Eastons in the East

August?

2011-09-23T10:46:00.008+08:00

Ummm... So we don't live in China any more... I'll fill you in a little more on what life is like for us these days, but before we came home we did a little bit of traveling. First to Turkey to visit my cousin and her family as well as connect with some of the ISU students who volunteered there this summer. Here's a few highlights. It's old news, so I'll keep it short.

Visiting cousin Owen
and his mom and dad of course

Making friends
Checking out the rugs at the Grand Bazaar

Hajia Sophia
(if you don't know about this place check it out - the history is amazing)

Nora found it to be a very educational experience that she will remember forever
Mike and I got a day away to tour the ruins of Ephesus. So sweet to walk the same streets as apostle Paul and the gang. The other thing I like about overseas travel is that everything is so open. In America they'd have everything all blocked off but overseas - if you wanna climb on the oldest stuff ever - not a problem. Heck you could probably take a pillar home with you if you want.

Then we were off to Kiev, Ukraine to see my friend Lindsay and her family
Lindsay and Andre are committed to sports ministry in Ukraine with FCA.

That's right - puttin' out the vibe in the capitol city

Foreigner No More

2011-07-23T22:27:00.005+08:00

Everyday for two years we walked down the street where children and adults point and call us "foreigner." In just a few days we will be leaving the city that we have called home for the last two years and head back to Ames, where people still might laugh and point, but probably not because we are white. Our last few days have been filled with good-byes, packing, debriefing and rest.

Eating at one of our fav. restaurants

Nora takes a spin on the turn-table.

As we wrap up our time here we are feeling thankful and excited. Thankful for the things we have been able to see and the ways we have been used here. Excited as we look toward the next season of life that the Father has in store for us. Mike has accepted a job working with international students at our home church. I am going to be Nora's mom and hopefully a little part time social services work mixed in there somewhere.

In other news we were doing a little online shopping and bought a house!!!

We'll be around after mid-August so stop on by. Jello molds, casseroles, and gifts of manual labor will be accepted throughout the month of August. :)

And Just for fun -

Things we're looking forward to in America

Spending time with family - especially those Nora hasn't been able to meet yet
Frozen food - Seriously the thought of having the option of cooking dinner in 30 minutes makes me a little giddy.
Eating steak
Mt. Dew
Fixing up our house - oh, yeah and seeing it for the first time
DRIVING
Seeing the stars
Cornerstone

Things we'll miss about China

Cheap fruit and veggies
Riding our bikes
Talking to people who have never heard the name Jesus
FOOD
Our awesome friends who are so hospitable, loving, genuine and a little goofy.
Every day being an unpredictable adventure

Things we won't miss about China

Every day being an unpredictable adventure
Living on the 5th floor
Advice about how our baby is too cold
Pollution and traffic
Getting my feet moped with toilet water at the super market
squatty potties

If you didn't receive our final update summarizing our term overseas, send us an email and we can certainly get it to you.

Italy Noodle and Manliness

2011-06-04T21:43:00.008+08:00

I wish that you all could meet this group of friends. Some have been brothers and sisters for a long time, some are still young, some are still making up their minds, but they all have amazing stories. And they are hilarious. They started the semester as strangers, but now they are starting to study together and laugh together like a family, and we're so glad to be a part of it. Here we are in one of the study rooms in the dormitory. Check out the decor in this room, it's especially special. Winnie the Pooh stickers, soccer posters, Christmas tinsel, and a still life portrait of fruit.

I don't think Nora learned much at this particular study

Last weekend we had them over for Italy Noodle aka spaghetti.
Everyone was very impressed with my cooking skills , even though they watched me dump the pre-made sauce into the pot. The garlic bread was especially interesting to them since they don't use butter. I explained that butter is like oil. They wanted to dip into the tub with a spoon to have a taste, but I convinced them to wait till it was on the bread.

Man picture

Belated Father's Day

2011-06-04T21:11:00.001+08:00

A little bit late, but still fun. A big fat THANK YOU to Jeff Ritzman and Doug Easton for being awesome dads and awesome grandpas. We'll see you soon!!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Summer teams

2011-06-03T17:26:00.003+08:00

We need a bigger place!

One of my favorite sights is a gigantic pile of shoes at the front door. This week we had ALL the summer volunteers come to our house and it was awesome! Look how much fun we're having... Makes you want to come to China doesn't it?

Wedded Bliss

2011-05-30T11:42:00.005+08:00

This weekend our friends Pei Pei and Kiki got married! They are some of the first people that we met and we were so excited that they invited us to share this special day with them. They have been so faithful to the Father with their time and resources and I can't wait to see how the father will use their marriage.

Ode to Gu La Rou

2011-05-30T10:42:00.004+08:00

As our time in China gets closer to an end, I'm realizing that there are still so many awesome things about this place that I still want to tell you! Mostly food. So this is my ode to gu la rou aka sweet and sour pork. I don't know what it is about this dish, but for whatever reason we just can't get enough of it. Chinese people don't eat it very often, but that's probably because it's mostly made of ketsup and sugar. I can't begin to tell you how many conversations we've had over a plate of gu la rou. Here are few more of the "the usual" dishes that we often eat.

cabbage

Green Leafy Vegetable

Sugary corn pancake with sprinkles

Eggplant
Potatoes

And many many more

Disclaimer: These pictures were maliciously stolen from Micheal Anderson

Coming soon to an America Near You

2011-05-29T22:57:00.004+08:00

I'm not exactly sure what that title means, but if you haven't heard we will be returning to the motherland in less than two months! We initially committed to two years in China, but had the option of staying longer. This was a HARD decision. There were just so many things to consider...

God is really blessing the things that we are doing here - does that mean we should stay? We are really passionate about some of the opportunities we'll have in America - should we go home? The work here will never be done - so maybe we should stay? We miss our community of family and friends - should we go home? In America we can have a house and a car and Hickory Park and Mt. Dew - hmm, we should definitely go home. Shoot, now I have to think about right and wrong motives too? After many conversations, some tears (which I'm blaming on pregnancy) and much deliberation (seriously, we deliberated our buts off) we decided the right thing for our family is to come home. We still have lots to do in these next months and want to finish well here, but we are also looking forward to things to come.

Mike has accepted a job with at Cornerstone in Ames where he will be reaching out to international students at Iowa State as well as convincing American students to come overseas. We feel like our time in China has given us lots of life experiences that will help us in this new role. We know what it's like to be in a place the doesn't make any sense to you. We know what it's like to feel lost and stupid and confused and frustrated. But we also know what it's like to feel loved and thankful when someone takes the time to show you the ropes and share their life with you. We have been shown so much hospitality here and I hope that we will be able to do the same for international students at Iowa State.

To close this post, here a few pics of our lil' Cyclone.

Easton's vs. Summer

2011-05-04T12:33:00.004+08:00

Summer in China is full of 100 degree weather, "special" smells, and lots of sunbrellas, but for us summer means volunteer teams. Which means summer is coming in 5 days! Yikes! This summer 46 people are coming in six teams to our city to work with university students. We have a team of high schoolers from our home town and a mixed ages team from Virgina, and the rest are students from Ames and Iowa City. The most effective people to reach college students are college students so we are really excited to see what the Father will do through them this summer. Most of the teams will be on the ground for 1-2 months. Each team will have a campus or two to focus on. They will live near campus, eat at the cafeteria, and meet friends with the hope of sharing their lives and some Good News.

Mike and I were both positively influenced by workers on the field in the past. We love hosting students and we consider it a big part of our decision to move overseas, but it's a lot of work. Finding hotels and rooms to meet in, making schedules, partnering with locals and casting vision to all those people on top of maintaining the groups that have already been started AND having a three month old kiddo is a recipe for one insane summer. We are up for the challenge, but we do ask that you keep us in mind as you are talking to the father.

Oh and I forgot to mention that we are moving back to America at the end of July (more on that later). For us that means that we'll also be trying to pack and debrief ourselves from our time abroad. And for the on going work it means that there are some very new student groups that only have a few more months left to learn to function on their own.

Here we are with the teams from last summer.
This year we'll have twice as many - I hope our couch can handle it!

Easton's in the East(er)

2011-04-27T20:26:00.004+08:00

Apparently I'm getting a little post happy, I'll keep this one short. We spent Easter with our Suzhou family, and it was awesome for two reasons. Reason one: Because He is Risen. Reason Two: Potluck. About four times a year we get together with co-workers and have a good old fashion potluck. It doesn't get much better than feasting on home made American dishes. Can I just say that I think potlucks are a lost art? Seriously, you only have to make one thing, but you get to eat like twenty things. It's brilliant. Following dinner was an all ages Easter egg hunt.

Unfortunately Team Easton only found two eggs, one of which was stolen from someone else, then re-hidden to be re-found by it's rightful owner. Leaving us with a grand total of one. Maybe next year Nora will be able to find her own eggs.

This picture makes Nora looks like a puppet

Easton's vs. Suzhou

2011-04-27T19:14:00.006+08:00

I always think it's sorta weird to live in a place that your family has never seen, so we were really excited to have Jane and Marie come stay with us. Suzhou is a bit of a tourist destination so there are lots of sights to see and things do, but mostly we were excited to show them some of our daily routine. Some of our favorite things were taking them to the supermarket, introducing them to some of the students, eating and hanging out at home playing with Nora.

Fruit at the supermarket.
Don't be fooled, these particular fruits look a lot better than they taste.

Suzhou is famous for it's gardens.
Nora decided to stop and smell the roses at Tiger Hill, except they were tulips.

Suzhou is known as "the Venice of the East"
These boat rides are one of my favorite things to do here.

At the silk factory we learned everything I ever wanted to know about making silk. (which isn't really that impressive because I have never pondered it.) The white silkworm cocoons are placed in water and then this machine unravels them and winds them into strands of silk which is then woven into cloth. Yep, now you know.

When in China...
Em and Jane going to the mall to get some Subway and Burger King.
This was fun, but I'll appreciate the drive through in America.

Grandma Jane and Aunt Marie

2011-04-27T18:29:00.006+08:00

Grandma Jane and Auntie Marie came for a visit!!!

First Chinese food in Beijing.
Chopsticks - 1
Jetlag Jane - 0

Aunt Marie at the Forbidden City

Chillin' on the Great Wall with a Panda

Hanging out with Aunt Marie on a wonder of the world. No Big Deal.

