February 25th: Settling In

I spent the morning cleaning and unpacking. In the afternoon, Keith and Jason took all of us newcomers out to RT Mart, a large Taiwanese Wal-mart-like store. I got several things I needed for the apartment, and enough groceries to be able to cook a couple of meals.

In the evening, Roanne, Lindsay, and I ventured out in search of food. We wandered down a street near the campus and stopped at one of the first little restaurants we saw. We went in, and Lindsay used a small dictionary to try to order something for us. The woman finally took us outside to look at the bins of vegetables and dried meats, and we pointed out a few things that we liked. She cooked us a proper meal despite our bumbling—our favorite was a carrots and pork dish. Our first solo dining experience was a success.

Traveling

Hello everyone! Well, several people requested that I keep a blog about my life in China. I’m going to give it a try, but I’m warning you now...I’m really bad about starting out strong on a blog and then after a couple of months forgetting to update very often. I’ll try my best not to let that happen, but if I do and you want more updates, leave a comment or email me and remind me!

I left from the Nashville airport on February 22nd. I checked in my bags, and then spent a little time with my family and Billy Wayne, taking silly pictures. My flight was at 2:45, and that was the start of a long but thankfully uneventful journey—I first flew to Dallas, where I met up with several friends, then we flew on to San Francisco. The flight from Dallas to San Francisco was great—I had a window, and I could see the Rocky mountains in the moonlight below. Those of you who know me know how I am about mountains—no quicker way to make me happy than put me on a mountaintop with a view. And then finally I saw the lights of the city--as we came in to land, we flew low over San Francisco bay, and I think I saw the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. After a four hour layover, we took a midnight flight for Hong Kong. The transpacific flight was fourteen hours, but I don’t mind flying. It may sound like torture, but really, it’s not bad at all. We were fed a meal about an hour after takeoff (one AM, so I’m not sure which meal that supposed to be), and then I slept for a few hours, as did most people on the flight. About halfway through most people started waking up. I meant to get some reading done, but I spent most of the rest of the flight watching several episodes of CSI on the little screen on the back of the seat in front of me. International flights these days are great—a choice of dozens of movies, tv shows, music, games, even a language program on which I did practice a few Chinese phrases. Fourteen hours, and I still didn’t see the movie I wanted to see! Anyhow, we landed in Hong Kong at 6:30 in the morning. We had crossed the international date line, so it was now Wednesday, February 24th. From the Hong Kong runway, I could see the Pacific Ocean on one side, and steep green hills on the other. In one day, I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life, and I saw it from both shores. We took a two-hour flight from Hong Kong to Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in central China, and we were finally on the ground to stay.

In Wuhan, I was happy to see that all of our luggage had made it. I always dread getting my bags for fear that one or all of them has been lost somewhere along the way. I’ve never had a bag completely lost, but I’ve had several delayed somewhere and delivered a few days later. No such problems this time! In the airport, I separated from the group I traveled with, as they were either staying in Wuhan or flying on somewhere else. I was met at the door by Frank, the waibon (person from the university in charge of the foreign teachers) from my university, and two other girls who were also new teachers. Lindsay is from Chicago, and Roanne is from England. The four of us loaded into a small bus belonging to the university, and we drove nearly four hours to our city, Jingzhou. This was our first look at the Chinese countryside. In fields along the way, water buffalo roamed free; before long, I saw several farmers plowing small fields with water buffalo. The houses along the way were still decorated with red banners around the doorways, in celebration of the Chinese New Year, which was last week.

We finally got into Jingzhou about 1:30 in the afternoon. Altogether, it took thirty-seven hours to get from my parents’ house in Columbia to my new apartment in Jingzhou.

Not long after we arrived, Keith and Jason, two American teachers who have been here since August, came to meet us. We went down to Frank’s office, where we met Casey and Tabby, a couple from Tennessee who are in their fourth year here in Jingzhou. They live on another campus, but Casey teaches a few classes on this one, too. Frank took us all to eat at a restaurant down the street. First, they gave us all bowls of some sort of bean milk soup, which was new even to those who have been here a few years. We all sipped at it politely, but it was nothing special. I wasn’t very hungry, but I had some fried rice. After we ate, Frank walked around with us and helped Lindsay change some money at the bank, and found an ATM where Roanne and I could use our cards to get some Chinese money.

