An Almost-Perfect Day in Chiang Mai

Let me to take you back to one almost-perfect day in Chiang Mai. 

Actually, let me take you back to a day before the almost-perfect day. 

The day that I found myself in tears because it was hard to think about going back to cold, smoggy Taiyuan (the "Dirty T") instead of the clear skies and rolling hills of Tennessee.

The day when I realized that one of my problems last semester--one of the reasons that I didn't feel quite "ME"--was that I need nature in the way I didn't understand before. 

In response, the Father gave me a special day in the green warmth of Thailand to treasure as I spend another semester in Taiyuan. 

This day began with a ride in the back of a covered pick-up truck with two Swedes, two Germans, two Australians, one Israeli, Natalie, and Yours Truly.

Our first stop was at the orchid farm, where I learned that orchids come in pretty much every color but green. 

 Our guide instructed us to "STOP TWENTA MINUTES. TAKE A PICTCHAS."

Then it was time to do what all people are supposed to do when they visit Thailand. 

That's right. 

I rode a freaking elephant. 

Natalie and I rode on the back while our Israeli friend "guided" the elephant (which means he fed it bananas while yelling, "AY, Bobo! Go left! GOOO LEEEFFFTTT!!"). 

Somehow we ended up the elephant that was blind in one eye and couldn't follow the rest of the elephants to save his life. 

And seatbelts, of course, were not a necessity because that would take away from the adventure of almost falling out the entire time. 

Near the end of the ride, the elephant trainer thought it would be a great idea to kick around a water bottle so that our elephant would get spooked, run, and make me yell like a banshee. 

Our next stop was lunch (noodles wrapped in banana leaves) and a hike to a waterfall. 

That's right. 

A HIKE. 

IN NATURE.

I walked at the back because I kept accidentally smiling and inadvertently humming to myself out of pure bliss. 

It reminded me of Tennessee...if hiking in Tennessee was like going through an obstacle course with bamboo plants and palm trees everywhere.

After hiking, we went white water and bamboo rafting with a swarthy Thai guide who looked like he could've been a pirate once-upon-a-time.

If anyone remembers my experience rafting the Nile, you know that the way I feel about rafting now is similar to the way a hangman feels about his noose. Fortunately, it was dry season, so the Mae Tang (the river we were on) was really low. It was essentially like riding a merry-go-round instead of going bungee jumping. 

And I was ok with that. 

Since I couldn't take any pictures ON the raft, here are some internet photos of what we did.

The last stop on our tour was to a Karen Long-Neck village, where some of the women still put gold rings on their necks to stretch them out. It was like stepping into Ripley's Believe It or Not--except more sad. 

There was a pervading sense of hopelessness there. 

I'm guessing it had something to do the fact that their lives revolve around being stared at and getting their pictures taken because the rest of the world thinks they look weird. 

Then it was time to go back. 

After settling into a sketchy guest house (because we didn't reserve a room in the nice one with the assumption that they would have a vacancy...), we made our way out the Night Bazaar for a last taste of good Western food and cheap shopping. 

 And that was it. 

My Almost-Perfect Day.

The End.

 

Desperately Dependent

It's easy to think that people in my position have an easy time connecting with the Father. 

Why?

I followed Him to a place that's hard. 

I have to depend on Him in another culture. 

I'm concerned about His work in others' hearts. 

I'm surrounded by a team that has the same goals as I do and I receive encouragement from back home more often than a lot of people do stateside.

In fact, if I weren't me and I read my newsletters and put them on my fridge, it might not be hard to imagine myself with a halo around my head, living the life of adventure, and battering down the gates of glory. 

But it's not that way. 

It can actually be really hard to hear Him over car horns, banging construction, and language I don't understand. It's hard to see Him in dust, concrete, and smog. It's hard to feel His presence when all I really want to feel is a hot shower and clean air. Before I knew it, He was distant and I couldn't understand why. 

Over the last few weeks of travel--and now our Annual Thailand Conference--I've recognized the void.  And I spent some time scrambling around, trying to figure out what to do with it, how to reconnect and be revitalized. 

I tried praise, thankfulness, journaling, reading about Him, spending time alone--and all those things are good. But I realized that what I really needed was for Him to be my dad. I needed to ask Him to love and affirm me in a way that all my growth, accomplishments, and gifts will not. Not that He wouldn't love me if I hadn't asked for it. But He wanted me to see how desperately dependent I am on Him so that I could feel His love more fully. 

It's amazing how often we have to relearn these lessons. 

A Visit to Koh Phi Phi

Once upon a time, I never dreamed I would be visiting Thailand. 

I never thought I'd go to China, either. 

I guess Asia in general wasn't really in the picture. 

Stop #3 on our Spring Festival travels list (after Beijing and Chengdu) was Koh Phi Phi Don, and island off the coast of Thailand, where we (my teammate, Natalie, and I, that is) met up with friends from other teams in our program.

