The Kindness of a Stranger

For the past couple months, we have been doing home visits for each of our kids. Three or four of us will go to about three different kids' houses and sit there listening to the parents speak with the Chinese teachers about their kid while we were plied with strange food by our hosts, waiting for our turn to tell the parent about our experience with their child in school in the most honest, yet positive way possible.

About a month and a half ago, a few teachers returned from one such evening of home visits raving about one of the moms they met. She attended college in California, so her english is wonderful. She was so excited to practice her english with us that she invited us to go to Guangzhou or Hong Kong with her some weekend-she has apartments in both cities in addition to her Xiaolan home.

Although our Visa won't allow us to go to Hong Kong, yesterday some of us were finally able to take her up on her offer of driving us to Guangzhou for a day of shopping, fun, and touring the city. She stayed with us all day, showing us the best sites, and insisted on taking us to lunch and dinner. I was finally able to try Southern China's famous "hot pot" dish, which was surprisingly delicious. Right before the drive back home, she showed us a corner market that sold American goods, and smiled tolerantly as we terrorized the store with squeals of delight. Four months without a Pop Tart does strange things to a girl's sensibilities.

Even besides her overwhelming generosity, this mom was so sweet and normal and just a delight to talk to. It was such a wonderful day, all due to the persistent kindness of one parent. She told us that she knew how we felt, having lived away from home for four years, which prompted her outreach to us.

During our mini church meeting today with girls from two other schools, we discussed how remarkable it was to experience so much helpfulness and kindness from complete strangers. Even while wandering the street looking lost, trying to find a certain place, english speaking Chinese people will approach us with offers to help. Logistically speaking, we should have gotten into some major trouble by now, for how clueless we are about our surroundings. But we always seem to find where we're going or get what we need.

Today it was pointed out that this seemingly magical circumstance is due to the persistent prayers and heaven sent love of our parents back home. I just realized today how much parental prayer and importuning is working to guide us clueless girls barely on the cusp of adulthood here in this foreign land.

I am immensely grateful to have parents who have such faith in me and in God to send me here. I am grateful for their prayers and for the prayers of all the other families of my peers to keep us safe and happy on this magnificent adventure. They're working.

Avatar Mountains

For our last vacation of 4 days, I and seven other girls in my group went to Zhangjiajie, which is a crazy cool mountainous region that the topography in the movie Avatar (blue people, not element benders) is based off of. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, it's gorgeous scenery was a nice contrast to Beijing and Shanghai. 

This trip, we decided to be extra frugal and stay at the cheapest hostel in the area. For $8 per night, we got a freezing room-apparently room heaters are considered dangerous in China- and some sketchy wall stains. Although we spent the whole weekend bundled in four to five layers, it was probably a good preparation to coming back to below zero winters most of us will have in Utah and Idaho.

After getting very little sleep on another overnight slow train filled with cigarette smoke, we spent our first day in a park close to our hostel that boasts the world's tallest outdoor, glass elevator.  We zoomed to the top of this mountain and walked around the area, blown away by the scenery.

Mirror on the top of the elevator

Beat that, Willy Wonka

Chinese hamburger!!! It was foul.

This little, old, toothless lady kept us well fed
with cheap bao zi all weekend. 

I'm happy to report that my Mandarin has improved greatly, to the point that I can hold a semblance of a conversation with a Chinese person-given enough time, patience, and enunciation. On one of the thousands of bus trips we took this weekend, I approached a group of older Chinese tourists in an attempt to get directions. They were tickled pink that I was even trying to speak with them, and would not let me out of their clutches. I was only allowed to go sit back down with my friends after finally learning the word for tour guide, and responding that no, we did not have one.

Sittin' in a tree with this great girlie next to me. 

Tsu'tey is not amused. 

The whole gang-with a rainbow of sneakers

 Our second day of vacation, we went into a different part of the huge park. Our adventuring brought us to a lovely river walk, and some ground views of the mountains. Chinese give nature sights the best corniest names. I'm not sure if they're the result of a botched Chinglish translation or an effort to enhance the magnificence of the site.

This weekend I realized that my many years of terrifying car rides with a sibling at the wheel was really just practice for the trust necessary to endure a bus ride up a series of vertiginous mountains at breakneck speed through a series of crazy winding curves. Driving up the mountain was seriously worse than the Night Bus-and way more magical. 

On Monday morning we checked out of the sketchy hostel at the crack of dawn to climb the Stairway to Heaven and experience the other wonders a different park had to offer. After arriving there, we climbed into "longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world", which offered a splendid view of the surrounding farming villages. We then experienced the aforementioned bus ride of terror and finally reached the top. 

Some centuries ago, the native people of this province discovered this natural arch in the rock, and decided to build a temple at the end of 999 steps climbing to the arch- 9 being a lucky number.

To be quite honest-I don't remember what the locks and ribbons symbolize. 

Stariway to Heaven
I counted every one of those steps and reached 967-sorry, Mom, not in Chinese. I'm hoping I was one who counted wrong.

After the climb, we took a literally 15 minute series of 8 escalators to the very top of Tianmen mountain. The best part about this was that we had no previous knowledge of it, so it seemed like just this never ending escalator ride to an unknown place. When we finally emerged into daylight at the top, it was like we were on this island in the sky-us and 300 other Chinese 60 year olds. 

We then hiked around the mountain on this narrow ledge literally on the side of the cliff supported by who knows what. It was amazing. And terrifying. And magical.

This is our best attempt at portraying how high and steep the cliff was. 

Chinese architecture is amazing. 

What we had known about previously was the glass walkway around the cliff through which one can see the ground thousands of feet below. It was amazing. And terrifying. And magical.

The red foot covers kept the glass from getting too
grimy and gave us awesome smurf feet.

Concluding our sojourn among the clouds, we rushed back to catch our 15 slow train back home. Thankfully that was the last overnight hell of a train ride, and it was made a smidgen more enjoyable by adorable babies dressed like old men.