Harbin, home, and heading out again!

Nicole and I survived our 28 hour seat on a train back from Harbin. It's not the best way to travel, but we got here ok. I actually slept more than I expected, so that was good. Didn't affect me too much.

Harbin was unique. Here are some things that caught my attention:
1) it was slippery! You always had to watch your step
2) There were random ice sculptures all over the city. So cool
3) Taxi's will pick you up even if they have other in the car. My guess is because it's so cold they don't want you to have to stand outside for too long. Plus, it makes sense, share a cab!
4) You can be fat and no one knows! You have to wear lots of clothes to stay warm. Most of my pictures only have my eyes showing.
5) People are bigger up here. Not necessarily fatter, but honestly, bigger. It's true, people are bigger in the north than the south.
6) Indoor heating is amazing! It was so nice and warm inside! I could easily get up and shower early in the morning. :) Helped that they hostel had heated floors.

Tomorrow I fly out to Sanya (from way north to way south!) Two years ago I traveled for over a month no break, last year I traveled for one month with a super short stop back in Wuhan. This year I have four little trips. Harbin 5 days, Sanya-Maylasia-Singapore 16 day,  small city by Wuhan- 2 days, and ending in Hong Kong for 5 days.

7 dwarfs pulling a sleigh with elephants... i don't get it

pretty picture!

our silhouette in front of the main castle

finished the ice and snow world!

Ice Festival

Last night I went to the festival. We went with a van from our hostel. Free transportation with the ticket. But.. You only get 2 hours in the park. Hostel guy said that's long enough cause its so cold.

We were like little kids when we first entered! It was so cool! We ran from place to place impressed by the skills needed to carve these sculptures out of ice and snow. The cold didn't seem to be a problem... Until the first hour. Then we started noticing chilly fingers and toes. By an hour and a half, we knew that the hostel guy was right. Two hours is ok :)

There were castles, princesses, smurfs, even a big Buddha just like in hong kong. They had slides make from ice, mazes, and other hands-on activities. Even though it was cold, it was worth it.

Not sure how clear these pictures are, took them on my iPod.

Harbin intro

I got this new ap on my iPod that allows me to make blogs posts directly. Plus I got a VPN, so I'm blogging from Harbin.

We had a tough time getting here. Our flight landed at a different airport since there was bad weather where we needed to go. So we sat there for a while. Finally we got to where we needed to go just to have another delay (we didn't leave the plane, it was just a stop). But, we finally made it to cold Harbin!

Finding a taxi from the bus stop was tough. But apparently in harbin you can share taxis quite easily. So, a lady let us get in with her. She got a cheaper fare, taxi driver got to charge both of us, and we got out of the cold. We were all happy :)

This morning we went to Sun Island. It was full of awesome is now sculptures. I'll try to put a picture on the blog later. To night... The cold cold time to see the ice sculptures!!! Excited!

Welcome to the Family!

My recent facebook status: "welcomed two new people into the "family" this week... if you know what I mean. HE is good! Two good friends became my brother and sister! :)"

My "runaway" that I've blogged about and have talked about is now my sister. I fought the tears last night as she stood up with a huge smile on her face standing there ready to "take a shower".  The best shower she will ever have as 11 of us stood by in joy.

Check out my first story about her here: A Runaway

Biking in Wuhan

My first year in China I had a bike for about 2 weeks. Then... it was stolen. I decided not to buy another one because I was a little scared to bike in Wuhan. Then, last year I bought a bike... and I LOVE IT!

It's been a bit cold so there was about two weeks where I didn't bike anywhere. It's too hard to put all the layers on with the helmet (that's right, I'm safe) and fight the cold weather. However, this week was mild, so I hit the road again! Now, I'm confident.

Here are some tips to biking (or driving, really) in China.
1- No matter what, DON'T hit the person in front of you. This may seem obvious, but people, cars, and bikes swerve around quite randomly. So, it's your job to always pay attention and swerve with the traffic.
2- Use your bell! That's why you have it. Give a little dingaling to warn the walkers that you're coming. It might not always work, but at least you tried.
3- Keep focused. I realize that if I start day dreaming, I run into trouble (sometimes literally).
4- Realize that you may hit someone but it'll be ok. I have hit a few people since I started biking. People jump out from behind buses or around corners and you can't always stop in time. But it's ok, make sure they're ok, say sorry, and just keep going (unless it's major- which wouldn't really happen on a bike)
5- Have fun! Enjoy the thrill you get from biking in Wuhan.

I love my wheels. They give me freedom from crowded buses and traffic jams! Plus, they help me stay in shape :) Wanna come visit? You can give biking a shot as well.

Support Us!

Hello all you faithful readers! I have told you about my winter break plans. Part of my traveling includes going to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong I will get together with many many of the other teachers throughout China. We will have seminars, "meetings", and fun times together. This is a great way to be encouraged and get set on fire for another semester.

Hong Kong is a great, safe place to go for this retreat, but it is also expensive. FoC has set up a website to give you an opportunity to help support the teachers' traveling expenses to Hong Kong. I will include the link in this blog post. If you want to give a donation, you are more than welcomed. If not, your "thoughts" are a free way to continue to support our "work".

Any questions... let me know!

https://kingdomworkers.myetap.org/fundraiser/asiaeslretreat/

My Lacking

I know I haven't written many blogs lately. It's been hard since my internet doesn't allow me to be connected to the vpn for very long. Here is an update on my life...

I have two days left of school. They are just final exams, so I have no more planning to do for this semester! 4 days after my exams I will be flying out to Harbin. What's up there? Well... first of all, there is snow!!! and very very cold weather. The first thing anyone says to me is "Why are you going there? It's too cold!" It's 11pm right now and it's -13 F in Harbin. It's supposed to be -33 on Monday night! So, yes, it's cold. Quite cold, but Nicole and I will survive. We will see the amazing ice and snow sculptures!!! I'm super excited.
Bad part though... taking a 27 hour train back on hard seats... yeah, that won't be fun :(

After Harbin I'll spend some time in Wuhan and then continue on my journey. This year I'm doing Sanya (Hawaii of China), Malaysia, and Singapore. I'll return to Wuhan for the spring festival, then off to Hong Kong for the retreat! I'm excited for the traveling, but I know I always get a bit stressed out about making flights on time. Pr-y that everything works out ok! :)