Slightly overpriced, quite hot, and full of crazy Europeans: yes.

BEAUTIFUL, BEACHY, AND FULL OF FRUIT SMOOTHIES:

DEFINITELY YES.

Six days of sun, beach, sitting, eating sweet things, dancing, playing cards, and wearing shorts. 

Along with a bit of hiking and some snorkeling.

Glorious. 

Fire shows outside of our bungalows every night. 

Island!

Our bungalow. 

My favorite.

We made it to the top of the island!

Because I could. 

Beach.

Jeannie really wanted to get into that coconut.

Beach. 

Volleyball with some Thai guys. 

Of course, to conserve money, we stayed at a place that gave us a giant towel as a blanket. 

Coconut juice actually tastes kind of like corn chips. 

And the other thing is a Thai pancake called "Roti".

Sometimes your unexpected dreams really DO come true. 

A Visit to Chengdu

Sometimes, when you live in China and you have Chinese friends, you think to yourself, "Hey, I'll go visit my friends. It'll be fun and easy and a lot like visiting my friends in America." 

You'll be right about the "fun" part...but wrong about anything else. 

If any of you remember, one of the big draws for me in coming to China was a group of four darling Chinese girls I met two summers ago in America. We hung out, went places together, had meals together, and were good friends. But now it was my turn to visit them in their homeland--Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. The land of pandas, spicy food, red dirt, and great clumps of deliciously green trees. 

Natalie, my teammate, has been my faithful companion on this Spring Festival excursion. After a few days frittering around in Beijing (where we successfully navigated the subway system and never got lost--BOOYAH) we headed down south to Chengdu to spend 5 1/2 days with three out of four of my Chinese friends. 

My first friend--our hostess for the trip--picked us up at the airport upon arrival and suddenly...we were off. 

We quickly learned a few things about Chinese hospitality that I will now share with you so that you will be informed when you, too, visit a Chinese friend: 

1) You will try a lot of new food. This might include pig brain, pig nose, rabbit, and spicy bean curd noodles. 

2) The question "Do you like fish?" is a loaded question. Yes, I like fish. No, I don't like fighting with the bones. 

3) The Chinese mattress is excellent for the back, but not excellent for giant mama hips (like mine). A Chinese mattress is essentially a 1 inch thick pad over the wooden bedframe. Expect to sleep on this or just a box spring. 

4) You should be practiced at the squatty potty before attempting to use it for a week. 

5) You will be busy. The whole time. Apparently it's important to remain entertained.

6) You will also always be fed. If you happen to mention that you maybe like any kind of food, expect it for breakfast in the morning. Your Chinese friends are excellent listeners. They will also get you lots of snacks. I like...most...snacks. 

7) There will be a lot of walking and stair-climbing. Living in China is not for wussies. 

8) If you visit their hometown, expect to meet everyone they know. Also expect to take pictures with all of those people. A few times. Later, they will show these pictures to all their other friends because it's awesome that the Americans came to visit. 

9) You won't know what's going on until it happens. They will know what is going on, however, and that's what's important. 

10) On that note, plans will change without you having any idea. At 9:00 am, you may think you'll be spending the night with your Chinese friend's friend, but at 3:00 pm, you're suddenly spending the night in a hotel. 

The key to a good, full, fun visit with Chinese friends is to be as flexible as a Chinese jellyfish. 

Anyway, the first two nights we stayed in my friend's hometown and slept at her cousin's house. 

The next two nights we stayed with my friend's friend's family in Chengdu. 

The last night we stayed with another friend at a hotel by their airport. 

And here are some things we did. 

We visited a cool park. 

 We played carnival games on the way up to the top of a mountain. 

We made it to the top of the mountain. And there was a random Chinese photobomber there. 

We ate cotton candy. 

We sang karaoke.  

We met everybody.

We went on a boat ride and saw a lot of cool places. 

We went to Monkey Island and got grabbed by really safe monkeys. 

We visited another park and our friends made us dress up, go outside, and take pictures for 12 yuan. 

We ate fruit on a stick. 

We played a live-action war game out in the woods. 

We visited the pandas. 

We saw the third of my precious friends on the last two days, as she got back from Thailand and we left for Thailand.  

While it was quite an experience, I can't describe to you my joy at being reunited with friends I had never expected to see again. The are all beautiful, wonderful, and unique. They were amazing hosts and I am so thankful for the cultural experience that we got to have with them. 

I mean, they taught me all my colors in Chinese. What more could I want? 

I Made It!

There was a time when I thought I wouldn't make it in China. 

If you all kept up with my blogs from the beginning, you would know what I'm talking about. 

I had bucketfuls of anxiety ranging from I don't know ANYTHING about China to How will I be able to eat with all of my stomach problems? to Where is my financial support going to come from? to SQUATTY POTTIES?????

