Three nights in a cave…

Three nights in a cave, something I thought I would never experience. The coming of the New Year is the most anticipated time of year in our country it is equated to Christmas for the West. One of the main differences is that over here we also run on the lunar calender which means that January 23 was the NEW YEAR! Every New Year children to adults travel to be home with their parents and family no matter how far the distance or the amount of time it takes. This year we were honored to be invited by some friends that we have become close with, to visit their home for this holiday.   People here are always shocked when we tell them that we are not going home(Canada) for this holiday.  They feel pity for us that we are so far from our families but also a sense of honor that we would stay here to experience what Spring Festival is all about.  All our friends told us was that it is about a seven hour train ride and he’s home city was smaller than the one we live in…we didn’t realize what we  were in for!

Waiting for the train was crazy! The energy of families returning home filled the station and we were no more than 3 inches from the next passenger. We waited for two hours until our train was boarding. By this time it was 11:20 p.m. and we were ready for bed. The gates flew open and there was a massive dash to be the first to board the train. After making it through we look for our two friends and their kids as they had made it through before us, we found ourselves weaving through the halls of the station until we get to our train. It was chaotic, as train whistles blew & people yelled.  R.was worried that we wouldn’t make it (she is nervous around trains after a traumatic experience in Russia where her group of 40+ need to board a leaving train)  But we are happy to report that no man was left behind! Upon boarding we realize our tickets were for standing and it set in that we will not be sleeping much. We felt like sardines and no matter where you go you we were always bumping someone or something. Our friend is a smooth talker and managed to get three seats for the six of us to rotate between this meant  we would at least get a bit of sleep. After what felt like an eternity (7 hours), we arrive at our destination. Our friends were ecstatic and their children couldn’t wait to see grandpa and grandma. We steped off the train at 5:30 a.m. to discover that it has snowed there and we have to wait in the train station until day light because the roads were too dangerous to try and get to their home.  This should have been our first clue but we were to tired and it was all lost in translation.  Oh did we mention, they don’t speak english or much of the national language which we studied. THey speak their local dialect.  YIPPPEE!!! Hand gestures and charades here we come!

The sun finally rose around 7:30 a.m. After a couple hours of sleeping on metal chairs we were ready to continue on. We all squish into a taxi and head out. 20 minutes into the journey we made a stop in a village that we thought was their home. It looked like a traditional village in our country and this is exactly what we were expecting.  It looked very similar to where we currently live and because we could image what to expected there was a sense of peace upon us.  What we didn’t realize is that this was just a necessary pit stop to pick up supplies that are not available where they live such as vegetables, tofu and fireworks. After this pit stop we found ourselves back into the taxi and on the go. We continue the drive and by now we found ourselves weaving through narrow-snow covered mountain roads not really sure where we are going, all sense of direction was lost. Half an hour went by and they announced we have arrived. We look out the window and all we see are mountains, though here the mountains and land are made of clay and not rock.  We glanced around and then shared this look of confusion and questing. “How could we arrive?  There are just mountains and caves?”

We grabed our bags out of the trunk, pay the taxi and he was gone. It was so quiet!  No honking horns, the hustle and bustle of people, no sound of construction.  Just pure silence. So silent that at times I thought I was de   We began the hike up the steep path to their home. Upon arriving at the top of this path we were met by four cows, a bunch of chickens,  a rooster, a couple dogs, and big pigs. We (A&R) are city folk and proud of it, so you can only imagine the looks that we exchanged with each other as we realized that for the next 4 days…. This was home. Not only did we get out of the city and go to the mountains we were going to LIVE IN the mountains.  ”Live in the mountains?”  You may ask… “what does that look like?”  Well, their homes are large caves which are dug out from the side of the clay mountains. One room which holds the family bed, kitchen and all the potatoes and pumpkins you could imagine.   His family was so hospitable and immediately showed us our bed and helped us settle in.  We were so overwhelmed with the simplicity of their lives and how they live.  One of the first things that looked different, besides that farm animals outside my bedroom window, were the  beds.  They sleep in “family beds” which are made of brick and stone, and underneath the bed is an enclosed fire to keep you warm while you sit and sleep on it.  The beds are the hub of activity. This is where the family sits, eats, sleeps and visits all together. Everything happens on the bed. The second thing we noticed was the bathroom which was  a hole in the ground outside behind the cows’ and pigs’ home!  It made for some chilly trips, if you know what I mean!  Dead of winter and just a hold in the ground… burrrrrrrbrrrr… Don’t get me wrong.  We are use to “weird” bathrooms its just that this one was so exposed, to all the elements and to another family who periodically would pep over the hill for a look at how the foreigner goes….After preparing ourselves for what we would experience the next few days, we dove in full force. We had a fantastic time visiting with the family, trying to understand the local dialect, as they don’t speak the common language, and of course found ourselves eating lots of interesting food. We were blessed to experience a very tradition New Years celebration with the special food, setting off fireworks, and just being with family. There were friendships formed beyond the language barrier and a greater understanding of the life of the local people.

