Monthly Archives: February 2013

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We are so-o-o fortunate with the blessings of fellowship with those who have passed through Beijing and gathered for worship/study…with others to join us in coming weeks and months.

We laughed, cried, and just shared so much with Edwin and Mary in the time we had with them. We have so much in common through our life experiences, Harding, his twin brother, Edward, etc. After our Sunday activities, we had one of TJ’s home cooked American-style meals (pulled pork, corn bread, lima beans or green beans, cole slaw, diet coke or decaf tea, etc.). We made Mary’s day when giving her a bag of Fritos to take home with her. 🙂

We enjoy our worship opportunities, though the numbers have been down due to the holiday. Poor economic conditions in America that pulled many out of the business environment here have put us in a ‘rebuilding mode’ for the past months, but God is reliable in “giving the increase” and we will strive daily to find those who are seeking Him…that is my morning and evening (and all the time in between) prayer to the One in control of such things.

We have Family coming through soon from both Australia (for a long-term intern program) and South Africa (week business trip). They represent ‘family we haven’t met yet.”

Terry and I went on a date to celebrate our third Valentine’s Day in China… and during our meal we both acknowledged the difference in Beijing “of walking down the road and not seeing one single person we know or recognize.” Quite different than Jingzhou, where we saw and visited with many teachers and even more students any time we left our apartment. We look forward to the holiday ending so we can have more into our apartment and have time to talk about Important Things!

In 2011 we had just arrived after a trip of some 26-hours and did not know what day it was for at least three of them, and last year we had already begun our heavy teaching load…so this year we had time to relax, eat a good American-style meal, “look deep into each other’s eyes” and say how much we loved each other, and reflect on our 41+ years together. Terry fixed us French toast with bacon for breakfast.

We have spent a lot of time these past few days in instant message discussions with several students…one lost her grandfather…two not enjoying being home with angry parents…another sees the need to “marry a rich man” because her father has a gambling problem and the family “needs the money”…a few asking for advise as they deal with a poor job market…typical ‘stuff’ from college age young people. We really miss the young people and the daily conversations, but do NOT miss the cold classrooms and the work associated with teaching over 650+ students.

One of our teacher friends shared how they are moving into their house, finally, after waiting many months for the paint fumes to leave the premises.

We have begun follow-up with our new Family member….meeting once in person each week and once on Skype, since he lives nearly two hours away on the subway.

We have had Eric and Wendy, our students and teachers (especially those new) in our thoughts and prayers this weekend, since classes began February 24. We’re also very curious to know who has been hired/reassigned to replace us.

We are also beginning to look ahead and make tentative plans for our visit to America. TJ wants to visit her Mom and other family on the way into the country (I also plan to do something similar) before getting to South Florida to meet our new grandson and visit with Tonia and Gregory, Andrea, and Colton (it will be over 16 months since we have visited with Colton in person, so he has changed a lot…so-o-o thankful for Skype!).

We received word that our marriage certificate has been authenticated by the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. and was hand-delivered via our American Airlines contacts…registration went OK without a hitch and Terry is now enrolled in the language school for the rest of the year (with a vacation and summer break), which also gives us a student visa and spousal visa for that identical…allowing us to ‘relax and get to work’ now that we are secure in our residency.

We have made two trips to the local police station to register (not a scary procedure since we have done nothing wrong, right?) and saw something interesting there: a free condom dispenser for the locals. It was explained to us that since the one-child rule is a national law, it makes sense to help the population to exercise this control.

Phillip is also meeting with us again, now that the Spring Festival is over. He is one of the Let’s Start Talking contacts mentioned earlier…very energetic in his desire to learn English and listens intently to the Important Lessons being taught. We are seeking to follow-up with other students at this time who were ‘signed up’ in the past from groups in this area…waiting to see who will become available to come to our apartment.

Phillip finishes furnishing a new house (apartment) soon and also will await his son’s taking of the national exam that determines where they will attend college. Of course, they hope he does well enough to qualify to enter one of the Beijing universities, where the top students study. Phillip travels once a month to be with his son and wife, since he works here because of the better job opportunity.

