Chun Jie Day...

Today was New Year's day in the Year of the Ox. After sleeping in late, I met up with some colleagues to head over to Ditan Park (Temple of Earth Park) to check out a traditional Chinese New Year festivite: the Temple Fair. Temple fairs started many years ago during the New Year celebration for people making piligrimages back home to buy all the supplies they would need both for prayers in the temple and for their celebrations. While the temple does still exist in this park and some praying does go on there, it is very much a commercialized affair with everything imaginable for sale.

After entering the park, we quickly realized that a few others had heard about this event as well:

First on the agenda was FOOD! After a satisfying lunch of grilled spicy lamb kebabs and noodles, I found a snack I had been trying to locate for some time: fried balls of dough dipped in sugar. These are very similar to New Orleans Beignets but they use regular sugar rather than powdered sugar. Oh yeah, and before you judge my hat, the Chinese girls say I look cute in it! It keeps me warm as well.

After eating, we wandered around checking out some of the booths. There were masks, fireworks, balloons, and everything else that is cheap and made in China. We then checked out two performances: a traditional Chinese dance and a Chinese magician who did a very impressive Square Circle routine in which he made a big pot of tea appear.

The actual temple area was lined with carnival games. I stopped to play one game where you toss coins onto small circles (how do you say step right up and win some crap in Chinese?), but alas did not win anything.

While playing this game just a few feet away from the temple's altar, I couldn't help thinking if this is what things looked like when Jesus cleared the Jerusalem temple of the moneychangers. Were they selling junk like this too?

On the way out, I stopped to pick up a scary mask. Masks are traditional at Chinese New Year because they scare away the evil spirits much like masks at our Halloween. If you dont' want to be scared don't read any further, my mask was really scary.

YES WE CAN! BOO! (Actually I think I look more like a black Nixon, maybe its the peace sign.)

After the fair, I headed over to the Crowne Plaza hotel to meet Gray Line tours for an evening of Chinese Acrobatics and Peking Roast Duck. Thomas, our excellent tour guide, took me and 2 ladies who were visiting China in his personal SUV. The show was good consisting of various acts including contortion, plate spinning, tumbling, climbing, and unicycle riding. It wasn't exactly Cirque Du Soleil but these kids have some talent. Afterwards, it was on to a nearby restaurant for Peking Duck, the duck that so many Americans know as being in the last scene of A Christmas Story. Actually our dinner consisted of many items: beef, veggies, fried rice and the duck. No it wasn't smiling at me. This restaurant knows a lot of westerners will be dining there and the head on the duck doesn't fly (no pun intended) with most westerners. Actually I was hoping it did have the head on just I could say that classic line. The chef carved the duck tableside and then our fuwuyaun showed us how to eat it. You wrap the meat in a thin tortilla type pancake with vegetables and plum sauce and eat with your hands. Later in the meal the fuwuyuan approached me for some help with his English, that is one of the daily experiences of being a foreigner here. He proudly proclaimed to me he was learning American English and was so appreciative that I took a few minutes out of my meal to help him practice a new sentence.

Tomorrow is the second day of Chinese New Year and is considered to be the birthday of all dogs, so do something special for your canine companions and tell them Chun Jie Kuai Le!

Also, if you are reading this on facebook, you will need to go to the actual blog to see the photos: http://beijingtim.blogspot.com

Chun Jie Fireworks...

Fireworks have been exploding all over the city tonight, so much so that it sounds like a war zone outside. I gave up on going over to Tianenman Square to watch fireworks due to the cold, so a little before midnight, I decided to wander over to my window and see if I could see any. Could I ever! Colorful sparks were exploding just outside my window and as far as I could see.

Here is some video I shot from my apartment window:


Tomorrow, some of my coworkers and I plan to go check out a temple fair at Ditan Park and then I am going to attend a Chinese Acrobatic Show and Peking Duck dinner with Gray Line tours in the evening. Check back for highlights from both of these.

Chun Jie Kuai Le...

Chun Jie Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)

It is year of the Ox in China. Fireworks are exploding all around me. People are excited. More info coming later.

Revelation...

My friend Sandy Rickman from Corinth told me to check out the following song as I am making my decision about where to go next. It is by the band Third Day:

Third Day - Revelation lyrics

My life,
Has led me down the road that's so uncertain
And now I am left alone and I am broken,
Trying to find my way,
Trying to find the faith that's gone
This time,
I know that you are holding all the answers
I'm tired of losing hope and taking chances,
On roads that never seem,
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying to find my way,
I haven't got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without You
I've got nothing without You

My life,
Has led me down this path that's ever winding
Through every twist and turn I'm always finding,
That I am lost again (I am lost again)
Tell me when this road will ever end

Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying to find my way,
I haven't got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without You
I've got nothing without...

I don't know where I can turn
Tell me when will I learn
Won't You show me where I need to go
Oh oh
Let me follow Your lead,
I know that it's the only way that I can get back home

Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying to find my way,
I haven't got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without You
I've got nothing without You

Oh, give me a revelation...

I've got nothing without You
I've got nothing without You



Lyrics | Third Day lyrics - Revelation lyrics

Listen to the song here:


I won't comment further. I think the song speaks for itself.

What next....

Now that I have reached the 7 month period in Beijing (Where did the time go?), the question that is most on my mind is "What next?" Do I stay in Beijing or do I go back to Mei Guo? Have you ever had the feeling that you wanted to stay but then had the feeling that you wanted to go? If there is one thing I have learned in all my travels is that wherever you go, there you are. In other words, you can be happy anywhere you go.

