August 28, 2007

Dear friends and family,

What is it like in East Asia in August, you ask? Well, it is a bit different from what I had expected... We've had a lot of fun experiences, without the extensive traveling that we were looking forward to so much, but that's okay. Basically over the past few weeks Jeanna and I have been setting up our apartment, doing schoolwork, and building relationships with students and other teachers. We've had to say goodbye to some teachers that we had already formed friendships with which was sad, but it's always fun to hang out with new people. We got to experience KTV, which is hugely popular all over Asia! It's like a building full of little rooms and you rent one out to have an individual karaoke night with your friends. That was a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to repeating the experience with friends a lot this next semester! Most of the students love to sing and perform in some way or another.

Through getting to know other teachers, we have met a lot more students that we can hang out with and one girl that wants to study with us this next semester! we are really excited, please be yarping about that. We had a little confusion about what our service project would be this next semester, but we finally decided that we are sticking to the original plan: we will be teaching English in the Continuing Education department. Our classes will be from 6-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. This seems like a really good schedule for us because it leaves us with maximum time for our schoolwork, language studies, and studies with students. Please yarp that we will be able to form relationships with our continuing ed. students as well as the regular university students!

One interesting experience we had was going to Changbai Shan (Changbai Mountain). We went with two others teachers, an English teacher and a French teacher. We were supposed to have someone with us that spoke Chinese and Korean, but unfortunately they were not able to go so we were on our own... first of all we went to a hotel to join up with a tour bus and got on this huge, nice bus that was air conditioned and very comfortable. Then they said that we were not on the list, and it was the wrong bus. So we got out and ended up having to walk down to another location on a different street, and the English teacher (who knows a lot more Korean than Chinese) said "Oh, well I think this bus is actually better anyway. I think it's the same one I took last time!" It definitely wasn't. Haha it was really hilarious, this tiny little van pulls up and the people waiting start piling into it, and the four of us stand back saying "We can't possibly fit everyone in there." But we could! They had some little pull-down seats and we were able to squeeze everyone into the van; we just got to know each other a lot better than we would have! It was fine, though, I enjoyed talking to people. About four hours later, we arrived at the mountain and had time to hike around a beautiful waterfall before it was time to go up to the mountain. We had to wait in line with our tickets to get to the SUVs that would take us up to the top. But let me tell you, waiting in line in China is not a passive experience! People were squeezing through bars and other barriers to get ahead, pushing and shoving like crazy. I don't think I will ever be able to convey the feeling of it--it was a stampede! I just had to laugh hysterically and say "TIC!"

We finally got up to where the SUVs were and got in one and started going up the mountain, which turned out to be a horrific death ride as we were speeding around sharp curves and practically riding on two wheels. I said to myself (and everyone else in the car) "I might die today... I have to be okay with that!" and thought to myself that I did not want to die driving up a mountain in an SUV driven by a maniac, I'd rather have a more exciting death than that, and more hysterical laughter ensued. And I yarped, a lot, and pr*ised him afterwards for my safety, which seemed like a miracle! We got to the top of the mountain, and it was freezing cold! The wind was blowing so hard that I could barely stand up. Thankfully I had brought a windbreaker with me, but it was still terribly cold. The mountains, however, were absolutely beautiful! There is a very famous crater lake there that was gorgeous.

Despite all the intensity of the trip (the English teacher that was with us, who lived in Lithuania for three years and now China for a year and has been to about 40 countries said that it was the worst culture shock that he had ever experienced... ever...) it was really interesting to go there because it is a very famous mountain especially for Korea. Both China and Korea want to claim Changbai Mountain as their own, and there is a lot of mythology and folklore that goes along with the mountain. Also, I had just finished a book called "In the Absence of Sun" by Helie Lee, an American Korean woman who managed to rescue her family from NK in the late 90s (the first book is called "Still Life With Rice" --you should check them out!) and Changbai was the very place where her family was rescued, from across the river. I think I actually saw the hotel that she stayed in while there! It is obviously a very important place for that culture and so I was really glad to be able to experience it.

I realize now that this is a really long email... just want to give thanks to Him for all his blessings! We have an apartment with a refrigerator that is really handy, and we just got a bigger bed that is a lot more comfortable! And this week we are supposed to get a microwave... he is providing for us and it is great. And we are so excited to see what the semester will bring...Thank you so much for yarping! I hope everything is going well for you all. I would love to hear from you if you have time to write! Thanks for your encouragement!

in him,

Joanna