Video of China

 

It's Over!

It's over! With one final run we have accomplished our task in Beijing and we head for the States tomorrow night. The teachers are headed for their various universities in many provinces and their kids are ready to go. We've eaten our last noodles and made our last trip to the WuMart to buy Chinese yogert. In forty-eight hours we will be able to say "hello" instead of "ni hao", and "good-bye" rather than "zai jian". I can pay "ten bucks" instead of ""she Yuan", and ask for "to go" rather than "did zien".

It was a hectic week and even crazier weekend. Kids keep you young in spirit, but they tend to kill the body. But what a great group of kids we have had the pleasure of meeting, not to mention their parents and the many Chinese friends we have made. I'm looking very forward to getting home, but there's always a piece of me that stays here and gets a little stronger everytime I come.

There are many things that I would like to tell you that haven't been said, so don't consider this the final blog. Check back later. The pictures are of our "Tweens" group as they finally maxed out and the final combined Tweens and Pre-school/Primary.

See you in the U.S.

zai jain..... er .... I mean "bye",
Kent

Chinese Name

We are starting to have the veteran teachers return to Beijing for a few days before they move on to their respective universities, so we are gaining numbers of children rapidly. I am still amazed by the commitment these young families are making bringing their children to live in a foreign culture. I met one of the little seven year old girls today, whose been here since she was two, that wanted to know if California was in Canada. I think they call that being emersed in the culture. But she speaks Mandarin pretty good. The Texans will be proud to hear there are several families and individual teachers here from Dallas. I even met a girl from my old alma mater, Stephen F. Austin State University.

The most interesting event of the day is that I was that I was given a Chinese name. When Chinese students study English, they take an English name. The name may come from something significant or it may just be one they have heard that they like. e.g. Joseph - from The Book; Fiona - she loved Shriek; Raul - he thinks the Spanish are cool; Prosper - that's what he wants to do. One young man who has kind of attached himself to me for some reason, asked that I would give him an English name. I felt honored to be asked to do something that important and asked Janice and Lisa for help. They suggested Caleb, and that's the name we gave him. We told him it was from The Book, and that Caleb was a strong warrior who was honorable and dependable. He was very proud of his new name and said that I should have a Chinese name. He thought it over for a few days, and today he gave me the name "Yan". He said it means good and powerful leader because it came from one of their rulers. I figure it's because I'm so bossy around here, but hey, I'll take all the complements I can get.

That's it from Beijing tonight. zai jian

Yan Scott

Great Wall vs. Man

My two favorite Beijing area visits are Tian'anmen Square and The Great Wall. Besides both being magnificent structures, each is loaded with history. It is almost overwhelming to imagine the historical events that have affected the world on the very ground on which you are standing. When the ELIC teachers took their official trip to the wall today, most of our group declined because, "We've already been there." But I love the wall, so I jumped at the opportunity to go with two of our new guys and took a couple of our kids with us. The place where we go gives you three options of getting up the mountain to the wall; walk a path, ride a chair lift or ride a gondola. Only the young and foolish walk up because the climb has just started when you reach the wall. I have always rode the chair lift before, but today we rode the gondola. It goes higher and opens an opportunity for a climb to the clouds..... one step at a time. It's about an hour climb to the top of the assessable wall there and only the fit, the young, and I might add, the foolish, attempt it. The higher you go the thinner the crowd... and the air. And what goes up must come down. Then if you want to ride the neat little sleds in the shoot to get back to the parking lot, it's a further 30 minute climb down from where you started in the first place. It's one of those things that you would never do if you could see the near future. But you know how old men are. We just can't admit that the young and strong can outdo the old and stupid. In the picture of the wall I've attached (295) you can get some idea of the climb to the top. We actually made it all the way. Picture 300 is the last struggle to the summit, and Picture 299 is the survivors at the top. You may notice there's only one old guy in there. Wisdom has always been elusive for me.

And then the descent begins. Going up is as good a heart test as the parsanthien e.k.g., but going down is a lesson in the anatomy of the joints. You can feel every one crying out for relief. By the time you finally reach the sled down the hill, the joints are crying out in unison, "Make us take one more step and we're going to dump you over the side of this wall!" One of the ELIC teachers said it best when she said, "I'd quit right here if I just had that option." I day-dreamed about MediVac flying over the hill to rescue me. I made the kids promise they would send the body back to Janice. But, in the end, we all made it and, just like the Marines, we left no one behind. The sled ride down the hill was a hoot, as it always is. Once down the hill and after a little rest on level ground, just like child birth, we all bragged about how tough we are, how great it was, and how we'd do it again.

The last picture (303) is a story. In every public place there are folks digging the garbage for recycle. This lady was doing that in the parking lot while we were waiting for the bus. She came over and actually spoke a little English to us, and we gave her our bottles. I commended her on her English and she told me she could sing Edlewise. I told her I'd love to hear her sing, and she belted out a beautiful rendention of Edlewise .... every verse. We gave her a standing ovation and 10 Yuan (a little over $1.00).

