Tremors

The other night I was deep in a book when the room started to quiver.  The bed, the couch, my hanging train of dry but unfolded shirts -- everything trembled.  Then it calmed.  I hadn't packed a seismograph, and could only guess what magnitude I'd just survived.  But the next day, same thing.  And the next.  These tremors were certainly punctual, or maybe a bit too punctual.  Eventually I noticed other things too, like the rhythmic clack of wheels on steel and a distant train whistle, or the rumble of a truck.  Not exciting after all (unless you're some geeky physicist who daydreams of harmonics).  Too bad.  But I soon found out I wasn't the only one with earthquakes on my mind.

 

It's time to quake-proof the schools.  Apparently the last earthquake leveled some school buildings right next to a government office.  An office still standing strong.  This means students will get off a month early for the construction.  But it's not good news -- now they have school on Saturday.  Yes, this is China.  And they didn't warn the schools, so schedules and curricula must be adjusted on the fly.  Yes, this is China.  The kids, whose lives are already school-centric, are now burdened with more studies.  This makes it much harder for me to connect with them with consistency.  On the flipside, an extra month of summer is never bad.  And a quake-proof school isn't so bad either.

 

My schedule has taken a pretty hard hit.  Saturdays were by far my busiest, but everything has been cancelled.  This also frees up all the time earmarked for prep.  So I'm replacing it with more medical activities and one-on-one tutoring.  I'm glad.  God knows what he's doing.

 

I'm so thankful to be here.  At home I've read books, talked with MKs (some very cool ones!), talked with their families, and even their friends' families.  But to experience everything first hand -- yes!  I can see how rewarding it is.  And the communal depth of the church is vivid.  Ok, I don't want to push the earthquake theme too far (since it can quickly become cheesy), but I think it applies nicely.  There is the hard side of life, too.  Little stresses build along the fault line between East and West.  Like Chinese water torture, perpetual inconveniences grow and grow.  Now, combine this with interpersonal relationships.  When two opposing viewpoints collide, it can cause huge riffs in relationships.  I see how everything gets magnified out here.  But God is still all about grace, unity, disciplining us as his sons, being patient, filling us with joy and peace, you know, the works.  So cool.

 

[The pictures are of a meal with Lisa]

One Day in the Life of Stan Strycker

It's 7:00am.  Snooze.

 

It's 7:09am -- and morning.  First devos, then head to the shower.  This means getting through the door, and each door is a new puzzle.  By now, though,  I've memorized every subtle flick of the key and pressure point needed.  The door submits.  I'm in luck -- today there is water.  (Usually I have water, and hot water at that.  But it doesn't always turn on promptly at 6am, and I'm too rushed to wait who knows how long.)

 

It's 8:30am.  Time to prep for class, do some reading, and study Mandarin.  Outside a man brushes snow from his storefront and a dog trots across the street.  The traffic is not disturbed, it merely reacts.  Cars bikes and pedestrians all register the new fact, find the path of least resistance, and life continues.  Order and chaos.  I watch behind a window.  Until I learn Mandarin this is my lot -- to observe but not influence.  Okay, not true.  Still, that's how it feels.  I turn back to my book, huddle against the radiator, and down a glass of hot tea.  The widow always distracts me from my reading.  My reading always distracts me from living in China.  In the summer I will study in the park just down the way, and escape this cloistered existence.  But for now I take breaks and chat with the Chinese staff in the community center.

 

It's 11:30am.  The van is here to take me to Taiyuan.  That usually means half an hour of highway speed-bumps and a car-sick Stan, trying to read on the way.  Today, though, I have company.  The other English teachers are here (Wendy, Nina, and Christine -- those are their American names), so we talk and laugh a lot.  Half the time it's Chinese, so I practice listening for familiar words.  We arrive, drink tea with the principle, talk, then to classes.  Kids, kids, and more ordered chaos.  Then order!  Class has begun.  We practice vocab, pronunciation, play games, learn grammar, the usual.  They love me, I love them -- a good  combination.  Then the bell, a break, and round two.  Afterwards I am swarmed.  We return to Yangqu.

 

It's 6:00pm.  Already?  Yes.  It's 6:00pm.  I'm hungry and there are many restaurants to explore, so I'm out the door armed with a few but effective phrases: "I want to eat some noodles with meat sauce," and "I want to eat MANY noodles," and "How much does it cost?" I have my favorite dishes written down, so I can try those out too.  I walk down the street.  Everyone knows I'm walking down the street.  Only the dogs aren't staring; they're more interested in garbage heaps growing against the curb.  This restaurant looks clean, so I'll try it.  I part the plastic strips veiling the door and step in.  Cigarette smoke drifts aimlessly, and so do I until they point me to a seat.  I order, they giggle, everyone is curious.  Then I read (tonight it's Les Miserables), the food comes, and I eat.  With chopsticks.  China is famous for great food, and Yangqu is not one to disappoint.  The specialty is noodles drenched in oil and flavor.  If my brother Glenn were here he could name every spice and proportion, but I just close my eyes and enjoy.  Ignorance is bliss, as they say.  Better not to know what's going in, and since it's probably unexciting, I can at least pretend it's exotic.  I pay, then talk to the crowd, eager to know my story.  They're easy to please, which is good since I can only communicate my age, nationality, and that I'm learning Chinese.  Then I walk back to the community center.