After that, Keith took us to a nearby grocery store to get some basic food and cleaning supplies. Once I got back to my apartment, I started to unpack and do a little cleaning.

I like my new apartment. I’ll post some pictures; it’s easier than trying to explain it all. The door from the stairwell opens into a hallway; on the right is first the bedroom and then the living room. At the end is the kitchen. On the left are the doors to the small room with the toilet and the bathroom with the tub, sink, and washing machine. Off of the living room there is a door to the sunroom—a glassed-in balcony. It is quite large; it wraps around two sides of the living room, as I have a corner apartment. At the end of the sunroom is a rod for hanging clothes to dry. The hallway, bedroom, and living room have a wood floor, and the rest is tiled. The furniture maybe isn’t exactly my style, but it all matches and I like it pretty well. The apartment needs a good, thorough cleaning, but I should have it looking presentable in a few days.

Despite only having a few hours of sleep on the plane, I managed to stay awake until eight. I woke up at four in the morning with a headache, but after about an hour I managed to go back to sleep and slept until seven.

Train to the Future

Today, I am on a train to Rapallo, near Genova.  Matteo and I are going to spend a few days with Nadia and her family at their house by the sea.  I've finally come out from under the clouds that covered Milan, and it is a beautiful evening here in the mountains we're crossing—or, we would be if we weren't mostly in tunnels.   Matteo will stay until Saturday; I will probably return to Milan Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.   I have things I need to work on before going to the convegno in Firenze next week.  It's a little strange—while writing this I keep thinking in Italian and translating back into English. 

I can't get out of my head today the book I just read—A Touch of Betrayal by Catherine Palmer.   It's one of series of four, of which Tammy has and I borrow the second and third.   I read the second first, but the third one I read twice because I wasn't ready to get out of the story yet.  I think the titles of her books are a little overdramatic, but I enjoyed the stories.  The books are Christian romance novels, which I love, even though I don't always want to admit that, being a serious former English major and all, that I like such fluff.  But, it's wonderful just to read for the pleasure and escapism of it, something I just don't do as much as I used to. 

It's wonderful, too, to read books written about people who live in my "real world," –people who follow a code of morality and whose relationship with God is a part of day-to-day life   It's something refreshing to me in today's culture where God and spiritual things are completely left out of popular entertainment.  I wish we were more open to talk about our spiritual lives.  That's probably the most important reason I have for wanting a husband someday—I want someone to be mutually accountable with, someone to pray with, to talk about my spiritual ups and downs, to encourage each other.   I want to raise my children to be truly integrated—not to compartmentalize spirituality from other aspects of life; I know I often have.  Growing up, it seemed we so rarely talked about our faith.  We prayed together at meals, but almost never at any other times.  I want to be more comfortable sharing that part of life together.   I'm hoping things will be different now that Dad also had become a Christian,  We need to take advantage of the spiritual high the family is on now to talk more openly.  It's also something I need to put into my work here in a much bigger way.   I'm more of a project person—I plan things, do thing, teach—but I'm not as good at building deeper relationships.  I get along well with everybody, but often at a fairly superficial level.   I need to find a way to work in more discussion of where people are spiritually and their highs and lows; I need to work towards more meaningful conversation.  It is difficult when I only see most of the church members briefly after the service on Sunday.   I need to make it a priority to find a way to spend more time with individuals outside of church activities; I would like to invited people over to my place for lunch, but I haven't yet as I didn't know if people would really want to come all the way out to my place; it's out of the way for most of my friends.  But, maybe they would. 

