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.