Mini Van Excitement

2011-04-27T17:49:00.003+08:00

To most of you this may look like just your average mini van, and you would be right, but to us this picture represented a day of independence and freedom! We have traveled to many a Chinese city, but a couple weeks ago we took our first road trip in a year and a half and it was awesome! The seven of us piled in a friends borrowed mini van and away we went. The drive was only about an hour and a half but in true road trip fashion we brought along plenty of snacks and music, and stopped at a rest stop along the way. Usually traveling includes lots of taxis, trains, pushing through crowds, bad smells etc. but this was amazing! I felt like a teenager riding in a car without adults for the first time.

What was our destination? Changzhou Dinosaur Park. Complete with rides, museums with mostly real dinosaur bones, and gardens. I would say this picture does it justice.

After the park we ate some Korean BBQ with friends. Nora is only two months older than their kiddo, but I had already forgotten how little and floppy she used to be.

Run Away! I mean retreat.

2011-04-11T20:52:00.000+08:00

This weekend groups from two campuses met together for a retreat. Not everyone could make it, but we ended up with about twenty students that made the trip across town to study the Good Book and play.

Fun Fact: When students want to hang out the word they use translates to "play" so I often get messages asking if I want to play. Like.

I would say that close to half of the students that came weren't believers and most that were, are less than 6 months old. When your audience knows so little about the Good Book it's difficult to decide what is the most important things to teach so we themed it around the greatest commandment. Love the Father and love people. One of our co-workers was kind enough to do the teaching in Chinese which was really great. Although we have been studying for a year and a half we still aren't proficient enough to do lead groups like this, so we are thankful when the students are able to hear the Father's word in their own language.

The retreat was a slumber party at the apartment of our volunteers.
Here we are doing some morning calisthenics. I don't know why we did this.

Nora has been out going to groups almost every night this week plus this crazy retreat. She is a champion of babies. Here we are eating lunch on the bus.

After the sessions we headed out to play at the park by the lake.

It was a beautiful Saturday and there were tons of people out playing and flying kites. It's fairly common for Nora to draw crowds of strangers. Sometimes we stop and talk to someone on the street and five minutes later there are fifteen people standing around. Last week someone tried to feed her a strawberry. Seriously, people she's not a pet monkey.

Gotta watch out for pick pocketers. It's always the ones you least expect.

This one's just cause she's a cutie face.

Teaching football to a group of college students that have no basic understanding of the game. Harder than you would think.

Typical Chinese grandma.
China is such an interesting mix of the past and the modern.

Oh look, here's another cutie face.

A week in review

2011-03-31T10:37:00.006+08:00

Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. I'll never take my dryer or my dish washer for granted

Nora finds her thumb and some head control

bath time

This cutie is the daughter of the waitress at our neighborhood restaurant

Hanging out with some students at one of the many weekly group meetings

Friends of Nora

2011-03-09T16:18:00.004+08:00

Right now Nora cant give anyone eloquent words of encouragement or grand acts of service, but still she can bless others a ton which is really her main purpose right now. The trick is to keep myself from getting in her way. When the grandma selling sweet potatoes on the corner wants to put her dirty finger in my little one's mouth, or when a friend is holding her and her and little head is wobbling all over the place I just want to swoop in and rescue her. But Nora doesn't need rescuing because the Father created her to be healthy and strong and generally laid back so that he could use her for his purposes. Here are a few pics of Nora with some of our closest friends.

This is Fofo, the wife of one of the group leaders, she's expecting their first baby in June and I'm so excited for them!

I love watching these college boys as they overcome their fear of holding babies.

Notice Nora's awesome snowsuit inside the restaurant? That's because its 40 degrees and there's no heat and the window is open. She's a champ. Even with all that pink they still think she's a boy.

Nora has a special talent for dirtying her diapers very loudly at very inopportune times. I had just handed her over to Kiki and she let one go. Just so you know its funny in lots of cultures.

Mathed

2011-03-09T12:52:00.002+08:00

So I try give people the benefit of the doubt and not assume that stereotypes are true of people but sometimes, they are true and it makes me laugh. This picture was taken in the stairway of our apartment and it's a pretty good example that "Asian's are smart."

In America if a kid is going to be bad and write on the wall it's usually just scribbles, a funny picture or maybe even an F-bomb if the kid is feeling really rebellious. What does a Chinese kid choose? Math. Take that grown-ups, I just mathed on the wall.

For Your FYI

2011-03-04T00:02:00.005+08:00

Just so you know, if you're ever buying diapers in China, the Pampers with the Asian baby on the front are more cost effective than the ones with the white kid on them.

Which pack does The Norster get?

Thailand Part 2

2011-02-23T10:35:00.006+08:00

Chillin' with a lemur at the night safari. They're so fluffy!

Our co-workers held a baby dedication for us during our conference

This is Fa, Wa, and Tiffany they were Nora's childcare workers during the conference. It made me so happy that their names rhymed! Just try to guess which one is Tiffany

Just because she's aNORAble. See what I did there? I am so dang clever.

Mike and a buddy at a Moi Tai boxing class.

The Eastons' woke up at 5am to go watch the superbowl. Mike dressed Nora that morning and when the Packers won he took her on a victory lap.

Nora loves Asian women. This woman worked at the breakfast buffet at the hotel - she offered to hold her for us while we got our food!

We had a great trip, but we're happy to be back in China again. Too bad we couldn't bring the nice weather with us. We all have colds, and Nora is confused cause she has to wear pants.

Scooters

2011-02-07T22:05:00.002+08:00

I traded it for the van...straight up. I can get 40 miles to the gallon on this hog.

Shoot girl, let's groove tonight

2011-02-02T21:48:00.002+08:00

Nora loves her some daddy dance parties

Chillin in Chiang Mai

2011-02-02T18:53:00.003+08:00

A few pics from the first couple weeks of Nora's life. Chillin' in Chiang Mai with the rents and the kid.

Meeting grandma and grandpa Ritzman for the first time at the Chiang Mai airport

Hanging out at the Night Bazaar.

A visit to the temple

No big deal, just chillin' on an elephant

Birth Story

2011-02-01T18:45:00.004+08:00

I know it's been a little while but here's how it all went down. At our 39 week prenatal appointment Nora weighed in at a whopping 4.13 kilos and was gaining steadily. Dr. SuperDuperchai said that if she got up to 4.5 they would automatically do a c-section and at that point there were still no signs of labor. It was a little discouraging because it sort of felt like a natural labor was pretty unlikely and like every 39 week preggo woman, I was pretty tired of being pregnant. After consulting some American nurses we decided that it was going to be best to go ahead and schedule a c-section and just get the whole thing over with.

We made the decision on a Thursday night and Friday afternoon we showed up at the hospital (without an appointment) to see the Dr. We thought that since it was a weekend we'd probably have to wait till Monday. At 2pm we talked to SuperDuperchai, who was down with the plan. When he asked us when we wanted to have it done, we said as soon as possible to which he replied, "I'm free at four today." Done and done. Mike ran home to get our stuff (which we had not packed yet - even though I'm pretty sure your supposed to do that like a month in advance). By the time he got back I had signed the consent forms, got an IV and was prepped for surgery. I saw him for about 15 minutes and then I was off to have a baby.

Everything went well. The anesthesiologist gave me an epidural during the birth. I was a little concerned that I could still move my feet, but apparently it was fine because they had already started the procedure and I didn't even know it. At one point in the surgery the anesthesiologist leaned over me and said "The baby is being boooooorn!" That was kinda awesome. I felt myself getting lighter as they lifted her out, and then I heard her cry. Which, I have to admit, made me cry a little too. I got to see her and then they took her to Mike while they knocked me out for the rest of the procedure.

Our hospital room was awesome and recovery went really well.

Baby Burrito!

Drivin and Drinkin

2011-01-30T13:51:00.002+08:00

A few nights ago Mike, Nora, my dad and I went to the store across town to pick up a few things. In an earlier post I talked about the song tiaws that we use to get around the city while we are visiting Chiang Mai. When we came out of the store there were a bunch of song tiaws lined up, but the drivers were no where to be found. We hung out for a while and then one guy came up to us from the restaurant across the street. He asked us where we wanted to go and then went back to a table of men drinking beer, where they discussed who would take us, and one guy came over and drove us home. We were half way home before we realized that it was possibly a bad idea to catch a ride home with a someone who had just finished drinking. Stuff like that just seems so normal these days.

Nora

2011-01-17T01:43:00.008+08:00

It'd be cool to say we had some God-moment for picking our daughter's name, but really it was the first name we both really liked as we looked forward to having kids. The judge is still out on the boy names for us, so we're glad Nora came out the way she did after both Thai and Chinese doctors said "maybe" a girl.

As we were exploring possible boy names we came across the meaning of Nora in our handy dandy baby-names iphone app. Nora means "light." It's part of the Hebrew word Menorah, which you know to be the set of candles Jewish people light at Hanakkuh. It's been really fun in recent weeks and days to be drawn to the meaning and significance of light in the Bible and to have our prayers for our daughter be the same. As you pray for her we'd love for you to join with us in these two things:

Matthew 5:14-15 says: "¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." (Also: Isaiah 49:6)

What a blessing it would be to have a child that's a light to her friends, teachers, c0-workers, and to the people in the ends of the earth. Also our prayer comes from the following verses:

Psalm 119:105 - "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (Also Psalm 19:8; 27:1).

Light reveals what is true about our surroundings. When light isn't pure or bright it can lie to us and make it hard to see the right path. God's light reveals lies not seen in darkness and reveals clearly what is the truth path when there are so many. This is a challenge for everyone, but especially as a young woman, she needs to clearly see in all situations what is truth and what is a lie so that she will stay far away from lies about God, life, or herself that are just too easy to believe. John 8:31 says that the truth will set us free. There's so much freedom that comes with knowing that you're in the truth and on the right path. Our hope is that she will always see truth illuminated by God alone and find freedom in that.

Nora Jane Easton

2011-01-15T01:01:00.009+08:00

We had our baby! Nora Jane Easton. She is 8 lbs. 13 oz. 20 Inches. Here she is!

Nora means "light." Our prayer is that she would be a light to the world and that the light of truth would make her path clear. Jane is my mom's name and we want to honor her love in our lives through Nora's middle name.

We'll post more later, but we finally got her to sleep and we need to also!

