I don't care if Snaffoo is not a word.

Friday, December 17:
My flight from Chengdu to Beijing went off easily, without a hitch.
I lugged my bags to the check-in lines in BJ, only to find that my original flight to D.C. had been canceled, and I had missed the last flight to America. No chance of getting out of BJ until tomorrow.

United kindly put me up at the Crowne Plaza for the night. I made the most of it by ordering a huge pizza and relaxing into the pillow-topped and feathered bed.

Saturday, December 18:
At 10:30 I got on a plane bound for San Francisco. After about an hour on the plane, the flight attendant announced that the visual media program was not working, and gave apologies that there would be no movies for the 12 hour flight. Greeaatt.

Praise the Lord, though, because I made a new friend, with whom I spent most of the flight talking and doing crossword puzzles. It turned out to be the most enjoyable and fastest international flight I've ever been on!

When we arrived in San Fran, I waited for my luggage...which never came. The United person at the baggage claim waived us through customs and instructed us in how to fill out a claim at our final destination. Though I was a little nervous I'd never see my stuff again, I do have to admit it was quite convenient because I didn't have to haul my luggage around through customs, in Chicago when I switched airlines, or even out to the car--they delivered it straight to my house the next day!

Lessons learned--
1. Buying your tickets 5 months in advance does not guarantee problem-free.
2. Snaffoos are much easier to handle when you keep a good attitude.
3. Snaffoos sometimes have silver linings.
4. There are no accidents.

If you read this whole post and thought this was long, you should have seen my original draft!
:heart:

Eternal Expectations

My heart aches tonight, with many questions unanswered. Lord Jesus, how I cannot wait for your kingdom to reign, and for redemption to be complete.

Some food for our souls:

"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" Matthew 22:37-40

"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am...I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:2-4, 18

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us...we ourselves...groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies....We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8:18, 23, 26-27

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be doevoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." Romans 12: 9-12, 14

This world is not perfect, but the Body of Christ should be the closest thing possible to perfection on earth. It's made up of the Redeemed. SIN HAS LOST IT'S POWER, so why do we keep allowing it to have power? Sin is always a choice, and sin always has consequences.

Am I doing my part in the Body? Am I doing enough? Or am I part of the problem?

Are you really thankful?

Since coming to China in 2007, this is my first time being 100% healthy for the holiday! We had our school Thanksgiving celebration last week (pics to come), this morning we had games and crafts at school, and this evening a group dinner. I am so excited!

Also since coming to China, I have noticed things about my own culture. One of the things I thoroughly dislike is Black Friday. The last Thursday of November is a national holiday for giving thanks. We gather 'round a table covered with the most delicious treats, we spend time with our family, we watch the Lions lose on national TV, and we are both aware of and grateful for all the blessings we have.

Then, we wake up at the crack of dawn and stand in line for some full-contact shopping for the best deals on all the things we never knew we wanted until we were bombarded with commercials and advertisements. Where did the thankfulness go?! Just yesterday we were celebrating all the wonderful blessings, but today we're a bunch of greedy, and sometimes violent, shoppers out to buy a bunch of crap that will not make us happier people.

Just sayin'.

Dirty Venn Diagram.

Funny 1st grade story...

I drew a Venn diagram (two intersecting circles) today, to compare/contrast the sun and the moon. As I was explaining how the intersecting part is for ways they are similar, Jacky (the only boy in my class) raises his hand. I'm always trying to get him to say more, so I gladly called on him. He very innocently told me that the diagram looked like a bum.
"A bum?" I asked.
"Uh-huh!" he said, while moving around a little in his spot.
"You mean, like, what you sit on, bum?"
"Uh-huh!"
"HAHAHAHA!!!!!!" I could not hold it in. 

So apparently, when I draw Venn diagrams, they look like butts.

October and such

Still not back into the habit of being a blogger...as evidenced by my lack of blogs in the last month! I often think of things I want to write about, but rarely do I think of it when I'm sitting at my computer with nothing else to do!

The last month has been a busy one. As a staff, we went to Beijing for a teacher's conference. It was great--I got to spend some time with friends from other cities, and got a ton of new ideas for my classroom. Plus, we got to sight-see a bit, and I visited a few places I hadn't been before.

Here's the group of LDi Cedarville Grads

 The Bird's Nest, Beijing

 The Cube, Beijing

 The Forbidden City,  Beijing

After we got back from Beijing, we had a CDIS staff retreat. We went to various religious sites around the city, most of which I had never seen. We also spent much time eating!! We went to both the Shangri La Hotel and the Wyndham Hotel for their buffets. mmmm....so good!

This is a Buddhist temple

 A 3-Self Church

 A Catholic church

 A Taoist shrine

One of my favorite parts of October happened last week. In Chengdu, we rarely get sunny fall days. There are days that you could consider "bright", but the sun is not visible. When I went to Shenyang a few years ago, I remember freaking out at the sunset--it was a gorgeous orange and it was breath-taking. Then last week, I drove home in this:

It was amazing. One of my favorite weather days in Chengdu, EVER. Praise the Lord for small blessings like an actual sunset!

School

As you may know, I changed grades this year. For the past three years I had been teaching various combinations of Jr. Kindergarten and Kindergarten. This year I was moved up to 1st grade. It was a difficult transition for me, because I really really loved Kindergarten. But I have great kids, so that made the transition a bit easier. One of my students, poor girl, has me for the 3rd year in a row!! I taught her in JK, then last year in K, and now we're in first grade together! Thankfully she was happy about it. She's going to be so disoriented when she hits 2nd grade and has a different teacher for the first time in her schooling experience!!

My wonderful class consists of 5 children--4 American girls and 1 Korean boy. Poor guy! We're yarping for a few more boys, not just for his sake but for mine! 4 girls is a bit more drama than I care for some days!! Thankfully they're all friends, though. Here's a picture of the cuties for your viewing pleasure.

China Moment

Had a fun China moment today. Last week, when driving over a bump in the road, my scooter died. Not the kind of death like, "oh man, my battery's running low". More like, "what the heck, where'd all my power go?!" So I walked it down to the charging area and said I'd come back the next day...

*one week later.*

I finally got around to going to our scooter repairman. Bethany dropped me off at his shop, and because my scooter was dead, I got to ride on the back of HIS scooter. All the way home. That was hilarious to me, but of course I couldn't start giggle, because then I'd knock the poor man's bike over, with both of us on it.

Thankfully, he's a magician and fixed my bike. Some little part with a few little wires was broken, and he replaced it for 4rmb. That's $.59. And because I didn't have small change, and neither did he, basically he told me, "pay me next time." I love it! He's so helpful, and so kind. And even when he was lecturing me about not plugging my scooter in for so long (at least, I think that's what he was saying), he was nice about it. Unlike the scooter parking garage attendant. He was mad at me for saying I'd come back the next day, and instead came back the next WEEK. He actually took my charger off my scooter and kept it. I had to pay him 10 rmb to get it back. I was worried at first, thinking someone stole it, so I asked him, "Where is it?" His response was, "I took it!" Okay...thank you? But his dog, PanPan is sweet, so that made the whole thing better.

And I digress.

It's my bedtime!

Everybody now!

I keep finding more and more friends who have blogs here, and since I used to have quite an active blog in college, I thought I'd join the party and start up another blog!

I'm going into my fourth year teaching at an international school, so I'm never at a loss for interesting things to write about. :)

Stay tuned!