Number One Son reports: I'm antsy today, I have a lot of responsibility to see that things go smoothly. Honorable Uncle told me to get to the site we were visiting today by 2pm, since it closes at 4, but we didn't get to the hotel until 2:30pm and get rooms until 3, we took taxi to world famous gate. They didn't allow us to take our bags on top, so we took turns watching over the bags and going up on the gate. We finished there and meandered up the 1000 ft passage only to find that they had shut down the ticket counters for today! Our customer really wanted to go to Nat'l History Museum, so we went there, but it was shut down; everything was closing -- what now?? We decided we will walk down toward nat'l numismatic museum -- then we changed our minds and decided to go to the famous elegant shopping district -- I got video of stuff all over the center of the city. I had a very interesting time, and got some most interesting video and very interesting pictures I'll share with you later.
On the way down there, we walked down to other end of of the city square and then realized that the shopping district started at the other end, so we walked back to other end, couldn't have been more than a mile or two :-) -- We finally got to the shopping district, stopping at the huge fancy mall we went to as a family a couple of years ago. I had skipped breakfast and had airline food (Did you have squid slice this time? - Honorable Mother) for lunch. We were both hungry, so we stopped and got some sweet stuff at that wonderful bakery there. I got the things I miss. I went to a place that was a Coldstone Creamery clone and got a cherry smoothy and then went somewhere else and got a garlic and oregano bagel. The customer got a sandwich, mango smoothy and tiramisu cake. I found out that he is a music afficiando - all sorts, jazz, classical, lots of things. We saw a music and dvd store. It actually looked like legal copies of things - nice labels with everything spelled correctly. It was more than street prices, but a whole lot less than western prices. We looked around for a while. I ended up just getting sound track cd from Return of the King. He got a couple of cds. We walked down the main part of the shopping street just watching people and looking around. We got to the other end and sat down in front of the cathedral. We talked for a bit and I found out his parents are Catholic, but he doesn't attend church. We got to see the thing where they strap folks into a capsule and fling them into the air on bungie cords. Watched that for a while, We were both beat, so we started talking about dinner: We can go to a favorite restaurant [that has a branch in both cities] or go eat Peking Duck.
We walked back down to our favorite restaurant there - I felt really weird ordering, I tried to get input from the customer, but he is extremely amiable. It is so hard to tell the difference between being happy and just going along with it. I am trying to plan ahead and think ahead without being overbearing and controlling. Please pray I don't inadvertently offend him! I am having trouble reading him. Yes, I am trying to be the perfect Bunter, Mom. [Bunter, the most excellent butler of Lord Peter Wimsey in Dorothy Sayers' books - if you don't know them, you ought to!]
So, we ate at [restaurant] and it was $32 for the two of us!! [At a very nice restaurant]. They brought us appetizers - boiled peanuts - it was challenge time - who can pick them up? I ordered the sauteed beef and sliced garlic which we had the other day in my "home" city. Wonderful! High quality steak chopped into one inch cubes, very thin slices of garlic sauteed into carmelization, with onions and peppers. I chose an order of ["home" city] pork dumplings, which they do so well, but I really wish I knew what dish we had the first time I went this summer: fried noodles in patty, sliced, with something like marchand du vin sauce on top - wow! There were not as many pictures in this city's menu, so it was harder to order. I ordered crispy noodles in a certain style - a pizza like patty about nine inches in diameter of crispy noodles with spring onions cut in pie wedges served with a container of sugar and one of vinegar. How in the world to eat it???? We managed to eat it rather messily :-) I worried if I had ordered enough, but the only thing we actually finished was the dumplings. I ordered braised veggies with mushrooms and they were good mushrooms. Plenty of food. Yes, by that point, I'd gotten a feel for how things were there, so I got some longjing tea. I drank a tea pot full in addition to two cokes. I did hand him the wine menu, and he glanced over it, while I ordered a coke, then he said, "I think a coke, too."
After we ate, he said, "Let's go back to the hotel, we're both beat." I suggested, "Hey, let's have them drive around the famous square on the way." He said, "Ok", so we did and it was all lit up! It was spectacular! Told driver in the patois, where to turn each time to take us around the square. It took about 10 minutes and I videotaped all the way. Then I told the driver to take us to the hotel. The customer insisted on paying for half the taxi, but I paid for all other expenses, per orders.
The customer seemed excited tonight. I negotiated for a car for all day tomorrow to take us to a unique world heritage site. They wanted to charge $13 more to go to another site as well and they wouldn't let you pay by the time, but wanted you to pay by the trip. Okay, I arranged for a car and driver just to the site. "What kind of car is this?" I asked as Honorable Uncle asked me to. "Maybe a [junky car used for taxi]." I said that was no good, maybe an Audi instead. The concierge winced, but we finally negotiated for $112 for the driver to pick us up at 8am and wait until we were ready. Drive us the 80 or 90km to the site and wait for us there until 4pm at the latest and drive us back. So glad that is over! I was pretty anxious about negotiating that!
Aug. 12, 2007 - Big Opportunity, Big Need for Prayer
Number One Son has been given a great honor and great responsibility. He was told Saturday that he'd be leaving Monday morning to take an important customer to a huge tourist destination in Asia to show him the sights as his guide and translator. They have flight and hotel reservations, but Number One will be responsible for all meals, engaging drivers and guides, arranging for travel to a far away must-see place and more, since the customer doesn't know a word in the local language. It's a huge responsibility for a kid his age. Please pray that Number One Son would have wisdom and discretion: that he would respresent the company well and show the customer an enjoyable time, that he would have discernment to choose honest, safe drivers and guides, that they would both be kept safe and that he would represent our Lord well. He's really getting thrown in the deep end this summer!
I changed some money this morning--a lot of trouble, wish I had just used my ATM card--and then went to the markets. Spent a good bit--but this is my next-to-last weekend over here, figured it was worth it. I went to the expat church at 4, then got a new camera battery and supper in my neighborhood. I was planning to do a lot more, but I ran out of my money (in local money, that is) and my taxi card was getting dangerously low, so I figured the Lord must not want me on the streets tonight, so I came home and have been packing
I felt bad not staying out late tonight, but first I was low on money, so I went to find a bank, but the bank was closed. And the hotel told me they didn't offer that service, even though they had an electronic exchage board on the wall! And I thought, well, at least I can go back to the mall and get some ice cream with my prepaid card I had. But I found I had left that at home. And I thought, well, I can at least go down to the [famous site] and get some photos at night. But then I realized that my taxi card had a reserved deposit on it, and so I couldn't just spend it out. So I thought--maybe the Lord just doesn't want me out tonight--no other clear reason why I can't seem to be able to spend anything, even though I have access to tons of money. But that's OK.
I went to some of the fake markets today--had a pretty good time. I got (don't tell her) my little sister a second string of pearls (cultured of course, but still pearls), this one pink. And I bought myself another sword--a really interesting curved Japanese-style sword made of steel and black ABS plastic. And a brass abacus keychain for my backpack or something. Not junk, interesting stuff. I actually spent about $100 today--but it was worth it--I didn't spend it on junk (besides, it was mine and Honorable Uncle doesn't even know about it). [N.B. Honorable Uncle has a horror of buying junk, defined as anything not made by a worldclass company.]
I really loved shopping for the pearls--you ought to see the way they sell them here. Nothing fancy. I went to this market that was mostly 4- and 6-feet deep shops with roll-up doors. And found a place where a husband-and-wife team had a shop with folding tables in front of their slot under big umbrellas. They just lay out these huge bunches of pearls on the table--they're all about 10" strings, with the ends of the strings woven together. Three rows of these bunches, size by size, with about 8 different choices in each row--pink, dark (black), white, an off-white golden cream, etc. Actually the rows are price comparisons--i.e. you have nicer more regular small ones and larger imperfect ones in each row. And then when I picked out the string--they pulled that string out of the weave and laid it in a lined box. Then the lady unstrung them and restrung them individually on a new string with a clasp. Even at wholesale cultured prices, there had to be several hundred dollars of pearls spread across the table. You want to look at them--they hand you the rope. It was really interesting--I think I enjoyed it more than if I had been buying it out of satin-lined cases in a jewelry store. I did take a couple pictures--don't know how they turned out.