Barry has become such a good friend and a big help in getting our Visa extended the second time and getting  other items written down in Chinese for us, as we make our way in the neighborhood. We see him most Sundays, so it is a special treat in many ways.

I put on shorts while in the apartment for the first time today…it was 40 degrees outside but was over 79 in the apartment, and since the air quality was very poor, we did not want to open the windows to cool it down…might be a record for me in any country to consider wearing shorts in late February.

The Spring Festival was certainly something to hear firsthand. Fireworks were a major part of the event, the first night lasting in excess of six hours…but also 3-4 hours each night for the rest of the week. After a while, they became just noise, especially when 10 p.m. came along and they were still all around our apartment!

There were times when we could see as many as 11 different areas of the city outside our window with bright colors and ‘flash.’ They finally ended on Thursday evening, and we noticed many family units on the Friday subway with their luggage, making their return home.

Greetings — This week when we were out I realized how much I miss seeing people I recognize. I really miss our friends in Jingzhou.  It won’t be long before we know more people here.

We were blessed to have some dear friends worship and eat lunch with us Sunday on their way back into China from the States. It was so good to visit with them. We also had a young man from South Africa who lives in this area join us for worship. We hope to get to know him better.

I have started regular night-time, Skype reading sessions with my grandsons in Shiyan. We are reading Once Upon  a Summer by Janette Oke. It is the first in the Seasons of the Heart series. It is one that Eric and I read together when he was young.

Finished reading  A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter. It is one of Mother’s favorite books;  very enjoyable.

Each day we discover new things in our neighborhood: market, bakery, underground parking, etc. Today I sketched a simple map so our visitors can find our apartment and our Sunday meeting place from the subway station nearby.

Whenever we take the subway it is a hassle to take my dark glasses off and on while getting my subway card in and out of my purse. To solve the problem I sewed two pockets to the inside of my coat.  Now both are readily available and out of the way. Threading my needle has been a pain lately.  But when I dampen the eye of the needle as well as the tip of the thread it goes through without trouble. It must have something to do with the static.

We have had many opportunities to encourage our former students by text and instant messaging as they meet new trials in their lives and head back to school for another semester. — Love, Terry.

The Year of the Snake is everywhere here, so it seemed useful to inform as to some of the news related to this creature, at least from the Chinese point of view.

Every snake part is useful — Every part of a snake is useful. Using snakes as medicine has a long history in China and is recorded in detail in many ancient classics of Chinese traditional medicine, including Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen. The book narrated 17 kinds of snake medicines, most of which about the flesh of a snake.

Fresh snake flesh has a better potency than dried. The flesh of snakes, such as cobras, kraits, vipers, Ptyas korros, Zaocys, etc., can effectively cure rheumatic arthritis, leprosy, ringworm, diabetes, acute poliomyelitis and its sequela, heat rash and so on.

Snake village in China—Zisiqiao, a once impoverished village in Zhejiang province where people used to fish to make a living, has now become the number one snake-breeding industry town in China. A step into the homes of any of the farming families here brings visitors eye-to-eye with thousands of some of the world’s most feared creatures -snakes, many of them poisonous.

Beijing adds 390k vehicles in two year, a big drop—Over the past two years, only 390,000 motor vehicles have been registered in Beijing, less than half of those in 2010, according to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

The slowdown in car registrations followed the launch of the license plate lottery system in 2011. Beijing will continue implementing the license plate lottery policy, maintaining the current quota, People’s Daily reported Friday, citing vice-chairman of the commission Li Xiaosong.

More diversified ways of distributing plates are expected to be issued soon. The lottery system reduced new car registrations to 240,000 in both 2011 and 2012, 20,000 per month, 88 percent of which belong to private car owners. The increase in motor cars in 2011 amounted to 173,000, 610,000 less than that in 2010.

In the past, motor vehicles in Beijing increased rapidly, rising from 2.58 million in 2005 to 4.81 million in 2010. The year 2010 alone saw 790,000 more units. By the end of 2012, the total number reached 5.2 million, 216,000 more than that in 2011, a 4.3 percent increase.

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It is always a highlight of events when one more is “dipped in clean water.” We were part of that event, and will be following up with the family member in coming weeks/months. Good things happen in Beijing!

Each person presents their own story, but this young man has displayed long-term interest and needed to work through some teachings that greatly confused him…thankfully the Word is clear and he was willing to listen to it.

The Visa process has moved forward. We have paperwork that will prove to the language school that we are, indeed, married, and TJ plans to enroll at the end of the month. It will give us visas for the length of time her classes continue.

We put a sign up in each of our two elevators (‘lifts’) but it was removed only a few hours later, so we assumed no one had seen it and would not come on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. to the first English Corner in our building. I commented at 7:09 pm to Terry that we’d just keep trying and would find some way to reach out.

Well…at 7:10 we had our first three, and before 8:30 had come and gone, we had six adults and two children in our apartment! Needless to say, we hope to host a weekly event once the February holiday travel is over and ‘things settle down’ and are back to whatever normal is here.

The adults were smart and witty and intrigued that we were in China and wanted to help others learn English. Two had really-y-y-y-y-y good skills, but wanted their children/family to have the opportunity more than themselves. One  young man has spent many years traveling abroad, and was quite interesting. (The process also taught us a good lesson on doubt).

We had a good visit with our friend from Jingzhou and introduced him to the movie Flywheel…he has already seen Fireproof and Courageous, and “liked them very much,” he said with a big smile. It was good to catch up on what has happened to each of us in the year+ since we had last visited, and talk of important things again.

We called my mother on Skype and enjoyed a good visit, and she encouraged Terry to get the camera and take more pictures with me in them…and, to my displeasure, TJ said “ok,” so get ready to see my ugly face more. 🙂 Terry also spoke to her brother, Steve, who lives outside Los Angeles…she has been in touch with him regularly since we discovered the low cost of Skype phone calls.

We have had some LST students and enjoyed the opportunity very much, studying Luke with two and Acts with the other. It is so awesome to have seekers come with important things on their mind!

I had some help taking the gifts for the orphanage to the post office and had some interesting discoveries. In a conversation with Zoe, a young adult, she said “many of the older people in Beijing have been told they should leave the city if they want to live healthy lives.”

“How can they afford to do that?” I asked.

“It is expensive to live here, so they should sale their homes and move to a healthier city.” The younger generation has it figured out, huh?

I looked in the mirror just now and saw a mismatch of colors, fabric, and patterns…just grabbed a shirt and pair of pants when I got up since some clothes are in the wash…and had to laugh. We talked the other Sunday morning about “being all things to all people to win some” and my clothing style/choices showed it today. Sometimes our students would be dressed with some of the strangest colors and patterns and fabrics imaginable. 🙂

I think it also fair to mention that a ‘different woman’ has begun living in our Beijing apartment…she looks like TJ and works like her and cooks like her, but this one is using the internet more often to send mail to former teacher friends and students, has gone to her little-used Facebook account this week, and even said the words “I guess I will need to Google it” today when asking me about a term she had written on her always full scrap paper where she keeps all her many lists. I will keep an eye on her to see in coming days…..I like this 2013 edition of my precious TJ.

Terry and I have been on QQ instant message often with former students…who share their “pain and sorrow” over lost boyfriends, or their happiness from passing their finals and enjoying the spring break. It is so-o-o good to hear from them!

Terry continues her traditional medicine for her vitiligo and the doctor has sent medicine here for her so treatments can continue. We have also introduced him to a friend in Tennessee, and he is also treating her with similar medicines.

We have been in America during this time the past two winters, so have never seen first-hand the excitement shown as the spring festival and New Year approaches. It is like the days before Thanksgiving, I think.

We have been confronted with a new ‘scam’ leaving the Carrefore grocery store: older ladies are at the end of the checkout lines asking for each person’s cash register receipt…they will sale it to business people who have reimbursement as part of their salary…turn in a high receipt when you spent very little…we would like to do something to help the older folks but not to encourage lying and dishonesty in the business community.

The Super Bowl was on the internet so I enjoyed seeing most of the game…two local America-style restaurants (Peter’s Tex-Me Grill) offered buffet from 7-11:30 a.m. for 88 yuan,..multitude of items…did not go but had seen the advertisement earlier in the month.