That's it from the other side of the world. It's been rather a long day.

zai jian,
Kent

New Blogger

Well, the real blogger has abandoned us to returned to the States to eat steak and eggs and try to recover from seventeen days of choices between MSG terror or peanut butter. I will try to keep the blog going, but I'm sure the literary quality is going to take a dive.

Team 1 left for the U.S. last night and it was tough to see them go since both my wife and daughter went with them. But life in Beijing doesn't leave much time for mopping. We took the kids to the largest shopping mall in China today. It would pretty much rival most of our large malls in the U.S. The prices would as well. Lisa probably told you about the Pearl and Silk Markets where you can barter and bargin. But this is an upscale mall where you just bring your money. Within that mall is a huge play area with a sand beach, and that is where the little kids went. In China, they wear shirts with English writing and it doesn't always interpret correctly. When we were at this mall in 2007, we have a picture of a little boy about three, playing in the sand, with a shirt that said, "Life on the Bitch". Close, but not close enough. There is also a ice skating rink in this mall, and that's where we took the older kids. Besides watching a couple of old guys fall on their butts, it's always fun to see the kids who have never been on skates start on their backs and butts and end the session looking like future Olympic candidates. That was certainly true of our little girl from India.

Seeing this mall reiterates what a modern and cosmopolitan city Beijing has become. Yet, just down the street sits a Buddhist temple used by the Emperors a thousand years ago. Truly, a unique place. Our history goes back a little over two hundred years; theirs goes back four thousand.

After we skated, we did the all-American lunch at the Golden Arches. I know I've been eating too many noodles when McDonald's starts tasting good. And then, believe it or not, we went upstairs to the DQ for a Blizzard. Now, that did taste good.... not Bluebell (for the Texans); but pretty good.

We are headed back to tha Great Wall tomorrow. More later.

zai jian,
Kent

Saying Goodbye

Team 2 arrived yesterday morning and have joined us this morning to meet with the kids. Last night we took Joseph and his wife, Jessie, out to Peking Duck to celebrate their marriage and my parents birthdays. It was really neat too look around the table and see both teams together, along with Joseph, our faithful guide. Our group is so incredibly blessed. I listened as team one shared their experiences with everyone and as team 2 shared their excitement of things to come. I remember being where they were three weeks ago. I remember the excitement of being in China for the first time and meeting the people. I remember meeting the kids and their families for the first time and growing to love them as much as my own family. It will be so difficult to say goodbye today as their parents pick them up and we take off to the airport. We are anxious to get home to our families, but sad to leave those we have grown to love behind. We leave the children and families in capable hand with team 2. Our time here is ending but many of us will leave part of our hearts here with those we have met. I am already looking forward to the next time I am able to come again.
My dad will continue to post some on this blog so please continue to follow the team and see how our Creator is working in China. We are thankful for our time here and even more thankful for those of you that have held us up in your thoughts.
See you soon.
Lisa
As Lisa's mom, Kent and I have been able to come to China three times now and it is always a blessing. As our girls were growing up we always dreamed that someday we could do Dad's work together. It has been such a exciting answer to share this time with one of them. Words cannot describe the joy we have felt everyday. Janice

Olympic Park and Sweat

So today I am pretty sure that I lost about 8 lbs, just in sweat. We took the kids and their moms to Olympic Park and then to Minority Park today. It was a blazing 96 degrees and I am pretty sure that I haven't had that much sweat come off my body in years. So far we have had pretty good weather, because it has been a bit overcast and the sun stays behind the clouds. Today the sun was out and belting it's beautiful rays down on us as we walked through Olympic Park. The Bird's Nest is an amazing sight to see. The architecture is unbelievable. Kirsten, a team member, and I were wondering who had an imagination that great to put it together. It really does look like a birds nest. We also were able to see the Water Cube, which all the swimming and diving events were held in. I never realized how close together everything was. The kids were troopers, we only had one mom and child head home early. It was so fun to walk through the stadium and be in the very spot that I saw on TV last summer.
From Olympic Stadium we stopped at the apartment of one of the ELIC gals that lives near Olympic Park, and had our lunch in the luxury of air conditioning. We then sent the preschoolers, my Dad, and their moms off to the hotel and were off to Minority Park. There was so much history there. We learned of all the different ethnic groups that are in China. I was amazed at the diversity. These people are absolutely amazing.
The second team from CBC comes in tomorrow morning and will rest. On Thursday they will shadow us for the day and then we are off to the airport to come home. I am ready to go home, but sad to leave China. I have met some incredible people here and I will forever be changed by the experiences here. I know when I say goodbye on Thursday night it won't be forever.
See you all soon.
Lisa