tenwest

picture with me for a minute, if you will...large stones as chairs, old cardboard boxes balancing on knees as desktops, no chalk boards or projectors and early morning classes by candlelight ...this is NOT tenwest! Many of you have been here, so you can picture the big orange logo outside the door, those blue desks that threaten to bust every time you sit down, and the packed elevator on the way up to the 20th floor. So for those of you that haven't seen, here are some pics of the place we teach our english class every thursday morning. (pics: views from the bottom, view from the 20th floor, and my fav student. her english name is Go-Go, after her favorite chinese cartoon character. she is actually albert's niece.) it's a wonderful facility and we love our students!

 

taxi

after teaching last night at tenwest, liss and i were just planning on taking a regular taxi home, but when we walked out of the building there were a bunch of three wheeled motor scooter cabs there.  it had been a while since we'd seen one and it only took us a second to remember that these are the little things that make living here an adventure.  So we agreed on a price with the driver and off we went on what basically amounts to a garden cart pulled behind a motorcycle.  I was giving our driver the benefit of the doubt when at first he took a different route than i would have, but then when we took the freeway on-ramp, I knew it was time to spring to action!  i told him to turn around and that i knew the way.  He agreed and quickly turned us around and headed back down the on-ramp in the dark playing chicken with real cars!  Our little adventure was really seeming like a bad idea...and it only got worse when he went back up the off-ramp on the other side and hit a biker at the top.  No biggie though.  we just kept plugging away and eventually made it home safely.  just got us thinking though...maybe the regular taxis here are adventurous enough.   

sorry!

hey, don't lose faith in us!  we are gonna get back on track with the blog again.  we have had an action packed 10 days or so with my parents visiting from PA.  it has been so much fun to share life here with them.  we have been all over kunming and even made time for a 4 day mini-trip to beijing to see the great wall, forbidden city, summer palace and of course shop in good old hong qiao market!  In between the meals and travel and work and shopping we have definitely slacked a bit with our writing.  sorry! We intend to change that so keep checking!!  it means a lot to hear that people are interested in what's going on with us and reading!  peace and love to you all.

cafe

I closed the silver spoon tonight as the "veteran".  It's funny how coffee shops always throw people into closing before they fully know how to close.  I think it's the "experience is the best teacher" theory because as much and as good as they can train you, it all goes to mush when you're on your own.  No big deal though cause I figured it out tonight without a whole lot of issues.  I must admit there is something about slinging drinks (one for me, one for the customer, one for me, another one for me), dishing out desserts, closing the register, doing dishes, mopping floors and cleaning espresso machines that makes me a bit nostalgic.  I can't help but think back to espresso royale on hennepin and 13th.  I absolutely love that shop and thinking about it always brings to mind two people...Elissa and Kip.  I met them both there.  One will be in my life forever, the other was there for a season. I really hope i was a factor in Kip's life for that season. anyway, here's your pensive cafe thought for the day: you really never know when people are going to move in and out of your life...be a factor and make a difference while you can. 

just like home

this past weekend we had a night on the town with a few american (and one cali-british) friends. we met at the movie theater downtown to see Hancock, in english!  It was wonderful, and just like home...except the A/C was broken in the theater, and our bucket of popcorn was soaked in sugar instead of butter. After the flick, we walked over to McDonald's for some grub. Burgers, fries & cokes, just like home...except the double fish fillet sandwich was smothered in wasabi. We needed to finish the night off with something sweet, a McD's soft serve ice cream cone, just like home...except they wouldn't serve it to us. (they had cones, they had vanilla ice cream, but for only china knows, they wouldn't put the two together. we could order the ice cream in a sundae form, or a cone with kiwi swirl gel ice cream on it.) Ah China, just like home...except not. 

anniversary

we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary last week here in china with cinnamon rolls for breakfast followed by an hour long hair wash and head massage, quesadillas for lunch, pizza for dinner and an hour long foot massage to cap it all off.  The funny thing is the most expensive thing that day was the quesadillas at 3 bucks.  while we're on the anniversary, I have to say that i feel like the most blessed man in the world to be able to share this whole china experience with my best friend who also happens to be the most incredible wife anyone could ask for...here's to elissa.

english class

we taught our second english lesson at tenwest this morning.  we are really having fun with our students.  last week we gave one of them the english name, "peter" (you're welcome hallstrom.) we thought we were doing a pretty good job of teaching until we started an exercise where we showed the students pictures and had them describe what they saw.  we showed them the following picture of our friend chris bechtel and the two sentences they came up with were, " he is very strong." and "he is wearing a beautiful and cool hat."  apparently, we have to work a little harder teaching them vocabulary cause i'm just not seeing it.  

land of eternal...rain.

we've gloated about kunming being the land of eternal spring with clear skies and sunshine, but so far, the joke's been on us. the past couple weeks have been very seattle-esque, minus the city drainage system to handle the water (see photos). however, on a good note, today the sun was bright, warm and wonderful.

the destination of our journey

you've seen the journey we took to get there...now we want to tell you the truly meaningful stuff. our hike took us to a village of about 20 people, all infected with leprosy. in addition to these people, there is one female doctor and one cook who live there that care for the sick. it was such a beautiful thing to see people who were once tossed aside by their communities, friends and even families, finally be cared for and showered with the love they so much deserve. our friend that works for habitat for humanity led us there, as they have re-built homes for the village. we cooked lunch for them, spent time with them, sang a few songs, and just sat and smiled with them. it was an afternoon of joy and we loved every minute of it. jon gained a buddy (photo) who stuck with him most of the day, i helped the women cook enormous bowls of tofu ball soup (photo), and the guy in the 3rd photo was the funny guy of the group - he liked to make goofy faces for our camera, and had us all laughing at his precious sense of humor that he's maintained through all of his trials. not to mention that the doctor & cook who care for these people full time, do it all voluntarily because they are just that amazing. True heros. What a spectacular day.  

> Read a great article here about the village (written by our friend windy!)