Four days went quickly and as we were leaving Grandpa asked us to stay for three mores days. Upon informing him we weren’t able to he invited us back again and made us promise to call him when we had arrived back to the city safe and sound.  It was a hard visit as all the comforts of our life were stripped away.  No cellphone reception, no internet, no coffee (BOOHOOO!) no running water,  no many things… BUT what we gained was much more valuable.  We saw the true heart of this holiday and how it is celebrated among the rural community.  We were trusted enough to be brought home with a local family to celebrate the most important holiday which was a true honor.  We were the 1st foreigners that this extended family had ever met.    Our time with them went fast and just how we got there the same taxi came back to pick us up.  After good byes and firecrackers were set off (to ward of evil spirits and protect us on our journey home) we found ourselves weaving through the same windy roads and mountains realizing that our territory was just expanded a bit more over this great nation.  Through a weekend that we never thought we would experience but honored that our eyes could be opened to see more of makes us love this country so.

-A-

 

A New Year trip to the mountains

Here are a few photots from our trips to the mountains.

The kids loved playing soccer with a very flat basketball.

 

Little Lou Lou helping me feed the chickens.

 

Brothers & sisters sitting on the family bed making a tasty breakfast of Jao Zi (similar to steamed pork dumplings)

 

Our friends/hosts

Spending the afternoon playing on the ice.

Our friend, his mother and older brother.

 

Ye Ye & Nai Nai  (Granpa & Gramma)

 

Spring Festival Travel

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/16/world/asia/china-travel-discontent/index.html?hpt=hp_mid

(highlight, copy & paste the website to view)

I was just surfing CNN when I found this story.  After reading and watching this I made a vow to myself to never complain about flying back to Canada.  15 hours sitting on a plane is nothing in comparison!

-R-

 

Letter from a Migrant Worker…

Spring Festival is here! The start of the country’s peak travel period, known as the “Spring Rush”, has already begun. Historically, the rush to book transportation for the holidays is overflowing with frustration and hardship, with millions of people waiting hours, sometimes days, to secure a train ticket home. For many people, especially migrant workers, the Spring Festival is the only time during the year they can spend with their families, making the need to get home much more urgent. After years of realizing that something has been needed to be done, The countries Railways Ministry this year introduced new online and telephone booking systems. These were put in place to help minimize ticket scalping and long waits in line. While the new systems, still have some flaws that need to be worked out, for many in the country’s low-income migrant work force, they have made traveling during the Spring Festival more difficult than ever. Yesterday a local newspaper published a letter on its front page written by Huang Qinghong, a migrant worker who wanted to address the country’s top Railways officials, describing his difficulties buying a ticket home thanks to the new booking system. Below is a translation of excerpts from the letter as it appears online: http://www.businessinsider.com

