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Chengdu to Beijing to LAX CHINA PT 3

Well I last left off with a little bit of the schedule

Morning – (7am-ish) get up for personal devo, then breakfast of steamed dumplings and rice porridge.
After Morning – Singing and lesson
Near Noon – Small groups and English Class
Noon (ish) – Lunch (usually at a restaurant in the area)
Afternoon – outing (think Panda Amsterdam)
After Afternoon – Free time (i.e. Allan updates Twitter)
Evening – Dinner (again restaurant)
Night – Activity/Video

This was our schedule, for the most part, what we stuck to. Some days did go a bit off schedule, but let me hit of the highlights.....

Personal Study Time - I loved this! I usually sat on the rooftop with my Bible, journal and instant coffee or a cup of tea. It was good to just be ith God in the morning.

Breakfast - Everyday we had the same thing, literally. It was rice porridge, steamed dumplings called bao zi, boiled chicken eggs and salted boiled duck eggs. While this may not seem like the most popular choice for Americans, this is a very Chinese breakfast. I thought it was pretty good myself. Add a little dark soy vinegar and well, its all good.

Morning singing and study I am sure were all good but they were all in Chinese, so i really have NO clue what was said.

Small groups - This was a time when everybody (but Marcus and I) got into small groups and discussed what every was said in the lesson. Since i could not understand what was said in the lesson I didn't really have all that much to contribute, so Marcus and I used the time to prepare for our "English Class".

"English Class" - This was a time when Marcus and I would teach silly songs in English with our guitar/mandolin skills! (and yes they are sweet skillz) This was a oppertunity for the other leaders to have a break and we would teach/entertain the kids for a bit. Now at this point i must thank the teachers at Ramona elementary for donating to help me buy supplies for this time. I bought little prizes and what not and the kids loved them! Thanks!

Lunch - Usually at a restaurant within walking distance. This was the time when i would catch a quick phone call with my amazing and beautiful girlfriend.(love you kelly)

Outings - This is when we took the kids out to different places. One time was to the Panda Breeding center. This is what i called the Panda Amsterdam. Another time the kids went and saw Transformers 2 in the theaters. Now this might not seem like a big deal, but is was the 1st time any of these kids went inside a movie theaters to see a movie. It is a big luxury for kids in the "villages" to see a movie in the theaters. I mean, if you are making $100-200 max a months and a movie ticket cost around $20, it is a big deal. They really loved that. We also went to a famous poets house and in general had fun.

Free Time! - This is my favorite time as i got to just hang out, walk around the city a bit and update twitter.

Dinner - Again at a place round the corner

Evening - There would be a movie around a Bible story or something of that sort and then off to bed.

Highlights
Here are a few stories that for me will stand out.

Watching the kids play -
For me one the big highlights of the week will be watching the kids play. Many times i would forget that they had an injury. They just played, like any kids their age. As someone that has been in a wheelchair and lives with something that can hold me back, it was awesome to see these kids live vibrantly even though they had some amazing challenges.

Jamming -
One of boys in the group whose nickname was Yao Ming, took a big interest in my mandolin and Marcus guitar. He loved to just sit and strum. I taught him a few chords and i would sit and watch him go at it. I would join in and help with strumming or fingering or bring in some back up with the guitar.

Birthday and Getting my hair done -
My family isn't really big into birthdays. I mean, I haven't had a birthday in the states for about 5 hears or so, that might have something to do with it, but for the more part we just don't make a big deal out of them. So I had my B-day in China this year. The foreigners got me a REAL birthday cake and we had a little party, it was AWESOME.
Ok, well for the other story, after an English class we had some time left over. As little gifts i got the girls "hair things" as i call them. I know how to buy cool stuff for guys, but as for girls i have no clue. So at the 99 cent store, (where i do most of my shopping for mission trips of any sort) i bought "hair things" little rubber hair bands, brushes, scrunchies (?) and what not. Well I had handed these out and all the girls when to town with them. (score one for me!) So they started having doing stuff with their hair and then looked at my hair. "Hmmm....." i heard one of them say. (Hmmm.... is for sure a universal thing) The next thing i know i am sitting in a chair with 3 Chinese girls with rubber hairbands ATTACKING my hair. I ended up with little tuffs of hair shooting straight up in pink, yellow and BRIGHT green. Well when they were done it was time to eat. So i went to pull them out and all of them looked at me with these big sad eyes and begged me not to take them out. So i agreed on keeping them in until after lunch. So i kept them on. I don't think i have ever had so many people stare at me. I mean, i am sure i almost caused an accident. i wore them with pride and when people stared i just smiled and waved back. The girls loved it. All of the people in the restaurant laughed and i just had to laugh with them. They asked what happened and i just pointed to the girls in the group and they all instantly understood.

