Be Love, Know Hope, and Breathe Peace

Currently listening to: Memory Man by Aqualung

Currently watching: Bend It Like Beckham


So this has been a great China weekend. I have such a mental block when it comes to getting things accomplished here because usually it just takes longer or something goes wrong. The word mafan (problem or trouble) explains it best. Sometimes I just don't have the energy to deal with the mafan of getting stuff done. But all things considered, I am quite proud of everything that I did this weekend.

Friday night:

• Went to Home Depot (yes, it's a proper Home Depot, in China :)
• Bought a new rug for our living room (pictures to come)
• Got paint swatches (we WILL paint before Christmas--a nice green, orange and blue theme)
• Moved our curtains to the outside of the porch
• Watched Garden State

Saturday:

• Slept in (a nice accomplishment after continuing to be sick)
• Bought a DVD player that plays all DVDs (our old one had issues)
• Got gifts to take to my Chinese friends in Wuxi (I'm going to visit for Thanksgiving!)
• Put together a photo album to take with me to show my Wuxi friends
• Had dinner at the Kennedy's with our Chinese teacher and his family
• Played Catan

Sunday:

• Went to Fellowship in a neighboring city
• Had lunch at a nice Irish pub
• Went to English corner at the local university and got to share our Family Traditions about being thankful

I have a few thoughts today on language and culture:

• 'To jot' means something sexual in Korean. How do I know this? It was in my 8th textbook the other day. My 8th grade class is all boys. 6 of them. They couldn't stop giggling like little girls. It was real fun.

• There is only a special word to designate that one is left handed (zuo piezi) in Chinese, but not really anything for being right handed, because everyone here is right handed.

• The TA on our floor was helping me with my Chinese the other day and as I was talking to her, I noticed that she had been reading the 6th grade history textbook. For fun! Because she's never read, in depth, at least, about world history. Chinese history is so long that it is the primary focus of social studies classes here. Her comment to me was (she was reading about Ancient Mesopotamia) how much of a difference learning about that ancient history is making in her faith--it gives her belief historical context.

No pictures today, sad day, I know. But we're very thankful for the heat that's finally on. While things aren't exactly toasty, we're no longer freezing at home.


A benediction I found quite fitting: As a friend wrote me the other day: "Be love, know hope and breathe peace"

rpm