Back to the book I mentioned earlier—the series is set in various parts of Africa, and is about three sisters and a brother, as adults; as they find love, find God, etc.  My head has been in Africa all day.  I would love to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Now, there is a motivation to get in shape!  Grant, the man in the story, is an anthropologist living with the Maasai; he is studying their stories and myths, and trying to write down all these important parts of the heritage before the children all go off to the city and the ancient culture is lost.  It sounds like a wonderful work.  I've though the last few years that I would go back to grad school, and then teach English literature.   But, it seems so meaningless in the grand scheme of things, to be wrapped up in the minutiae of academia.  I want to be involved in missions; I would like to study languages, cultures—to travel.  And yet, somehow it seems selfish or unwise to live my life like I want to live it.  What I really want to do is, after next summer when I finish my commitment here in Milan, is to find somewhere else to go to teach English (or whatever other job is available), and learn another language.  I think I could learn Spanish fairly easily, now that I speak Italian—I can already understand it pretty well.  I was reading online the other day that English teachers can earn quite a bit of money in Korea.   However, I really need better certification.   And, I don't know if I'm brave enough to move to Asia, to a country I've never seen, with such a very different culture.   But, somehow, I would like to learn another language, and I want to travel. 

There are people who save up some money, and then just go travel—backpack around the world.   Why not me?  Then I think—it would be more responsible to get a job, earn money, settle down—but why?  You only live once.  The only thing really stopping me is wondering what mom will say.   Everybody will think I'm crazy—but I just want to be free.   And I don't have a husband or children, my parents are still young and in good health—so to who is it irresponsible?  But how do those who backpack find the money to do it?  I, so far in life, haven't been very good at making money.  But it has been worth it—I wouldn't trade the time I've spent doing mission work in Italy for a high paying but lifeless job in an office.   Somehow, I want to see the world.  And then, after a few more years, I do want to marry and have children.  I often feel that biological clock ticking—the older I get, the more I look forward to having children.   I've come across several websites on homeschooling lately—it's something I'm very interested in.  

And then there's finding someone to marry.  Reading these romance books make me wonder if I'll ever find anyone to feel that strongly about to feel that way about me.  I daydream, but in reality—I'm not the type you find in romance novels   I know God has a plan for me, and that he will send the right person into my life, so it isn't something that I spend a lot of time really worrying about.  It's just that sometimes I feel lonely for someone I haven't met yet.   Usually I'm fine—I'm happy being single, and I'm not at a point where I want to settle down.   But sometimes—it seems to be about a month out of the year or so—when it seems I feel lonely more than usual.  It hasn't been too bad yet this year (it was downright depressing last year, around May), but still I want someone to talk to, to tell all those little details of everyday life.  I can talk to Mom about most things, but as close as we are, there are still things she doesn't understand—some, because we are of different generations, and some because I live in a different culture.  She doesn't know the people I know or how they think, or the ups and downs of life as a missionary.  And besides, it's expensive to call the U.S.!

My Dad!

Hello everyone! Over the years, I've talked a lot about my Dad, and I know many of you have prayed with me that some day, he would find God and become a Christian. Well, that day finally came! On Sunday, June 8, he was baptized. Of course, my entire family is ecstatic! He's been searching for many years now, and he's finally decided to take that step. My mother said that she just finds herself laughing, she's so happy. She's been praying for him for thirty-two years now (the time they were dating, and the twenty-nine years they've been married). Thanks to all of you who have prayed for him over the years, and please keep praying now as he begins this new life!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good new year. For New Year's Eve (called Capodanno here, the cap of the year), we had a party at the church building. We brought food and ate together, both the traditional lenticche and cotacchino (lentils and some sort of pork) as well as a potluck assortment of other meat and side dishes. Eating together with the church is often interesting here--the congregation is so multicultural (there's typically at least nine nationalities represented on a Sunday morning) that at potlucks you might try various recipes from all over the world--Chinese pasta, a type of rice dish from Ghana, American hamburgers, etc. I took some chips and dip as well as my favorite pumpkin muffins.

After we ate, we played some games and had a bit of a talent show, or as Lewis put it, a talent-less show. The highlight of this was Mario, who was once the Italian roller-skating champion, and now twenty years later is still quite comfortable on wheels. We also wrote down how to say 'Hello, how are you?' in all the languages represented. (See photo). Then we spent some time singing together, and then prayed together as the new year began.