You're killin me Smalls

2011-01-12T23:27:00.002+08:00

And by Smalls, I mean huge and by huge, I mean our baby. Ok here's the skinny, and by skinny I mean fatty. I'll stop doing that now. What I'm trying to say is that my womb must be awesome, cause she is taking her sweet time in there. At Monday's Dr. appointment our little (probably) girl weighed in at a whopping 4 kilos! That's 8lbs, 13oz to the layperson. Yup you did the math right, that's 3oz. short of 9 lbs and counting with zero signs of labor. Sweet. Dr. Supachai, (who we like to call SuperDuperchai) is really great and comes highly recomended, but seems to be in no hurry to induce labor or anything like that. We're starting to feel like our chances of a natural delivery are getting smaller as the baby gets bigger, so please pray that she would come soon! Dr. SuperDuperChai's advice? "Walk, and every day tell the baby to come out."

4 years, what whAT!!

2010-12-30T16:29:00.004+08:00

During our time in Thailand we will be celebrating Christmas, our anniversary, New Years, the zeroth birthday of our baby and Valentines day. Seriously, we gots things to do. Last night (one day early) Mike and I went out on the town to celebrate 4 years of marriage. Mike celebrated his undying love for me by eating ribs AND steak. I celebrated my love for Mike with shopping. Then we both celebrated with foot massages. Heck's yes!

This awesome specimen of a picture is taken in a "song taw." Basically you jump in the back of a pick up truck and off you go. It's the most common way for us to travel here, and there is a very good chance that at some point I will be in labor while riding in the back of one of these bad boys.

The grass is always greener...

2010-12-30T15:45:00.004+08:00

The grass is always greener on the other side. I'm no geographer, but I'm pretty sure the other side of Iowa is Thailand and in case you were wondering the grass is definitely greener here. We flew into Thailand on the 23rd and spent Christmas in balmy Chiang Mai. On Christmas morning we threw on some shorts and t-shirts and headed out. Mike wore his Mt. Dew T-shirt because it was red and green and he wanted to be festive. My family always eats cinnamon rolls and frozen fruit cups for breakfast on Christmas morning so we started the day with a cinnamon roll and improvised with a smoothie. Mike loves smoothies and decided to make it a goal to drink on every day we're here.

Then off to the mall to see the Narnia movie. Not a bad movie, but a little hard to follow in Thai. Thankfully the staff let us switch tickets to the English version. It was a great day, but a strange Christmas.

Easton Family Christmas Card

2010-12-27T19:26:00.012+08:00

This past week Emily and I said goodbye to some dear friends who we considered our children for the semester. Don’t you like the family photo? These 6 have spent the past 6 or so months spreading broadly the good news, engaging seekers, and grouping students into small HCs. They have done an unbelievable job and it seems like God, through them, made Ep. 3:20-21 tangible in doing immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. I want to thank them all publicly for what they’ve done:

Jon – For being the team leader and taking on all that entails. Your pace in sharing with everything that moves will always be a challenge to me.

Mark – Your work ethic really was second to none. You set a diligent pace that produced fruit that will last beyond the grave.

Gabe – For being a great teammate. Your joy and hilarity were more valuable than any of us will ever know.

Michael – For using time your could be earning the big bucks in an engineering job serving the Father and more deeply exploring his call on your life this past semester and this coming semester.

Audrey – For setting a pace in truly loving lost Chinese people. Very glad you'll be around next semester!

Martha – For not allowing anyone to look down on you because you are young. You were only young by age, not maturity, and God has used you in ways I’ve rarely seen overseas as a sophomore in college.

There are a ton of things you could pr. for this group as four of them head back to American and two stay. But I think there’s one thing I would most like you to pr. for and that is that they would find their righteousness in the Son alone. I have two reasons that this is my main pr. for them (Martha, I know you’re laughing now). Finding our righteousness in the Son alone keeps us from 1) pride in what we did; 2) guilt in what we didn’t do.

These guys saw amazing things happen this semester and it would be easy to feel righteousness before the Father because of the things they did. More likely though I imagine Satan reminding them often of the things they didn’t do well and making them feel unrighteous, guilty, insufficient, and unloved by Father because of that. These are two terrible ditches to fall in on the back end of a time like this and they will need truth to follow them as they leave.

Righteousness found in the Son alone will remind us in times of pride that we wouldn't have been able to do anything we've done without him and that our good deeds don't make us better than anyone else. Righteousness found in the Son alone will remind us in times of feeling guilty or insufficient that we are just that, guilty and insufficient. Our only hope is not to be stuck in guilt, or try to do a bunch of things to make ourselves feel better, but to run to the Son and find our right standing with the Father the only way possible, through him alone: the way, the truth, and the life.

So pr. with me that the Father will help them to find their righteousness, not in their obedience, but in the blood of the Son who alone made them clean and ready to be used by him.

HO6, I truly believe God is exceedingly pleased with what you have done this past semester. Be grateful for his love for you.

Christmas in China

2010-12-24T17:38:00.008+08:00

Christmas in China has finally came. This year 10 students from VA came to volunteer for the season.

The plan? Throw nine Christmas parties on nine different campuses, followed up by 18ish studies for anyone who wanted to learn more about the Christmas story. Here are pictures from the first night of parties.

Together with our local partners, we were able to share the Christmas story with about 300 students. Christmas has been steadily gaining popularity in this country, especially in the last 20ish years, and we don't want to miss this opportunity to share.

This week and next week, please pr@y...
- That the News would be proclaimed boldly and clearly
- That we would be lead to the hearts in which the Father is working
- That our young brothers and sisters would also share unashamedly and take on the responsibility of following up with others.
- Health and energy for the short term volunteers, and our long term teammates.

TAXI

2010-12-21T09:17:00.003+08:00

Hailing a taxi can sometimes be a challenge at rush hour but my chances greatly increase when I stick out the belly. Hey if I have to carry this thing around all the time I'm going to put it to good use!

Baby Shower Pics

2010-12-01T08:54:00.004+08:00

Turkey Time

2010-11-30T07:53:00.004+08:00

Mike and I hosted our first Thanksgiving this year, and I have to say it went pretty well. With a little help from friends in the states and a little creativity we were able to have a traditional meal with all the fixings. We had to utilize all our space (ie all the desserts were kept in the bedroom), but we fit twenty one people in our tiny apartment for an all day party.

Our tiny kitchen got a workout that day.

Apartments in China generally don't come with ovens - and our toaster ovens just wasn't going to cut it when it came to the turkey, so we had to outsource. Our friend bought and prepared the turkey and then paid a Mexican restaurant $15 bucks to cook it for us. He hailed a cab and brought it over in a big rubber maid container - it was delicious.

The weigh in. We had a contest to see who could gain the most weight during dinner. Mike came in a disappointing third place. The competition was pretty steep - the skinny guy gained like 4 pounds.

This is about half of our guests and about half of our table. The table was a little bit ghetto - and a little a bit awesome. It was composed of our table, a friend's table, our desk and the crib with a big piece of wood all covered with a table cloth - ok it was a curtain, but it totally worked. Who cares that some of our guests had to sit on the coffee table cause we ran out of chairs.

A little bit of wii - she makes it look really fun huh?

Dinosaur Turd?

2010-11-24T19:17:00.002+08:00

Dino turd? Nope, just mixing cement in the hallway staircase. No big deal.

Mushy words

2010-11-24T18:40:00.004+08:00

There are three kiddos that live in our building ages approximately 6, 4, and 3 that always play outside. When we first moved in they were shy. Whenever they saw us coming they would start whispering, then one of them would yell "hello" and then they'd all giggle and run away. Since then they've gotten a little more courageous, and we've gotten a little better at Chinese, so we've been shootin' the breeze with our "xiao peng yous" (little friends).

Tonight I was sitting in a restaurant on our street waiting for an order and they came in to say hi. The middle boy showed me his Toy Story stickers and then the sweetest thing happened. Mushy words like sweet and precious, kinda make me wanna throw up, but this really was all of those things. He got really close to my face and then very carefully reached out and touched my nose and my face and then my eye. He was so innocent and curious, that I couldn't even get annoyed when he told me I had a big nose.

This is the littlest dude - it was hard to get a good pic, he was really concentrated on that bike.

So there I was...

2010-11-16T16:27:00.004+08:00

Every month we go our prenatal check-ups at Nine Dragon Hospital, and for the most part we have been pretty pleased. There are two English speaking OB doctors and both of them seem to know what they are talking about. But here are a few fun stories.

So there I was... laying on the table. Dr. was doing his thing, taking measurements poking around and he says to me "so I guess this is your fat." I didn't take it too hard cause in China it's not considered rude to comment on someone's weight, but still not really something you wanna hear when your 6 months preggo and your skinny jeans are but a distant memory.

So there I was... sitting in my Dr.'s office discussing the results of my most recent blood test. The doctor tells my my iron levels are little low. His suggestion? Eat more organs and blood. In China they like things like heart liver kidney etc, and they also sometimes serve a soup made with congealed blood. I'm sure these dishes are in fact high in iron, but really? "Eat more organs and blood" sounds like something zombies and vampires would say, not doctors.

Even though someone might have a western language and a western education, they will always have a Chinese culture. This doesn't mean we have a bad doctor. We would never expect our Chinese Dr. to act like and American, just like Mike and I will never be Chinese. Culture isn't a bad thing it's just different and interesting.

PS Aren't the nurses cute in their little hats?

Shower

2010-11-16T11:08:00.004+08:00

There are times when I feel like China cheats me out of certain experiences, holidays, family birthdays, Mt. Dew etc. I know that I don't really need to feel this way because the Father never says I'm entitled to any of those things, but he does promise that we will find the most joy when we are living for him and doing what he wants. Sometimes it's a battle to live in this way. I thought that having a baby in China would bring out a lot of those feelings of being cheated, but it hasn't been too bad.

Ok, ok there have definitely been those times when I thought "this would be a lot easier if I was in America." For example in the 1st trimester when anything slightly pungent made me toss my cookies, I would often have thoughts about how lovely America smells as I was passing by a pile of garbage, the fish section of the supermarket, or a friend with particularly stanky breath. But the point of this is not to complain about struggles, but to share about some blessing.

My co-workers made me feel super blessed and right at home this weekend when they threw me a baby shower! (hopefully pics to come) Ladies from cities all over the area sacrificed a Saturday to travel to our city to come to a shower for me and a friend. And trust me, travel isn’t always easy – we’re talking about waiting in line to buy tickets, taking a bus from their house to the train station, pushing through the weekend crowds and navigating a new city just to fellowship and bless.

We ate awesome food (many of them filled with coveted import items and dairy products), played some sweet games, and got to open a mound of presents for our little one. It doesn’t stop there. Tomorrow a group from Mississippi is throwing a virtual shower over skype. We’ve never even met these people but they are all taking a night out of their week to bless us also.