I got a second battery for my camera tonight--a drop-in replacement for about $14. You never really know what you're buying, and it's an inordinate amount of fun. Now I need to buy some jade and tea. That's next weekend, I guess.
Honorable Mother then suggested he ask Honorable Aunt about jade - it's extremely hard to tell what you have got in jade. Number One Son replied: Well--Honorable Uncles's answer would either be buy it at Cartier's or you can't buy it at all. Sometimes I don't mind getting the inferior grade, though, if that's all I can get--I couldn't afford natural, wild-caught pearls. I was gonna try to get down to [the market] again today and try to buy a cross like the one I broke. But I don't want to show it to Honorable Uncle, as then he'd ask how much I paid for it--and while I don't think I overpaid too badly, at least at US prices, he would--nothing exists for him without a certificate of authenticity. I sort of feel that I'm better off buying what I want with my money and no questions asked. Not like I'm planning to invest in world-class jade. I just want a couple of decent curios
Pray for me--and continue to pray after I get back from this trip. Some days I feel like I've done great and seen a lot this summer, other days I feel I haven't made what I should have of this opportunity. I guess it's somewhere in between--and thinking about it--I guess perhaps my worry is in whether I lived up to my own expectations--the Lord will make what he wants to out of it. I'll just be worrying a lot in this last week or two. I don't want to ruin what time I have left. I mean, I'm worrying tonight about whether I made the right choice turning back and coming home--I know I've made plenty of not-great choices and wasted plenty of time, but on the other hand I've seen and done (and especially experienced) a lot. I keep reminding myself that I'm living on my own for the first time, working a full-time high-pressure job.
Honorable Mother reminded him that, "I seriously doubt this is your last time in [that country]. We are in business with them now. We may all be travelling many times there."
Number One Son answered: I hope and pray so. Funny thing is how things change. At one point not too long ago I agonized over the possibility of the Lord sometime calling me to live over here in the Kingdom work. Now that doesn't scare me nearly as much--I would almost welcome it for itself. Not saying I don't miss home--just I've come to love here too. Well, goodnight!
Aug. 11, 2007 - A Narrow Escape from the Pirates of the East China Sea and the Curse of the Japanese Haircut
Number One Son had been telling his Honorable Uncle for a while that he needed a haircut and asking him where to go. Well, when the decision to send him on the trip with the customer was made, the haircut gained priority! So...
Honorable Aunt and Honorable Uncle decided to take him to the Japanese Spa where they have their haircut. Honorable Uncle told Honorable Aunt, "Now make sure they don't make him look fifty years old! Make them give him a young haircut. Now, he doesn't have to look 17, tell them to make him look, say, 22." Aunt says, "Something stylish.' Uncle says, "Yes, [son] you'll have plenty of time to look conservative when you get a job, enjoy the freedom of being a student." Number One Son starts to get concerned. "I think he needs some blonde highlights around his face," says Aunt. Uncle retorts, "Maybe just go blonde entirely." Number One Son is getting alarmed now. Aunt suggests, "Blue highlights are very popular now." Number One Son is getting very alarmed indeed. "No, purple would be better," she says.
At this point they pull up to the Japanese Spa and go in. Lo and behold all the male hairdressers have these, um, pompadors. Number One Son, you have to understand, is Mr. Conservative. He starts looking for exits. Honorable Aunt smiles a kind of disquieting smile and unleashes a flood of language on the attendant. Honorable Son wonders what he will do if they bring out the hair dye - deck him and run? He watches carefully through the whole ordeal - what are they doing??? Will he have to shave his head in Detroit on the way home? Bald is infinitely preferable to purple in our church.
Unable to bear the suspense, Honorable Mother jumps in, "But how would you have known if it was dye - you probably couldn't read the package??" "Oh no! I didn't think about that! But, it's okay, mom, it's a little unusual, but not too un-Western looking. It's not purple! Or highlights - horrors!"
We haven't shared too much on the blog lately, because we've been traveling with limited internet access. I wanted to give you an update, though.
Number One Son got an unpleasant surprise last night when his uncle took him to a restaurant known for its focus on the looks of its waitresses. When Number One Son realized where they were, he decided he just wouldn't look at the waitresses. Their waitress ragged him unmercifully for not looking at her. Number One thought, "Two can play that game." He said he decided to just do like his two-year-old sister does when she's mad at him: "I just pretended she didn't exist. Just utterly refused to acknowledge her existence at all. It was pretty funny." Guess they'd never met anyone who was a manly man and yet had made a covenant with his eyes.
Aug. 4, 2007 - Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired
I'm sorry you haven't heard much from Number One Son this week. We (and he) have been frantically busy on business this week. Then, Friday morning when Number Two Son called him, Number One Son sounded Terrible! He had gotten an awful sore throat and head cold. It was tough, but he sucked it up and went to the gym and to work. When he got to work, hardly anyone was there, but they trickled in over the afternoon. Honorable Uncle and Honorable Aunt got in about 4 and Honorable Uncle called Number One Son into his office for an assignment. He looked so terrible, that Uncle even parted with some of his secret stash of Tylenol Cough and Cold (a rare occurence, there are just some things that are hard to find in Asia :-) After looking at him awhile, he said, "Look, the driver is coming to take you to the subway station. Can you make it home by subway?" Son said he could manage it, grabbed McDonald's for the third time that day (if you are too busy to stop and eat in, but you can't eat street food like the populace, just like here, McDonald's is the place).
Honorable Uncle told Number One Son to just stay home Saturday and "don't make me sick" (He just got over a two week awful cold - I don't blame him), so Number One slept in yesterday. In the morning, he called the leader of a Christian student group he'd been given the contact for (providentially another student in the online AP course he just signed up for is from his city!) He found out where their fellowship was meeting, grabbed some lunch and a taxi and set out to find them. Unfortunately, the taxi got LOST - really LOST and Number One didn't have a map, so feeling sicker and sicker, he gave up and went home. Good decision, though he was sad to miss the meeting -- he fell asleep and slept for 12 hours.
Sunday morning (I know I am posting on Saturday night, remember it is Sunday morning his time!) he got up and was STARVING - so he went to KFC for taquitos. They have three kinds - pork sausage, pork floss (like dried pork dust) and shrimp and egg. He didn't order the shrimp but got one anyway and it was pretty good.
He's not sure what he'd like to do today. He doesn't feel like doing anything, but it seems a waste to stay in on a (1) free, (2) pretty, and (3) not too hot day in his city! He's thinking of going to the expat service, and perhaps taking the time to video the apartment and neighborhood so he can show it to us when he gets home.
Please pray Number One Son gets well quickly and has a profitable testimony among his family and co-workers. His time is growing shorter, just a few more weeks; please pray for God's wisdom and blessing on our young man.
Hong Kong! It was visa renewal time and everyone had been working very hard lately, so Number One Son went to Hong Kong with Honorable Aunt, Honorable Uncle, LIttle Cousin, Grandmother, Tiny Cousin, etc. He rode the Star Ferries, went to Kowloon, spent a day at Ocean Park, visited Disneyland HongKong and more. He had lots to say about Disneyland, but I'll let him share that with you later!
Witnessing in this country in Asia is difficult. You can't talk to people in a group, because one of them might report you and out you go - if you are a foreigner, if you are a native, in you go - to prison! You have to be very cautious in who you talk to in order to either maintain anonymity or to establish enough relationship that you know it is safe. Relying on the leading of the Holy Spirit is very important. Number One Son had a great opportunity today that he reports by a secure channel:
"Get this--I got to spend the whole trip home tonight witnessing to someone. I pulled out my laptop and fired up my music. Normally I do this with headphones, but I hadn't hauled them out yet. And he was OK with it, so I just played it on speakers. A while down the way, I thought--let me tell him it's Christian music. So I got out my dictionary. And figured out how to say that. I followed it with 'I am a Christian.' He replied that his mother and father were Christians! When I asked him whether he was religious, he said no, but he told me about them. Does he speak english then? No--all in this language. With the help of Langenscheidt's! [Dictionary] Anyrate, I ended up telling him that I listened to this music when I was sad, and played one song. And then when I am happy, this song. It was somewhere in here that we got delayed where we usually have clear sailing -- I figured that is typically known as a signal: ...slow... making the trip longer. So I kept going, and eventually figured out how to tell him that this music praises and worships Jesus, and I sing, I am praising Jesus. [Son says, "I love Lord Jesus" in the local language here.] About then we got back to my neighborhood -- it took a while to figure out much of this in Langenscheidt's. Oh, and I told him some other things-- [Son said the rest in the local language and Honorable Mother's translation skills are not up to getting it right for you - I do know it was about the Lord's love for us.] This man is always glad to help, very friendly, never irritable, even when I try his patience]. He's the one that originally showed me about getting around. He's about as close to a friend as one can get if you share <200 words We've tried some linguistic explorations before, but this is far beyond. Well, I was praying the whole way, especially after he said his mother and father were Christians. We've added a significant number of words to the netlanguage between us! Thanks and keep praying.
