Beijing

So I am trying to catch everyone up on the last few things I did in China before I left. Over thanksgiving weekend I went to Beijing to spend the weekend with Jared and Josh two of my best friends in the whole world (Figures we are all in China at the same time right?). The weekend consisted of a little sight seeing a little shopping an orphanage visit and some great man time.

This weekend really taught me the beauty in deep friendships. Jared and Josh have been a part of my life through all the high and lows. Jared has known me since I was like 2 years old or so and he has been an integral part in my development throughout my life. Josh has been my best friend since my 15th birthday I think where he gave me a certificate for one year of friendship. Though a very creative gift for being poor it started a friendship that I am exceedingly thankful for.

Well I went to Beijing on thanksgiving day and landed there that night only to find out that Josh had missed his train and wasn't going to be there till later on Friday. Not a huge deal. It gave Jared and I a good day together to do a little shopping, sightseeing, and some good conversation. Then Josh got there and he mad everything horrible...kidding. If you know Josh and I we have a good time being friends on other sides of the world, but when we get together something happens and move into a deeper kind of friendship that involves laughing about the absurd for who knows how long. In fact we just sat there and giggled at each other like little school girls who haven't seen each other all summer. The giggling ensued for a good 5-10 min and resurfaced occasionally throughout the night.

While seeing sights I saw some things like Mao's tomb, the temple of heaven, and the forbidden city. Probably the coolest thing was seeing the orphanage that Jared will be at soon. We went there to see the orphanage perform. Here is a video from that performance It is poor quality but I only had my camera phone so deal with it:



Here are a few pictures from my tour around the forbidden city:



In the end it was a great trip. The beautiful truth of this experience is that good friends and deep friendships are the best possible things humans can have.

Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10:
"Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in death, to which you are going."

Applogies

I need to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by my last post. I wrote somethings that apparently were more suggestive than I had originally realized. I have made some changes to the post to the post in an attempt to make it a little more "family friendly". Again I am sorry if I offended anyone.

The next post I am working on is from my trip to Beijing with Jared and Josh this last weekend. I have a lot of pictures and video's and cool stories etc. I probably won't get it posted till I am back in the United States. Hang tight I have a lot of work to get done.

Korean Spa

This last weekend I had a Grand cultural experience. Let me bring you into a different culture of sheer awesomeness. In Korea the Spa is where you go for a weekend of fun and relaxation. These things are awesome. Basically you can go there and for a cheap price get massages full body exfoliation food...everything. Apparently Koreans go there as families or a guy's night out. While you are there you can rent rooms and stay there for a few nights if you wish.

SO I heard about a new Korean spa that opened that apparently was pretty cheap. So Karen, Kayla, Justin and I decided to go last Saturday. We show up and they take our shoes at the door and give you a beaded bracelet with a magnet for accessing you locker. The most noticeable thing for me was that the floors were heated. Very pleasant. After taking our shoes we are split into guys and girls. So Justin and I go into our locker room and change into our swimwear only to find out shortly after that swimwear is entirely unacceptable in a Korean spa. So Justin and I drop trow and head to jacuzzi. After chillin the the cuzz for a little while we are invited to go lay on these tables for what we thought was going to be our massage. Instead we get a Full body exfoliation, and I mean FULL BODY. So after that we get this strange slap massage thing which felt nice then we got hand washed. I'm talking full body soaped by another person. Again every nook and cranny. After washing off and taking another dip in the cuzz. Justin and I headed up stairs to try and find the girls. The naked parts were all segregated by sex. Then the spa gave you some clothes to wear to walk around the unsegregated parts in. So we headed up stairs to find them, but we were unsuccessful. So we decided to get a full body massage. Which costs 138 Kwai (or something close to that) which is about 20 dollars for one hour. This was AWESOME. Only it was the one thing I wish I had been naked for. Because they massaged with my clothes on which made for some very painful rubbing moments. Overall a very pleasing experience. We then left and went home.