So a big thanks A, LA, D, and K and all the ladies that traveled to our city thanks so much for a great day. To Faith and the folks in Mississippi thank you so much for being willing to bless a stranger and take an interest in our work, and to Kim and family thanks for being willing to haul a bunch of stuff all the way over here when you come to visit (and to mom and dad for filling up the suitcase they are bringing). So I wanted to give a shout out to these people that have made these past few days feel homey and fun, but also to say thanks to the Father who provides encouragement and comfort when we need it.

Baby Stats

2010-11-11T21:13:00.002+08:00

OK, just a little update on baby Easton. We had another utrasound and with great UNcertainty our little one was once again declared a girl. Although, we don't have tons of certainty we are going with that. I am currently weeks along, and everything is going just fine. The Dr. said our baby was a little bit large, but I can't decide if that means that it's actually large, or just large in comparison to the 95 lb Chinese women that he's used to seeing. But I was a chunk so it could be actually large. I guess we'll just wait and see. (Sorry, no baby bump pics - I took some but they all seem so awkward). I recently heard a statistic that 80% of babies born in China are C-section, and that women often prefer it.

For this reason and others we will be having our kiddo in Thailand. The airline won't let us fly after week 36 so on Dec. 23rd we'll be leaving cold rainy China, and headed to sunny Thailand. Too bad I'll be way too preggo to enjoy it. Our due date is Jan. 17th, but like everyone we're hoping for sooner. My parents are going to be coming and I'm hoping for a little recovery time before they get there.

The only tricky thing is that we will be hosting a team of 10 volunteers around Christmas. The Father has blessed us with really capable team of students that have been here this past semester, so they will be running most of the show. Please pr@y for the Christmas season and all the volunteers that will be coming. Sorry this post is kinda boring, just wanted to give friends and fam. the low down on what's going on.

We are three

2010-11-09T12:31:00.003+08:00

If you received our latest update you read a story about my friend Jessica. Here's a quick recap in case you missed it (PS - if you want to be added to our update list just let me know). A year and a half ago a student volunteer came to Jessica's campus and shared the Good News with her for the first time. A year later I ran into her, she started attending a Good Book study and heard the good news about six more times. Then her classmate invited her to come to his group where she accepted the Father. Woot. PS - Isn't it so great that the guy that really made it click for her was a young local brother?

Anyway... After a "delicious" meal at the school cafeteria Jessica suggested that the two of us go for a walk around the campus. We walked for a while and then she suggested we "have a sit." I said, sure and pointed to a cement bench and said how bout here? Then she looked at me and very seriously said. "That place is made for two and we are three." (Referring to the baby) Then she suggested an identical bench about 20 yards away from the first bench.

I started laughing and since she has a great sense of humor I accused her of calling me fat. She denied it and said I couldn't tell Mike that she called me fat "He is so tall, he will pick me up and yell at me." Oh what a funny girl.

Food Button

2010-10-27T08:09:00.003+08:00

Yesterday were were talking with our supervisor about culture shock and he said something that explained it pretty well. We are all conditioned to expect certain outcomes based on our actions. He explained it this way...

So when you push the "food button", you expect to get your biscuit. When you go to another culture you push the food button but instead you get a kick in the pants.

mmm... so true.

2010-10-02T07:53:00.003+08:00

Here's a quick list of Chinese Tips on Pregnancy

Nail polish is bad for health
Pigeon soup is good for pregnant
Make-up is bad for health
Computers and cell phones are bad for health - therefore one must always wear a protective reinforced smock when using electronics
The mother should not shower for 30 days after the birth of the baby
The mother and baby must stay at home for 30 days after the birth
Rubbing your abdomen too much will cause the child to be spoiled
Cold water is bad for health

Fun Fact this week someone offered me their seat on a crowded bus. It was a monumental day. I think it was almost as exciting as when we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time.

It's a Possibly!!!

2010-10-02T07:39:00.003+08:00

On Thursday we had an ultrasound and the gender verdict is... drum roll... so much anticipation... can't wait to go shopping.... "possibly a girl." Huh. Possibly a girl. So I guess it's also possibly a boy then? The ultrasound technician was really friendly this time. I actually got to see the screen this time, and she answered my questions and explained things in simple Chinese, which we really appreciated. If we get a more definitive answer we'll be sure to pass it along. This is week 24 and the baby is healthy, so we certainly can't complain.

Mid-Autumn Festival

2010-09-25T11:36:00.004+08:00

Woo Hoo! Mid-Autumn Festival = Holiday = No school, right? Well Sort of. The school gave us two days off for the Festival and then scheduled make up classes on Saturday and Sunday. Umm - yeah right, like the Easton's are gonna get up early on a Sunday morning and go to class. So far here, Chinese holidays have felt much like any other day, but this year I really enjoyed the festival. What is Mid-Autumn Festival? Well, it's based in lots of old stories, but when I asked my friends about it they basically said you eat a lot of food and watch the moon. It was raining so we didn't watch the moon, but we did invite a bunch a friends over and we did eat lots of food.

Once again, Mike mastered the art of indoor grilling. This time in the hallway of our building. All were wowed and amazed at his ham bao bao (hamburger) skills.

I make a killer jello cake from scratch for one of the guy's birthday, which Johnny proceeded to eat with chopsticks.

Another important aspect of Mid-Autumn Festival is moon cakes. Not to be confused with Moon Pies, which are delicious, moon cakes are sort of like a crumbly crust filled with miscellaneous thick jelly. Mike I decided that they are kind of like the Christmas fruit cake of America. Some of them are tolerable, most of are terrible, you eat them to be polite and you always have too many of them. Some of this years' moon cake flavors included, fruit (these are alright), egg, green bean, and kidney bean.

Oh Baby - 23 Weeks

2010-09-25T11:05:00.003+08:00

Folks back home keep asking for belly pictures - which would be really strange if I weren't pregnant - Anyway it's time to give the people what they want. Here's the belly at 23 weeks

Also a picture of our little nursery - hopefully we'll be able to find out the gender at next weeks' appointment, and start decorating. At our 20 week appointment they did an ultrasound, but they weren't sure. Hopefully we'll know for sure next week when we go in again, but I'm not going to hold my breath. We'll pass it along as soon as we know. The nice thing is that an ultrasound in China only costs about 30 dollars so we can get them often.

Come back tomorrow

2010-09-21T21:25:00.002+08:00

Today I had an "Emily Moment" and left my wallet at Auchan (our version of Wal-Mart). When we went back to see if it had ended up in the lost and found the conversation went something like this, only in broken Chinese.

Eastons: I came this morning and forgot my wallet.
Auchan Employee: What color is it?
Easton's: Brown
Employee: What's inside it?
Easton's: Garden card, bank card, American card, 100 kuai
Employee: What time did you come?
Easton's: About 12:30.

I show them my passport Another employee comes and asks the same questions and we give the same answers - then he says wait here. When he returns he says...

Employee: We have one foreigner's wallet, but I don't know if it's yours, come back tomorrow.
Easton's: Here is my passport you can see the name and the picture, is it the same?
Employee: I don't know if it is yours come back tomorrow.
Easton's: I don't want to come tomorrow, I am here now. You can look at the name inside and my passport.
Employee: Come back tomorrow.
Easton's: It's too much trouble.
Employee: ok wait 20 minutes.

Ten minutes later a different employee shows up with my wallet. I took out the THREE photo ID's that were inside and held them up to my face and asked him if it was the same. With a big smile he excitedly confirmed that it was indeed my face. I signed for it and I was able to take the wallet home with me. It was a total blessing to get it back, sometimes I just can't understand the logic behind the process.

Another Auchan Note: During one of my recent grocery excursions the custodian moped over my feet. I was wearing flip flops. Who knows where that thing has been? Squatty potty? Fish section? Gross.

Just stairs

2010-09-02T15:09:00.003+08:00

For any Mitch Hedberg fans out there

"I like an escalator because an escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. There should never be an 'Escalator Out of Order' sign. Only an 'Escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience.'"

Back to School

2010-09-01T09:58:00.003+08:00

The school year has started. There are nine on our team, and thousands of students to reach. The task is huge, but not impossible.

Middle school exam scores determine which high school a student will attend, and typically only students who attend a good high school will go to the University. An average day in the life of a high schooler might look something like this:

6am - wake up and read a book - in English
7am - prepare for their day
8am - after a bus or a bike ride, arrive at school
8-5ish - school is very structured, and high pressure, students generally interact with just their teachers and a small group of classmates.
5-6:30 travel home and spend time with parents
6:30-10/11 - homework then bed
(Students often have classes 6, sometimes 7 days a week)

For many of my friends going to college was the only goal they ever have had, and have spent their whole lives up to this point working towards that goal - so they can get a job and make money. Many of our friends say that college is much easier than high school. Almost every college student is in some sense trying to "find themselves" but in China, I feel like this is even more true. For many, college might be the first time they've ever had to ask themselves questions like "How should I spend my free time?" or "Who should I be friends with?"

"Finding Yourself" It seems impossible to actually find yourself until you find your Father and understand how he sees you. Only then can you really know your purpose and really find satisfaction in your heart. It's always sweet when this happens, but when a Chinese brother or sister finds their identity in the Father at this crucial time int their lives, it seems like really amazing things can happen really quickly.

The next few weeks are a really important time of year for us. We want to meet tons of students and show them that there are more purposeful ways to spend their free time than shopping and surfing the internet. We want be the ones to ask them the hard questions that they have never thought about before. We want them to know that they can live for more than a good job that pays. We throw parties and have studies with those who are seeking and we really need your pr@yer. Our hope for this semester is that every major campus would have a group started. We are on our way to seeing that happen.

Hong kong-erific

2010-08-30T16:15:00.003+08:00

A few pictures from the Easton Family Summer Vacation Extravaganza Extraordinaire. Because England had control over it for a long time Hong Kong is a really interesting place and it has a really different feel from the mainland. For starters everyone had amazing English (which is good, cause we don't speak Cantonese) and they drive on the wrong side of the road. We spent most of our time hanging out at the pool in our swanky hotel, but here's a few pics.

Here we are at Victoria's Peak looking down over the skyscrapers of Hong Kong. To get there we took a rickety tram up a 45 degree angle (No exaggeration). I was fine when we were gaining speed going uphill - but I got a little more nervous when we were gaining speed on the way back down, knowing there was only a small cement wall and a 90 pound Chinese girl at the bottom of the hill to cushion our fall.

