Well, you learn something new every day – 50 new things if you’re in a foreign country. Like the amount of time I spend cleaning the kitchen is inversely proportional to the amount of cockroaches I find there the next day. And it takes a lot of time to wring out clothes when your washer doesn’t spin properly. And you can’t expect to be an expert at a tonal language in two months. Two months next week, that is.
Another thing I’ve been learning is the value of friendship with local people. For one thing, they are absolutely necessary when I have to order clothes off of taobao, the East Asian ebay, or when I need to ask about language or culture. But more than that, they are just awesome. Some friends took us out to the river the other day (picture above).
We ended up visiting a Buddhist temple, which was very interesting. Here I have some pictures.

Please lift up these students and many more that we will meet. We have been making lots of friends at different universities.We will soon be moving to the foreign dorm at the school. We start school in the second week of September, I believe. It will be quite busy from then on. We want to start some study groups, so please yarp for this opportunity.

Just Hand Over the Recipes Nice and Slow. There's a Good Chap.

Hey guys,



Our homestay is all that we could have expected and more! I'm learning a lot about the culture and language. Although, due to an unnamed hyper three-year-old girl, I'll probably be able to successfully name the characters of Winnie the Pooh before I can understand vocabulary about the weather and time. It's great fun, though.



I look forward to every meal, and I've even learned how to cook some things. Of course, I'll have to hear it many more times to remember. But that's the fun. We made dumplings last week, which took ages, but it was awesome.








The pictures you see on this page are as follows: tofu and mushroom dish, me stuffing a dumpling, a row of dumplings created by ourselves, a unique anonymous fruit that was quite yummy, a half-eaten chicken foot, and some vegetable soup.




It’s kind of hard to eat chicken foot because there’s really no meat! I guess you just have to chew the skin off. It doesn’t taste bad, though. Really. You should try it.




If you want a simple recipe for soup, try this. Boil some spinach or another vegetable in water until it’s soft, add salt, ginger, spring onions, and chicken bouillon. It’s really quite simple. You could also add garlic.







Well, that's a little bit about the food here! Please continue to yarp for us as we adjust. We have started working on homework, but we have yet to meet and make relationships with college students, since there's still a month before school starts. We can't wait for the opportunity.

Thank you!

Home is where you hang your umbrella...

So, we've been in this country for exactly two weeks, and I've definitely broken some records. Like, I got to see one of the tallest buildings in the world, and apparently our city ranks as one of the largest in the world. Not to mention, I used my first real squatty-potty (that I can remember) and I even lost my first suitcase ever!!! Now that's what I call record-breaking fun.

Our luggage, having successfully abandoned us, left us in need of many important things like mint oreos and stuffed animals. So we've been out shopping to replace our stuff.

As we walk outside, we often see girls holding umbrellas, whether it is sunny or rainy. That's because having white skin is beautiful here (I ought to fit in just fine!). And no girl wants to get a tan from the sun when she can hold an umbrella and protect herself from it! Sounds pretty smart to me.

And shopping? Well, if you've ever seen one of those little farmhouses that is absolutely crammed with peeping yellow chicks so that they can hardly move around, you have an idea of what it's like. And I'm like a baby gosling trying to shove my way through.

The food is great, but there are many things I still have to get used to. Like how spicy it is. I thought I knew what spicy food was... And though our people do not often eat dog, they seem vehemently opposed to wasting any part of the cow's body! I just eat it and pretend that it's normal for me... it actually doesn't taste too bad.

Please lift us up these next few weeks, as we will be staying in a national home soon. I am so excited about it I can hardly contain it. "Yarp" that we will be always polite and courteous to them, and that we will make good relationships with students at the university over the next six months.

I wouldn't be here without you guys, so thanks for allowing Him to use you! I appreciate y'all so much!

My New Home

Hey guys,

Just a quick note to let you all know what's up. We've finally made it to our new home for the next six months, and it's definitely a city. Yes, it's a city for sure. There's so much smog around that I feel like I can hardly breathe sometimes. And the national bird of this country? Apparently the crane. :) There's definitely a lot of construction going on all the time, and often you can hear drilling.
Of course, we had a slight luggage mishap - what's a third world country without a luggage mishap? A taxi driver happened to drive off with two of our suitcases, probably unintentionally. And yet we still haven't haven't recovered them... Please lift up this situation to the Father.
So, I'll be posting some pictures soon, but for now we're going to go shopping. For the record, I think this is a wonderful experience; I wouldn't trade it for anything, despite the problems.
Thanks for the support!!!

Heading to the West!




Hey everybody,

Thanks so much for tuning in to my many escapades filled with action, comedy, drama, and adventure! Warning: There may also be elements of horror and suspense; not suitable for adults who feel like or would like to be young children. There will also be tales of friendship, beauty, and the undying love of the Father who created true love itself and wants everyone to truly find it.

[Some Asian food to look forward to.]

Yes, I am heading West! Ha ha, and all of you thought I was traveling to the East. Little did you know that I'm traveling West to get to the East. I guess that's how all this works. Pretty confusing, considering that I'm also traveling time in the process. By the time I get there, I'll have skipped like half a day, even though I spent longer than that in travel. Pret-ty cra-zy, if you ask me.

So jump on the bus before it takes off! I appreciate all of your "yarpers," which is I guess what we're calling them now, though it reminds me more of the noise a Chihuahua makes than a solemn request of the Father. But seriously, I would covet them. Anna and I leave on July 3rd and remain in transit for like 2 days. Yarp that I will actually sleep at some point--it's kind of important (a point which my brain tends to involuntarily omit when in transit). Also yarp that we will be prepared spiritually, physically, and emotionally and that our love for each other and others will not wane when we are tired.

[A random plane.]

Thank you so much!