Wild WiFi is the term Number One Son has come up with for WiFi you can tap into in a restaurant or public space that isn't traceable to your machine. This is a treasured thing (hence the rash of internet cafe closings every few months) because there is no privacy there and anything you access from your home can be used against you. Number One Son sat in an internet hamburger joint last night until they were done cleaning up just to enjoy the wild wifi. WiFi's changing the world, folks. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Sometimes knowledge comes in new ways - pray for our brethren.
"The back streets are all full of tiny little store fronts cheek by jowl all along the street. They are each only about 15 square feet! There are lIttle tiny lumberyards with outlets, wiring, switches, just what you need for home repairs. There are clothing stores, little produce stores that look like the produce section teleported out of Lowe's, even a cobbler of handmade fine shoes. A lot of the things that we buy at the big box retailers are bought here at separate little stores. They have huge electronics malls with tons of little stores that specialize in one or two aspects of electronics. If you ask a proprietor for something they don't have, they run and buy it from their competitor at wholesale then bring it back and sell it to you. There's so much opportunity to start up a small business here. One disadvantage, though, is that you don't often see the high end stuff at these little retailers; they don't sell enough to keep it in stock. Then again, now that I think about it I see the same thing at home. I certainly can't find professional editing software at Best Buy. Here, though, even the upper midrange stuff is a little hard to find."
"The market here has discovered how to fake an iPod. There are fakes all over the place. The only recognizable difference I can see is that the fakes have a standard usb port instead of the proprietary one."
"I apologize about not sending more pictures, I have been very busy. I'll try to take and send more this month! I hope today is not as busy - I literally haven't had time to eat lately!"
At this point, the taxi pulled up to the office and he said, "I'm not sure I want to ride with that driver again. In the 15 minutes it took to get here, she almost hit two bicyclists!"
This morning Number One Son announced, "I know why I'm always so tired and sleepy and can't think straight at work! It's environmental hypoxia!" What????? Evidently that's the hot new topic among office denizens in his city: how many office buildings are not adequately ventilated and the indoor air quality gets bad. "Seriously, mom, things get a lot better in the evenings when most of the employees leave!" I don't know. I think it could be the fact that he's getting about 5 hours of sleep at night, whatcha think?
Number One Son reports that there doesn't seem to be any significant governmental or commercial presence. Rather, garbage is collected by men who negotiate with the garbage producers to take away their broken things to sell for scrap or to repairmen, their paper or cans to recycle, whatever can possibly be used - and a lot more can be used than we think! You constantly see people dragging little two wheel carts full of neatly stacked lumber they have scavenged from somewhere to sell to folks who need scrap lumber. There is also always someone standing on the steps of the train station to ask you for the newspaper you're done reading or the water bottle you just finished off. It's interesting to see a place where garbage collection is a microbusiness!
Number One Son reports that he had an opportunity to stand for right last night. He says, "I had to disagree with _______ pretty firmly last night." He was just cutting apart a roll of fabric, one of those busy hands, empty minds jobs when someone we've been concerned about came up and started talking about how wonderful the culture of India was - so family centered, so religious. He said, "I felt more religious in India at Christmas than anywhere else."
Number One Son said, "I see what you are saying, but I feel sorry for people caught in that system." and he talked about the caste system and the untouchables, the persecution of Christians and the missionary burned to death with his sons. "I told him that actually they are not very tolerant of other religions. He answered back dismissively that almost all religions have something like that in the past. I said, 'No, I was talking about 1997.' That really took him aback. 'India is a dark culture full of darkness, slavery, and serious problems. I admire the good things they have done - Ghandi, etc, but it is still a dark culture.' He tried to dismiss some of it with 'Theres no experience like first hand experience, I've lived there. All you know is someone else's experience. I talked to him about the dacoits and the thuggery cult in the past and the other things that a surface examination of their culture does not show. I wasn't inflammatory, just had to speak the truth."
Please pray for those Number One Son is living and working with that the Lord would give them eyes to see and ears to hear. We love them so much, and feel so grieved that they see nothing unique in the sacrifice of Christ. Please pray!
The other night, Number One Son was finally able to meet with an acquaintance of Honorable Mother who is in country spreading the good news to children. If you'll remember, he had an appointment earlier in the week that was superseded by work. He had dinner with her and her daughter, two other teachers from America, and a local couple who were believers. He said it was so pleasant to enjoy the fellowship of the brethren! Their conversation was limited because of the public venue, but one of the teachers literally passed him some literature under the table. He really enjoyed seeing the daughter because it made him think of what his little sister would be like in a few years. He said, "I almost never see any Western children here." An oasis of fellowship in a dry and thirsty land!
"I attended the expatriate service this afternoon - it is restricted to foreign passport holders. Foreigners may worship here without restriction. It had contemporary music, all in English. It was very strange to be standing here in this city singing "God of Wonders". We sang about ten songs. "Temptations Common to Men" was the subject today. It was good, probably stuff I needed to hear. After service I got contact information for the cell groups but don't think I'll be able to get to them - they mostly meet Friday evening at 7:30pm, but I'm never off work by that time. Another cell group meets on Sunday morning, though. I might make that, if I don't go to an indigenous church."
Everyone here seems to carry around water bottles, but it is not so elsewhere! In Number One Son's temporary home, every one carries around a bottle of green tea. No, not like the plastic bottles of lipton green tea available at your local Wal-mart, They think of that stuff the same way a good Southerner thinks of instant ice tea - maybe in a bomb shelter, or on a space walk, but please! No, they carry a sports bottle or jug or just a jar from home with loose green tea leaves in the bottom and refill it with hot water all day as necessary. All the water coolers (which are everywhere people live and work because even the locals don't drink tap water) have hot water, usually only. They consider it unhealthy to drink cold drinks.
Green tea in the Orient is a whole 'nother animal than what we can get over here. I always hated green tea before we went there - so bitter tasting. Well, the lady at the tea plantation told us that what they sell in America is the old, stale floorsweepings :-) because Americans can't tell the difference. Well, I can! Green tea in its natural habitat is a mild, gently-sweet beverage that is made from whole, fresh (prepared by a sort of dry-wok cooking) leaves and needs no sugar or anything else. It is only brewed for a very short time and is very light and refreshing.
And then there's the special teas - what fun! Number One Son took the picture above at a fancy tea shop in his travels. They had all sorts of special and unique teas. Number One Son described one made of dried flower buds that opened when you put them in hot water! I love the flower tea my sister-in-law brought me from Asia! Maybe we can share some one day!
"The free market is wonderful. I went into an electronics mall to get a new usb sound card. I looked around and tried to avoid the sellers - if you look for more than 3 seconds they hound you. I looked in one store a second too long and the young man working there kept asking me what I wanted and did I want this and that. I kept waving him off and saying, "No, no" in his language. Finally he said, "Have pity on me and tell me what you want." It was hilarious the way he said it, kind of a King James construction of "Aw, come on!" I told him what I was looking for and he asked how much I wanted to pay. I knew if I told him I would pay at least that, probably more, but I thought, "Hey, I'll just use what I saw on eBay for a bargaining chip." I told him, "On eBay I could get it for [$4.50-$5.00]."
"Let me go check. I'll have to go to another shop and see what I can find," the seller says. He literally runs off and comes back carrying a little usb sound card. He says, "I bought it for [$5.00], I need money, I'm a student, I will sell it for [$6.25]." I tell him I'll buy if I can try it first. "Okay!" and I open up my laptop and try it right there."