Mike's nickname amongst our team here is "rou" which means meat, and he lived up to that name this week. We found a public BBQ pit on the beach - and we made the most of it. We bought a metal grate for a buck, found perfect coals that had been abandoned, scavenged for skewers and made some awesome meat. And for his birthday dinner - Outback Steakhouse.

The awesome beach right next to our hotel.

Our first night we spent inside the city at the cheapest hotel we could find. Hong Kong is known for it's millions of people and it's small spaces and this was no exception. The bed was waaay to short for Mike so we had to pull it out of it's little nook so his feet could hang off the end, which meant we had to move the chair to the other side of the room. The bathroom was also pretty epic. No TP, one towel, the shower head came out of the wall right above the toilet, and the space between the wall and the toilet was so small that there was barely enough leg room for me. I didn't ask him, but I imagine Mike had to do some creative pooping.

Honor System Security

2010-08-25T11:01:00.005+08:00

Mike and I are headed to Hong Kong for a week of vacation. Mmmmm... Vacation.... So picture this... There we are at the final leg of airport security and it happens. We run our carry-ons through the machine and security spots a Swiss Army pocket knife in Mike's bag. Awesome. We've all been there. You're way too far into the process to do anything about it and at that moment you know you have lost your trusty pocket knife forever. It will be added to their endless pile of of miscellaneous knives, liquids, lighters, gels, explosives, etc. never to be seen again.

Security hands Mike his bag. He starts digging for the knife and then the security lady says "No, no, it's ok, just don't use it on the plane." As I fight to keep a straight face, Mike responds very solemnly "Don't worry, I won't. I promise." Apparently airplane security in China is bassed on the honor system. We were happy to keep the knife, but it makes you wonder about the Chinese security policy.

Active

2010-08-11T22:30:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I went to the doctor and she listened for the baby's heartbeat. First she heard it on the left side of my belly, then on the right. She would find it really strongly for a while and then it would disappear. AKA our child is already a little spaz and wouldn't hold still long enough to get a reading. The doctor said "your baby is very active."

Active is an interesting word. This word used to describe an adult may imply they are involved in many activities in the community or they are sporty, but when used to describe children, "active" has different connotations. Don't get me wrong I'm super thankful that our kiddo is healthy and strong enough to be swimming around in there... but I can't help but wonder what we are getting ourselves into. Could this be our first glimpse of our child's personality?

Our little Avocado

2010-08-05T20:27:00.004+08:00

I'm 17 weeks along and this week our little sea monkey is the size of an avocado. At our last ultrasound we got to hear the heartbeat and we got our first ultrasound done. Still no word on weather or not it's a boy or a girl. According to the poll on this blog about 72 percent are pretty sure it's a boy. We'll see! In China the average couple doesn't get to know the gender - but apparently being white makes us above the law. You may notice that my ultrasound says VIP which means very important person in case you didn't know. So far, so good.

Country-side Adventure

2010-07-28T11:11:00.004+08:00

Tomorrow Mike will be leaving for two weeks to go on a country side adventure. He will be traveling to a small southern city to share with people that have not had the opportunity to hear the Father's name and many probably have not seen a foreign face before. He and some of the volunteers that are here will get a brief orientation and then they will be given a map and a bus ticket and be sent on their way. When I think of "the ends of the earth" these are the kinds of places I think of. Here are a few of the obstacles that the team might be facing may include but are not limited to...

- new and "special" Cuisine
- Rustic accommodations
- Minimal direction
- Few to no English speakers (go go gadget Chinese Language)
- Many who may not understand standard Chinese
- HOT weather
- 30 hour train rides

The cool things though is that the place if full of beautiful mountains and caves and the chance to shed some light in a place that has been wandering aimlessly in the dark for decades. Please keep Mike in your minds as he embarks on his journey and me and i hold down the fort alone for the next couple of weeks. Thanks so much for all you who are reading this and supporting us.

Why Don't They Speak Spanish In China?

2010-07-27T03:12:00.001+08:00

Em and I often wish that Chinese people spoke Spanish. We both took some in high school, and even though we don't remember a lot whenever our Mexican/Spanish classmates begin to rattle off some Spanish we totally understand so much more than Chinese, even after living in China for a year.

I recently got a facebook message from an exchange student who came to our place back in my junior year of high school. It goes like this:

Hola! Estas buscando un sobresueldo? Estoy trabajando ya durante 2 meses en las horas libres del trabajo principal a favor de una compania grande. En el mes pasado he cobrado 2.470 euros. Ellos siguen buscando colaboradores. Si necesitas un trabajo adicional, envia su breve resumen (nombre, apellidos, pais de residencia, ciudad, edad, telefono de contacto) a la direccion: buenos suerte!!!!

Even if you don't speak Spanish you can probably get what is going on. Linguists say 60% of English and Spanish have some crossover to them, but Chinese and English, 2%. Check out the translation in Chinese:

你好! 寻找额外付款的这些？我在主要工作的自由小时内已经工作在2个月期间倾向于一家大公司。在上个月我接受了2,470欧元。他们持续寻找合作。如果您需要另外的工作，它寄发它的简单的概要(命名，姓，住所，城市，年龄国家，我打电话联络)到方向：[在电子邮件方向请消灭空间]
好运!

Ok, so the characters might not be a fair representation, so I'll translate it into the alphabetical form of Chinese called "pinyin."

nǐhǎo xúnzhǎo éwài fùkuǎn dì / de / dí zhèxiē wǒ zài zhǔyào gōngzuò dì / de / dí zìyóu xiǎoshí nèi yǐjīng gōngzuò zài gè yuè qījiān qīngxiàng yú yī jiā dài / dà gōngsī zài shàng gè yuè wǒ jiēshòu liǎo / le ōuyuán tāmen chíxù xúnzhǎo hézuò rúguǒ nín xūyào lìngwài dì / de / dí gōngzuò tā jì fā / fà tāde jiǎndān dì / de / dí gàiyào mìngmíng xìng zhù suǒ chéngshì niánlíng guójiā wǒ dǎdiànhuà liánluò dào fāngxiàng dào dào huòzhě huò / hé huò huò huò zài diànzǐyóujiàn fāngxiàng qǐng xiāomiè kōngjiān.

There's not a word that even starts with the same letter! If only they spoke Spanish in China...

Was Honest Abe Really Honest?

2010-07-20T20:41:00.002+08:00

This has nothing to do with our marriage...but is stinkin hilarious.

PB&J Expectations

2010-07-17T13:58:00.003+08:00

Lately I've been really thankful that I moved here "sight unseen." Sure it was a little unnerving committing to live in an unknown place for two years, and it made packing difficult, but overall I'd say ignorance was bliss.

It seems like it would be really hard to come to the same country twice. Once you've been someplace you establish certain ideas about how your next trip will be and when things are different it would be hard to adjust. (I also think it's easier to be teachable when you clearly know nothing about what you are doing.)

It's like a boy and his mom. Everyday for lunch his mom makes him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut diagonally, just the way the boy likes it. Well one day he has a babysitter and instead of his pb&j sliced diagonally it's folded in half. The ingredients haven't changed, peanut butter, jelly, bread... but it's just not the same peanut butter and jelly that he has come to know and love. And the only thing he can think is "my mom doesn't do it that way." There's nothing wrong with the way the babysitter makes the sandwich, it's just not what he expected.

Why Do Guys Do Stupid Stuff?

2010-07-16T00:04:00.008+08:00

I was having a conversation recently with Emily's Uncle Dave about how guys are always doing stupid stuff just to see how manly they are. Like carrying too many or too heavy things at once just to see how much I can do. Trying to fix things at heights that could lead to paralysis while on the top rung of a ladder. Or fixing important parts of appliances with duct tape, because it works and it's cheap. I have always done things like that and most of the time it's not in competition with anyone else, just myself competing with myself saying, "I bet I could do that faster." I don't know exactly why we do things like that...but we do, and like Uncle Dave said, "Mike, you will always do stupid stuff."

He's right. Like this past weekend. I needed to buy another bike for our friends who came to town. As I'm walking back the new bike in one hand and my own bike in another from the 6 football field sized supermarket by our house, I thought myself, "This is way too slow...I bet I could ride my bike while holding on to the new bike...yeah, that's a good idea."

Now, I always get stared at when I'm on my bike. It is understandable. For one I'm white, two I'm 6'2", and three my bike is probably a good 6 inches taller than anyone else's. Staring might be the wrong word...feels a little more like getting checked out. Often when I stop I look around to see who is doing it just because I can never get over how obviously they do it. They start by looking at my face, then slowly move their eyes downward, fixating on my bike (I think) and then back up to my face...the whole time I'm still looking at them thinking, "My face is up here buddy." And as if I didn't get stared at enough, what I'm about to do made me totally deserve it.

I proceded to hop on my bike grabbing my handle bar with my right hand and the other bike's handle bars with my left. I slowly made my way through the first intersection (which is like the size of an American city block). Feeling pretty confident and allowing my man-ness to come out I decided I could go a little faster. As I was almost home I had to make a slight turn to the left to avoid the three wheeled flaming potato cart. This would have been fine had the handle bars not been touching each other. As I turned left, the new bike turned right and cut out my tires from underneath me. I was going slow enough that I put my foot down, only to have the gears on the new bike scrape down my leg in a perfectly spaced curvey path.

That will be an amazing scar.

As the scarring takes place I go flying over my bike with my left foot still on ground and plenty of time to think about how stupid I look and how I better jump up quickly after I hit the ground so I can save what little pride I have left and not get run over by the 20 mopeds tailing me. Of which I manage to do (except for maybe saving the pride). In this process I also broke the brake on the brand new bike and bent the handle bars. Thankfully labor in China is cheap and I got both fixed for about $5.

Lesson learned? Probably not. Good story? Most definitely! Awesome scar? Time will tell.

This is China

2010-06-29T23:10:00.003+08:00

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.people/index.html?hpt=C2&fbid=KoVOcHGsSQH

Mike found this and we thought it describes China really well. Actually a couple of weeks ago I was asked to help advertise my friend's travel agency. You only like me because of my face... I feel so used.

Happy Birthday to me

2010-06-29T17:51:00.004+08:00

June 22nd was my 27th birthday. We'll start with a fun fact. In China everyone's age changes on the new year no matter when you were born. So in China I was supposed to start telling everyone I was 27 when the new year hit. I couldn't do it. I know, I know, you're supposed to "become all things to all people" and I'm sure someone could give me twenty reasons why it's important to "engulf yourself in the culture" and be one with the people or something, but frankly, I just don't really like this custom. I liked being 26 until June. Another birthday fact, when it's your birthday in China you pay for dinner. Weird.

