Where do I even begin?
Since I moved into the dorms at LiaoDa, I've been frustrated by not having internet connection in my room. But, oh, should I have been counting my blessings. One of my friends had internet, so I could daily go use his computer to check my email and such. This week the internet went out all across the dorm. Darn. That's annoying. So that's my excuse for why no one has heard from me in a week.
With that said, I'll just start rambling about all the things that have happened in the last week or two. Believe me, it's been a lot. And a lot of really entertaining things that would have made great blog posts, if only I had internet...
First of all, suddenly it has become winter. Literally, I went out Wednesday afternoon in flip-flops and a T-shirt, and Thursday I was wearing a winter coat. How bizarre is that? But the chill seems to be here to stay, and I'm not really too excited about that. I'm amazed how cold it is. Not that the temperature is actually that low yet (I believe it's been lows just below freezing), but there's no heat in any of the buildings and most places actually just leave doors and windows open. So there's no place to go warm up. My hot chocolate intake has definitely increased since Thursday, which is probably not a good thing since hot chocolate is expensive in China. But I have to have a vice of some sort, and one that helps me warm up is convenient.
Speaking of vices, I now have my first American friend in Shenyang. He is an English teacher here at LiaoDa, so we met once I started giving classes here as well. He's fun, but he always makes fun of me because he doesn't think I have any vices. I keep saying it's hot chocolate, but he doesn't think that counts. Whatever.
My classes this week were quite entertaining. In the English classes, I had my first conversations about sex and homosexuality in a Chinese classroom. Interesting to hear the Chinese students' comments, especially after watching the culture for some time. Let me tell you, my perceptions and their comments were definitely not in complete agreement. In my Chinese classes, I learned some very important words this week, like cerebral cortex and senile dementia. Yeah, I'll go practice those ones right away. At least the Poker terms might actually come in handy!
So now for the really entertaining stuff: I got to ride on a motorbike last Sunday! How cool is that?! For those of you who have never had the privilege of seeing the driving habits of a place like China, or seeing how the countless motorbikes have their own approach to dealing with traffic, just believe me: it was exciting. Thrilling, you could say. I probably should have been scared for my life, but surprisingly I wasn't.
Here's the story. One of the guys from my Sunday afternoon fellowship asked me to go out for dinner with him after the service. Yeah, okay, so I suppose that means I had a date with him. But a date that involves a motorbike is worth having! :) No, seriously though. Of course I agreed to grab something to eat with him, and then he told me we'd take his bike. Woot! So I rode on the back, initially riding side-saddle like all the Chinese women do. That was convenient, since I was wearing a skirt. But when he drove me home after dinner, I sat the other way to be more stable and comfortable, since it was a fairly long ride. I was certainly less than lady-like getting on and off that way (in my skirt), but it worked. And we had fun.
So is it bad to say that my favorite part of the "date" was riding on the bike?
In other news, I'm going to be published in a Belgium newspaper! In Dutch! This also excites me. My friend G from Flanders (the northern region of Belgium) is the editor of a newspaper for his student organization. Okay, okay, I never said it was a major newspaper. But he's very curious about the Dutch traditions that have lived on in the U.S. and Canada, particularly as related to the CRC, so he asked me to write an article about that. It was a lot of fun to write, and it's even cooler to think that he's going to translate the article into Dutch and a whole bunch of Dutch-speaking people are going to be reading it!
Speaking of G, though, I love spending time with him and his girlfriend, WT. One night this past week they invited me over to their apartment to make pannekoeken or Dutch pancakes. Turns out Dutch pancakes are more like French crepes than the pancakes we eat with syrup in the U.S. But they sure are tasty! And they even had a version of Nutella to put on them!
This morning (Sunday), I met up with G to go try the Catholic service. Belgium is obviously a Catholic country, so that's how G grew up. He went to this service last week and told me he really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give it a try myself. Turns out that service is a whole lot more like my own tradition and like the DCCRC than the afternoon fellowship I've been going to! But I've already made friends and gotten involved in the afternoon group, so I think I'm going to be very CRC this year and attend two services each Sunday. That might be the only thing CRC about my experience here, but it's something, anyway!
And I might be joining a choir. The morning group already asked me to, even though it was my first time there, and that would give me something to do between the two meeting times. But we'll see. I should at least sleep on it before I go joining the choir of a place I only somewhat agree with.
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