We had a bigger snow on February 3 so did not meet at the hotel, and it was closed for the holidays on the 10th…on both occasions we met through Skype…amazed at the great technology that enables us to study and worship in spite of outside circumstances.

As the holiday approached, I saw lots of families with big smiles on their faces carrying plenty of red boxes filled with gifts…as they were traversing the subway system. And close to our apartment was a large temporary tent filled with fireworks of all shapes and sizes…haven’t seen that many in one place since traveling on the interstate near Chattanooga and South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

Nick and Hillarie Maynard (and three great children) came to visit for three days/two nights; Hillarie grew up in that area of Tennessee/North Alabama…small world…and Nick is the son of two good friends from Middle Tennessee State we knew in the early 1970’s.

We have had four family units spend several days each with us since arriving in our apartment on January 2. Delightful time for us all, especially since we share common ideas and interests. They have also enjoyed the American-style restaurants and food in this city.

Many of you have heard by now that Eric and Wendy (also Brinson and Aiden) have decided to submit papers and begin the process of adopting a Chinese orphaned child…knowing it will take a long process and relying on God to work it out.

The following email came from one of our older, mature students: “Happy New Year. It’s so nice to hear from you. Glad to know everything is going well in Beijing.

“I am deeply touched by the decision of your son and your daughter-in-law, so was my family. We are moved by their great love to life which has gone beyond national boundaries. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. There is an old saying in China “good men deserve good return”. God bless your family and please send my best wishes to them.”

We are always glad when they wish God’s blessing on anyone, since many times our talks with them were the first extended discussions of God they had heard…

We’ve had lots of greetings and text as the New Year unfolded from our 24th floor apartment…they were heard and seen from across all of our windows…very beautiful!

The celebration meal with family included as many as seven meats, we were told, with other large portions of favorite foods…a special, special time for those who traveled back to their hometown.

If any are interested in China travelogue programming, you can see it on the internet at http://cctvnews.cntv.cn.

Greetings: This area spins dust bunnies faster than a State Fair spins cotton candy, probably because it is so dry.  It is shocking how much static there is. (Pun intended)

The other day we were out running errands. I had my ear muffs, scarf, gloves and blue dust mask on. My ear muffs were shuffling off my ears, my gloves made it hard to find things in my purse and my dust mask was fogging up my glasses. I finally just removed my glasses and stayed very close to Gary. It was funny and frustrating at the same time. Such are the frustrations of winter. I can wait to see what the summer brings.

We had the wonderful opportunity to be present as a person took a dip in the clean water last week. The portable used was very efficient.  It was refreshing for all present and we got to meet several more people. Last Sunday evening we held English Corner in our apartment. Eight  people came, all from our apartment. We enjoyed getting to meet them. I do hope they come back next week.

It was snowing as we headed out to get our groceries from afar by taxi. After our purchases no taxis was around so we started walking and watching for the next available.

None were to be found until we had walked about ¼ of the way home. We were thankful it was not so cold and there was no wind. Actually it was very pretty but we were thankful we didn’t have to walk and carry all the way home.

Today I went on an exploring walk near our apartment and found a hospital, restaurant and two hotels. The business cards I got and the name of the street will help if we need to find our way home from a different direction. I also met two more English speaking people from our apartments whom I quickly invited to our English corner. The toy poodle I saw wearing little pink shoes was really cute.

It is amazing that at after all these years I still get a touch of “stage fright” right before we have first time-company. I just put on my armor, praise and thank Him for the opportunity and get busy following His lead. If I make all I have available to Him He makes everything turn out fine. Isn’t He wonderful? Hupernikō! “Overwhelming victory!”

We have had a fun filled past couple of days with the Nick and Hilarie Maynard family visiting us during their break from teaching English in China. They are a sweet couple with three dear children; Charlie (7), Colson (almost 5), and Allie (3). We enjoyed their hugs, laughter, and interesting conversations.

Chinese New Year’s Eve is amazing in Beijing. We have heard fire crackers all day. Starting at dark we began seeing some pretty fireworks from our 24^th floor apartment. Then around 6:30 it became continuous with six to ten at a time in the air all over the area. Many are the huge ones like at Disneyworld. It is very pretty and noisy. Actually it sounds like the city is under attack.