Customs aside, my birthday was awesome. My husband took me on a birthday date to Shanghai. In the morning we went to the fake market, where we pretty much did all our Christmas shopping in an hour and a half. I'm getting pretty good at bargaining. Turns out you get a better price when you speak Chinese. Then DeMarco's Italian Restaurant for lunch - I'm drooling just thinking about it. Smoothie's for dessert, and then to one of my favorite places in China - IKEA. We bought a crib, crib mattress, and a chair, along with our Christmas presents, which made for an interesting ride home on the train. Turns out it's a little precarious carrying a 4ft. by 3ft. box into the taxi, through security, up a flight of stairs, in the waiting room, through a huge crowd of people all pushing to get through a tiny gate, down a broken escalator and into your train seats.

On Thursday the volunteer teams and our co-workers threw me an awesome party at TGIFridays, where I got to blow out the two tea lights on my birthday dessert and one candle that came separately. Then onto some epic Egyptian themed KTV (kereoke). It was a blast - thanks guys.

Slumber Party!!

2010-06-29T17:44:00.004+08:00

The other day Mike had five guys over for a slumber party. Mike grilled burgers but when we told them to help themselves, they asked us to teach them how, so we had to have a tutorial on how to put together your hamburger. One dude still managed to put the bbq sauce on the outside of the bun. We also had potatoes so I put forks and chopsticks out, they all went with the chopstick option (makes sense) and many of them also ate the burger with the chopsticks.

They were amazed when I brought them home made cookies, so went into the kitchen to look at the oven, and investigate the ingredients. We played some Wii Rockband (which was pretty special) and then at 10pm they watched a world cup game, then they took a two hour nap, then they all woke back up to watch a second world cup game. I woke up at 4:30am, the lights were out, but they were still giggling like middle school girls all camped out on our living room floor. When Mike and I got out of bed they were all wide awake contently watching Saturday morning cartoons. So funny.

Man vs. Fashion

2010-06-21T13:10:00.004+08:00

Guys you might find this conversation totally normal, but the girls will laugh. Some conversations are better had among the same gender.

Em: I want to buy some gauchos and a cropped jean jacket online, what do you think?

Mike: What are gauchos?

Em: They're like capris.

Mike: Oh, what's a cropped jean jacket?

Em: It's a jacket only shorter.

Mike: Hm. I don't really get it, why would you want a short jacket?

Em: Cause I like it and I think I would wear it a lot when I'm pregnant.

Mike: So, do you wear something under it?

Em: Yes.

Mike: Like what?

Em: Like a shirt.

Mike: But won't your belly get cold?

Made in China

2010-06-20T09:41:00.002+08:00

I assume that most of you already know our big news that we are going to have a baby, but if not, hey guess what we're going to have a baby!!! The due date is January 17th and I am just starting week 11 of pregnancy. According to the all-knowing internet our little kiddo is about two inches long this week. We are having all our doctor visits in our city but then we will travel to Thailand a few weeks before the birth and have the baby there. We got to see an ultrasound already but it was just a black dot, so not super exciting yet.

Website I've been looking at measures the baby's size in accordance to fruit. So usually we just refer to the baby by whatever fruit it is that week. My favorite week so far was the blueberry. I just liked calling it the blube. This week it's the size of a prune, which is less cute. We do plan on finding out the gender beforehand, but right now I don't know whether to call it he or she and it just seems a little impersonal. Luckily Chinese has solved this problem with their gender neutral pronoun "ta." Mike's mom and dad decided to name it MIC - which stands for Made In China. The real name will be a secret till ta's birthday.

Right now my mom and Mike's sister are sure it's a boy and my dad is convinced it's a girl. Any other guesses? Maybe I'll put a poll on the blog. Welp now your all caught up.

Man vs. Meat

2010-06-08T16:22:00.003+08:00

Learned BBQ. If you have ever been to our city, you know this place. It's a bit of a legacy among our team and the voluteers before us. This place is kinda like the Iowa State Fair because everything comes on a stick. Meat, fish, garlic, cauliflower, mushrooms, etc put on a skewer and cooked over the smokey charcoal. Add a some of their "special sauce" and a little gourmet powder (aka MSG) and what do you get??? Delicious that's what you get.

Since oh, I don't know, the second day we got here Mike has been dreaming of eating 100 sticks of meat at Learned BBQ. I mean, if you're going to dream, dream big right? But the 100 stick challenge had to be attempted in the correct setting. I mean you have to have competition and witnesses for an accomplishment such as this. So when 9 college guys showed up on our doorstep, it was perfect.

The waiters were a little shocked when you order 600 sticks of beef and mutton, but they came through. On that chilly evening, Mike and his men met the challenge and devoured 100 sticks each. Mike topped it off with some ice cream and a bike ride home. I can't decide if I should be proud or a little bit disgusted.

Dancin on the train

2010-06-07T22:33:00.001+08:00

20 on a couch

2010-06-05T16:39:00.007+08:00

Thursday night felt like summer Salt had come to our living room. Currently we are hosting 3 TSC teams, which means there's a grand total of 16 students working hard all throughout the city. Sweet. On Thursday we all crammed into our small apartment for Papa Johns and fellowship. One of our local friends came and shared his story about how four years ago he "happened" upon a group of students, just like this and how his life was changed forever. He shared some of the challenges and victories that life has brought since that time and let the students ask him a bunch of questions. Our house always feels more homey when it's full of Americans.

Scavenger Hunt Competition Extravaganza

2010-06-02T17:05:00.002+08:00

Last night at midnight we welcomed in two more student volunteer teams, ok actually Mike welcomed them last night while I slept. Lame I know, but in my defense I have been sick for about a week. So this morning all ten of them came over for breakfast and orientation. By the way I'll be making dinner for about 17 people every week this summer so if anyone has any recipes that are good to make in large quantities, send them my way.

After orientation we sent them on an epic trek through the city. Busses, taxis, campuses, pictures, food, changing money... the idea is to teach them everything they need to know about the city in one day so they can function for the next two months. All the teams pictorally document each task and the team that returns with the best pics wins. So far we don't have a prize, but they don't need to know that.

Here are a few of the bonus point tasks...
-Split pants (10pts)
-A sqatty potty (5 pts)
-A guy making noodles (20pts)
-A tiny vehicle carrying a ton of stuff (10pts)
-An awesome Chinese guy haircut (10pts) (10 extra points if your picture is the (fiercest)
-3 people on an e-bike (30 pts)
-Ride a bus (20pts) what was your bus number?
-Ride a taxi (10pts) where did you go?
-Ride a rickshaw, SanLunChe, or Moped (30pts)
-A team member eating stinky tofu (40pts)

Good Good Day

2010-05-24T12:54:00.006+08:00

Last Monday was a great day. We woke up and headed to class, ok, that part was pretty mundane, nothing too special about that, then we were off to campus to meet students. I was able to talk with a girl for two hours in Chinese. This was really encouraging to me because lately I've been feeling like my language has been stuck at the same level. She was very gracious and willing to explain things different ways if I didn't understand. Her boyfriend told me that China is sad because they are poor, and if they were a richer country they could be a happier people. I was able to share with them that I have much more than money to put my hope in. They told me they were Taoist and that it was the same as what I believe. I shared with them the story of the Good News and then asked them if they still thought it was the same, and they realized it wasn't.
After that I met with a younger sister, who I hadn't seen in a while. She informed me that when she isn't connected with other sisters she is more susceptible to temptation, so we'd better start reading the Good Book together. I always think it's awesome when new believers come to very true conclusions without the intervention of other people.

Next stop - English corner with our American friends, where I found out that we have a new brother!!! Our first volunteer team arrived about two weeks ago and they have been diligently making friends since the moment they got here. That night, two more girls became sisters, plus two more on Friday!! Awesome!!

Anyway I just wanted you to be able to rejoice with us and get a feel for the what the harvest is like in this area. There are lots of people ready to hear we just have to find them. Thanks for your continued pr@yers. Big things are going to happen this summer.

Two-Headed Pancho of Unity

2010-05-19T07:39:00.003+08:00

This was our wedding gift to Al and Jen. The bike Pancho is the only way to get around the city when it's raining (which is like every day). When we first moved here we kinda thought they were dumb and really nerdy. After a few days of coming home drenched our pride and our fashion sense gave in. Turns out they work amazingly. The sweet visors keep the rain out of your face and the fronts are extra long so they can clip onto your bike basket and keep your stuff and your legs from getting wet. Amazing. This particular item being modeled below is a two person electric-bike Pancho. Great for those rainy nights when you want to take your lady-friend out on the town.

Smoke Monster vs. Aqua Man

2010-05-19T07:09:00.004+08:00

When we were home we went on a double date with Alex and Jen before the wedding. At Macaroni Grill you get to draw on the table, so we decided to play a game that some of my kiddo's at work made up when they were bored one day. Made-up games resulting from boredom are always the best games.

Rules:
Draw a line across the middle of the paper. Each team has a given amount of time to draw as many offensive and defensive things as they can on their side of the paper. For example, we drew the death star, and sharks with lazer beams on their heads, and our opponents drew the smoke monster from LOST and swine flu. When time is up you battle. You can use any of your things to take out any of their things, but each thing can only be used once. The last one standing wins. The exchange has to be realistic though. It would be impossible for Aqua-man to take out the death star, but Aqua-man could be bribed by Bill Gates to not attack. Caution: Heated discussion may arise about whether or not the transaction is fair. Do not play this game if you are pregnant, may become pregnant or have a history of heart disease.

America

2010-05-17T21:48:00.005+08:00

A few of you may know that we recently took a quick trip home to America for my little brother's wedding. (Apologies to all our friends who we didn't get to see or didn't even know we were within the 48 contiguous states) We were only there for a week, travel and wedding events included.

When we got on the plane, none of our siblings had any "romantic prospects" and we were prepared to be in-country for a full two years at the very least. When we found out we had been cleared to come home for a visit I had mixed emotions. Of course I was happy. It would be a total bum if we'd have missed Al's wedding, but I also kinda felt gypped. It felt like all that crying I did about being gone for two years was kinda wasted, you know? For a girl, I'm not much of a crier, but before we left I put in some serious time - all for what?? 6 months??!!! That's only a quarter of our time here which means I could have saved my self 3/4 of my total cry time. I could have been so much more productive! Ok, you're right. We all know I'm not really that productive in general, but just think of how I could have improved my Solitaire game with that time. Sigh.