This guy showed a wonderful entreprenuerial spirit. He didn't have it what I want, so he tracked it down, bought it, came back and bargained, and did it with such a great attitude - running off to get it, cheerful, with a laugh, that I bought it! After I bought it, he said, "What else can I get you?" You have too much in that bag - I have bags over here! What about a mouse for that laptop?" His attitude was just so pleasant and fun while being persistant, that I really enjoyed the purchase.
Very fun. A great entreprenuerial experience. Very, very interesting to see the pervasiveness of entrepreneurialism here."
I caught Number One Son in a curry restaurant in the basement of a mall enjoying Pork Chop Curry -- he said it was so good that we're going to have to learn to make it! He says:
"I got to this blog today for the first time. It was great! I was so thankful y'all are doing that. I haven't had time to journal and this is such a relief to me to know it's all getting put down there!! I accessed it at this little internet cafe near a police station (and it's odd what is accessible and what isn't - strange to test things out right there). It is right good for lunch. They have set menus that range from $2.50 to $4.50 for a meal and drink. This one has western and eastern stuff - I've eaten everything there from portuguese pork chops to chicken cordon bleu. This is about as cheap as you can get western food - WiFi and cheap meat - how much better does it get?"
"It looks like the mall is closing, so I'd better scoot out and see if I can get some peach ice cream before they close. Curry and ice cream -- comfort food! The things I've missed the most are not american food, but the wonderful ethnic food that our family loves to make at home like mexican and curry."
"Uh oh! The ice cream shop's closed and the escalators shut down - it's time to leave - only 3 or 400 folks left in the mall. :-) Maybe I'll go to McDonald's and get some nine lives juice and a mcflurry cone. Nope, I'll get something dessertish at KFC [which are everywhere here]. Okay, they've got an ice cream sundae with green goop poured over it. I have got to try it. Let me see what it is? Uh oh! Forgot my change! It's not much - less than a dollar - but I appreciate their honesty. I can not tell what this is -- some kind of fruit in it - it has jelly-like sections that are obviously fruit and green stringy stuff, too. What in the world is it?? There's not much on the menu that's the same as home."
"I'm heading home now. Will get home in about 20 minutes. I'm at the subway station and trying to decide whether to take the subway or walk. I think I'll walk. It was raining this evening and now it is horribly humid. So hot. Uh oh! They've closed my exit. I'm in no danger of being shut in - there are hundreds here, just they close the lesser used doors first. The climate a little better in the station than the streets so I want to get as close to my direction as I can. I don't want to go out this exit - I'd have to cross the street, let me look for another exit."
"I get fooled by the size of buildings. You can see buildings from so far away and they look so close, then you start walking and it's a ten minute walk away. I'm almost home by now. I do live in a gated building, but I have no idea how the security works - I've never had to show anything :-) but then again, I'm instantly recognizable around here." [He's huffing and puffing from the exercise.]
"I find myself feeling stiff all the time. The job has been way tougher than I imagined. I'm working harder and longer than I ever thought I could. I'm okay, though. I'm not run over today. Getting off an hour and half early [he got off at about 8:30pm] covers a multitude of sins. I feel like I don't even have time to breathe in the day time. I get up at 6:30 and get going and I generally don't get home until 11pm or later. I got up earlier this morning - still later than I like - but early enough that I was able to have a relatively calm morning, so it's been a pretty good day."
"I am learning I am not cut out psychologically to live alone. It is really hard to eat by yourself staring across an empty table two meals out of three. Tired of talking to myself, so to speak. I only come in regular contact with one regular English speaker."
"I asked for an evening off to meet with one of Mama's friends (who is their visiting with our brothers and sisters in the assembly) for dinner and Honorable Uncle said that he'd heard me. I needed to remind him, but he was in a huge hurry this morning and gave me a project and left for a factory. The trip took six hours, then when he got back we had to work through the project and I didn't get to get off until it was too late for dinner. I was very disappointed."
"My uncle and I seem to be having a difficult time communicating. I feel like he misunderstands what I say all the time. I really desire to please him and to learn all I can from him, but this is very hard."
"I am having a very hard time concentrating on one project for 8 hrs straight with no break. It is very hard to keep that up and to be working efficiently all the time. The hours we keep are very long and strange. I am always hungry, but by the time I get free to eat, nothing is open except fast food - very frustrating!"
"Good news is that the LCD screen for my camera is $45 US to replace, judging from an Internet search. It's rather involved to take it apart but it can be done by average people. I don't know if it can be done cheaply here, but at least when I get home I can fix it. Some services will replace it, labor and all, for about $80. The camera would be like $400 to replace (it was a gift to the children from Honorable Uncle).
"I am working as hard as I'm able on my math, pray I'll have time to do what I need to." [Number One Son has to finish Precalculus this summer.] I am reading my Bible and Spurgeon and praying constantly - you have to - to survive."
Oh joy! Oh rapture! Number One Son has internet at home now! (Too bad he's never there to use it, but that's another issue entirely.) When he arrived in the new country, they told him that Grandfather had internet now and they told him the password, but it was in characters, which his computer doesn't support! Loads of frustration ensued over the past few weeks. Today they let slip that Grandfather actually got the internet for Number One Son's sake, so Number One sat down with a clear conscience to hack into it Tonight he managed to figure it out and got in! This is a blessing because it gives us a totally secure channel in which to communicate. We've been using SkypeOut to call his cell phone, but while no government is able to beat Skype's encryption, it was open season once the call hits the cell network there. We're grateful to now have secure communications.
Number One Son is struggling with walking the fine line between attempting to access what he wants to (Christian content and music) and not endangering anyone. He's decided to only attempt to access "controversial" (read: religious or political) content at internet cafes where there is a measure of anonymity. Oddly enough, some sites make it through the great firewall and others don't and some are accessible some days and not other days. Trying to access those sites from home could endanger his hosts.
Speaking of that, our brothers and sisters there need urgent prayer. There are many intrusions into the assembly and many are taken elsewhere. I am picking my words carefully - let him who has ears understand!
Jul. 18, 2007 - Foreigners, Foreign Food, Business, and Me
Number One Son says:
I got home early tonight - about 10:30. I discovered I was actually in charge of the project to make new IDs for all employees (that's the weird thing about working where you sort of speak the language - sometimes the messages aren't real clear) and I had to do something at the photo shop a ways away, so Honorable Uncle dropped me off there and told me I could go home when I was done. The shop closed pretty soon after I got there, so I went to Papa John's - I was craving pizza. I really wanted Pizza Hut, but they close early and are, um, kind of snotty about it (they wouldn't serve me at 9:30, when they close at 10 one night) I ate at papa johns at 9:30. They closed the door to the mall at 9:45, and took me out through the kitchen, lockerroom, back offices, and storage room to the back door - There were 10-15 others there when I left - I wonder did they take them all out that way?
At the next table was a family of 4 that looked western -- lots of times westerners are friendly and that's nice, so I kept glancing up at them to see if they wanted to chat, but I think they were speaking Spanish or Italian, though they ordered in English. Occasionally I do see whole foreign families over here, though it's not very common. Most foreigners are men from 25 to 45 years old. I always wonder "What's your story? Why are you here? How'd you come?" It'd be fun to know.
The food quality on Western food is very random, even at chain restaurants. For example, KFC is extremely common here, yet the KFC near my building is awful - undercooked, cold food - and they never understand complaints :-) I haven't had a really good batch of fries since I got here.
I am pretty discouraged today. I pulled out my camera and somehow the screen had gotten broken. I can't figure out how it happened. That and the broken headphone jack on my laptop have me pretty frustrated tonight.
I get very frustrated with how the sample makers won't follow the very clear instructions I give them. Makes me understand why folks want to deal with us rather than deal with the factories themselves.
It is incredibly hot here this week [The heat index was 99 degrees when we talked to him at 7am!].
And finally, oddly enough, I saw a sign today for Deo Valente Realty today! That is Latin for God willing. Very strange!
Back to Honorable Mother: Number One Son is also having a very hard time discerning if he is pleasing his uncle. His uncle is very demanding and disagrees very strongly with many of the convictions we have and choices we have made. Please pray for wisdom for Number One Son and that his testimony would bring glory to God.
