Journal Entry #3: Sunday May 16, 2010

Sunday we had our first day of the week family meeting at Gary and Linda Gearhart’s apartment. They live one floor above me. I had met them about 10 years ago at Ted and Sylvia Craig's house in Illinois when their daughter Lisa was living with them while attending Med School at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois.  They think that Sylvia Craig is an Angel from heaven!

Of course, I told them of my love and admiration for the Craig’s as well.  There were no Chinese family members meeting with us.  Apparently by law they are not allowed to meet with us.  They do meet, but at an underground location.  That meeting is all Chinese.  I guess they watch us too closely for them to risk meeting with us.  The Chinese government claims to allow religious freedom, but there are so many restrictions that it’s really hard to define or understand just what you can do and what you cannot do in this regard. I was told that last year one of the Chinese students was arrested for meeting with us.  He had his computer and Bible taken from him, was finger printed, and was given a stern warning before being released.  So it was the five teachers, our team of Harding five, and one visitor from France, a young English and French teacher named Aurelie LaMotte.

After our family gathering where we ate our memorial emblems, we all went to lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then six students (some of the same students from Saturday) met us at the apartment and took us to the supermarket.  It’s called Xiang Jiang. WOW - it was so much fun!  The grocery store was big, busy and exciting. It was so colorful with two floors of store items.  It was much more than a grocery store.  It was more like a Wal-mart Supercenter.  The students that took us have volunteered to be our hosts and translators the entire time we are here. They are English majors and they want to practice speaking English.  So they meet us every time we want to go somewhere or to class, etc., and walk us there and act as translators for us!  They are such sweet and delightful students!

The school here provides us with a furnished apartment. All of the apartments are essentially the same.  The biggest difference in mine and the other full time teachers here is that is that they have been living in theirs and mine is rather empty and undecorated.  I’m only going to be here for a little over four weeks so my plans are to just get it cleaned and comfortable but nothing very extravagant in the redecorating department

I plan to travel to Changsha and Guangzhou between Thursday and Sunday evenings to visit my Harding students.  Dr. Long, Dr. Ganus and Dr. Hadwin (Milo) will be here this weekend but not in town when I teach a class.  But they should be here for worship next Sunday.  I have emailed a few students and have acquired their local phone numbers, but I don't yet have a local phone option.  I am hoping to acquire that today or tomorrow. When I do I will call them and make travel arrangements.

Ed Mosby was here today but arrived about Noon after we met for worship, and then left about 6:30 p.m. to head off to another location where he has placed teams such as ours. He was able to go to lunch with us.  The director of the Foreign Exchange program took us all to our evening dinner this evening.  WOW, they had a lot of food and it kept on coming!  It was very good, but HOT and Spicy!  One of their drinks is "Corn Juice" where they literally puree up yellow corn kernels and pour it in a glass.  The food dishes have very little meat and heavy on the veggies.  If you love vegetables, then you’ll love the food here if you can get past the Hot Spice.

After dinner we walked about town and went into a couple of fabric stores that sell silk and custom-made shirts, skirts, tops and etc, and I have been told it’s very cheap.  The tailor takes your measurements and in a day or so you go back and pick up your item(s).  

My student team members are wonderful.  Carey Fraley from Bayside is a real sweetheart.  We love to tell the Chinese students that my son was one of her teachers back home (they don't know what a youth minister or church youth group is so we just say a teacher).

<<< Previous Post                                                                                                                                                                       Next Post >>>