We have been here 6ish months now and we are finally feelin pretty settled here. When I found out that we were going home I was a little worried that I'd have a relapse of homesickness, but Father took care of me. It seemed like there was potential for everything to go emotionally awry*, but it just...didn't. Don't you love it when that happens? The wedding went great - one of Mike's best I'd say, we got to do some shopping, and hang out with the fam. And we jumped back into the flow of China life smoothly. We even felt really prepared for the summer team to come. Woot.

Ok, one funny story from the wedding. Picture this. Wedding reception. Hickory Hall complete with neon palm tree. Mike and I are in a dance circle with his parents, my mom, and my aunt and uncle, a pretty happening group. Mike's dad, while busting a serious move says "Man, this is great we need to get this song" in reference to "Ice Ice Baby." I don't know, it made us laugh.

*awry is very difficult to spell, I was even beyond the reach of spell check.

Birds, Flowers, and Fire

2010-05-10T17:53:00.005+08:00

Last week on a beautiful sunny morning I headed out on my bike to explore the city. I ride through this intersection on a daily basis, but on this particular day I found this. That's right, a man and his scooter parked next to a pile of black goo...that was on fire. In China I am often confronted with situations in which I don't know how to respond, so I did what I usually do and try to react like everyone else. The guy next to me didn't even seem to notice the intersection fire so I just kept on pedaling.

Here's a few pics from the rest of my ride.

chair salesman parked outside our gate

The bird and flower market

Retreat!

2010-04-30T04:52:00.004+08:00

Thanks so much for your pra@yer for the students these past couple weekends. Aside from eating snails at every meal and getting very little sleep, everything went really well. The students reported that they learned a lot about making the most of every opportunity, and always doing things to the best of their ability because they know they are not working for man but for the Father. I think they really enjoyed getting away from the city and school and other distractions and to be able to focus on the father for a whole weekend. Here's some pics from the weekend...

What's up

2010-04-14T16:55:00.004+08:00

Just a few snapshots of life lately...

KTV (kereoke) a favorite pastime among students.

Fun China Observation: If someone is physically capable of singing they will do so unabashedly in front of a large group of people regardless of actual talent.
Example: This week a girl asked me if I liked Nora Jones, then broke into song for an entire verse and chorus.

Nothing says party like 80's love ballads and Michael Jackson

This particular venue provided complimentary morracas and an automatic applause button.

"Ba He" literally translated - pull river

A rather plump student informed us "I am very good at this game because.. (looked down at his stomach - and back at us)... you know.

FYI Just Because...

Mike been hanging out with a couple of buddies. One guy is named Brian, his friend always pronounces it Brain.
On this lovely spring day we rode our bike home in sleet. I never thought I'd be jealous of Iowa weather.
The next two weekends we'll hold retreats for local brothers and sisters. Please pr@y that relationships with the father would deepen, that all the details would come together, that the speakers would speak clearly and that we would have tons of energy and awesome Chinese language skills. Thanks!

Poor Tinker

2010-04-02T22:17:00.004+08:00

Funny story... So my parents cat died. That's not the funny part. They opted to have the vet take care of the remains. So my dad goes in there and the vet gives him two options. A group cremation OR for an added cost (don't know how much) you can choose an individual cremation, where the ashes are then collected and put in a lovely urn and returned to you. Just because you love your pet doesn't mean you should display him/her on the living room coffee table. That's just rediculous.

This particular model costs $129.95
and is "designed for a loved one weighing up to 229 pounds"

LAMEgagement

2010-04-02T02:23:00.006+08:00

My brother is going to get married in one month and it has me thinking about engagement. After Mike and I got married this is what we decided about relationship status.

Married - the best
Single
Dating
Engaged - the worst

Engagement is such an unnatural state. Longest five months of my life. At that point your completely invested in someone emotionally, financially and spiritually etc, but you can't be invested physically and you don't get to live together which is really inconvenient. Seriously who thought of engagement? I read that the average American couple is engaged for 17 months - I understand that the average American couple isn't necessarily "playin by the rules" but still that's crazy. I think that if you know someone is "the one" you should probably just marry them as fast as you can.

Here's a link about the origins of engagement if your bored... it's on Wikipedia so it must be true... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engagement

And what's a blog post without pics.

the eastons

the ritzman's

Firefox decoration

2010-04-02T01:38:00.002+08:00

Kinda fun if you use Firefox as your web browser and want to give it a little pizzaz...

http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/gallery/All/Popular

Warning: It's easy to get carried away. Sorta like when little kids are making an art project and they just keep adding more and more glitter and glue. They know it looks terrible, but they're having fun and they just can't help themselves.

eggs and rockband

2010-03-27T21:41:00.007+08:00

Sharon and Tom Rich. I have always wanted to have a house like theirs. I don't suppose there's anything particularly special about this house. Sure it's comfortable and well decorated but it's just a regular one story tan house with a big basement located on the outskirts of Clermont Iowa. (Then again, I guess when you live in a town that's only like three square blocks, most of the houses are located on the outskirts of town.) What makes the Rich house special is that it's doors are always open. It's the kind of place where you feel at home the minute you walk through the doors, and everyone belongs. Parents can feel good about sending their teenagers to a place like that. The soda fridge in the garage is always stalked, and it's the kind of place where you can stay up late talking with friends and you don't feel like and imposition.

My parents also did a great job modeling this concept for me. They always welcomed our friends warmly. So when my brother's tall friend decided to do a handstand and put his foot through our basement ceiling they chose to laugh because they knew that the relationships that were build under their roof (and through it apparently) were way more important than the cost of repairs.

So what made me think of all this? Tonight a couple of friends came to my house for spaghetti, sugar cookie making, Easter egg decorating, and rock band. It was pretty much the awesomest party ever. I am pretty close with one of the girls I went to her house during Spring Festival. In China it is common to refer to a close friend as your sister or brother, so her father told me that she can be my little sister. When she came my house tonight she told me that she feels really comfortable in our home because she is like my little sister.

Mike and I have always wanted to have a house with open doors. We want to make visitors feel like family. We want our house to be the kind of place where you can help yourself to the fridge or invite yourself over without feeling awkward or intrusive. I Thes. 2:8 talks about being delighted to share not only the Good News, but our lives as well. It seems like inviting people into your home is a part of that.

March

2010-03-27T17:37:00.003+08:00

Hmmm... March started off nice and calm. No classes, plenty of time, and then the students came back and everything hit the fan - but not in a bad way. Many of the students that we got connected with during Christmas left to go home for spring festival shortly after we met them, which means that our last few weeks we've had our hands full reconnecting. Also we've been planning some events and making some goals for this semester. I feel like we're on the verge of a lot of good things we just have to wait and see how the father is going to put it all together.

Our vision for this city is to start a group in each college, trade school and university in this city. We want every student in this city to hear the good news and to face the decision of weather or not they will follow The Truth. Please remember us in pr@yer as we kick off the new term.

Magical Bamboo Forest

2010-03-19T11:26:00.003+08:00

Past the swirly twirly bamboo forest and through the Lincoln tunnel

We Miss you Salt Co.

2010-03-09T17:34:00.003+08:00

We recently did some cleaning in apartments where Salt students once resided. It was fun to find traces of their time here. We found a 3-D paper model of a bridge with a heartfelt message to Christine, it was touching and very random. Mike found some materials he'd made that students had with them. And we also found this...

Keeyon's head taped on that guy's body. Chinese people can be funny but not in the same creative way as all our Salt students back home. It makes us miss you guys. Can't wait to see some Salters this summer and semester.

P.S. If any of you are ever interested in spending some time in China, feel free to email us any questions you might have. We'd love to have you!

Chinese 201

2010-03-09T17:03:00.004+08:00

Day One. Today we started our second term of Chinese language learning. It's kinda like being in kindergarten, except it's like the hardest kindergarten ever. We learn words like "winter" and "play", we watch cartoons, and the teacher shhhh's you if you talk in class. Our teacher is pretty good, but when she bangs on the chalkboard to get our attention she kinda reminds me of one of those mean nun-teachers in the movies.

Our language skills are improving daily to be sure, but sometimes it's a battle. When you remember us please pr. that we would be amazing at Chinese so that we can effectively share what's on our hearts. Many students can speak English, but sometimes that just doesn't work. Here's a recent text message conversation with one of my "English-speaking" sisters to illustrate our need to speak the language.

Em: What time should we meet?

Her: I will meet you by bus

Em: What time?

Her: after one hour because i have class on morning

Em: Do you want me to meet you at your campus by the bus?

Her: I confusion, or i take taxi, please don't angry

Em: No problem I am not angry :) will you come to my campus or will I come to your campus?

Her: I want to go to your campus but I can't stand the gas smell

Em: That's ok I will come to your campus

Her: But I really want to come to your campus

Em: Ok what time is convenient?

Her: oh emily, i think just you can come here! I would like to go but I can't! will you blame?

Em: No I will not blame I am happy to come to your campus. I will call you when I arrive.

Random

2010-03-08T18:57:00.003+08:00

RANDOM ROLLS anyone?

Belated Febuary 14th

2010-03-08T18:07:00.003+08:00

For many of you this day was filled with chocolate and flowers or possibly the acute awareness of the lack of chocolate and flowers. For us, Febuary 14th - yes I know it's March already, yes, I know this is a little late - was filled with fireworks and car alarms. Also known as Chinese New Year.

As we ride our bikes through our neighborhood we are greeted with the sights and sounds of children playing...with matches and neighbors' greeting one another.. as they shoot fireworks off of their balconies. It starts that afternoon and slowly but surely gains momentum throughout the evening. At about 11:30 the real fun begins when the entire country explodes. Millions and millions of people gather outside their houses (which are very close together) to make their fiery contribution to this grandiose event. We ran through the snowy streets, looking for a good view, dodging cars and people setting up their fireworks, and finally set off our own. We headed home ready to hit the hay after an eventful evening only find our neighbors still celebrating. The fireworks they were shooting off from below were exploding right outside our fourth floor window.

About four days later the whole thing happened all over again when the Chinese people welcomed the god of wealth. We were getting ready for bed when China exploded again. We didn't even see it comin. It would have been funny if it weren't for the 8am meeting the next day.

Band

2010-02-19T16:24:00.003+08:00

This afternoon a marching band comprised of old people and folks dressed as ninjas passed through our neighborhood. I don't know why.

Congrats!

2010-02-15T15:31:00.002+08:00

Congratulations Alex and Jen!!!

My little brother has fallen in love, and in May we will be adding Jen Alley to the Ritzman clan. Congratulations! We love you guys and are super happy for you!

