home, we put on a different pair of shoes. As Erwin had said,

“I’ll bet you have more shoes than you have feet, but there’s people out there who have more feet than they have shoes.”

What was most interesting was that when we discussed this event at our small group almost two weeks later, everyone was still thinking about it. People shared their thoughts and reactions. Most of us were surprised and hesitant because it was such an unusual request. There was generally a bit of inner conflict because we felt some kind of attachment to our shoes. One girl who caught wind of what was happening before she attended an evening service struggled throughout the day with wanting to change shoes and chose a different pair to give away. Another person remarked, “It would have been a lot easier if he had asked us to give money.” We’re used to doing that, and we don’t have the same attachment to a check.

After a pile of shoes lined the front of the stage, Erwin also invited us to bring other clothes and shoes for the homeless ministry, but I think that initial act of giving up our shoes was important. We didn’t get to choose what to sacrifice. We didn’t go through the back of our closets to find the things we don’t really want or need, keeping the best things for ourselves. I think that is why weeks later, we are still thinking about it.