Well, I think I just ate a caramel/mango/Milk Duds ice cream bar. It is very hot here, so when I got to the office I went across the street to the little store and got my customary Gatorade and a ice cream thing. I was looking over the case, having decided to try something other than a Drumstick, and I saw this thing that might have been a chocolate/mango bar. I had had something similar the other day, so I got it. Surprisingly, when I got out to the curb and started eating it, the coating was a caramel Turtle Shell coating, and the filling was some sort of caramel sauce with miniature Milk Duds floating in it. The ice cream itself was either mango or some sort of sweet/malted cream. Go figure. Snack food in this city is rather like playing roulette--you make your guess, and then you find out what it really was. Wouldn't give you better than even money it's what you guessed.
Number One Son text messaged Honorable Father and asked him to call. He said,
"I'm weary and tired of dealing with temptations. There are lots of visual temptations here. One example: in the places that sell tapes and DVDs, the English language films aren't sorted. You find Wallace & Grommit, Toy Story 2, then "alien undead crime horror", and outright pornography, all mixed together. It is just exhausting to keep your guard up so thoroughly all the time. Thankfully, I may be avoiding other temptations simply because I can't read the characters well enough to read their vice."
:-)
"Pray for me in general, I'm just objectively worn out -- just tired of some things here. I'm tired of the food and missing my family. I'm not feeling much appetite but I know I have to eat to avoid low blood sugar. I am walking in the mall now and I'm so tired of the rampant materialism here. I don't want to have anything or buy anything -- Back off ! Back off ! Don't show me any more merchandise !"
"The limited English cultural offerings (movies and periodicals) go heavily toward vice, horror, and crime as entertainment. I am also feeling something of a news vacuum." News is heavily propagandized (spin doesn't do it justice), so you are never sure what is going on in the outside world.
"I am bothered that the trade show my uncle had planned for me and my intern friend to attend has gone from Saturday plans (originally it was Thursday then changed to Friday) to now a midday Sunday event, and I'm concerned that my uncle's plans may preclude me at least going to the "legal" church. Overall I'm just tired, physically and spiritually."
From his Honorable Parents: Won't you join us in praying for rest and refreshment from the Lord for our dear Number One Son?
Jul. 13, 2007 - The Color is Not Off in this Picture!
This remarkable thing is an actual Green Tea Doughnut sold at a real live Krispy Kreme in the Soho area of the midlevels of Hong Kong. John said though pretty weird, it still tasted like a Krispy Kreme. This is what would have happened all over the world if the Ring King had been invented in Guangzhou instead of Winston-Salem. BTW, the Ring King in Mandarin would be Quan1 Wang2. The 1 means a high level tone of voice and the 2 means a rising tone.
What are these things? Brown Easter Eggs? Pototoes boiled in beef broth? An experiment gone wrong? No! They are tea eggs! Number One Son says that the he has had them a few times for dinner and at first, he was taken aback, but that they are Very Good if you can believe it! Very savory and delicious. They are made by hard-boiling eggs, then cracking the shell, but not peeling it, and then boiling them for a long time in tea and spices. "Every single store in my city has a crockpot full of them. It is the smell of the city and we're going to have to learn how to make them, because one whiff of that smell will take me right back here!"
Looking for a recipe? Or dying to see how they look peeled? I'll let you know how it works, but Number One doesn't want us to try them until he gets home, "because I want to make sure y'all get them right!"
Truly, the prime illustration of food doesn't have to be pretty to taste good!
And folks are worried about our country's effect on the environment! Bet you've never seen smog like this. BTW, this was taken in the middle of the afternoon!
Number One Son has been living on Egg Fried Rice since he knows how to say that! Imagine visiting a restaurant and the menu is in characters you can't understand - he is learning to read and write, but you have to know about 6,000 of them to be literate He informs us he has an inhibition against sniffing stranger's food over their shoulders, which is how most who aren't fluent in reading choose meals. Today he ate at his favorite little restaurant near the office and decided to branch out: pork fried rice! It turned out to be pork, eggs, and cabbage fried rice with soup on the side. It was good - a little variety.
Honorable Uncle and Honorable Aunt fired their housekeeper about a week ago, so everyone has been eating out all the time until a new one could be found. The new one is now installed and she sent good food tonight. "Rice, and a big thing of curry (the curry is different from what we eat at home [we love it] deeper, smokier and less sweet, not quite as sharp). I ate curry Sunday night too, it's relatively popular here They serve a heap rice on one side, a breaded pork chop cut in strips down the middle and curry sauce on downhill side - GOOD! After I ate Sunday night, then I got a peach ice cream cone with real peaches in it! Nestle has a big market share in dairy products here - 2/3 of the milk, 1/2 of the ice cream. Every convenience store has a cooler with Nestle drumsticks in it. Tonight I stepped into a convenience store and got a large bottle of OJ (the orange juice here is so much better than at home!) and I got a drumstick with strawberry ice cream in a sugar cone. It was so good. I found a coconut flavor drumstick that's pretty good the other night. They have a berry kind, too." There are a lot more varieties of ice cream novelties there.
"Dad asked me to look at ads and marketing over here. Multicultural ads are not all that common. Most of the time, it is majority people group models There is definitely a market for Western movies, clothes, and other things, but it hasn't supplanted everything else. For example, 25-50% of movies in the video store are productions made in country. Aside from the high fashion district, most ads use majority group models. Also, most taxi drivers are from the majority group. I see very few foreigners at all! There are very few in our city. I might possibly see 10 other foreigners in a day, compared to 10,000 locals at least. Typically there is one other foreigner on the train out of 1,000 riders. I see most foreigners at the gym, but there aren't many even there, especially not the times I come. I see 1 or 2 foreigners on the street when I go out to eat or something."
"Unfortunately, I'm too busy to notice much, I'm always in a hurry, just pounding the pavement."
As we talked, Number One Son emptied his pockets to get ready for bed. He said there is a coin that is 1/10 of the regular currency unit and it is useless! It is not used for anything so you tend to accumulate them. Son took off his jeans and poured a fistful of them on the floor - Good night!
Honorable Uncle told Number One Son that rain brings out the worst in their city and today he found it to be true! The city is not a great place for pedestrians anyway as the expectation seems to be if you get run over, it's your own fault - you'd better jump out of the way. In the rain, everything is worse - mud around construction sites which always seem to set up in the most awful places (the city is always growing), public transport transfers are difficult, and taxis are impossible to find (and the city is absolutely full of them.) Number One Son had an Egg McMuffin for breakfast (really!) and then waited for a taxi for 25 minutes. Of the hundreds that passed all except 4 were full and two of those drove on past and other soggy pedestrians claimed the other two. He finally gave up and took the subway downtown, but it was a mucky, hot humid day - just about unbearable. The funny thing is, that it was here, too. We've found out that nearly always the weather there in that city on the other side of the world is exactly like it is here where we live. I know, too strange, but it's true! One of our sons graphed the temperatures of the two cities for some time and they were always within a degree or two of each other. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Monday is the slowest day of the work week in Number One Son's company. "Why in the world???" those of you who had a Monday like mine are probably asking. That's because it is still Sunday in the Western hemisphere where their customers are! See, Asia is 12 hours in the future from our time - so when it is Sunday evening here, they are getting up to go to work on Monday morning. So, there's no communication with their customers, no got-to-jump-on-it-first-thing-Monday stuff, just a nice getting back to business day - sounds great to me!
The strange time difference makes it really hard to talk about what is currently going on in Number One Son's life. Yesterday at church, I was trying to tell someone "He went to church tonight." Boy, that sounds weird. The alternative isn't much better, "He went to the evening service this morning." or "He went to church last night - yes, they have service on Sunday." Think about it. How would you say it???
Anyway, the Lord is answering your prayers and Number One Son had a much more pleasant day at work. We were able to talk to him this morning once he got home about 11pm. His contacts were much less critical today. Please keep praying for him. This is a very stressful situation for him and he greatly desires to bear a good testimony to those he is with over there.
Several have asked what kind of work a high school student could be doing over there, so I thought I'd copy his work report from last week for you (removing identifying data, of course). Looks pretty busy to me :-)
Work Report
Summary:
This past week, I was travelling on Monday, so I didn't work at the office that day.