“To the Leaders from Ministry of Railway: My name is Huang Qinghong, 37 years old. I have been working in W—en—sh City for over a decade. I have only seen you on TV, I don’t suppose I can get to see you ever. But I have a lot to say to you, that is why I wrote this letter. I have no idea where should I mail it to, then I think of the press. I hope the journalist in the press will make this seen. Today is the 4th time I come to the train station for ticket, just trying out my luck, but still not any. The staffs behind the ticket window told me time after time that tickets for the Internet and telephone booking released days earlier than window, once available, they are always sold out shortly, leaving no tickets for window. I know the purpose that Ministry of Railway put forth this online thing is to reduce the crowds in front of the ticket window. Now, it is true that there are less people lining up, and you must feel a big relief because now you can get off work early, go home and eat. But for us, the lining up overnight before at least contains the hope of getting a ticket, now, nothing. The more I think about it, the angrier I am, I really want to curse you Ministry of Railway! I am a driver in a hardware factory in W—en—sh City. There are 40 other workmates from the factory also dying for tickets, but none of them know anything about computer. Our boss sympathized us and tried to help us buy tickets online. Failed. It was either out of service of the website or out of tickets. Our boss also said, even if there are still tickets left, we still have to have something called online bank to make the payment. We are factory workers, not white collars, how the heck do we know how to open that? Whoever come up with the online booking idea, are they thinking with their toes. Leaders from Ministry of Railway, you guys can surf the Internet everyday, you can buy anything you want, but we can’t, we still have to worry about dinner everyday. We tried the telephone booking too. Every one of us dials in whenever we have time, we calls even when we are eating, but are never able to get through. There is only 1 workmate finally gets through the line after days of calling, he gets a ticket to J—an—li Province. He was so happy, all of us are so envied of him. Buying a ticket is almost like lottery. In the years before, as long as you wait in line, you can always get a ticket home, you just have to come early, the competing point is your energy. I always came lining up before dawn. This year, it is different. There is this online booking, it is too complicated for us, not practical at all. In fact, this is very unfair, we are now unqualified for buying a ticket. You can say: “oh, it is simple, you just have to learn to use the computer.” But for people like us who work days and nights, how do we make the time to learn about computer? And how do we afford something like computer? I have been working in W—en—sh City for more than a decade, I only go home every second year since it is too painful to get a ticket during the Spring Festival rush. Last year I didn’t go home, there was no family around me. The best I could do was making a phone call to them on Spring Festival Eve. I really want to go home this year. My wife went home a month ago for fear not able to get a ticket during the rush. My 60some years old parents have kept asking me when would I get home. My daughter is 6 this year, I haven’t seen her in a long time, don’t know if she’s taller, I wonder how many words can she read now. The train ticket home cost 190 yuan (30 Canadian dollars) , while the bus ticket costs 560 (90 Canadian dollars). I don’t want to take the bus, it costs several hundreds more. I wasn’t generous enough on my daughter before, the several hundreds I save from the ticket can be spent on my daughter then, and that is so much better. Every year around the Spring Festival, lining up for tickets is already a torturing for us migrant workers; but this year, even if we want this kind of torturing, there is no chance anymore. You leaders stay in the your air-conditioned office, lean on the couch, smoke some cigarettes, drink some tea then you come up with this online booking thing. Have you thought about us? Have you experienced the pain of buying a ticket. Now we don’t even have the ticket that require tens of hours of standing on the way home, we only have a anger of unfairness without no place to take it out. Huang Qinghong Jan 2nd, 2012.”

This year, as many as 185 million people are expected to travel during the week-long Spring Festival, which begins on January 23, up 21% from last year. Millions more are expected to travel on either side of the official holiday period, and the number of trips taken on the country’s railways is once again expected to exceed the total population of this great country.    WOW!!!

 

Old Fat Man VS. A Special Baby

This Christmas was exciting for us!  We brought Christmas to many people whom had never heard about it… When we asked…“ what do you know about Christmas?”  These were the top 5 answers.

1. Old Fat man ….(ok…. Santa Clause)
2. Christmas socks….(ok….. hummmm…. oh, stockings)
3. Christmas tree
4. A big bird….( Big bird?  Yellow, feathers?  oh….. Turkey)
5. Visiting with family

From our university classes, conversations with friends or Humanitarian projects  these were the top answers we received…  Do you notice something missing?  or should I say someone?  A special Christmas baby..  and no we don’t mean our friends (Amber & Matthew’s) new little arrival, Dax.  Although he is a very special Christmas baby, and pretty darn cute!  We’re talking about someone else. Although we could talk about his cuteness all day!    Over here they just grow up never hearing HIS name or how this Christmas season started.  It is really overwhelming when you think about it.  Generations only being able to bring to memory an Old Fat Man or a big bird.  So that is what we did this Christmas … We brought it!  To people, young & old whom had never heard!

Some of our best moments were…

•  Singing “we wish you a Merry Christmas” with 50 + rural village children in broken english. After teaching a fun, interactive english class all about this season.
•  Introducing & comparing the “historical figures” of Christmas (Santa VS. Jesus)
• Giving each student a candy cane and being able to wish them a Merry Christmas
• Sharing the Christmas story from many different platforms… (small groups, university classes, one – on- one, H.A projects)

Now that this festive seaons has come to an end we are both excited & tired (Thanks goodness for winter break!)  The tree is put away and all the decorations have come down. What’s next you may ask?  Now to develop what we started during the holiday season.  What will become of those lessons?  What will happen to all of those conversations we started ?  Only time and ‘thinking’ will tell….

 

A Look Back at 2011

 January 2011

 Training – February 2011

 Spring has come – March 2011

 Teaching Easter – April 2011

 Family Time – May 2011

Friends got married (& are now pregnant! yippeee!)  - June2011

O Canada we stand on guard for thee / Friend comes to visit & brings TREATS!!!- July2011

 R goes to Canada &   &  many village visits  - August  2011

 - Teaching Begins – September 2011

 Happy Birthday – October 2011

 - November Leaves 2011

   

( I met Noah over a year ago! Now he is healthy, strong and energetic.  The 1st time I met him he called me stranger… Now… I am Aunty)

Humanitarian Village visits to rural areas – December 2011

 

Roots & Blessings

It has been an incredible busy Christmas season full of many, many, many highs and just a few lows.  Looking back over the last month or so there are  just a few words to sum up how we feel.

1. Overwhelmed by opportunities ( an amazing thing!)

2. Blessed by moments of personal care & reminders (take a look at the message on the paper clips from someone special ….. just for me! To you it may be weird or random BUT to me I look for these special reminders in the weirdest of places )

3. Roots dug even deeper into our neighborhood and local friendships.

we are blessed… And as we start to share these stories and get back to our writing we are excited to have you take a look into our lives and what this Christmas seasons held… - R -

 

Star light, star bright….

Can you tell that we have been busy?  It has been weeks since our last blog!!  Its not that we have nothing it say.  Its just that we haven’t had a lot of time to put our thoughts down on paper… I mean computer screen.

We have been gearing up for the Christmas season.  LIke many others around the world… This is a big deal!  For you, it may be about turkey, friends, family, Santa and large gatherings and the historical reasons.  But over here it is about all those things and how to effectively sharing how we celebrate this “western” holiday with  our  300+ students.  So that plan is through teaching “Christmas classes”, hosting Christmas parties and giving gifts of meaning and significance.  It is during these lessons and parties we will share about “western culture” and how we celebrate but we also touch on the historical  aspect to this season.  Our house is all decorated and I must say for a country that does not celebrate we haven’t done too bad gathering decorations and even a fake tree!   It must be said that we miss our families, friends and large Christmas gatherings but in our new home here we do our best to create those special moments.  I guess no matter where in the world we find ourselves as long as that star shines bright on the top of the tree we are truly blessed. I love the star that we have on our tree.  It is glittery,  bejeweled and super ugly, since where we live now doesn’t do Christmas, there is no concept of what a “nice” star looks like.   BUT I love it! Really I do!  and at the end of the day it was all about the brilliance and beauty of that one star.  That one precious star….

 

My Dad LOVES you!

**  November 11, I found this blog hidden away on my computer.  Funny enough though I am sitting in that same favorite coffee shop in tears once again as I read this… Glad that this is going to be shared.. 

