Normalizing

The monsoon season has arrived in China; the rain comes down in sheets, washing clean both the ground and the air.  The morning after a rain, Beijing is reborn. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese take to the streets to walk, laugh, and live for a moment in the clarity of pure sunlight.  I love those mornings too.  I know there are places in China where clean, crisp air is the norm, but Beijing, Shanghai, and the eastern populations centers are not among them.  We take clean air for granted in the US.  Next time you go outside, take a deep clean breath of American air--then thank God for America.  I do, more and more each passing day.

I am now entering the last month of this amazing summer; I can't believe it has passed so quickly.  There have been ups and downs--summits with fantastic views, long frustrating plateaus, and deep dark gorges of despair.  I have experienced all of these here in China and I think I am not alone.  With a foreign culture like China, you have this moment where you think everything is fantastic!  Even the scorpions taste good!  Eventually, however, the novelty of chopsticks and two dollar lunches wears off and all you see are the over crowded subways, dirty streets, and strange sounding Chinese people.  I call this period the "Everything American" period because all you want to do is find the American international stores, buy peanut butter, and make a freak'n sandwich.  For me, it was only a couple of days, some of my classmates never escaped and still can't say a nice thing about China or the Chinese.

Not me.  I've finally normalized and find China to be intensely interesting.  There is so much raw potential here.  It doesn't feel like the states where I feel like we are maximizing a least a portion of our national potential.  In China there are literally hundreds of millions of people moving up the ranks of society--working to make something of themselves--but just can't for some reason of another.  What would happen if that potential was released?

We went to Shanghai, its been a while since I've recorded my experiences.  Shanghai was like New York--a lot like New York--just a little bigger.  It is heavily influenced by western culture and was really built by the West--hence the New York feel.  Its beautiful at night.  You look across a branch of the Yangtze River into down-town and its pretty fantastic.

From Shanghai we went to Suzhou, China's Venice...just older...and more people.  It was pretty cool to walk along the grand canal and watch the private barges move along the current-less water.  I had a moment of clarity watching one barge meander past me.  There was a clothes line stretched across the back of the boat and the captain had no shirt on.  Then I noticed it was a little family on the boat: A Dad, Mom, and a little boy.  They obviously lived on the boat--moving up and down the ancient canal day after day.  The grand canal was built in 700 AD from Guangzhou all the way to Xinjiang...then later to Beijing.  Thats like a canal connecting Florida and DC, built 1300 years ago.  Anyway, my moment of clarity is hard to explain, but it has something to do with living authentically and learning to love the life we've been blessed with.  As some of my classmates murmured incessantly about the heat and discomfort of our trip, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and wished I was on that barge headed for Tianjin.  Who was that man and his little family headed north?  What did he think about communism and democracy, capitalism and liberty?  Surely he has an opinion, but on that hot summer day--he just drove his boat and his family north.  I don't think you will understand my meaning here: it is something of a feeling rather than a concrete concept.    

the family barge

the family barge 2

We're back in Beijing now.  We moved up north to Beijing Normal University.  Yes, that is the name of the school.  There are no errors in the name.  In fact there are lots of "Normal" universities in China.  There is something lost in translation there that I can't quite get a grip on.  No one would go to Phoenix Normal University.  It would be too....normal.

Soon we will be headed to Tibet.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.  We're going to the base of Mt. Everest, riding a night train across the entire country, and even seeing the capital of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.  One of the teachers, Dr. Jones, grew up in India and Pakistan--near the border of Tibet.  He is Evangelical Christian and one of the smartest men I have ever met.  I talked to him a lot about Christianity, my own faith, and the history of the East.  I am evermore convinced that God loves all of his children, and is working now to bring truth to the billions who wait.

Whatever I see in Tibet, it will probably be the most un-normal experience I have ever had.

Keep the Faith

Pictures Only

summer of the dragon

China pride

cool pic

endless apartments

lamp

train station1

train station2

train station3

morning countryside

China's Venice

canal5

canal2

canal3

canal4

canal building

me in suzhou

shanghai building

shanghai skyline

my friend the tour guide

shanghai building2

skyline2 

venice2

venice4

venice3

Upward

liuyang long and xuxin

me and liuyanglong

me and xuxin

They have that cartoon, you know, called "Up."  Its about that old man and little boy who float off to South America in a house held up by helium balloons.  Its time for me to move up again.  And I feel little sad about it.