After getting the new year off to a good start, the first three weeks of January were rainy and dreary. It didn't rain to hard, but a good steady drizzle for three weeks will drive you crazy. We did get a good snow one, about the same time it snowed a bit there, and it was quite beautiful for a few hours, but after two days of snow, it changed back to rain so we had mostly slush. Finally, about a week ago, the sun came out again and the weather has been wonderful the last week, sunny and actually clear enough (doesn't happen often with the incredible smog here) to see the Alps in the distance several days in a row. I have included here a picture from my balcony from the first day I could see the mountains, once the trees finally lost enough leaves. I've never seen them quite so clearly again. It always amazes me on the few clear days we can see the Alps from here--they aren't far at all. How in the world can we not always see those huge mountains that are right there?? But, with the smog, it's a rare day that you would know there were mountains at all. The three weeks of gloom, I certainly have appreciated the sun this week. I now understand why people get seasonal affective disorder.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone! Yes, I know, it's been forever since I've posted! I still don't have the internet at my apartment, so I haven't been able to keep up as well as I'd like.

Anyhow, I am over at the Shorts's house (they are the missionaries I work with here in Milan). We are celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday, since of course it isn't a holiday here, with the missionaries in Padua. We're driving over tomorrow (it's about a three-hour drive) and spending the night with them, and then having a feast for lunch on Saturday. We cooked two pies (pumpkin and apple) and some cookies today to take, and I'm also taking corn.

Today is also Rebecca Short's first birthday, so she got to rip some wrapping paper, look at a pretty candle, and enjoy some carrot cake. I've gotten quite an education spending so much time with children!

I posted some new pictures on my picture website. On November first, which is a holiday here, a group of about sixteen of us from Milan went over to Vicenza (about two hours on the train) for a Ladies' Day. It was a beautiful day to be out, and we enjoyed the time spend with church members from several churches across northern Italy. The topic of the day was marriage and family, especially on choosing a Christian husband and parenting. Since several members of the Milan church are young single women, the 'finding a Christian husband' topic has been much discussed recently. It is a real problem here--for example, in our church, we have six or seven young single women and no young single men at all. The situation is similar is many churches. We have so many couples in the church that one is a Christian and one isn't, for that reason. It's yet another issue that we often take for granted in the Bible Belt.

My other set of pictures is from a recent (November 11) Agape (fellowship meal) at the Milan church. We had a potluck meal after church, and then we honored a couple in our church, Nora and Eric. They are both from the Philippines (as are several church members; it's a large immigrant group here), and Nora has lived here in Milan for several years. She and Eric were married two years ago when she went back to the Philippines for a few months, and they have spent the last two years on opposite sides of the globe, trying to get his paperwork together to join her in Italy. She couldn't go back to wait with him there, because his papers were contingent on her holding a job here. Anyhow, finally, after a lot of hard work and prayers, he finally arrived in Milan about three weeks ago. So, in celebration, the church gave them some presents and we had a special prayer for them now that they are finally together again. Also, Eric was a preacher in the Philippines, so we look forward to him being a helpful and active member here.

Well, I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving and that the holiday season gets off to a good start. The Christmas decorations are in full swing here! My brother is coming to visit for a couple of weeks for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to seeing him again and enjoying the season. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Did any of you watch the mid-August meteor shower this year? My mom mentioned that she and my dad and brother had sat out in the backyard watching them for a while, but I doubted I'd see anything of it, living here in the well-lit city of Milan.

However, Tammy called that Sunday afternoon: they were planning to drive out of town just after dark, and look for a place to look for falling stars. I went along, and we left Milan around ten. We drove for well over an hour, stopping at a park near the river to check the view (okay, but still too close to a town) and then to see downtown Novara lit up (the picture to the left is of the cathedral there). Finally, we found the perfect spot--a small road between fields a little off of the interstate. The only things around were what seemed to be a small monastery and the now-distant Novara cathedral on the horizon. Tammy, Michela, and I laid down in the middle of the road (we never saw a car on this little road) and watched the sky. Lewis, Tammy, and I each saw various shooting stars, but we never managed to see the same ones. We stayed until after midnight, until Michela finally saw one, too. It's a little difficult for a four-year-old to just sit still and look. :) The one she saw was the best of the evening--bright, right across the milky way, leaving a streak across the sky.