Field Hospitals -
Well, after the week was completed, we took the kids and the parents back to the train station and bus stops that they came from. We took a bus and went to a train station then to a field hospital where a bus stop was. This was the heaviest moment of trip. These field hospitals were made after the earthquake. Many of the hospitals around the epicenter were damaged and over loaded with victims, so that they had to build these long stable like field hospitals.They are simple concrete, steel and wood. They are meant to be for the moment, not for comfort. Patients and their families would live in these make shift rooms while receiving treatment. Some have been there for almost a year.
Seeing the patients walk around the complex, families in waiting in the rooms and the small make-shift tent convenience stores, made me realize more of the reality that i was seeing. Its not that i didn't think i was real, but to see it face to face is totally different from hearing the stories of the past week.

GETTING HOME - Well Beijing

So after my week in Chengdu I had to head back to Beijing. On the way to the airport Alex, Marcus' girlfriend, got a call that her aunt was in the hospital, so she took a cab and got on the next flight out. Marcus and I got to the airport at 4:00pm and our flight is suppose to take off at 8:50. There is a 30 min cut off time to board the plane, so 8:20 is the latest that we can get on the plane......remember that.
Well, 4:00 we get there and get in line, hand over the passports and get told, "you are not in computer, please to go that line" Well, Alex had paid online, that is how we got to Chengdu in the first place! Anyways, we go to the next line and the lady behind the desk says, "Ah, you are here, but you have not paid". (Time 4:15pm)
Marcus and I needed some proof that we paid for the tickets, Alex was the person that paid and she had the "magic chinese flight numbers", of course she was the on a flight. So we had to wait, and wait and wait. (Time 5:00pm)
Waiting for an hour turned to 2. Marcus and I are getting nervous so we start looking for spots to sleep for the night in the airport. Time (7:00pm)
Finally Alex gives us a call at 8:00pm! We go to the ticket lady and she starts talking to Alex. (T-15 mins to cutoff) There was alot of Chinese spoken (T-10 mins) and then more computer typing (T-5 mins), and then phone calls (T-0 mins) and more talking in Chinese (T + 5 mins) and then more computer typing....(T +15, 20, 25)
"Ohhh...." that is a universal sign that something has happened. SHE FOUND THE MONEY! YAY! But now our plane has already left. We ask if we can have our money back, "No, I am sorry, but you missed you plane." (note this is the same lady we have been talking to the entire time)
"Yes, we have missed our plane because you couldn't find our money. Ok, well, you foun the money in the computer can you use that money to buy us another ticket in the morning?"
"No, you missed your plane, we can not give you back the money" (The time is now 9:00pm) And you think airlines are bad in America?

Well the hunt is now on for 2 one way tickets to Beijing. Marcus is searching on his computer and i am asking every ticket office in the airport for their prices. Finally at 11:30 we buy 2 tickets for $211.00 each! They leave at 7:30 in the morning. Rather than waste money on a taxi and a hostel, Marcus and I spend the night in the airport. We end up finding our way to a space under an escalator around 2:00 am. Now mind you we are in the arrivals section of the airport. So there are still announcements over the loud speakers, people walking around and mosquitoes flying around. I have rarely been so happy for 100 proof DEET and my sleeping roll.

Come 3:00am Marcus is done ans starts to sleep. I like my stuff so i stay awake and stay guard. I give my lovely girlfriend a call and talk till my battery is dead. i zone out in ipod land and then take a little nap.
4:00am I go to use the restroom and spend the first 5 mins going on a mosquito killing spree in the stall. (I really DON'T feel like getting bit anywhere that my pants usually cover) After the deed is done i go to wash my hands, and see the mirror is a checkerboard of mosquitoes. Again, another killing spree.
for the next hour and a half i do what i can to nap and stay up. Around 6:00 we get up and check in to our flight. AND VICTORY! Our names were not only in the computer, but it showed we had paid!

We got home, took a shower, (AMEN!) and then headed out to buy pearls. (I was under orders to bring back a chocolate pearl for my loving girlfriend) (ok, not so much orders, but it was very HIGHLY suggested) (love you Kelly)

The next day I had a last good Chinese meal and i was back on a plane. Now, my flight over was Air Canada, but i had misread my flight stub, and found out i was going back on Air CHINA! I was not thrilled. While i was my seat was an ok size, my ipod froze up an hour into the flight.

I arrived in America 13 hrs later and was very happy to see Kelly out of the gates.


