Soaking up the Season

I’m glad I went to English Corner. It was a valuable time. On the way home, I had the taxi driver drop me off a few blocks away so I could walk in the snow. There has been no precipitation in Beijing since the first week of November. I felt almost intoxicated with joy as the flakes danced around me in the dimly lit street.

The next day, it snowed about one foot. My friends and I played in it until we were soaked and shivering. I'm getting the most out of every season. I don’t want to overlook one season in looking too much towards the next. I’m doing pretty well with this concept in other areas of life – I’m still working hard at teaching even though a Thailand trip is around the corner. I am finding new things to love about China, even though I wonder when and if I’ll be called back to the States. Still, I need people in my life and big snowfalls to keep reminding me of the goodness in the present. Taste and see that He is good, my friends! How is He good in your current season?

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The Rap Taxi

Every Saturday, I help facilitate discussion at an English Corner. English Corner is a term for when people who want to learn English get together and have discussions. I like the opportunity to discuss deeper issues with college students and adults.

After lunch at Jenny’s, I took a nap on my couch and woke up feeling apathetic about going out in the cold to get to English Corner. It takes me about an hour if I travel frugally by bus and subway. I’m disciplining myself to follow through on commitments of all sizes, so I got up and got ready. To make it more appealing, I decided to splurge on the faster, warmer option of taking taxis both ways. I stood out on the cold street, jumping in place, and asked the Father to send me a taxi with a nice driver. One of my deals with myself is that I use taxi drivers as conversation partners. It’s been an awesome way to practice Chinese. Some drivers are not as willing to chat as others, so I was hoping for a gracious one.

A taxi pulled up and I got in. “Hello! Where to go?” the driver boomed in English. I laughed out loud. The Father sent me a guy who knows English! It was a fabulous ride. He had learned some English from foreign passengers over the years and was delighted to converse in a mishmash of English and Chinese. He told me he liked American music and then turned on some rap. I asked if he understood the words and he said no. It was a fun life moment for me to be sitting in a Beijing taxi, snow beginning to fall, translating rap songs into Chinese. “…There’s a man driving a nice car and he wants the pretty women to look at him…”

Good Times with Jenny

My coworker Jenny is a character. She knows more about the U.S. than your average American. She asks detailed questions and will not rest until she is satisfied with the answer. Jenny and I have discussed the correct way to pronounce “kangaroo” at least three times now. When she says, “Brooke, is it kangaroo or kangaroo?” the words sound exactly the same to me. I know there’s a difference for her that I’m not catching, but we can’t seem to find a place of agreement. I respond with, “kangaroo”, the only way I know how to say it, and she goes back to, “Are you saying kangaroo or kangaroo?” “I’m saying kangaroo,” I say, and on it goes.

This past Saturday, Lina and I took a bus to the outskirts of town to have lunch at Jenny’s apartment. Her daughter, Jia Chuen, is twenty months old. We were surprised at how quickly she warmed up to us. Within minutes of sitting down, she was dancing, clapping, playing with our jewelry, and demanding to see herself on my camera screen. As is common in China, Jia Chuen called me and Lina “Aiyi”, which means “Auntie”. While we played, Jenny buzzed in and out of the room, helping her parents cook lunch. At one point, she popped her head out of the kitchen and said, “Do you like dog meat?” Lina and I both think eating dog meat is a short step away from cannibalism, so we ummed and ahhed until Jenny said, “Okay. Let’s eat beef.” It was a delicious meal. Jenny’s parents are from Xi’an and made dishes that are a little different from Beijing’s dishes. The chicken marinated in beer was a favorite. It was a treat to learn more about Jenny’s life and interact with her in her own surroundings.

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