As it stands now, I see three options that are before me:

Sign again with EF. I would have no problem doing this. It is a fun place to work, I have great coworkers and students, and they pay a decent salary.

I have a firm job offer from Desoto School in West Helena, Arkansas in the Arkansas Delta. This job would be teaching English and yearbook with some guidance counseling duties. I have wanted to work in a private school for some time and this would afford me the much needed guidance counseling work experience that is so elusive. Cons- Salary is comparable to what I make in China, BUT the money doesn't go as far in the U.S. Also, its the Arkansas Delta, need I say more?

Finally, I interviewed today for a guidance counselor/teaching position at the International Academy of Beijing. This is a Christian school serving primarily American and Korean students whose parents work in Beijing. It is about a 20 minute subway ride away from my apartment. While I don't have a firm offer, I am confident that I will receive one. The principal mentioned that by hiring someone in Beijing, they save a lot of money not having to fly me over. The salary is somewhat higher than what I make now plus it includes a 4000 yuan per month housing allowance plus one flight per year back to the U.S. (I currently pay 4000 per month, so its basically free housing)I would also work a traditional school year schedule with 3 weeks for Christmas in addition to all Chinese holidays. Cons- Its another year away from home dealing with the frustrations that come with living in a foreign country. For all of China's charms, when you spend three hours at the bank to conduct a transaction that would take 15 minutes back home, you start to wonder if you are crazy for being here.

All three are attractive options. Your prayers are appreciated as I decide where to go next.

A Day at Yonghegong...

The question lately has been, "Why haven't you posted anything recently?" The answer: "Life here is pretty much normal now. I doubt people want to hear about me going to the grocery store." (Actually the grocery store can be an adventure sometimes, maybe that would make a good post.) Today I decided to break out of the ordinary and go see something. My travels took me to Yonghegong Lama Temple, one of the oldest still active Buddhist temples in Beijing. It is pretty much a tourist attraction now but people do still go there to worship and pray.

Before going to the temple, I stopped off at Jin Ding Xuan, a Cantonese dim sum restaurant I have come to enjoy. Dim Sum is a southern China style of food (I am in North China) that consists of small appetizer type dishes consisting of steamed dumplings, cakes, spring rolls, soups, and noodle dishes. My lunch today was a bowl of chicken noodle soup with shrimp wontons with spring rolls on the side. This place is quite cheap as 30 yuan (about 4 dollars) got me a very filling lunch. Jin Ding Xuan literally translates to Golden Tripod Attic, although Golden Throne Attic would probably be a more appropriate translation. It is a three floor, loud restaurant with dishes clattering, and today some lady loudly auctioning art while people were dining. They are open 24 hours and since many people enjoy Dim Sum for breakfast, I guess this is kind of like China's Waffle House. In addition to the Dim Sum they have an extensive seafood menu. All the seafood is at market price so there are no prices on the menu, but if you want to know just saunter over to the live seafood tanks in the back of the restaurant where your future meal will be swimming; the prices will be on the tanks. I must go back sometime to try the baby lobster for 78 yuan. After submitting your order by a palm pilot, it will be just a few minutes wait before the Dim Sum arrives at your table steaming and hot.


Jin Ding Xuan's Dim Sum Palace

Next, it was on to Yonghegong. This temple was originally built as a palace for the prince. It was closed down for many years due to efforts to stamp out religion and superstition. The tour begins at the following gate:



After entering the gate, you arrive at the drum and bell towers. These were rang and played in the mornings 108 times for good fortune:



Later on I saw this sculpture. It represents the basic teaching of Buddhism. The middle section represents Earth, the building on the top represents heaven, and the bottom part that looks live ocean waves represents hell. To get to heaven you have to do good deeds. If you don't do enough good deeds, you end up in hell:



Throughout the temple complex there were various halls and rooms that contained statues for various Buddhas. Each Buddha represented something different, wealth, the past, the future, love, relationships etc. In each hall were worshippers kneeling before these statues burning incense and praying. I sensed a true spiritual hunger among these rooms. The final room had the largest Buddha in the world, as vouched for in the Guiness Book. I couldn't get pictures of them as they are considered holy sites and therefore photos are banned.

In conclusion, I found the practice of praying to statues very strange and sad. .

At the same time, I understand their need for something tangible. It seems in the West we think to get people to church we need to play contemporary music (which isn't contemporary at all, at best it is cheesy 90s adult contemporary), and give them coffee and cokes in the pews and everything will be alright. Out with religious symbols and old liturgies. The people of today can't understand the old hymns. I always get a little insulted when I hear that. I would much rather sing A Mighty Fortress is Our God than Shout to the Lord. I am thankful that the two contemporary churches in America I have been involved in have had a strong committment to the gospel, without that we create churches a mile wide but only an inch deep.

But why are we afraid that the spiritual will scare people away? What is wrong with religious symbols provided they are kept in the appropriate perspective? Shouldn't church look different than the rest of the world? It doesn't have to be much. For instance just this past Sunday at my church here, the pastor was preaching on the Baptism of Jesus. He placed basins of water around the worship room. Throughout worship people were encouraged to walk to a basin, place their hand in the water, and reflect on the meaning of their own baptism and committment to Christ. It was a meaningful, tangible way to drive home the point of the sermon. Why do we make such an attempt in the West to remove the spirituality out of everything?

Obama Comes To China...

Today as I walked into my office building, The Gate, I noticed a new sign in the door. Look at the sign in the picture below next to The Gate's angel like mascot:





It looks like the Gate angel is working with Obama now. So will Obama really bring change to the world like he says he will? Let's ask former Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska: