A Recap of Taiwan and New Beginnings in Beijing

Hello all!  We have successfully come back from Taiwan - as opposed to unsuccessfully... not sure what that would look like!  But successful equals tans and fun adventures and amazing food and very kind people.  Also a few extras pairs of shoes (Chris wanted to buy this really cute pair of brown boots, but I told him to buy them for me instead... don't feel bad if you're not laughing because I have fun cracking myself up :).  Anyways, we had a blast.  From a 5 star hotel on the beach, to the lady that bought me bubble tea and told me that she hoped we liked Taiwan better than China!  I laughed out loud!  We went to many night markets, had lots of street food, walked around Taipei, went to the jade market, tried using my Chinese but people just responded in English.  People were also very kind and polite.  Needless to say, it was a wonderful break from Beijing and the endless shoving, spitting, yelling, nose picking.
The first few days of our return to Beijing were a bit rough, and I have to say, we were pretty discontent with being back.  I mean, who wouldn't give up Beijing for nice, warm, beautiful Taiwan?  We're at a place were we're having to decide what our move is this fall and though we're still praying about it, we have a peace that should we stay, our cups will not run dry.  This country, though the people are selfish and sometimes rude, are this way because of circumstances outside their control.  Keeping those facts in mind keep us smiling, holding open doors and being apart of life here.  Our cups continue to flow over with grace and love for ourselves and for the people here.
We've been getting more involved in a church, and we love it.  The people are from everywhere you could possibly imagine, it's incredible!  We've started going to a small group, ok, we've only gone once, but it's wonderful to be apart of a community again!  We were sort of drying up last semester and are realizing how important people
and fellowship are.  God heard us loud and clear because we have been meeting a good number of new ppl and are hoping to get involved in a few serving opportunities.
It's amazing how he never ceases to watch out over us, we feel so taken care of.  We praise Jesus for his new mercies everyday and continue to walk and grow with Him on this incredible journey.  May you be touched with His spirit today and renewed with His love.  Amen.  

Lunar New Year Fireworks

The Chinese really know what they're doing when it comes to fireworks. The shelling seemed to go off almost non-stop leading up the the Lunar New Year (January 23rd) and then kept going. Even two weeks later, as we returned to Beijing on February 6th, we could see from the plane that people were still lighting off fireworks all across the city.

Check out the video we took from our balcony in Beijing just before midnight on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Absolute craziness. Fourth of July in the states looks mundane in comparison, I'm sorry to say.

Taiwan: Around the Island in 10 Days

We just got back to Beijing last night after a 10-day trip to Taiwan. Check out the photos on Flickr. I'll put some highlights below. Hope you enjoy. We had tons of fun and ate lots of great food. We’ve concluded that Taiwan is much more foodie-friendly than Beijing. We were a little sad to come back; Taiwan was so warm, and Beijing is still soooo cold.

We’ve been enjoying our semester break and the Chinese New Year festivities. We have today and tomorrow to rest, and then it’s back to the office. Semester 2 starts on Monday.