Sitting in the corner of one of my favorite coffee shops I know that it is now time to share this story that I have been putting off writing down for so long.  I think I needed time to let it sink in, absorb and time to mourn.  In a society where many adults have children so that one day these children or insurance policies will take care of them, provide for them and invite them into their home.  I was overwhelmed to see Grammy Mae continue to give to her daughter in such a powerful way . Don’t get me wrong!  Parents love their children BUT there is an unspoken agreement that children grow up with.  A pressure, a duty, something forced upon them.  Something that I still have a hard time understanding.  Last December (2010) I was first introduced to Grammy Mae and her daughter who was in kidney failure.  Grammy Mae is close to 80 years old and for the last 10 years she had been taking care of her daughters every need.  Grammy Mae and her daughter were both raised to be strong devoted Muslims who in recent years found another faith.  It was about 10 years ago her daughter was diagnosed with kidney problems that were serious but not so serious that medicine and treatments couldn’t have potentially cured or at least helped.   Living in the village and not making a decent income there was nothing they could do.  Medicine, treatments and doctors appointments  could not be afforded so it was something that she would just have to live with.  Upon receiving this diagnoses her husband left her realizing that she was going to be more trouble than she was worth.  He left her alone with absolutely nothing.  She, like most daughters turned to her mother who till recently has been her foundation and only care giver.  I entered Grammy Mae’s home last December armed with gifts, Christmas songs & a warm smile.  I walked into her 2 room shack noticing holes in the walls, bugs running around, a few blankets, precious belongings and not much else.  After giving her the Christmas gifts (food, oil, rice, gloves & candy) she told us that we mustn’t concern ourselves with her but to focus our *thoughts * towards her daughter.  Her daughter was in the back-room laying on a bed of boxes.  She looked awful!  Cold, slightly yellow and in a lot of pain.  Grammy Mae told us that her daughter had been laying there for 3 months and was no longer able to get up.  She told us how she washed her daughter 3 times a day using the same water over and over.  How she feed her mashed up rice and water but something even as simple as this was starting to be to hard for her to eat.  She told us how she thought of her, encouraged her and read from the Historical Books just for her.  Her daughter was no longer able to carry on a conversation longer than a few lines here and there but Grammy Mae didn’t mind.  Just as long as she was still listening to the promises that the she was speaking over her.  We directed our thoughts towards her, sang and smiled together entrusting it all into hands bigger than ours.

. … Fast forward to May 2011….

We had heard news that Grammy Mae’s daughter was now in hospital and just like we’ve been told before.. There was no hope for her… I went with 2 of our local staff to visit.  We brought milk, bread and fresh fruit which was all for Grammy Mae seeing as her daughter was only taking in basic fluids now.  Walking into a Village hospital here is like nothing I’ve experienced in Canada!  People everywhere in panic, yelling, screaming, running back and forth holding sick children, broken arms, blood pouring out of wounds or trying to locate loved ones.  It is intimating, extremely overwhelming and I just knew I could panic but there was no time to stop and panic as I had one thing on my mind.  I must get to Grammy Mae to smile at her and to tell her daughter that  我爸爸爱你/ My Dad love you.  I kept telling myself that over and over as a few times I was close to panic and fear.  It took almost 20 minutes to make it through the front doors and down a hallway where she was staying.  We found her room and when we walked in I did what I came there to do.  I smiled & Grammy Mae and reminded her daughter of what I needed to.  We stood around her bed and listened as she dug deep into her body for every breath.  We put our hands on her as we thought together about her health.  As these women talked about these issues in their local tongue there was a strong sense of a Bigger presence.  In her room there were three other sick women who were looking are way with looks that longed to be cared for in such a way.  So that is what we did. There was no holding back with these thoughts! They were loud, powerful and unafraid. June 24, Grammy Mae watched her daughter pass from this life into another.  I went back to her home a few days after this happened with appropriate gifts and my condolences.  I sat on a small wooden stool in her living room and listened as she described her daughters last days.  She told me that in the weeks following our last hospital visit her daughter got worst and worst.  She told me that the Doctor’s found favor with them and promised to do what ever they could to help.  She cried as she talked about all the money she borrowed from relatives and friends to help pay the hospital bills and how at the age of 80 she owes more money than she has ever known.   She talked about sitting at her daughters bed side 24/7 for over a month never leaving and how now her legs bothered her because there was no bed to lay down in.  Also about how everyday she would only eat one small bun and water because she could not afford proper food. It was then that Grammy Mae’s face turned happy as she said in a small excited voice, “She saw His face, she saw His face…”  She told us that in her daughters last moments on earth she lifted her hand up and with excitement started to yell, “ I see Him! I see Him!”  and then Grammy Mae  looked me in the eyes and said, “Her face went beautiful”.  I sat there, in Grammy Mae’s shack and cried with her. I couldn’t imagine… Grammy Mae’s told me that her faith was even stronger than before and that she was happy for her daughter.  She told us that her faith will get her through this and we shouldn’t be worried.  She shuffled over to her bed where her pillow was.   Under her pillow she pulled out a small tape player that had  faith songs and speaking on it.  She told us that every night when she is scared and lonely she will listen to it and that a bigger presence will come into her home and she is no longer afraid.  That afternoon I spent time directing my thoughts now to Grammy Mae. Thinking of physical strength as her body is so weak, Thinking of emotional support as she is lonely, Thinking of protection as she is so vulnerable. We left frail Grammy Mae sitting on her bed eating a banana and like always I turned one last time to offer my good bye greeting..  