FINISHED! There you have it!

I have other, non-China related posts to come. Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment.

Here is a slide show of my favorite pics, they are the same as from the first post, but now that you know the end of the story, it kinda gives you a little extra fun.




In Christ,
Allan

The Avett Brothers Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music

A little break from my China posts, this is from a video podcast i subscribe to, it is just amazing. the first song is my favorite.

Chengdu to Beijing to LAX NEW CHINA pt 2

Alright, so when i last left you I was about to head over to Chengdu and that is where I will begin.

Monday morning Marcus and I got up, started to get ready and then we me Alex and headed to the airport. Now this is the new fricken HUGE Beijing airport terminal #3. It is probably one of the largest man made structures there are around right now. Besides being BIG it also has a Burger King, which Marcus had to stop at before we got on the plane. I understand this because living in China you have, relatively, not as many options/varieties of food. For about 30 mins Marcus was in heaven and then we were off.
The plane ride over wasn't all that great, but then again not many flights in China are. We landed in Chengdu and then went to the hotel where Alex's father works. The 4 of us went out to eat at a local restaurant and then went back to the hotel. Marcus and Alex wanted to show him pictures of his new grandkids. I decided to take a little walk and explore the area around me. I was out for about 2 hours and I found the normal.....small shops selling odds and ends, restaurants, street food and well, red lights (i.e. brothels) (these are VERY common in China and are a very sad sight) By the time i came back Alex's dad was gone and we all hit the hay for tomorrow.
The next morning we all got up and meet Jackie, a leader in the church and former friend from JingZhou. He pointed us the way to the hostel where we would be staying for the next week. It was the Dreams Travels Youth Hostel! YAY! (ok so this is no 5 star hotel, but really it was cheap and did the job and that is what i really cared about.)

When we first got there most of the families had already arrived. I went to a room just to put down my stuff and there met some of the kids. I wasn't really, "surprised" by what I saw, rather wondering how in the world i was going to communicate with them. In China there is the, "standard" language, what we call Mandarin, and then there are the thousands of local dialects. There is the almost a different language for every city, so for me know like, 20 words in Mandarin, I knew that talking to these kids was going to be......interesting to say the least.

Ok, now I have mentioned a bit about where these kids have come from but I haven’t yet told their specific stories or how they got there, so let’s rewind time…..(insert Wayne’s World doh doh doh doh, doh doh doh doh, doh doh doh doh)

Almost a year ago an earthquake hit near Chengdu, China. (Check Here, Here and Here). Well the church that I was with working with wanted to help the people that were affected by the earthquake and started sending people from the church over to the places hit hard. While they were there they started to meet families in the hospitals. Through these connections they met the kids that we worked with in Chengdu. So here they are….

From Chengdu Kids

From Chengdu Kids

Lou Ying

From Chengdu Kids

Ma Cong

From Chengdu Kids

Ping Ping

From Chengdu Kids

Shang Ting - She was one of the last people to be pulled out alive. She was buried for 5 days, and basically heard her classmates expire around her. She is in a wheel chair because she has two prosthesis.

From Chengdu Kids

From Chengdu Kids

Si Yu (aka Cutie) - She was saved when her teacher grabbed her before the classroom was about the be filled by a landslide. They made it out the door and the teacher used her body as cover as the landslide hit them. The teacher died, but Si Yu survived. She received a deep gash in her leg from heel of the shoe her teacher was wearing that came off and dug into her.

From Chengdu Kids

From Chengdu Kids

Tong Zhong Cheng

From Chengdu Kids

Wen Jing

From Chengdu Kids

Yin Fun Qun

From Chengdu Kids

Zhao Chen - He was buried for a day and then was pulled out. But because there were so many kids/people that needed to be moved, that he had to lay on the ground for a day. From there he went to a field hospital, where he had to under go an amputation from below the knee without anesthesia. Because of the amount of people going to the hospital and that many of the regular hospitals in the area had collapsed many places had run out of anesthesia, so many people had to do without it.

From Chengdu Kids

Zhu Jie

So there are the kids and some of their stories.

The week had a schedule, kinda. For the most part it was this

Morning – (7am-ish) get up for personal devo, then breakfast of steamed dumplings and rice porridge.
After Morning – Singing and lesson
Near Noon – Small groups and English Class
Noon (ish) – Lunch (usually at a restaurant in the area)
Afternoon – outing (think Panda Amsterdam)
After Afternoon – Free time (i.e. Allan updates Twitter)
Evening – Dinner (again restaurant)
Night – Activity/Video

Now that was a loose idea of what we did. It wasn’t always like this, but this was generally what happened.