I am thankful there is nothing to be afraid of. — Love, Terry

China News—Railway workers prepare for peak: Railway workers across China are gearing up to handle the busiest days during the Spring Festival travel peak. More than 6.4 million trips were made on the country’s railway network on Thursday, the Ministry of Railways forecast, adding it temporarily scheduled 645 extra train trips to transport passengers flooding railway stations.

On Wednesday, passengers made more than 6.3 million trips on trains, and railway authorities operated 4,714 train trips after adding 663 temporary train trips. Chinese tradition holds that people should return home and spend Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday, with their families, which creates an annual travel rush that is the world’s largest recurrent human migration.

Chinese travelers made more than 235 million trips by train during the Spring Festival travel peak in 2012 — meaning nearly 6 million people took trains each day of the rush period.

The Ministry of Railways expects 220 million train trips to be made during this year’s 40-day holiday rush, from Jan 26 to March 6, averaging 5.6 million a day. A total of 54.4 million trips had already been made from Jan 26 to Monday, it said.

In Beijing, about 477,300 passengers departed from three major railway stations on Wednesday, 30,000 more than the busiest day last year.

In Beijing West Railway Station, once the biggest station in Asia before the city’s south station opened in 2008, more than 220,000 passengers took trains on Wednesday, the busiest day since this year’s rush period began.

More than 100 trains departed from the station, which has begun to operate 24 hours a day for the travel rush, from 2 pm to 10 pm. All of the station’s nearly 2,000 employees have been kept on duty to handle the flood of passengers, and more than 700 volunteers have been added. The station has also beefed up its security by mobilizing more than 1,000 police officers to patrol and crack down on theft.

The largest group of people returning home this week by train is white-collar workers. Most migrant workers and university students have already gone home, railway officials said. To transport more passengers, railway authorities even launched overnight services on the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail line. From Tuesday to Friday, seven temporary trips will be made overnight each day on the Wuhan-Guangzhou section of the line.

BEIJING — Chinese welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Snake with raucous celebrations on Saturday, setting off a cacophony of firecrackers in the streets and sending fireworks blazing into the sky to bring good fortune.

Celebrations will carry on into the early hours of Sunday, officially the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Residents of Beijing braved freezing temperatures to let off brightly colored fireworks, with clouds of smoke in the air, red wrappings from firecrackers covering streets and explosions rattling windows.

A plea by the government to set off fewer fireworks to help deal with Beijing’s notorious air pollution seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“Every year we set off fireworks and this year will be no different,” said Lao Guo, 45, a convenience store worker.

Firecrackers are believed to scare off evil spirits and entice the god of wealth to people’s doorsteps once New Year’s Day arrives.

China’s cosmopolitan business hub, Shanghai, saw similar scenes, though not everyone had reason for cheer.

“Business now is very weak. It’s related to the financial crisis,” said Chen Yongliang, who used to run a street stall. Maintaining a tradition of leaders visiting ordinary folk at this time of year, Communist Party chief Xi Jinping, who takes over as president in March from Hu Jintao, met subway construction workers in Beijing ahead of the week-long holiday. “Migrant workers have been the labor force behind China’s reform and opening up … so we must look after you properly,” Xi said in comments carried on state television.

“I hope the construction firm has organized some new year entertainment for you so you can have a happy holiday,” added Xi, who has tried to cultivate an easy-going, man-of-the-people image since becoming party boss in November.

People born in the year of the snake, including Xi, are believed to be thoughtful and stylish yet complex characters. Practitioners of the ancient art of feng shui say the year ahead will see financial markets slither higher as optimism grows, though the risk of disasters and territorial disputes in Asia also looms.

The lunar new year is marked by the largest annual mass migration on earth, as hundreds of millions of migrant workers pack trains, buses, aircraft and boats to spend the festival with their families. For many Chinese people, this is their only holiday of the year. Almost half of Beijing’s population of 20 million have left the city for the holiday, according to state media.

Taboos abound over this period. Crying on New Year’s Day means you will cry for the rest of the year, and washing your hair signifies washing away good luck. Woe betide those who clean on new year’s day, for you will be sweeping away good fortune in the year ahead.