We headed back home to the city on the interstate. Tammy started singing, hoping Michela would fall asleep in the car, and Lewis and I soon joined in. We sang most of the way home. Michela never did fall asleep, even though we tried not to sing anything upbeat. We sang in English, and many of those songs I don't think I've sung since I was in college. I hadn't realized just how much I miss singing in English, and the familiar songs. That's the thing I most loved about Freed-Hardeman, the fact that we sang every day. The Shorts enjoyed singing, too, and we decided to get together every week for a time to plan our weeks and to sing together. That was the point that I knew that I was going to enjoy working with them this year; I have found people who like to sing!

Hello again, everyone! Well, I've been in Milan for two weeks now. I'm settling in--I've gotten things pretty much in order in my apartment. Tammy, the girls, and I took a trip to Ikea, and I got some bookshelves and a small chest of drawers, as well as a comforter, curtains, and some colorful pillows. Gary and Jennifer, the AI directors, came up last Wednesday, and brought the rest of my stuff from Florence in their car. So, I've finally gotten everything into place and am quite comfortable in my little apartment.

While Gary and Jennifer were here, all of us (me, them, and the Shorts) went to the Milan Museum of Technology. The museum houses a famous display of models built from the drawing of Leonardo da Vinci, displays showing the history and evolution of various industrial and househould machines (record players from victrolas up to cd players, clocks from sundials to cathedral belltowers to the modern Rolex, the machinary used for mining and refining nickel, etc.) The most popular exhibit is a huge submarine used by the Italian Navy from the 1960s until the 1990s. They hauled it on trucks from the coast, working in the middle of the night because they had to shut down the interstate to bring it through. The roads around the musuem had to be reinforced; there was quite a party when it was successfully parked at the museum.

We've stayed pretty busy, despite it being August. August here is the holiday month--everyone is on vacation. Many stores and businesses are also closed for at least a week or two during the month, if not the whole thing. So, life is quiet in an Italian city in August. Today especially--today is Ferragosto. The 15th of August has been a holiday here in Italy since Roman times; originally it was part of the celebration of summer, and the end of the field-work until the harvest. It often was dedicated to the goddess Diana. The Catholic church then used the day to celebrate Mary's assumption into heaven (they teach that Mary, also, was carried to heaven on a cloud when she died, and was never buried). Now, it's just the day the world stops while everything is closed and everyone has the day off, the middle of the vacation month. I came over to Lewis and Tammy's for the day. They took advantage of everyone being off of work, and had various church members as guests for both lunch and dinner. The conversation was particularly interesting with the dinner guests, a Ghanaian church member, Steven, and his Italian Catholic wife. Apparently they met when he was her tour guide when she visited Ghana from where she was studying in Nigeria.

Last week, Tammy, the girls, and I spent an afternoon with Nadia, one of the newest members of the church in Milan. She is Ukrainian, and has lived in Italy about four years. She became a Christian just a few months ago after becoming friends with some Italian Christians, and has been attending the church for about two months. However, her husband and his family are atheists and quite unhappy about her decision. She seems to be a really sweet person, and is happy to be making Christian friends and getting involved. She plans to go with us tomorrow to visit one of the older ladies from church. Please pray for her as her faith grows, despite the complete lack of encouragement from her family.

On Monday, I met the Shorts down at the church building, and Tammy and I started reorganizing all of the children's Bible class material. For the past while, Tammy has been teaching the one children's class, but she would like to split it into a class for the pre-school age and one for the elementary-age, and maybe start a class for the teenage girls. There are several church members interested in getting involved, so we're trying to get the material organized so it will be easier to divide up.