I have lived in China now for about two months.  I've moved only once; I moved from the Hostel to the family I have been staying with.  Their names?  I think I already introduced them: 刘杨龙 and 徐欣。They are my friends now and I will miss them.  I will miss them because when you are in a foreign place, a place where the culture is a little weird, the language is hard, and the food is just strange, then you grasp on to your friends.  They have been there for me here in China--cooking me dinner, teaching me new words, and laughing at my pronunciation.  I taught them how to play California Speed, and they taught me how to play Chinese Chess.  I taught them how to make hamburgers,and they taught me how to make Ramen Noddles....Chinese style.  I taught them about real cowboys, and they taught me how to say jokes in Chinese.  I showed them that Americans can be courteous and open, and they showed me that Chinese people can be the kindest people in the world.  So I will miss them, and move upward.  The world is full of people like this, the whole----GIANT-----world.

Next stop:  Shanghai.

The Wall

I remember when I was a kid I thought Jared was pretty cool because they called him "The Wall" when he played goalie in soccer.  Nothing got through.  I was always too scared to be goalie--I'd rather be doing the kicking at the goalie rather than be the goalie being kicked at.  Well, China has a wall like that.  Yes, the famous one: The Great Wall of China.  I think when you see these pictures you might think, "wow, that looks a lot a like the other pictures of the Great Wall that I have seen," and you are probably right.  When you get there and start climbing up the hill towards the wall you get pretty excited.  Then, when you reach the final stair, step onto the wall itself, and look into the distant, winding, stone wall that stretches across the endless mountains, you suddenly realize: this is far cooler than I thought it would be! Sure, the pictures are the same, the wall is the same, and the old grey stones are the same, But the mystical feeling of the place is very unexpected.  It took me by suprise like the spirit does sometimes when I am talking about some random gospel topic.  We were lucky because the section of the wall we went to was not crowded at all.  It was like American style crowded, which is to say a few people here and there.  This allowed me to think about the wall and what it means.  When I think too much, things go down hill, as the following will demonstrate quite thoroughly.

I think that it is important to understand the "personalities" of each country in order to know how best to improve relationships and lessen international tension.  When I say "personality," what I really mean is the history and culture of a country that heavily influences the way that country sees and acts towards the rest of the world.  I think there a lot of American's who are afraid of China, and rightfully so.  China has a military that is one of the largest and best equipt in the World.  Add to that an American ambivalence towards China's internal and international policy, and you find the root of what it means to fear: the unknown.

The cool Blurry One

the countryside

door1

door2

lord of the rings style fire signal

China calls itself the "middle kingdom."  That's what 中国means.  They don't call themselves "China."  That is a foreign name to their idea of what China is--the oldest culture in the world.  They see themselves as being in the center of a vast world of nations that, if history is any indicator, have a desire to invade, use, and abuse.  That is why they built the Great Wall in the first place: they wanted to keep the invaders out.  You might have read a little of China's recent history in my last post.  Do you know what the Opium War is?  The Chinese do.  It was when every colonial power in the world descended upon China in order to take advantage of the rich resources that the land and people had to offer.  The Japanese were particularly brutal in their conquest of China before WWII. They used the eastern part of the "Middle Kingdom" as a jumping board to all of South-east Asia and the Pacific.  When the US military, led by the often bold and sometimes severely egocentric General MacArthur, moved north of the 38th Parallel in pursuit of the North Korean Army, the Chinese got nervous.  Here they come again.  We don't know how many Chinese moved over the Yalu river, but to the Americans they seemed numberless.  It was the Korean War.   But the Chinese recovered.  They are strong now, very strong.  They have rebuilt their wall--this time stronger than ever.  They're motto is "Stability, and they intend to keep it."

So there is your history lesson for the day haha.  I find all of this intensely fascinating--and I know there are at least a few of you that are falling asleep at this point.  Moving on.

The guy in this picture was a cool guy.  He was standing outside a maze of underground tunnels dug during the Japanese occupation of China in the 1940's.  He was all dressed up like a soldier and I just couldn't help but get a picture with him.  He let me wear his hat and hold his spear and gun.  He was just about the coolest chap I have ever met.

me with the cool guy

Right after we went through the tunnels and met the old soldier, we went to eat next door at the local diner....I'm going to call it that.  There was no menu.  We each paid Y40 and they just brought out what they had.  The shrimp as whole: eyes, antennas and all.   They actually tasted like scorpions, just a little fishier.  You can see from the pictures the other dishes.  It was a good, but a strange meal that I will not soon forget.  I will miss China when I'm gone.

the food 2

the food

what__

Finally, I have included a video of the view outside my window.  The last few days I have woken up to the sound of sludge hammers and an excavator starting sometimes before 6 am.  They didn't care that there are 500,000 people trying to sleep--they had a building to tear down.  So about 30 guys ran around in their shorts and tank tops while one guy pounded at the building with his excavator hammer.  When they got the building down, the group of men got to work breaking up the bricks with hand held picks and jack hammers.  Some of the men had to be over 70.  It was all very strange and slightly humorous to me.  Its hard to question their methods though.  After all, they did build one of the seven wonders of the world--a wall that stretches across an entire continent.

Love to all

一直

How do you rectify Chinese history, Western history, and the gospel of Jesus Christ?  I apologise for opening with such a heavy question, but have you ever pondered on this thought?  China claims to have the oldest continuous culture in the world.  I don't think I know enough about Chinese history yet to answer this question; I have only learned enough to ask it.

In Xian we went to an old Islamic Mosque, one of the oldest and largest in China--and in the world for that matter.  When I was there, questions raced through my mind  faster than I could catch them.  We went to some other religious centers as well: a Catholic cathedral and a Buddhist tower.  Of all these beautiful structures, all wrought with dramatic world history and steeped in religious folk lore, one sign grabbed my attention and held it like a vice.  It was a sign hung over the waiting shelter leading to the worship center in the Mosque.  It simply said, "一直。”  What does it mean?  It is pronounced like a "long e" sound and then the way that Jackson pronounces Jared's name: "Jer" or "zhir."  Well, we have our English equivalents.  We have, the "straight and now path," or "unwavering," and the "way."  These all imply commitment and devotion on a road leading to salvation.  I have never seen a more beautiful way of expressing this thought than that sign hung on over the arch.  Literally it means "one straight," or more perfectly, "straight."

I am grateful to understand the true way.  Now, straight.

muslim guy

buddhist wild goose pagota

another Muslim guy

catholic cathedral

cathedral through the fence

catholic church

cool pic Muslim guy

mosque

two Chinese Muslims

Now on to lighter matters.  I'm sure you have heard that the Chinese like white skin.  I was not surprised, then, to see all the women who think they are pretty carrying umbrellas on the sunny days.  I was surprised, however, when I saw the commercials for the cream that makes you white...its like a fake tan...but not.  The commercial says in Chinese, "Your skin will get visibly whiter!  See this woman's skin?  She used 'Skin White' and now she is visibly whiter!  Amazing!"  I couldn't help but laugh.  Really!?  The lady in the family I live with spend about 30 minutes each morning putting on sun block, applying, rubbing it in, and making sure she doesn't forget a spot.  In 80 years all Americans will be dying of skin cancer.  Chinese women will still look 45.

My Chinese is improving quickly.  I wish I had the guts or motivation to just go outside and talk to people all day...like a missionary.  But I quickly run out of things to say to people--and I get a little embarrassed.  I still try everyday though.  Last night I bought some socks on the side of the road.  There were lots of Chinese people around and my Chinese was perfect.  My favorite thing about speaking in Chinese is the people walking by who stop dead in their tracks, turn around, and just stare at you like you are from Mars.  It happens every time if you speak good Chinese.  So I was asking the lady about the socks and how much they were per pair and what colors she had etc.  There was a good 10 people just staring at me blocking traffic.  The lady next to me, also trying to buy sock, said in Chinese, "Who is this foreigner?  His Chinese is better than mine!" lol.  I laughed and said thank you.  I may not be able to give a discourse on political succession or anthropology, but I can buy some socks!

Finally, I may include some pictures from the Beijing Museum of Chinese History.  If you think you know Chinese history, you probably do...from your American perspective.  Here is glimpse into the way the Chinese see their recent history.  It may surprise you and bring words to your mind such as, "propaganda," and "re-writing history" which all might be true.  Remember though that we have our own propaganda and unique way of writing history.

preface

Chinese revolution victory

Mao ze dong group

mao ze dong tian'anmen

opium war

very important picture

Rejuvenation

So from China I bid you farewell once again.  May these words find you on the straight and narrow, or in Chinese:  一直