 

It's 7:00pm.  My two friends are busy in the kitchen and invite me to join.  I do, of course, and wish I'd skipped the restaurant.  It's bean curd and millet soup for starters (both from Lisa's family farm), and then something else -- I don't know what.  Everything is bland, but I like it.  And who cares, food isn't the important part of meals anyway.  Their English is good enough for light conversation (and with a little more effort, for deep conversation), so we chat into the night.  I then grab my guitar, Lilly her piano (I actually just made that name up.  Don't know her American one), and we worship.

 

It's 10pm.  I read.

 

It's midnight.  I sleep.  Hard.

Nothing New, Except Everything

I can see why they had to abandon the tower of Babble.  There is only so much that pointing, grunts, and pantomime can convey.  It's slow too.  The good thing is, our attitudes are hard to hide.  This makes building a relationship possible -- even if tower building is a no go.  So I'm quick to smile and laugh at gaffes.  That's lesson number one, which of course you already knew.

So the rumors are true: they speak Chinese in China.  Unfortunately, where I'm living that's all they speak.  Shanxi (Shan-she) province is somewhat backward compared to most of the country.  And I'm in the small town of Yangqu (Yahng-choe with the german "oe").  It has only 40,000, making the backwardness even more backward.  The closest real city of something over a million is Taiyuan (tie-you-win), which lies 6 hours south-west -- not south-east -- of Beijing.  I'll be splitting my time between the two cities.

My room is 4 stories above a loud and busy main street (the pictures are of my window view).  Fireworks haven't stopped blasting since I've been here -- just the noisy type, nothing pretty.  Car honking is all the rage.  It's Morse Code for "hey I'm behind you," or "hey get out of my way," or "hey," or "HEY!" I doubt there are any laws for drivers.  The only rule I know of so far is, watch out.  My bus ride from Beijing to Taiyuan was quite the trip.  I have a sneaking suspicion my driver recently retired from NASCAR, and I'm not exaggerating.  Who knew that the horn and flashing the brights could be used so effectively.  It was fun, but I didn't sleep much.

Tomorrow I will start orphanage work and English teaching at a public school in Taiyuan.  Then same thing on Friday (mostly 5th grade classes).  Saturdays are 4th and 5th grade here in Yangqu, then English corner in Taiyuan.

It's been just over a week, and I've had more adventures than I can tell (or process).  Most of them include meeting wonderful people and beginning friendships.  The staff at Evergreen (about 6 expatriate families and maybe 20 Nationals) are so loving and welcoming.  Most have kids -- all of them obsessed with legos and hanging out with Uncle Stan.  There are two Chinese girls my age living next door.  We share a kitchen, meaning meals and conversation!

I wish I could tell you everything, but I don't need it all in one blog entry.  Here are the highlights.  Praise and prayer time with Evergreen staff, church on Sunday, music with friends (everyone is thrilled that I play guitar, and want to learn), and reading and explaining the Bible to some friends.  I've had several enlightening conversations with the Evergreen staff (some are doctors).   And I mountain biked through a Tang Dynasty village (~600ad).

And this is just the beginning.

Note regarding this blog

Stan cannot access his blog while in China (even to edit), so we've set this one up so he can email his posts.  However, this setup means he won't be able to read comments posted to the blog, so I've turned that feature off.  If you need to contact Stan, you'll have to email him directly instead.  I believe he will be checking sic2010ad@gmail.com in addition to his regular email address.

Glenn (Stan's brother)

Safe Arrival

Hi everyone,

I made it safely to Yangqu in Shangxi, China! That means I passed the first initiation: getting from Beijing's airport to the long distance bus station, to the train station in Taiyuan, to my contact with Evergreen -- all by myself with almost no Mandarin. Well, not quite by myself :)

Thanks for the prayers and all the support that's been pouring in. And sorry that this email is so long in coming... I'm still getting settled and figuring out how to use the computers here (they're in Chinese). I'd like to keep these mass emails fairly short. So if you want more, I'll be setting up my blog soon. (Blogs are blocked here, so it will take some time to get around that. I'll let you know when I do.) You can email me directly, too. I'll try to be prompt, but give me some time to get adjusted first.

In short, here's what I need most. Servant's heart, communication, stamina, sleep. I have already met many wonderful people, and forgotten many wonderful names. Can't wait to go deeper.

Love,
Stan.

PS. If you don't want to get any emails, or if someone wants to be added to the list, let me know. I'm sure I forgot some people (nothing personal).