Total Cost = 340 Kwai or 50 dollars
Time Spent = 2-3 hours
Time Spent being rubbed down naked by some Korean guy = 45 min.
Worth it? Totally

It's been a while

Well it has been a significant amount of time since my last post and I don't even know where to start. I love it here. I am leaving in 13 days and I dread getting on the plane everyday. I shouldn't say that I love it here as much as I love the people I have met here. Let me tell you about them for a second. I hang out with a regular group of people that generally consists of 4-6 people depending. There names a Justin, Jen, Kayla, Karen, Lisa, and Amy (sometimes Kristen comes too). This awesome group of expats is my family away from home. I have never loved 5-6 people so much in such a short amount of time and I will deeply miss them when I leave.

That being said I hope to come back here next March. I have applied for a position teaching conversational English at a university here in Qingdao. I have a feeling that the L**d has a great plan and opportunity here for me. I won't know for sure if I am coming back till the end of December, but I am willing to where ever He wants me to. If that means staying at home I will stay. If that means coming back to china or going somewhere else I look forward to the L**d showing me where to go.

Teaching here has been great. I expected that I would learn a lot about teaching in the elementary classroom while I was here, but I had no idea just how much I would learn. Kristen is an amazing teacher and she has helped me become a better teacher than I was when I arrived.

I am excited to come home mostly to see my family, friends, niece who apparently can walk now. Crazy.

If there is one thing I have learned here it is that life is about relationships. Not about jobs. Not about money. It's about people and G*d. I would love to travel the world because my heart delights in different cultures and different people, but I would be half the man I am today if it weren't for the friends and family, the deep relationships I have from staying still. If you know me you know I love adventure, and there is nothing more adventurous than truly getting to know someone. It bring pain and joy and love and peace and sorrow. There is nothing greater than a good friend.

For those of you that follow me from home I will see you soon. For those of you that follow this and live here. You have had a great impact on me and I will miss you greatly.

Hang in there

Sorry I haven't updated in a while it has been a busy last few weeks. Honestly parties happen often here and the only time I have to type these things for real is at night the parties usually go late. I should update this next on Friday night your time Saturday morning for me. I hope you are all doing well. I pray for you often.

How to start a bus with 7 guys and a small incline.

This morning I had a very interesting Chinese experience. I woke up had breakfast and got on the bus to go to school (the buses are owned by the school so there are only teachers on it) and the bus wouldn't start. So the bus driver asked all the men to get out and push the bus over the top of the small incline we were on so he could try and jump start the bus like they do with the VW bus in Little miss sunshine.

It worked.

Qingdao, a clear day with clearly awesome people

Today I went looking for a coat. 4 of my friends here took me out to look for a Coat. If you know me I like to pack lite whenever I go anywhere, and in an effort to save room I did not bring a coat with me to China (thinking I would be able to buy one here). So we went to find a coat. Little did I know that I was in for a day of absolute fun and beauty.

First off in china days where the air is clean and the sky is clear come few and far between. When I woke up this morning I found the sky perfectly clear. I my excitement I left the apartment early to go see my favorite ocean view on a clear day. It just so happened to be right next to the place where I was meeting my friends to go coat shopping.

As you can see it was a beautiful day for an adventure (Click it to see a bigger picture)

After meeting with my group of friends we left for the major shopping area in Qingdao (the Chinese name is evading me for the moment). We went there so that one of our group could pick up a shirt that she had tailored. In going there I was informed that I could get a custom made suit for about 200-300 kwai or about 50-60 dollars. In this group of shops there was literally any fabric you could possibly imagine. From the absolutely ornate to the dastardly ugly and everything in between. Lest it go unsaid I will be going back there. Soon after this we left for another shopping place. This one a little less formal and more barterish in search of a cheep knockoff coat (also reffered to as a northfake). Once we got there I tried on about 10 different coats before I found one that was comfortable and didn't look like it was made by a 10 year old. Once the coat was found the negotiations began.

It was a very good thing my friends are good at haggling in Chinese because the bidding started at 450 kwai or about 70 dollars. As one girl haggled with the stern saleswomen my friend Karen would let me know what price they were at. In the end I bought my Northfake for 350 Kwai or 50 dollars.

The rest of the day included walking around the city and enjoying the day. I also witnessed my friend Justin get an awesome tattoo of the lion of zion.

Here are some pictures:
This guy and his friend really wanted a picture with us. I thought it would be a good idea to get a picture of him with us.

This a small part of the Qingdao skyline.
This a a kind of awkward picture of me on the peer where the rest of the pictures were taken.
This is the awesome group of people I spent most of the day with.