The part that most affected me was the “English Class”. Basically Marcus and I would teach the kids a few songs and work on their pronunciation. It was fun, but it was a bit frustrating for me as I just couldn’t talk to the kids. There are some things that are universal, such as passing out stickers or small prizes for pronouncing, Tuesday, correctly, but overall I had some limitations. (Note, I have to thank all of the teachers and staff that helped provide supplies for the English class)

Alright, that is all I can get done right now, I will give a finishing post a little later.

Allan

LA to Toronto to Beijing to Chungdu NEW CHINA Part 1

Alright so i have tried to start this blog about 4 times now, and its not that I don't want to write it is just i have this thing about the introduction to a story. I have always had a hard time start the BEGINNING of a story when i am writing. But I am preparing some tea in my new fricken awesome tea mug and I am feeling the writing bug biting. So here goes....

I have a friend, Marcus, who is living and working in China with a house church. His mom, due to work, flies very often and has acquired a bit of flyer miles, so much so that she said, "Here is a ticket, go hang out with my son", and who am I to go against the wishes of a mother, right? So the itinerary was this,
June 18th
10:30 pm LAX to TORONTO
2:00 pm TORONTO to BEIJING

Ok i know this is not the greatest of flight schedules, but hey its a free ticket and well, i have a friend in Toronto so I thought it would be kinda cool.

The 17th was the last day of school and the 18th was a teacher clean up day. I bsically worked from 8am to 2pm, packed and bought supplies for the kids i would be helping and then got to LAX around 6:30. After a little (but fricken EXPENSIVE) bite to eat I got on the plane. It was Air Canada and I was pretty happy going over. I arrived in Toronto and then realized that, "Hey i don't have my cell phone, meaning i can't call my friend in Canada! Nor anyone else I know because i didn't memorize their numbers!" (That is what a cell phone is for!) So after some searching I find a computer and got the numbers i need. I meet up with my friend, Amy, who was a missionary in China when i was there. We had some coffee and had a killed a few hours just catching up with each others lives. I didn't get a chance to get out of the airport as it was too expensive to take the quick bus to Toronto and well, i didn't have time to take the regular bus. So I said a goodbye to Amy and then got on the plane to Beijing, again, Air Canada.
Now at this point and time i was wondering how we were going to get to Beijing. I mean, would i back track across America to Beijing, or would i be taking the long route over Europe and Asia? Well neither. Thanks to whole world being round thing, we went over the arctic circle! It was amazing. Anytime i would open my window I would look over pure white snow and stunning blue sky.
*Side note, now from LAX to Beijing it was around 30+ hours of time in Airports and planes. So here is a little bit of what I listened to to keep me entertained. Please Enjoy.


I arrived in Beijing around 7pm. I met Marcus and Alex (Marcus' girlfriend) and we caught a taxi to his place. The air was hot and well, when we rolled down the windows it stung my eyes. Beijing is not known for its amazing air quality. That first night we went out to eat, and then I hit a wall of jet lag and hit the hay.

The next morning we went to church and I met the people who would be going to Chengdu and a friend from when i was in JingZhou. The rest of the day I basically spent with Marcus and Alex getting things ready to leave for Chengdu and then had dinner with Marcus and Julia Rodriguez. Marcus and Julia are missionaries in China working with the sister church that Marcus and Alex are a part of. They are well loved friends and our time was great. We ended the night at McDonalds playing Settlers of Catan. It was a good time.

Now i have yet to fully explain what I was going to do in Chengdu.


View Larger Map

I was told before I left that the church that Marcus has been working with 'adopted' about 9 families affected by the earthquake last year. These families all have children that have either lost a limb(s) or were badly injured from being buried in rubble. The church was going to put on a week long camp for these kids and their families at hostel in the city of Chengdu. It literally came about only 2 weeks before i left so it was kinda a surprise, but it I was excited. Marcus and Alex were going to go a day early so that Marcus could meet Alex's dad, who lives in Chengdu, for the 1st time. I went with them to make it easier in getting to Chengdu.


Ok that is a bit for now, I will write more tomorrow night about what we did in Chengdu and then getting back to Beijing and LAX.

Allan

China Slide Show Preview, have fun!

Hello Everyone,

Ok, I know...I know.....It has been way to long and I won't make any excuse other than I have just been too lazy to get to this. But as I start the summer I wanted to tell you of my recent China adventure. So I will start with a slide show and then will write more as i can. I should have the complete story up by the end of the week, but for now i hope this slide show wets your appetite.




Allan

Coming Soon

Hey just wanted to let you know that there is a blog in the works...coming soon!

Allan