103 kids and naked men??

7/9:

Hello! It's been a while since I've updated, and this post will be extra long haha... I left my computer at Gaochang's house, but now I'm back to see her new puppy!! :D More on that later.

I don't even remember what day this was haha...I'll just go over the things I did that day. My first stop for that day was Beiling park, which is a tomb for the second Qing emperor and also an expansive park. It was the first time I've seen so much vegetation and inhaled such fresh air in China. It felt great to finally get some genuine fresh air. Old people strolled around and played chinese chess throughout the park. Gaochang's mom told me old people love this place because of the fresh air. The architecture of the tomb is amazing. Here's a picture of the entrance to the tomb: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/BeilingTripleDecker.jpg

We rented a peddle cart that seated three people. The two people riding on the outside of the bench have to peddle, and the person on the left steers. That was probably one of main reasons I liked my visit hahaha. Gaochang, her mother, and I peddled around the park and took some pictures. Then my aunt bought two tickets for me and Gaochang to actually go into the tomb. The tomb itself is off limits, but tourists were free to walk around the courtyard leading up to the tomb. There really wasn't much to see but more ancient buildings. At one point, this middle age woman looked at me for the longest time as we walked by and laughed like she knew something. I thought it was kinda creepy, so I walked away as fast as I could.

Gaochang and I exited the tomb area with some pictures in our cameras and returned to our yellow tandem cart. All three of us peddled on a path around the park and just enjoyed the nice air and scenery. It wasn't terribly hot that day, so peddling around was no problem. We stopped by the river, because I saw people playing these giant inflatable cylinders on the river. Imagine a giant hamster wheel made out of plastic enclosed by two discs with an entrance/exit hole at each end. Gaochang and I climbed inside and tried to make the wheel roll on the water by running. It was definitely not easy, and we spent a majority of the time laying inside the wheel just laughing. Now I know what a hamster feels like...

It was about dinner time when we left the park. My grandparents on my dad's side wanted to treat me out that night, so we headed back to their apartment to eat at a nearby restaurant. One of my uncle's mother came with us too. She used to be an excellent doctor before she retired. Even though she's so old and needs to be taken care of, I still have a lot of respect for her. I felt honored to sit next to someone who accomplished great things in her lifetime.

I haven't really exercised much since coming to China, and I was itching to check out the gym that one of my aunts promised to take me to. She also ate dinner with us, so she took me and Tianyi to the gym right after dinner. I really just wanted to use some of the work out machines there, and didn't really care for ping pong or badminton. However, I found out the work out section is extremely lacking. I really couldn't do much. The rest of the gym was very nice though. Everything was polished marble, and there were employees all over the place ready to serve water or bring you a towel. Luckily, I brought a jump rope after dinner and jumped rope while Tianyi played ping pong. The badminton courts are usually completely booked by dinner time, but we managed to squeeze onto a court 30 minutes before closing time. Tianyi and I played a couple of matches until it was closing time. I've really developed a liking for badminton, and I want to play again haha.

Tianyi and I returned to one of his parent's empty apartments to spend the night. We watched some TV before we slept, and a specific news story caught my eye. One man took in homeless children and gave them a home. He accepted a total of 103 kids into his own home, and he manages to raise all of them. He's moved three times in one year, because the number of kids continues to grow and his house becomes smaller and smaller. I'm not even sure how he manages to keep 103 kids around. They range from 5 year olds to 17 year olds, and he somehow creates harmony between all of them. The children love him very much and help out as much as possible. When asked how me sustains such a large number of kids, the man responded with, "guang ai," which roughly translates to love alone. His story reminded me of how our Father God manages to sustain all of us, His children, with His love. While the man with 103 kids sometimes struggles to make ends meet, our God is more than enough for us. He is our bread of life and sustains us through thick and thin.

7/10:

99% of the time, not wearing some sort of corrective lens is a nuisance. It's hard to recognize people's faces until they're right in front of you (If I don't wave at you, it doesn't mean I don't like you; I probably just can't see who you are hahaha XP). Reading words in the distance is nearly impossible. However, I consider the remaining 1% of the time an immense blessing. Today was probably the best example of that 1%. Tianyi's parents took me to a high end spa today. The way they described it sounded fantastic. They had a buffet with loads of awesome food. Bathing was super relaxing and soothing. They were sure I was going to like it. I guess they left out the minor (or major) detail that a public spa meant bathing with many other naked males. I foolishly accepted their offer and went along with it. The greeters offered me flip flops as soon as I entered the spa. They handed me a bracelet with an ID tag on it and told me to go upstairs. I followed my uncle upstairs to a lounge area with a bunch of lockers. We opened our corresponding lockers with our bracelets just by tapping our tag on the lock. Everything was going swell at this point. The place was super nice, and I was looking forward to a good soak. Then I turn around and see my uncle pulling down his underwear right in front of me. Thankfully, I turned around just in time. I peeked over at Tianyi and saw him stripping too. This was a little too much for me, so I asked for a towel. I was NOT getting naked in front of my relatives...I used my towel all the way to the giant baths, where other men were also bathing. I probably should have seen this coming...The worst was probably the lounge chairs right next to the baths. I'll spare you guys the details of the rest of the spa. After a while though, I became pretty desensitized and just stopped caring. Let me tell you, sometimes I'm very glad everything's blurry to me. Today was DEFINITELY one of those times...