Next week, I'll be heading back to Florence for most of the week for the annual Florence convegno (convention). Christians from all over the country come together in Florence every year; there will be speakers, activities, and meals together. The main speaker this year is Don Shackelford, a former missionary to Italy who then worked at Harding for many years. I'll let you know more about that when I get back.

Well, I hope you are all doing well, and your summers have been good. I sent out a newsletter last week; let me know if you didn't get it and want to. I'll try to update again soon; I don't have the internet at my apartment, so I try to get on whenever I'm at Lewis and Tammy's.

Ciao a tutti!

Settling In

Hello again! Well, I moved into my apartment in Milan yesterday afternoon. So, I'm getting settled in. I brought some things with me on the train yesterday, and Gary, the AI director, will bring the rest of my stuff up in his car next week. I'm looking forward to getting everything organized. It still seems a little strange that I'm finally here and moved in; not just a trip this time!

Well, I don't have internet in my apartment right now, so I still appreciate your e-mails and such, but just know it may take me a couple of days to get back to you. Anyhow, I hope you all have a good weekend!

Packing...or, procrastinating packing...

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I haven't been very good at keeping up the blog over the summer. I'll try to get better at that! Anyhow, I posted my major news in the post below, which is an excerpt from my latest newsletter (which, if you haven't gotten yet, should be there soon, for those of you who get that, too). I'm really excited to get the chance to work with a church directly and to be involved in a different community.


I'm moving in on Thursday, so now I'm trying to figure out how to fit everything I want to take into my suitcases. I'm coming back to Florence at the end of the month for the Florence convegno (convention), so I will pick up my winter clothes then. Hmm...I'll have to wear clunky stuff... :)

My mom came to visit me for part of July, and I had a good time showing her around Italy and my life here. Here is a picture of me, my mom, and three of the church members from Milan (Orazio, Bruna, and Enrica) in front of the church building in Milan. I was happy that we got the chance to visit with the church there while my mom was here, so she was able to meet the people that I will be worshiping and working with for the next year.

Well, I need to get off here and get back to it. I hope you all have a good last day of July!

Milan!

Ciao a tutti! (Hello to everyone!) Well, summer is going by pretty fast! I’ve stayed busy most of the summer teaching students, although as the weather heats up more and more have left on vacation. My mother came to visit me for part of July, and I had a good time showing her around Italy and eating too much gelato (Italian ice cream)!

My big announcement is that I am planning to move to Milan for my second year as an Avanti Italia worker. I’ve enjoyed my year here in Florence teaching at the Bible school, but I am looking forward to going out and hopefully being of help. I will be working along with Lewis and Tammy Short, American missionaries who have been in Milan since 2000.

Milan is the largest city in Italy with a population of about four million, and is one of the major financial and fashion centers of the world. Since it is in the north of Italy, close to the Swiss border, I will finally have an excuse to wear all the scarves I managed to collect over the past winter, and hopefully see some snow.

The congregation in Milan has about fifty members, of all ages and races. Like most Italian churches, it is quite multicultural with members from, besides Italy, Singapore, the Philippines, Ghana, Albania, France, and China. I have been up to visit several times now, and they are a friendly and welcoming group, and I am looking forward to getting to know them better.

Some of the work I plan to be involved in with the Milan congregation includes doing Bible studies with new Christians, helping with the Women’s Bible Study group’s weekly meetings, teaching a children’s class on Sundays, and organizing activities for the "young people" (in Italy, anyone under thirty qualifies). In whatever time I have left, I will probably continue to teach some English-using-the-Bible type classes as a way to meet people and get involved in the community.

Lewis and Tammy have found an apartment for me on the west side of the city, not too far from their neighborhood. It’s small, but furnished and it will be nice to have my own space after living with so many people here at the Bible school. It’s just across the street from the Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium, so it might be a little noisy on Sunday evenings during the season. My apartment is one of the attic apartments on the fifth floor, but looking out of my window I am still not to the top of the massive pine tree just outside.

Well, I hope that everyone's summer is going well, and thank you for your continued prayers for the churches here in Italy. Dio vi benedica! (God bless you all!)