Always low prices

2010-02-15T12:13:00.004+08:00

Always low prices, Always at Wal-Mart.

(it's whole dried chicken)

Superbowl

2010-02-15T11:55:00.002+08:00

The game started at 7:30am in China but that didn't stop us from throwing an awesome Superbowl party complete with chips and salsa, coke, cookies, veggie platter etc. I'd like to give a shout out to Doug and Jane Easton for pointing their computer at the TV and letting us watch the game via Skype.

Grillin' like a Villan

2010-02-09T18:53:00.002+08:00

Have you ever had a great idea but didn't do it because you'd get in lots of trouble or the fire department would get called on you? Well one of the great things about China is that you don't really have to worry about things like that.

For example..

Em: I was thinking burgers for dinner tonight.
Mike: Sweet I'll go get the grill started.
Em: Do you think it'll be ok going downstairs by itself?
Our Tutor: You don't have to take it downstairs, you can just do it in the hallway. I think I've seen people do this at least 2 times. It's ok.
Mike: Hmm... sounds like a plan
Em: yeah, I saw something on fire in the hallway a couple weeks ago.

After dinner Mike was cleaning the grill. He was a little concerned about putting the slightly smoldering coals in the trash can full of paper, but then he saw that there was already a fire on the street and no one seemed to notice that one... and shortly after he put the coals in the trash or neighbor who owns a restaurant (which he runs out of his garage) put some similar stuff in the trash also - so apparently it was fine. I heart China.

Wedding Fireworks

2010-02-04T20:10:00.004+08:00

A few pics from the wedding we went to

The party got started with some pr. songs and some performances. Just about everyone in attendance did some sort of song, dance, MC, or played and instrument.

The wedding was inside a church, but the building was not heated, so everyone had their coats on. Suddenly these three girls stood up in the audience and took off their coats to reveal matching outfits. Surprise bridesmaids!

The ceremony was pretty standard. Unity candle, music, i do's, crying, etc. The only noticeable differences were the really loud fireworks and that the groom stepped out for a second during one of the songs to talk on his cell phone.

Emily's Travels

2010-02-03T15:29:00.005+08:00

I also was invited to a friends house in a neighboring city. My friend and I spent the afternoon shopping, then awesome pictures in the photo booth. It really felt like I was reliving my high school days. After shopping we headed to her house where her mom had prepared us a feast. They even had a knife, spoon and fork for me, which actually proved to be more difficult than the chopsticks would have been, but it was still very hospitable.

Half way through the meal I was presented with something curious in my bowl. Grey. Squishy on the outside. Bones in the middle. Claws. I knew it was a foot, but from what?... My friend smiled excitedly and said "have a try, it is good for health" I smiled graciously at my friend and took a bite. Hmm, dark meat with a seafood flavor. My friend looked it up in her dictionary. Ahh yes, of course soft-shell turtle.

Dinner was tons of fun. I did my best to speak Chinese, and felt pretty good about it. My friend's father thought my Chinese more and more hilarious throughout the night, but that could have been all the alcohol he was drinking.

Mike's travels

2010-02-02T23:37:00.003+08:00

During Spring Festival aka Chinese New Year, we have a little more free time. Mike was recently invited to a friend's home town to visit for a few days. Seeing our friends' homes and meeting their family is a really great way to help us gain a better understanding of the culture, so Mike accepted an invitation to go to Kevin Smith's house. (It's common for Chinese students to give themselves an English name but this guy is extra ambitious because he also gave himself a last name. Hilarious. Plus one of my good friends just started dating a Kevin Smith. The whole thing always makes me giggle.)

A pagoda

Dang it feels good to be a gangster... or a pirate... I can't really tell which look he is going for. I think the pigeon is going for gangster.

Mike was also "blessed" with the opportunity to try new and "unique" cuisine while on his trip. Pictured above is whole squid on a stick. His dining adventures also included dog, nasty hot dog, chicken stomach, raw meatball, fat, various roots, and duck neck. Needless to say he spent most of Thursday night and Friday morning harfing. Yikes!

Around the Hood

2010-02-02T21:33:00.003+08:00

Just a few pics from the neighborhood...

The old ladies that congregate on the corner any time it gets above 50 degrees
(That is when they're not busy sifting through our trash for plastic bottles and cardboard.)

Our street filled with restaurants, fruit stands, bakeries, and salons

The sweet potato lady. She cooks them over an open wood fire. I don't personally like sweet potatoes but I've heard they're delish. It always makes me laugh when these gas-powered carts cruise down the street with an open flame on the back.

We discovered this box left open on the first floor of our apartment building.
We're pretty sure it's our internet.

Mike and I really like our neighborhood. I promise it's not as ghetto as it looks.

Public Service Announcement

2010-01-27T00:00:00.002+08:00

When bleach and Fabreeze are in similar shaped bottles don't put them next to each other on the shelf. The only thing that tipped me off was the smell.

Emily -1
Guest Room Comforter -0

This has been brought to you by the letter B, and is funded by viewers like you.

oh this day

2010-01-26T22:12:00.003+08:00

Recently I was invited to go to a friend's hometown to see her city and have dinner at her house. This meant I would be traveling alone.

The day got off to a rough start when I realized that I had not factored in rush hour when I contemplated how long it would take me to get a taxi. Needless to say I arrived at the train station, only to see the number of my train flash off of the screen as it pulled out of the station. oops. Oh well, not to be discouraged... All I had to do was jump into line and buy myself a new ticket. Chinese don't fail me now! The best I could do was "Now I go Wuxi?" Luckily it worked. I paid the guy 12 kuai and headed to KFC to wait for three hours. At 11:54 I headed back into the station ready to go, unfortunately my train was delayed another hour for a grand total of 4.5 hours at the train station. Awesome.

Being stuck in KFC for 3 hours ended up being great because I got to read the word. (Ok, you're right, I don't have a three hour attention span. I also played Bejeweled and Spider Solitaire.) The delayed train wasn't bad either cause I was able to share some Good News with a guy that started talking to me while we were waiting so that's cool. Plus I was able to use Chinese almost all day which is a victory in itself.

There have been plenty of days when stuff like this happens and my mind is so occupied with being annoyed, that it becomes impossible to even see any opportunities, let alone make the most of them. I'm really thankful that the Father choose to give me patience today and helped me be ok with whatever he threw my way.

The rest of the trip went great... I ate a mystery foot... more on that later.

My friend made sure to take to me to the train station personally with plenty of time to spare. It's possible that her concern stemmed from the fact that I arrived in her city 5 hours late.

grillin' in the guest room

2010-01-20T09:16:00.002+08:00

Due to volunteer team, vacations, weather complications, etc. the Easton's have still not had our Skype family Christmas. Last week we decided to open the gifts from each other... Mostly because I was afraid that at any moment Mike was going to go out and buy what I'd gotten him.

Sidenote: That is the problem with buying guys Christmas presents. If they need it they just go out and buy it, and if they don't need it they don't really want it. It makes Christmas gifts a little tricky.

My wonderful husband bought me my first grown up coat

and Mike got a new grill

We had some friends over for dinner and Mike proceeded to use said grill...in the guest room. Technically it was on the window sill of the guest room, but it was pretty much the same thing. The whole room still smells of lighter fluid. The room will probably explode if we ever try to light a match in there.

Travel Pics

2010-01-18T21:02:00.001+08:00

Christmas pics.

2010-01-18T20:12:00.005+08:00

A little piece of America on Christmas day - T.G.I.Friday's
Here bf's and gf's mark their territory by wearing matching clothes...
when in China...

dress up santa contest

What does Sonny want for Christmas?

This guy was a friend of Obe's over the summer. When Mike introduced himself he responded "Mike!? You're Mike?! I'm so Happy! Can I give you a hug?!"

Nothing gets the party started in here like 100 Asians doing the Cha-Cha slide

yi, er, san... qie zi
That's one, two, three, eggplant to the lay person

December update

2010-01-16T17:43:00.002+08:00

A few of my favorite numbers over Christmas...

15 hour train ride to the frozen tundra (aka Beijing)
6 different campuses
2 trips to Shanghai (lost luggage)
1 dance party at the Great Wall
5 nights, 5 Christmas Christmas parties
11 student volunteers (1 little brother)
0 time for sleeping
400 students hearing the Good News
1 New Sister!

Christmas was wonderful, tiring, but wonderful. Thank you so much for all of you who were pr@ying for us. This season was crazy busy but certainly worth it. It really felt like the Father blessed this time and that the teams really helped us push the work forward.

More information can be found on our December update. If you do not receive our monthly email updates and would like to be added just shoot us an email and we can add you to the list. Thanks again for all your support. (easton.emily@pobox.com)

Bathroom Saga Continued

2009-12-31T19:14:00.004+08:00

Question: How many people does it take to fix a leaky washing machine?

Answer: Six

Mike, Landlord, Landlord's husband, random guy, plumber, and our friend who translated.

Seriously one of these days I promise I'll quit blogging about our bathroom. It was the day our Christmas team came. We were thinking we were going to have a relaxing day to rest up before all the chaos hit, but unfortunately our bathroom exploded once again. I think we've replaced almost everything in there so we should be good to go now. Fun Fact- we found out that our apartment building is only four years old - and yet everything is breaking? That's Chinarific.

I'd like to give a shout out to our friend for helping us have a dry bathroom once again. Thanks JB! If you don't know who JB is I'll give you a hint... It's NOT James Bond, Jason Borne, or Jack Bauer.

Ok one more quick bathroom story. This week I accomplished an incredible feat...Trough squatty pottly... unheated building... in the dark... and I'm pretty sure there was a boy in there.

Theater Comments

2009-12-31T18:03:00.005+08:00

Mike and I went to go see a play with our friend a couple weeks ago. It was all in Chinese, so it was a little hard to follow. In true Chinese fashion, someone died a tragic and very dramatic death about every five minutes. Mike and I were feelin a little tired that day so when the curtain closed we were ready to go home. Apparently it's customary for the director to give comments, then about 10 teachers commented, then the director commented on the comments, and then the mic was passed around to random audience members. About 45 minutes into the commentary session I turned to my friend, and of course she was handing me the microphone. Suddenly 700 Chinese people were waiting to hear from me in Chinese about what I thought about this play that I couldn't understand. I looked at my husband hoping he would have some wonderful words of wisdom, but he just smiled at me and said "Go ahead dear." Thanks for the help. Actually I can't blame him I would have done the same thing to him if I had the chance.