On the way back to the uninhabited apartment Tianyi and I have been living in, I noticed just how much Tianyi boasts and brags. He was telling his parents just how successful he'll be in the future and describing the cars he's going to buy them once he lands a high-paying job. I really admire Tianyi for always being optimistic. I think it's a great trait he possesses, but he pushes it way too far. I've also noticed that boasting is something chinese people do quite often. They're very proud people, and they'll boast whenever they get the chance. I find that I don't have much to talk about when I'm out with Tianyi because he's usually bragging away. I don't like to brag, so I really don't have much to say. As a result, everyone says I'm a quiet kid. I'd take that over a boaster any day. Boast in God alone right? Boasting in anything else just feels so wrong to me now. I've also realized that I judge Tianyi way too much. Whenever he's loudly exaggerating some deed he's done, I find myself quietly criticizing him in my head and lauding myself for being so humble. That's just prideful of me, to think that I'm better than Tianyi just because I don't brag or boast in my abilities. I KNOW I'm full of faults and also very messed up, but by the grace of God, I am saved. Maybe it's time to stop picking at other people's faults and start looking at my own.

7/11:

Whew, last day to update haha XP I'll try not to let these accumulate more than two days. One of my aunt's (dad's oldest sister) took me to my old elementary school in the afternoon. Seeing the school yard really brought back memories of the one semester I spent there. The school building has been renovated, and many of the playground structures I was once familiar with are now gone. The school yard looked a lot smaller. I guess your perspective of size changes when you're gone for 13 years. Today was a Sunday, so there were no teachers were at school. My old first grade teacher, Ms. Tong, is long gone according to the grounds keeper. I really wanted to see if she still recognized me :/

After taking a few pics at my old school, we went back to the apartment building where I grew up in. Just seeing the gates to the apartment high rises brought back a flood of memories. There were some residents sitting around outside. Apparently, they were all my neighbors and still lived in the building. They all recognized me instantly, saying I didn't change much and looked exactly like my dad. Sadly, I didn't recognize any of them, but hey, I left when I was 6 and a half. I also met a 93 year old grandpa who's somehow related to my aunt (There's just way too many connections for me to get right when it comes to chinese families...) He's 93 years old and still very healthy and lucid. He even remembers me, which I thought was very impressive considering how ancient he is. He must have so many interesting stories...

We visited the park and buddhist temple behind my house after saying our goodbyes to my old neighbors. I've learned that parks in China are usually populated with old people who play chinese chess or cards all day. This park was no different. Old people were everywhere, and my grandpa greeted quite a few of them who plays chinese chess with them regularly. The buddhist temple was not very big. It had one large tower structure in the middle and some small rooms surrounding it. I heard the sound of buddhist monks inside of the rooms reciting buddhist text in unison. I took a quick peek inside to see around 10 female monks sitting cross-legged and left them to their meditation.

For dinner, my grandma's (on my dad's side) youngest brother, who's 27 years younger than her (!), wanted to take me out. My grandma is the oldest of 7 siblings. I'm not even sure how a 27 year gap is possible...The second youngest sibling was also there. We ate at a new restaurant near my grandparent's house so my grandma could walk to the restaurant. All of the waiters wore pink as their uniform. I thought it looked pretty fruity haha...omgosh my relatives complimented me to no end during dinner...I really couldn't take it after the first 5 minutes or so but just kept smiling and nodding. They told me that they've been following my progress ever since I went to America. Anything good that happened quickly spread to them. My success was their happiness; it was my whole family's happiness. It was such a warm feeling to know that I had such a supportive family, who are willing to back me up every step of the way. They've certainly set a high bar for me, and I feel like any mistake now would disappoint them. I guess that means I'll have to work super hard from now on so that doesn't happen.

Once again, I'm sitting in the dark, wrapping up this post late into the night. The World Cup finals is going to start in 30 minutes. I think I'll actually watch it, even though it's 2am here. I've developed a liking for soccer after watching so many world cup matches. Oh yeah! Gaochang finally got the husky she wanted. She's only a month old and poops and pees only on carpet, which is much harder to clean than hardwood floor. She's sleeping right now because she wore herself out in the afternoon. Pictures to come :) (probably on facebook haha)