“Good bye Grammy Mae, 我爸爸爱你/ My Dad love you!.”

What will the future hold for Grammy Mae?

A women who outwardly is weak and tired but inside burns with passion and a love for all the right things.  I feel blessed to have journeyed with Grammy Mae and her daughter.  They taught me about passion and perseverance through whatever situation and a unshakeable faith.  I just wish you could hear her sing!

- R-

 

It’s about the journey….it’s about the journey

Today was a day filled with friends, fun, and exercise. It was my 3rd opportunity to participate in an organized run in our city (the only one in the year) but this year was a little different.

It started off with the training. I decided I wasn’t going to. I figured I would just do my best the day of and be happy with that. This plan was thwarted when one of my local friends (a fellow teacher at our university) decided he was going to do the run and he asked if I would train with him. I had wanted to started building a friendship with him for awhile now but never had the opportunity, so this was it.

Now came the distance factor. THe previous two years I had happily done the half marathon. I love this distance, not to long, not too short, and it’s a good challenge. Seeing as we were only starting to train about two weeks before the race I knew this would not be a year for a personal best. Anyways, we ran three times a week for those two weeks and each time maybe only an hour. Still not sure what distance we had been registered for (it was done for us) we were prepared for anything.

The training was great! Through many conversations, as we ran circles on the university track, we realized we had many of the same interests from what we like studying, to movies, to sports, to job preferences. It really felt like the Father has aligned this as we have really been hoping to meet some local friends who we could start to build deeper relationships with. Also, he can speak very fluent English (a bonus when we want to build a deeper relationship with someone).

So the training journey was great. This is not where I needed to continually say over in my head…”it’s all about the journey, it’s all about the journey”. This came along with race day. For anyone who knows me, they know I am slightly competitive. So we head out to the race and we find out we are doing the 5km run. I get excited because I remember last year thinking if I do the 5km, I could potentially get a prize. So we line up to start and the gun goes off. We start off at a pretty strong pace and I don’t know if my friend will make it at this rate, but we keep going. We reach the halfway point and turn around. When we are at about the 3/4 mark he starts to fade. Our pace starts to slow and some of the people who we worked so hard to pass start passing us. The run turns to a walk and he says, “You keep going, I’ll meet you at the end”. Then it hits me, ” It’s about the journey, it’s about the journey”. So I suck up my competitive spirit and walk with him. After a few minutes of deep breathes and encouragement we continue along the way. When we are about 5oo meters from the finish line an older gentleman passes us by and I tell my friend there is no way we will let him beat us. Through much encouragement and pushing I get him to pick up his pace and we pace the older man along with a few others to make it to the finish line.

After some cooling down, resting, catching our breathe and participating in an interview for a documentary about our city (ya, it was weird) we head out for lunch with some friends before we all head home. Everyone always says it’s all about the journey and today it never really struck me until I was on my way home and I got a text from my friend. It read “thanks! You are such a good friend. I enjoyed running with you today. Your encouragement meant a lot to me. Thanks”.

This is when it hit me. If I had chosen the finish line over the journey, I would have missed that opportunity to show him what I believe a true friend to be. How many other times have I missed those opportunities because my eyes have been too focused on the finish line?

-A-