Arrival

Grace and peace to you, my brothers and sisters far away!

I arrived in China a week ago yesterday, early in the morning. Then I was still waiting for another plane ride with Hannah Klusmeyer, Lisa Nickle, and my roommate David Blumer. We were just itching to arrive at our new homes, to settle down and get to the Work. I am still adjusting, but I suppose that, to a greater or lesser extent, I will be doing that for most of my stay here.

It is hard to think that I have been here for a full week in China, and yet it's only been one week. So many things have happened since I arrived here. I have been bl-ssed to meet many friends, some of whom are returning teachers here in Wuhan; others are our Chinese friends, a few who are already followers of the Way. I had the privilege of attending ch-rch with the Chinese, and although I understood very little of what was said, my heart was refreshed to see the brothers and sisters here in this country. I proudly raised my voice in honor of our mutual King.

I live in Wuhan, a city of 10 million s0uls. The vast majority of them know nothing of the Good Book. This struck me particularly hard when one of my students told me that as her English name she chose "Monkey" in part because our ancestors were monkeys. Or when I visited a Buddhist temple in town only to find that it is still actively used, even by young people. Those are just two instances, and in a week at that. This place, too, needs to hear the Good News of G-d's Kingdom.

The fact that I have students also implies that I have a job. I've been through a few radical changes in that regard. At first I was promised that I would be teaching university level students. Then I was told that I would only be teaching one day a week at the university, and I would be teaching every other week in a primary school. I have since then been hired full-time by two universities in the area to teach Oral English; I taught my first class on Wednesday. Although my salary is desirable (as I will be making a fair sum of money more than I may need--which will be useful, because I intend to travel outside of my city while I'm here), I still do not have a "full" schedule. I teach six hours of class on Wednesday, eight on Friday (at a different university, where I will also be teaching on Fridays), and four hours on Friday. Considering that I am teaching college, that may seem like a lot, but I will be teaching the same lesson pretty much all three days, so that will require less prep time.

I bought a bike here in Wuhan. It seems a little small, but I'm told that it is a popular brand from Beijing. It's called a "Flying Pigeon." Aside from the fact that I'm adjusting to navigating in big city traffic, it has been very useful to me. Biking here is an excellent mode of transportation because you can literally drive wherever you want as long as you don't cause an accident. Cars have to obey the rules, but bikers can be seen on the sidewalks, riding in either direction on the street, walking up hills...And it's impossible to mention biking without bringing up dinking. Dinking is when a second (or third, in some cases!) passenger rides on the back of the bike sitting above the wheel with legs "perpendicular" to the actual length of the bike. My little experience dinking (I was, of course, the one doing the dinking, not being dinked), tells me that after you learn to adjust to the added weight, it is easier. I am still not very good, but I hope to be something of a pro by the time I leave. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that, but I hope to upload them at another time.

I should also mention something of my apartment. David and I share a nice, 3-bedroom apartment. We have air control in two of the bedrooms and the living room, which is quite spacious. David and I played rock-paper-scissors to determine who got the "master" bedroom (or the large bedroom), and I won, so I have a nice, big bed and a spacious room. The bathroom smells like sewage, so we keep the fan in there running constantly, but we're hoping to find some air freshener sometime soon. Our kitchen is not in the greatest repair, but we have all we need and more. G-d has richly provided for us in this country like He always does.

Pr@yers go out to all of you. Please continue to pr@y for me, that He may use me as His instrument here in China, and that all peoples everywhere may bend the knee and acknowledge Him as the L*RD. Until that Day, may He continue to be with us all.