I worked the rest of the week largely on New Customer business.
Details
During the pastweek I have completed the following:
Traveled to Trade Show in Other City with Intern Friend and Honorable Uncle, spending most of an afternoon on the trip.
Wrote multiple emails to Honorable Father of Family Business, concerning sample status and preferences. Also spoke to him or his staff on the phone several times to confirm sample questions.
Worked with Coworker to write/update sample requests for each of the new samples requested by Family Business.
Wrote dictated letter for Honorable Uncle concerning an Italian company and product.
Wrote introduction for Asian Companyproduct brochure.
Updated network information spreadsheet to reflect Asian Company email addresses.
Helped move, organize, and sort product in the conference area downstairs.
Researched hot new product's dimensions, specifications, and capabilities for case redesign.
Organized New Customer sample photos collection and prepared it for disc burning to send to the customer.
We were able to talk a bit with Number One Son this morning, which was Sunday night his time. Thankfully, after he got home from work last night (they work 5 1/2 to 6 days a week), he had a little time to himself. He was so exhausted that he slept really late this morning, but was able to attend an "official" church this evening. It was a blessing just to worship with other believers, regardless of the circumstances. Last time he was there, he was able to buy a bilingual hymnal with about 400 hymns in English and the target language - a mixture of Western and indigenous hymns - a great blessing! Please pray that those who are seeking will speedily find the true church and get the discipleship they need. Our friends in the true church there tell us that there is a desperate need for discipleship.
You see, we live in a Christianity-informed culture. The culture these folks are in has been in opposition to God for millenia and the past century has brought a succession of weird cultural experiments, most of which turned the God-created order all topsy-turvy. So, when a family comes to Christ, they not must deal with the reformation of their life and habit as new creatures, but often, they don't know where to begin with all of it - their work, their family, everything.
"I knew everything about being a parent, then I became one," the old joke goes, but what if you have never known a Christian family? What if you have no idea what God expects of you as a parent - or an employee. I know we all must deal with that to some degree, but I don't think we realize how hard it is for someone coming from a totally non-Christian culture - I learned a lot of the Word of God at my mother's knee, long before I knew him - many new believers in closed cultures have never heard the Word at all. Pray for them! And pray for leaders and elders to be raised up!
Number One Son is under tremendous stress and is under attack. His values, his upbringing, his parents are all being criticized and he is torn between the desire to be respectful and honor elder family members and his loyalty as a dutiful son. Perhaps it is conviction because what is being said just doesn't make any sense. Please pray for grace and peace and comfort for Number One Son who is carrying a man's burden at a tender age and please pray for the souls of our family there.
Our God is MIGHTY. Although we were repeatedly told last night that it wasn't possible, Customs cleared our package at about 2am this morning. It caught a flight out of the customs at 5:30, arrived in our state capital at 7:14am, and arrived in the regional center at 9:30. We just found out they had another glitch on delivery, but God had mercy and the samples have just arrived here!
He does answer prayer! When we went to bed, it seemed hopeless, when we woke up it was instate. Truly He gives to His beloved even in their sleep!
When it arrives, we'll open it, compare to the specs - please pray the samples are right! - take photographs of them and drive them to our customer in South Carolina - the old blood pressure can't take shipping them again! Please pray for safety, and that our customer will buy LOTS!!!!! We greatly desire this business to open doors (as the Word says, "Let the reader understand.").
We are so thankful for your prayers and love. We praise God for you. He is so faithful!
Honorable mother was amazed to find out that her prayer partner couldn't sleep Friday night and was praying that samples would get out between midnight and 1. Isn't God good to nudge others to pray at critical times?
Now we need you to pray. The samples we all prayed out of China are stuck in customs here in America! Our customer needs these samples to leave for a trade show in a few short days, so we need those samples now!! This is our major opportunity to make a sale right now and we *badly* need it. Please pray that the Lord would clear the path and wing that package to us right away! Thank you so much for being there with us -- we and our customer (a brother in Christ we believe) need this so badly!
Number One Son just had a wonderful trip to Hong Kong! He had a bit of a stressful start to the trip, though - he forgot his passport and had to go back and get it and then dropped a ketchupy french fry on his shirt at the airport. Honorable Uncle was not happy but it all eventually worked out!
Poor Number One Son said he felt like he kept making stupid mistakes no matter what he did and he felt pretty frustrated about it, but I told him that I believed the Lord was allowing him to be in the heat so that the refined gold would shine through. Number One said he has been praying and praying for the Lord to turn up the heat on our family there. I think he has! Please pray for grace under pressure. There is much I can not say, but I believe the Holy Spirit is active.
He was blessed to be there on the 10th anniversary of Britain's handing it over. They had the largest fireworks display in the history of the city! 30,000 shells, if you can believe it! They moored three big barges out in the channel and shot them from there. God graciously allowed Number One Son to watch it from a skywalk balcony on the 45th floor. "I have a hard time imagining anything more impressive. There was way more cordite than any display I've ever seen!"
The next morning, Number One Son got out to explore on his own. While walking in the Botanical Garden, he saw a beautiful golden lion tamarin and then a sign saying, "Please be quiet, baby ring tailed lemur born 6/11." He actually got to see the little thing with its mother - so cute!
He said the escalators are unbelievable. They have escalators that run up the mountain HongKong is built on. They all run down in the morning until 10 and then change and run up the rest of the day. He was walking slowly up waiting for the escalators to change, when he saw a Krispy Kreme! He had to go in: "They have all different flavors than we do. I had to take a video of the case! They did have cake doughnuts, chocolate with sprinkles, and crullers, but no raspberry or lemon. They had pistachio and green tea flavor doughnuts! I had to buy a green tea one. It looked like a glazed doughnut with the rim dipped in green frosting. The dough was green! And the frosting was green tea paste. Very odd."
Number One Son said he may have been on Hong Kong TV, he walked right by a news anchor giving a report on one of the many skywalks in Hong Kong. "Cool camera."
In the afternoon, Honorable Uncle gave him a choice of going to Kowloon for lunch and taking the Star Ferry back or going to Stanley for fish and chips and then Victoria Peak. Honorable Son chose Stanley, though it was a hard decision. "Stanley was very British Colonial and very green. The mountains come straight out of the sea in HongKong and it is very beautiful."
They ate fish and chips (British french fries) for lunch and Son was very surprised to find they ate them with malt vinegar. Good, though!
While they were walking through a crowd, Honorable Uncle says, "Quick, hand me that camera!" and took a picture of the back of a woman's head - she was wearing a cute headband that he thought the company may be able to develop.
" We drove up to Victoria Peak in a taxi. We only had a few minutes to spend there overlooking Hong Kong, but it was spectacular!" Honorable Uncle said the view is even more incredible at night. "We took the funicular down from the peak and I took video until my battery died about halfway down. Honorable father will enjoy it!"
At the airport, Number One Son went to a bookstore where he bought a british digital filmmaking magazine for pros and amatuers, full of stuff he's been working on learning.
He also bought an awesome little book. He's been thinking about a story we read before he left about the Falkland Islands War since he was in a former British colony. The book is called Vulcan 607 - and he highly recommends it - fascinating.
Jun. 30, 2007 - A Big Rush, More Food Funnies, and a Prayer Request
We arrived home last night about 11:50 to see Skype frantically blinking orange to get our attention. Uh oh! Number One Son needed help quickly. He'd left his passport back at the flat (an hour commute away) and needed the number for his plane tickets. Honorable parents to the rescue! We found the scan we'd made of his passport and sent him the number. There was much discussion over his name. The employee getting the tickets couldn't understand why his uncle went by his middle name and he went by his first - how odd! :-)
He then told us they had 7 minutes until DHL picked up and 10 new samples for us (that we are desperately trying to get here by the 5th) just came in and they were anxiously trying to check the samples to make sure they matched specs, catalogue them, photograph them, tag them and pack them up before the pick-up. Honorable parents started praying for the DHL man to be delayed and skill for the workers! Kept praying! Occasional messages from Number One Son: "Few more samples to go, keep praying!" "DHL late - praise God!" "Box sealed!" We were so thankful to hear that at almost 1am. "Pray the DHL man comes today - he's never been this late." Uh oh. Lord, unsmite this unsuspecting man ...
remove the delay and get him there early enough to made today's flight. Package picked up at 2:20! Praise God for His merciful answers to prayer!!!