But here I am. 

Halfway done. 

Provided for and a lot closer to thriving than I thought I would be. 

Weird how the Father can be bigger than you thought, isn't it?

 

Last night we went out to dinner with our Chinese co-teachers. 

It was beautiful.

In the midst of laughing and trying to piece together sentences, I realized that we were 

friends. 

Not just friendly co-workers, but friends. And I love them. I love talking, laughing, and being silly with them. We don't always understand each other, but the effort is always worth it. 

Sophie, Sunny, Alex, Angel, Natalie, Yours Truly, Sarah, and Candy

 

That wasn't something I could've seen coming six months ago, before I boarded the plane to come here. 

I didn't know how it would feel to love 300 tiny Chinese children, what it would be like to work alongside my Chinese co-teachers, or how my anxiety would be overruled by being pushed to survive in an unfamiliar environment. 

I am amazed at how He is working inside of me and I am BA-LESSED by what I get to see Him do here. 

........

Also, just as a PS...tomorrow is the beginning of our Spring Festival travels. I'll be running around with my teammate/roommate Natalie until the middle of February. We'll be going through Beijing, visiting my Chinese girls from two summers ago in Chengdu (can I hear somebody say FULL CIRCLE?? I'm so amazed that I'm able to see them again HERE when I thought I was saying goodbye to them for good when they left America. Anyway, I digress...), taking it easy on a beach in Thailand for a week with other people from our program, and then heading to Chiang Mai for our organization's annual conference. You all are welcome to be lifting us up for safe travels and a good, full time. 

I'M SO PUMPED.

A Case of The January

I know what all of you are thinking. 

"Laura, where have you BEEN??" 

Yes, even the queen of updates has taken a bit of a hiatus. 

The truth is, I've had a case of The January.

It's the place where cold, smog, culture shock, and post-holiday blues collide to create a sad lump of womanhood shivering underneath blankets, cuddling with the space heater, and looking at pictures of pretty things on Pinterest.

Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic. 

But I think you get the point. 

This week marks the halfway point of my time in China. It also marks the beginning of my Spring Festival holiday, which is 45 days long. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Last Monday we went to school expecting to have two more weeks before the end of the semester. We were also planning on giving finals. 

And we were going to have a nice, relaxed time to say bye to our classes for a while.

Then the school told us that the foreign teachers were going to leave a week early, we weren't allowed to give our finals, we weren't coming back until February 27th, and the entire primary is shifting around buildings so that next semester we will have different offices, possibly different co-teachers, and maybe even different classes of kids.

Oh, ok. No big deal. 

 (those are Chinese sleeve protectors, by the way)

I actually felt more like this: 

Because I didn't want to leave my kids for that long, I didn't want to live with the uncertainty of next semester's circumstances when I'm just forming good relationships with my babies, and I didn't want another week of pre-traveling nothing in the city where smog hangs like a dirty wet blanket in the sky.

Let's be real, though. It's not like HE wasn't anticipating all the change. None of this surprised Him, and He has a reason for changes. Maybe it's just to teach me that I'm not as flexible as I thought I was and that I don't trust Him as much as I thought. When you're in the middle of an experience like this, it's easy to want to believe that you are superwoman because you can put up with bedbugs and homesickness and dirt...but I'm not superwoman. I'm Laura, and I'm here to be taught and to grow closer to the Father. He doesn't want me to forget that. 

As it was the last week of the semester, I obviously clung to little moments with my babies. I spent extra time dawdling in the hallways just so I could run into more students. I gave more hugs, played more, and paid more attention to individual children.

 Ginger from Class 19 gave me a card that said "Happy New Year Ms. Lafu". 

Jamison (who spells his name "Januson") from Class 13 told me he loved me. 

Classes 12 and 14 gave me group hugs (you haven't had a real hug until it's from a gaggle of tiny Chinese children). 

Anita from Class 16 crashed into me in the hallway and exclaimed, "I like you!!!" 

Bill and Angel from Class 12 glued themselves to my sides as I walked down the hallway away from their class. 

I had a half-English, half-Chinese mini-conversation in the hallway with Grace, Amy, Brandon, and Steven from Class 19. 

I made Fabio from Class 16 smile when he looked like he was having a bad day. 

Shawn from Class 18 sought ME out for the first time to show me a comic book. 

I actually bonded a little with Class 15. 

Connor from Class 19 ran up to me in the hallway, shoved a picture of Snow White into my hands, and ran away again.

I started becoming friends with some of my Sass-cracker boys.

It's only been three days and I already miss their baby faces. 

Even Jonah, who makes me crazy. 

Next Sunday I'll start my month-long period of Spring Festival traveling (yee-haw!), and it'll be nice to get out of Taiyuan for the first time since Thanksgiving. 

But until February 27th, I'll be missing my little China smiles.