Completely Surrounded

There have been several ways in which I have felt completely surrounded this past week. On Friday my Baoding team left for Beijing to meet up with the other International English and Cultural Studies people. We traveled by train, and since this last week was a National Holiday for China, everyone was taking the train. At least that's how it felt. We got to the station and found the line (a loose definition) for our train. The"line" began to move, and we inched our way forward to a small opening that led us to the train. I thought the worst was over until I boarded the train and wondered how in the world I was supposed to get to my seat. Instead of an aisle to walk through, there was a sea of people to climb over, push, and shove past. See, the train sells many more tickets than available seats, so it's standing room only. Unfortunately for us, our seats were at the back of the train car, so we had to shove through an incredibly thick line of people. But we made it! Through my frustration and being completey overwhelmed, I remembered that there was one who came to this world and was continually surrounded by people in undesirable places, and he had compassion for the crowds. I long to be the same!

Once we arrived, Tony met us to take us to our hotel, and since the other two teams weren't coming until Saturday, we spent the afternoon shopping at the Pearl Market. You can buy anything you'd ever want there and pay almost nothing for it in American money. Most of us got some warmer clothes and coats for winter. It is here that I was completely surrounded by vendors grabbing at me and yelling "Pretty lady, you want silk scarf? Lady, you buy shirts for husband? Lady, come see beautiful purses!" You can't browse or seem interested in anything or you're doomed. Amelia and I decided to check out some jeans, and of course you can't buy jeans without trying them on, so we asked where we could do that. She smiled kindly and held out two larger men's shirts and said "yes, yes...right behind here." So, right there in the middle of the market, we backed up into the corner and changed behind the shirts with the kind lady watching us. I'll tell ya, this way you won't ever question if you should buy it, they'll tell you it looks just perfect and that they'll give you a good price!


The next day was such a blessing to reunite with the other seven members from IECS. We all went out to lunch and celebrated the birthdays of Peter, Tony, and the soon-to-be birthday of Tony's baby, who should be coming this week! Afterwards, we had great time of giving thanks and sharing words of encouragement with one another. It was truly a time where my heart and soul felt refreshed. I was surrounded by a team who shares a love so deep, and it was so evident while we were together that it is because of this love that we're in China. Here's the whole group: From the top left: Peter and Shannon Lucas-Roberts, Courtney Corder, Amelia Martin, Jess Shamblee, Brad and Jessica Distad. Bottom left: Ryan, Tony, Tim, Jon, Me, and Will Corder.

Another memorable moment from Beijing was when Amelia and I ventured out on our own to go see the China Salsa Congress. She loves salsa dancing, and it was a coincidence that this congress was there the same night as us. It was a new experience for me, and I had a lot of fun. In the taxi on the way there, we were unpleasantly surrounded by the stench from the driver when he decided to use the steering wheel to pull himself forward and let a huge one rip. We couldn't contain our laughter cause it was so loud and so stinky. He didn't seem to care at all.

Overall, my time in Beijing was very refreshing and a very good way to end my holiday. I'm looking forward to teaching again this week and to being surrounded by my students each day.