That wasn't the only bit of wildness for Number One today! Last night he realized that he was about out of money - about $2.50 left. He thought he'd fix his own breakfast and ask Honorable Uncle or Honorable Aunt for a cash infusion (that's what he's supposed to do - they are very generously paying his expenses there) when he got to work. Uh oh! They didn't come in today. Guess it's leftovers at the apartment. Double uh oh! Only leftovers are peanuts and chicken in blow-your-head-off sauce. Now, kindly remember that Number One Son grew up in a family that loves Cajun and Mexican food and puts Tony Chachere's and Tabasco on most everything. Still he said, "I was worried it would raise blisters in my stomach!" :-)
Dinner was much better. He attended an elite reception with his Honorable Uncle. The hosts had engaged a Mexican restaurant to cater it. "Um, Asian Mexican is a little weird. I guess you could call it Chex Mex!" ROFLOL Tortillas were made out of something like bean flour - very thin and nearly transparent. Son got a tortilla, loaded what looked like chicken onto it, then what appeared to be salsa ("Well, it had chunks of tomato and stuff, but there was way too much vinegar.") Back to the table. Bite one: "What! That's fish!" Second attempt at another meat was another kind of fish. Finally found some actual meat! He loved the tortilla chips - a favorite at home that he hadn't seen over there at all - "Actually made of corn, mom!"
Off to pack for Number One Son. Please pray for our dear family over there. There is some evidence the Holy Spirit is working. Please pray for their souls. And pray for both Honorable Uncle and Number One Son tomorrow as they travel to renew his visa. They will be spending a lot of time together and we pray for good fellowship for them and that the Lord would use it for good with our family over there! Please pray that friendship would grow between them and that my brother would understand Number One Son better and that Number One Son would be a blessing to them.
We would love to have your comments on the Number One Son Report. I think it is fine to post your names as well as there is no way to connect you to us -- which of your many friends could we be, you see? So, please, welcome to the blog and let us know what you think!
"Today I tried new route to work, getting off at a different stop on the line to get to the gym. It took about the same amount of time as the old route today, I'll have to try it a couple of times to see which is best. Today it took me about 10 minutes to walk to the station from the apartment, then about 15 minutes on the train, then 25 minutes walking to get to the gym. After the gym, I start my morning commute to work. Commuting takes a lot of my time."
He spent the day minutely comparing samples to the plans, then working with the Intern to check that the translations of the sample requests were a reliable translation of the original English into the language of the city. He also learned from his uncle how to write a proper work report and to keep a log of jobs he receives. He finished up the day tagging samples and knocked off about 10:30pm. Thankfully, the driver took him home tonight so he got home for dinner by 11.
Dinner tonight was brought by Grandfather (actually his uncle's father in law) from the Ai - it was half a melon (thank you, Grandfather!), boiled bird's eggs that were about 1 1/2 inch long, beef pieces (or pork maybe) that was very fatty, pan-fried beet, part of a chicken leg and chicken soup.
"I pass this wonderful fruit stand on the way to work, but don't want to carry the fruit all day, then it's closed by the time I head home. They have great looking fruits: cantaloupe, green and yellow kiwi, mangosteen, lychees, a giant 9" green fruit that looks like citrus, all sorts of fruits - more than you can imagine. I really want a pineapple, but who wants to carry one all day? They are kind of prickly! I have thought about just being a decadent hedonist: buy it, whack the top off, eat the core and chuck it in the gutter with all the rest, but I have too many inhibitions to do that. :-)"
ongoing skype chat with filmmakers 10-15 threads ongoing, about 75 pages
"It feels like six months since I was there at home working on my projects. It's just a whole different lifestyle and environment, but I am starting to feel at home in this city. I can imagine living here for parts of the year. It would be fascinating to live here for several months every few years." We talked about the possibility of having a house that would hold two families at a pinch and he and his brothers rotating in and out of the country. Great!
For breakfast though, he said he needed comfort food: went to McDonald's and got two sausage mcmuffins with egg and strawberry milkshake Comfort food! Very wonderful and the milkshake only cost about a dollar. Total cost about $3.50
His favorite drinks there are strawberry milkshakes and a lot of fantastic orange juice. Seriously, the orange juice they have there is like a whole different animal. All of it tastes fresh-squeezed and is wonderful. We're being gypped!
Dear Number One Son is homesick in a small way, but he assures us it is not debilitating!
Number One Son skyped us a report of his lunch today. It's so illustrative of the differences in our cultures, we thought you'd enjoy eavesdropping a bit:
Well, back from lunch. Guess it's going to be hard day--even lunch was weird. I went across the street to my favorite source for fried rice, but they were full up, and people were standing around. I went down the street to a number of other restaurants: the Special Way Europe Topic restaurant, the cheap Japanese, the C....se version of K&W (I think), the spicy soup+other things restaurant, and a couple of others.
Nothing sounded good, not even pizza, so I finally decided, well, I can say egg fried rice, so I can get that at about any C...se restaurant. So I went into a small middle-level restaurant that "the Intern" and I had been to once and looked around. The proprietress (no uniform, looked like she was in charge, and twice as busy as anyone else) quickly seated me across a table from a young woman eating alone. That threw me for a loop, but then I remembered that this was the place were people like living where they can see into their neighbor's living room from their kitchen window, and they feel just fine being crammed 120 to a subway car. They have perfected the art of mentally placing yourself in an empty room.
So I just sat down, ordered my egg fried rice (good) and my beef noodles (not so good) and ate them. The young lady looked at me about as much as I looked at her--that is, not when I could avoid it. So this is how I ended up eating lunch with somebody that I didn't know and couldn't even give you a description of! I figured for a people that really love a crowd, there's no real reason you should let a seat at a table go to waste if you're eating alone. So I'm fine--just suffering a little culture shock
Number One Son is an indifferent cook. In fact, we call him King Alfred because of his tendency to get distracted and burn things. If you don't know why, you need to have a homeschool moment with the internet or wikipedia or Henty's The Dragon and the Raven. However, the desire for homecooking will do remarkable things for your motivation.
Recently, Son decided he really wanted to cook some eggs at home. Sounds easy for the oldest of seven, huh? Sure, if you know what a package of eggs looks like in the store! After much searching, and a hint from Mom that they might not be refrigerated (I was very surprised to find the supermarkets in California didn't refrigerate eggs when we lived there), he finally found them and took them home in delight.
He found the pan that looked most nearly like a skillet (likely a small wok) and tried to break the egg into it. Tap. Tap. TAP. BANG! By the time he realized it was a hard-boiled egg, it was too far gone to eat. Oh well. If at first you don't succeed... back to the store!
The next time, he found a different sort of package and took it home to try. This time, he broke it more carefully and found out these were soft-boiled eggs. This is where the try, try again comes into play.
Finally, he was at the store again and saw a package that looked like one he'd seen in the fridge at home. Yes! Grandfather had bought eggs! RAW EGGS! Number One cooked the comfort meal I told you about earlier. The only thing missing was salt and he was desperately craving salt after being sick. But there was nothing that looked remotely like salt in the store and the dictionary gave him five different ways to say "salt".
Yesterday, Number One Son said that Grandfather came in with a bottle of olive oil and a little bag of salt. "I could have hugged him!"
All meals in this city are a collection of a little of this and a little of that. Bet you didn't know that a Asian buffet with a little bit of a lot of things is pretty accurate. Last night, my brother's Ai (means aunt, refers to the housekeeper) sent supper over to Number One Son's apartment. Here's what he received:
chicken leg soup, a small container
4 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup rice steamed
steamed broccoli
4 mystery meatballs
a handful of boiled shrimp
We eat a main dish and a couple of sides, they eat more of a smorgasbord of a variety of dishes, not a large amount of any one thing. A typical meal includes a cold dish, a soup, a fish or seafood, a few meats, a little rice, and some vegetables with fresh fruit for dessert.
Number One Son was delighted to find out that there was another intern working with our family this summer. He is the son of my sister-in-law's friend. He is Asian, but has studied in England for the past few years, so speaks English.
He and Number One Son often eat lunch together. Would you please pray that the Lord would turn their conversations to spiritual things and that Number One Son would be a testimony to his friend the Intern?
Also Number One Son is feeling pretty discouraged today. He went into work (an hour long commute with four different means of transportation - walking, elevated train, subway and taxi) and then had to go home sick. He also is worried about trying to please his uncle. He really needs encouragement - please pray for him.
Number One Son said that as he stepped out of the apartment building, he thought, "What a lovely day!" The sky was actually blue! Then he walked down the street to the big intersection and this is what he saw. It's hard to believe, but this is not a rainy day or late afternoon, but is a morning shot and if you could see straight up, it's blue up there. It's smog! That's why I crack up when people talk about how the U.S. needs to control its emissions - right! Our emissions aren't a drop in the bucket!
Poor Number One Son is sick at home today. He got sick last evening while at a mall and had to make a run to the bathroom.. uh oh! No public bathrooms in C---a! Urgent trip to the apartment! He felt better once home, so got up this morning to go to the gym and work, but got sick again at the gym. He took a taxi home, not thinking he could manage the subway and El and went to bed for the day.
He's feeling dehydrated which is complicated by the lack of cool water. You see, you can't drink the tap water, not even the natives drink it! So you have a choice between bottled water (warm, they don't put it in the coolers) or water from the water "cooler" at your house. I say "cooler" because they don't use the cooler part, only setting up the hot water part because after all, you are only using it for your green tea, right?, which they drink all day everyday. So, Number One Son is getting water out of the "cooler" that has been heated and putting it in the fridge to be cooled again - very, very efficient, huh?
So please pray for rapid healing and encouragement for our sick boy today!
Jun. 23, 2007 - "The Suckers Tickle Your Throat on the Way Down"
This is Pineapple Squid Curry, which Number One Son was served for supper last Sunday night. He's craving homecooking a bit (No!).
This week he was delighted to find a grocery store with a few Western things like butter, cheese, and onion bagels. This morning he found a pan in the apartment, figured out how to work the gas stove, burnt the butter three times, and frambled* some eggs. He put a couple of slices of cheese on top, buttered the bagel with his chopsticks and had a comfort food fest.
Grandfather likes "fresh" air**, so keeps all the windows open and the air conditioner off. Near as we can tell, the weather in his city is just exactly like it is in Raleigh - every day. I know, weird, but the temperature in the two cities always seems to be within two degrees. Go figure. Anyway, it's just as hot there as it is here! Number One is delighted to have a window air conditioner in his own room that he turns down to 68 degrees and lies in blissful comfort.
*Frambled is our families terminology for the cooking technique a lazy boy who wants scrambled eggs. but not two dirty cooking dishes uses: Crack the eggs into the hot skillet and stir like mad :-)
**Fresh is used here only to denote outside air. The air in this part of Asia could not be described as fresh in any way, shape, or form. The pollution there is enough to make even a conservative like me appreciate the EPA.
A dear friend of mine, IYKWIM, went to visit an "official" church in a closed country this weekend. He was very surprised to find a very lively crowd and service that was packed out. I mean they had full overflow rooms and even the halls were full. He said folks were singing and praising with full hearts. It was incredibly moving that even under the strictures and observation of an unfriendly authority that folks were beating down the doors to hear any truth at all. "He who seeks Me shall find Me, when he searches for Me with all his heart." Dear Father, please send workers into the harvest that all who seek may speedily find! Amen. Come Lord Jesus!
Thank you so much for praying for our poor dear son sick in Asia. He's feeling a good bit better and just went in to work (remember it's Wednesday morning their time). I'm about to talk to him, so we may have a further update later.
Number One Son has come down with what we call "the epizootic" - meaning some unidentified stomach illness - probably short and nasty. He's started some meds and taken the day off, but we'd appreciate it if you'd pray for him.
He wanted me to tell you that being sick in Asia is no bed of ease - he's felt floors more forgiving than his bed. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how firm a firm bed is in Asia. I told him it would be very good for his back - if he survived the first couple of weeks :-)
We haven't talked to Number One Son for more than a sentence or two on his uncle's cell phone, but we found out yesterday that his uncle has given him a cell phone of his own. Wonderful! Can we afford to call it?
We've used Skype for some time. If you download Skype (10 minutes for the whole process for us), you can use the mike and speakers on your computer to talk to anyone else who has Skype in the world -- Free! You can also buy "SkypeCredit" which will allow you to call landlines or mobile lines at extremely reasonable rates: $29.95 for unlimited calling in the U.S. or Canada for a year. Calling Asian land or mobile lines is 2.1-2.4 cents a minute! That is amazing to someone as old as I am! I remember how excited we were when we got our long distance service here in the U.S. for 15 cents a minute!
I also gave our "customer no service" cellular company, Alltel, a call and they actually came through with something at least possible: For $3.99 a month, we could call Asian cells for 20 cents a minute. It sure isn't Skype, but we'll be able to call wherever we are.
Why do I call Alltel our "customer no service" company? That's a story for another day! I'm just about to head out to the Tea Room with a dear friend. Oh, I hope the children don't mess up the house (Honorable Father is here, but very distracted with business)!
Update: I forgot to mention that Skype is secure - that's a great plus when you are phoning into countries who don't value privacy.
Number One Son has been safely met by my brother in Asia!
Must tell you all that I felt an urgent need to pray for him this morning after his plane landed, probably while he was clearing customs - sometimes a challenge in that country. After some time, I felt a release and didn't need to pray anymore. Just a few moments later, the phone rang and my brother was calling, "I've got your son." Amen. Thank you, Lord!
Jun. 3, 2007 - Homeschool Moment: The Great Circle Route
Tonight over supper we were talking about the flight our eldest son is taking today to Asia. We first looked at the flat world map on our kitchen table (I covered it with roll plastic bought at Wal-Mart and we've got a US one on there, too - we have a big table!). It looked pretty obvious that his plane would travel right across America and the Pacific to Asia. Not so, Grasshopper! I asked one of the children to run go get the globe. If you hold a piece of string between where you are and where you are going in Asia and try to get the string as short as possible, you will be surprised at the actual route. It is much closer to travel north to go west to Asia from the U.S. East coast! It's called the Great Circle Route! Check out this Great Circle Mapper. It looks confusing, but just type in two airport codes (you can look them up on the same page and map! For example, if you type in "JFK-NRT" (JFK, New York to Narita, Tokyo, Japan) and press "Display Map" it is amazing! You may not recognize the continents at first because you are looking down at the North Pole!
BTW, we'd sure appreciate prayer for Number One Son! He has just a little more than an hour to make it through one of the busiest, most confusing airports in the world to make his connection and his plane is running a little late!
Our homeschool high school son will be leaving this Sunday to spend three months in an Asian country, working with our brother. This will be a *very* challenging time for him -- he speaks a little of the difficult language, but he will be living with our sister-in-law's father, who speaks no English at all. He will be making his way around the largest city in the world by himself and working very long hours with our very demanding brother. There are no known believers in the situation, limited if any fellowship with the expatriate church, and not even Christian websites, because they are blocked there.
In other words, he will be simply living faithfully among them. What an opportunity to impact the world!
This Wednesday is our day to fast and pray for Number One Son, as well as the many trials we've been going through in our lives in the past weeks in work, ministry, health, home repair, and more. We are feeling very weary and need to seek the Lord's face. We would appreciate any of you who feel led pray for him and us. Thanks for all your friendship!
Our report of the adventures of our homeschool high schooler working and living in Asia this summer, We are using psuedonyms although many of you will know who we are, because his host country is not free and we do not wish to endanger those he is working and living with. Please feel free to comment and sign your name, just do not use our names.
Tonight he managed to figure it out and got in! This is a blessing because it gives us a totally secure channel in which to communicate. We've been using SkypeOut to call his cell phone, but while no government is able to beat Skype's encryption, it was open season once the call hits the cell network there. We're grateful to now have secure communications. 
He informs us he has an inhibition against sniffing stranger's food over their shoulders, which is how most who aren't fluent in reading choose meals.
Today he ate at his favorite little restaurant near the office and decided to branch out: pork fried rice! It turned out to be pork, eggs, and cabbage fried rice with soup on the side. It was good - a little variety. 
but it all eventually worked out! 
