2013 in Review

When I think back on this year, it has been a time of growth. There wasn't huge, life-changing things this year (unlike the two years prior), but there have been all these little areas where I have been challenged and grown. When I think ahead to the future, I hope that these little challenges continue to grow me.

Here are my resolutions from last year.

1.     I want to continue to improve my Chinese. I would like to finish book two of Chinese Made Easier by the end of the year. I have been told that this book is difficult, so I might be over-reaching. Nevertheless, I will make it my goal.

Well, I did finish book two, and I am set to start book three when school resumes. I still feel like my Chinese isn’t great though.

2.     I will actually work on editing my honors project this year.

I have been working on my honors project this break, and I am actually pretty happy with how it is turning out. I think that I could finish it to my satisfaction this break. I have resolved that this book will not be a classic. I just don’t think that I have it in me to write a literary masterpiece, but I have also resolved that it can be a good book, a well-written book, even if it never wins a Pulitzer.

3.     I will actually write in my prayer journal and spend more time in the Word.

     

I have gotten better at being more consistent at this though I am still not where I would like to be.

4.     I want to read more for fun. I would like to read at least one young adult book, one classic (or adult book), and one Christian non-fiction book every quarter. That would mean I would like to read 15 new books this next year. My rule for myself will be that a book for school will only count if it is my first time reading it.

Book I’ve Read

Young Adult Books

1.     The Book Thief – Excellent. Best book of the year. (Though this is in the Young Adult book category, I think that it could easily be put into the Literary Fiction category.)

2.     An Abundance of Katherines – Pretty good, but has some PG-13 elements.

3.     Winter Girls – Good. The end seemed a bit extreme, but still a good book.

4.     Catalyst – Same as Winter Girls. Good. The end seemed a bit extreme, but still a good book.

5.     Not My Home – An interesting look at 1800s Tianjin, China and international living.

6.     A Breath of Eyre – Good, but a bit over the top and also has some PG-13 elements.

7.     Sold – Very interesting. Quick read. Handled a difficult topic well.  Would highly recommend.

Non-Fiction

1.     Soul Suffer – Interesting. Not particularly well written. The movie tells the story well.

2.     Crazy Love – Good and thought provoking.

3.     The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness – Very good. Short, but makes you think.

Adult Book/ Classics

1.     Of Mice and Men – Good. Lots of language. Good points for discussion though.

2.     The Handmaid’s Tale – Good.  Adult Elements. Not sure how to react to it.

3.     Pearl of China – A very interesting look at Pearl S. Buck. Not particularly well written, but a gripping story.

I did not reach my goal, but I am happy with the books I have read this year. I think there might be one more in there somewhere that I have forgotten about, but that’s ok. If I could count the books that I began reading this past year, this list would probably double.

Resolutions for 2014

1.     I want to continue to improve my Chinese. I would like to finish book three of Chinese Made Easier by the end of the year.

2.     I would like to finish editing my honors project.

3.     I write in my prayer journal and spend more time in the Word.

4.     I want to read more for fun. I would like to read at least one young adult book, one classic (or adult book), and one Christian non-fiction book every quarter. That would mean I would like to read 15 new books this next year. My rule for myself will be that a book for school will only count if it is my first time reading it.

5.     I will blog more. At least one blog a month.

On Being A Foreigner (Part II): Shopping and [Mis]Communicating

One time last spring, I came home from school on the early bus because I had some shopping that I needed to do. Since I was going out already, my roommate asked me to pick up some spring roll wrappers because we were planning on having spring rolls for dinner, and she wasn’t sure if we had enough wrappers.

Before picking up the wrappers, I went to the buy some other items that I needed at Fomax (a grocery store in my apartment complex). One of the things I needed to pick up was 36 chocolate bars as prizes for spring trip. They didn’t have enough, so I asked the lady if they had more in the back, and she went to get me more. While I was waiting, a man standing in line looked at all the chocolate bars that I had in my basket, and he told that if I ate all of those chocolate bars that I would get fat. I explained to him that they were not for me; they were for my students, but he still seemed concerned that I would get fat.

After purchasing my chocolate bars, I went to the small Korean store that was supposed to have the wrappers that I wanted. My roommate had told me where to find them, but they were not where they were supposed to be. I did not know what they were called, so I looked them up on my ipod and asked the clerk where they were. He told me that they did not have them and that I needed to go to a Chinese grocery store for them. So I went back to Fomax and asked one of the workers where the spring roll wrappers were. However, she showed me spring rolls. When I explained to her that I wanted make spring rolls, she said that they did not have the wrappers, but she told me their name. Then I went back to the Korean store and I told them what I was looking for, but they still seemed confused. They searched and searched and finally they pulled out wrappers, but they were the dough kind. I wanted the kind that was made out of rice paper. I explained to the man that they were in a green package and they should be right here (and I pointed to where they should be). After saying this over and over again, we had a eureka moment, and he knew what I was talking about; he explained to me that those were Vietnamese spring roll wrappers. He looked for them, but he said they didn’t have any, but he went to another Korean store next door to see if they had them.

I don’t remember how long this whole ordeal took, but it seemed to take a long time. While I was waiting for the man to pick up the spring rolls from another store, I picked up some crackers; I wanted to buy something else because I felt bad that he had gone to all this trouble for me. When the man finally came back, he said that the other store did not have them. At this point, I was just ready to go home, so I left. However, as I was walking down the street, I realized that in my flustered and frustrated state, I had not paid for my crackers, so I went back to the Korean store and paid for them.

I went to two more stores looking for the wrappers, but they did not have them/I was too worn out to try to communicate with them what I wanted. Giving up, I went home.

It turns out that we had more than enough spring roll wrappers, so my hunt had been in vain. As irony of ironies would have it, later that week my roommates and I went to the store, and we found spring roll wrappers at the one store that I did not go to that day.

Though the day was frustrating, it did turn into a rather amusing story, and I learned the art of [mis]communication.

Christmas Repost

Last Christmas, I posted a blog post for Christmas. Today, I am in the same situation as last year. Thousands of miles away from my family, and this year my roommates are gone. Once again from 6 pm Christmas Eve (oops, I'm running a bit late) to sometime Christmas night, I have somewhere to be, people to hang out with, games to play, and amazing food to eat. However, this year my thoughts about Christmas being away from family are much different. I am much more content. Last year when I made this blog post, I felt like everyone got caught up on the fact that I was admitting that I felt depressed and lonely, but they missed the main point of the post. Therefore, I am posting it again.

It becomes so easy for us at Christmas time to do what we always do: spend time with family, eat yummy food, exchange gifts, read the Christmas story, and sing carols. These are not bad things, but I want Christmas to be more than just a tradition that we always do. I want to let the story of Christmas to penetrate my heart. One carol, "Joy to the World," has done just that. Check out the third verse: 

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

The words to this verse struck me because it explains that Christmas is about bringing all of creation in to right relationship with the Father.  We minimize it by making it merely about the birth of Jesus. It seems to me that we, as modern day believers, do a good job of saying that Christmas is all about the birth of our Savior, but do we really act like it is. Do our hearts truly acknowledge it? How I can better show that Christmas is about the redemption of mankind? In fact the entire bible is about the redemption of mankind. The following video does a good job of telling a more complete Christmas story. However, I still believe that it is lacking because it ends at the manger. The manger is not the end. Rather it is still part of the rising action. The cross and the resurrection are the climax, the turning point in the story. We are still waiting for the final resolution. For this reason, we still sing "Come thou long expected Jesus." 

 While I love the skit guys video, this one tells the end of the story.

On Being a Foreigner (Part One): Donating to the Community

Over the next week or so, I am planning on writing a series of blog posts with various funny things that have happened to me as I have been living in China.  I have entitled this series “On Being a Foreigner.”

Part One: Donating to the Community

I have had three bikes since moving to China. I did not get my first one until almost a year after I had come to China. My first bike was, well, special to say least. It was in pretty bad shape. Someone who had left had given it to me for free, so I could not complain though the brakes made nails on a chalkboard sound like the New York Symphony. Needless to say, the brakes did not work well, and I often had to use my feet to stop it. Because it was in such bad shape, I did not take it outside my apartment complex very often. Well one day, one of the brakes fell off. I had every intention of getting it repaired, but then the seat of the bike was stolen. You can read about the details of that ordeal here. That was the last straw. I unlocked the bike and donated it to the community. Usually if a bike is left unlocked, it only takes a few hours before it is taken. However, my seat-less bike with the break dangling off lasted about a week before anyone deemed it worthy of being stolen; I mean before anyone accepted my donation.

Not too long after that incident, my roommate decided that she wanted to buy a new bike, so she gave me her bike. This bike was in better shape than the previous one though it still had some quirks. This bike I christened my rocket ship bike because it made the sound of a rocket taking off. However, it did not ever reach that warp speed that rocket ships are supposed to. So there I was the obvious foreigner with a bike that made sure that the whole world would stop and stare at me as I rode past. I think that something was wrong with one of the tires, but I never really figured it out. One day, my roommate and I had plans to go to the White Market (this is a market with a white gate, hence the name), and we planned to bike. Nevertheless, about 5 minutes into our ride, I could tell that my bike was not going to make it. So we decided to leave our bikes and take the bus instead. That was the second bike that I donated a bike to the community, though I was relieved to part with it.

I bought my final bike last spring from a family who was leaving. This time I waited for a bike that was good quality, and I have not had any misadventures with this bike, except for the time when I ran into another lady on the bike as I was trying to weave through traffic. However, there was no damage to either of us or to our bikes. Therefore, this bike is here to stay.

SIDENOTE: Whenever I talk about riding my bike, I always feel the need to mention that I do wear a helmet, making it even more obvious that I am a foreigner. One simply cannot look cool or blend in when wearing a helmet. Mom, that red helmet is for you. I may be thousands of miles away, but I still feel guilty if I ride my bike without it. You raised me well.