Saturday Afternoon & Evening - Overwhelming the senses
Internet access has been rather spotty while I'm here, so uploading pictures is difficult. I'll have some as soon as possible, but for now, my words must do.
Lunch was an experience in senses that I don't know how to explain. We eat family style at these restaurants, and they just keep bringing dishes of food, putting them in the middle, and you take what you want. All kinds of meats, vegetables, sauces, noodles, and other things that don't easily categorize are presented in front of us. The experience of eating together only adds to the joy, as people try things and laugh at one another for the faces we make. Heather Courtney (from Kentucky) and I shared stories about how our families would never be able to eat some of the things we tried.
One new thing for me was a rice noodle, something that looks like long strips of clear jello and tastes like pickled gummi worms. Our team was eating together and took turns sharing our impressions of what the food reminded us. I wish the cameras had been rolling the whole time, but for now, they only took some video of me trying the pickled gummi worms. Check it out if I ever get it posted.
We went back to the school to hear C.Y. Kim talk about the ministry of CRAM. I wish I had video taped the whole thing, because it was excellent. Unfortunately, suffering from jet lag, I had a hard time staying awake through it. The lights were off, the heat was on, and Rory said my head was bobbing like I was at a rock concert.
We took the bus back to the hotel and had some free time to walk around the market in our neighborhood. I picked up a few souvenirs and was just overwhelmed by all the choices of things to buy. Imagine walking into a building the size of walmart, with vendors at every corner of every aisle, all trying to sell you something in a language you don't understand. I don't know what it is about me, but there must have been 5 Chinese women who tried to sell me an electric razor. Then there were the belts and the wallets. Pretty much every time I passed one of these booths, the ladies working them would look at me and point at their electric razors. Is that a hint?
We went to a grocery store and saw some interesting things there. I bought a diet coke to have for later, because I have had a hard time finding diet soda at the restaurants. We have a fridge in our room, so I'm saving it for later.
We came back to the room after roaming around and I tried to stay awake, but jet lag was hitting me pretty hard. By supper time, I didn't know if I could stay awake much longer. The goal is to stay up until 9:00 and then sleep. I sort of made it, but cheated a bit.
We went back to the Ox Tail Soup restaurant, but had a much larger and tastier selection of food. There's a picture I will post later that shows it all laid out on the round table. By this time, I was tired of trying to serve myself with chopsticks, so I picked up the tip from Patricia Kim to use my soup spoon to serve food onto the plate. Then I asked one of the hostesses for a fork. I know that's cheating, but I can't help it. I figured I would enjoy the food more if I didn't have to work so hard for it. And I was right!
These things weren't nearly as exotic as before, although they were all enjoyable and there was quite a variety. By the time supper was over, I was still falling in and out of consciousness. Mike decided that the professors all needed to share an experience, so we were taken by Ben and Sara Wellsand to an undisclosed location (which I will tell the other faculty members about in a separate posting). Suffice it to say that we had a faculty bonding experience unlike anything I would have ever been able to accomplish at a faculty retreat.
When we got back to the room about 9:00 pm, my roommate was already out cold. With only one key, I was unable to get into the room without the help of the maid.
So I fought with the Internet a little bit longer and finally ran out of patience and went to bed. Eight solid hours of sleep later, I'm up and ready to go!
What's the takeaway of this day. Coming to China is a total sensory experience. It's overwhelming to try to deal with the shopping, the eating, the smell, the sights and sounds. I wonder if the workers here ever get used to it?
Lunch was an experience in senses that I don't know how to explain. We eat family style at these restaurants, and they just keep bringing dishes of food, putting them in the middle, and you take what you want. All kinds of meats, vegetables, sauces, noodles, and other things that don't easily categorize are presented in front of us. The experience of eating together only adds to the joy, as people try things and laugh at one another for the faces we make. Heather Courtney (from Kentucky) and I shared stories about how our families would never be able to eat some of the things we tried.
One new thing for me was a rice noodle, something that looks like long strips of clear jello and tastes like pickled gummi worms. Our team was eating together and took turns sharing our impressions of what the food reminded us. I wish the cameras had been rolling the whole time, but for now, they only took some video of me trying the pickled gummi worms. Check it out if I ever get it posted.
We went back to the school to hear C.Y. Kim talk about the ministry of CRAM. I wish I had video taped the whole thing, because it was excellent. Unfortunately, suffering from jet lag, I had a hard time staying awake through it. The lights were off, the heat was on, and Rory said my head was bobbing like I was at a rock concert.
We took the bus back to the hotel and had some free time to walk around the market in our neighborhood. I picked up a few souvenirs and was just overwhelmed by all the choices of things to buy. Imagine walking into a building the size of walmart, with vendors at every corner of every aisle, all trying to sell you something in a language you don't understand. I don't know what it is about me, but there must have been 5 Chinese women who tried to sell me an electric razor. Then there were the belts and the wallets. Pretty much every time I passed one of these booths, the ladies working them would look at me and point at their electric razors. Is that a hint?
We went to a grocery store and saw some interesting things there. I bought a diet coke to have for later, because I have had a hard time finding diet soda at the restaurants. We have a fridge in our room, so I'm saving it for later.
We came back to the room after roaming around and I tried to stay awake, but jet lag was hitting me pretty hard. By supper time, I didn't know if I could stay awake much longer. The goal is to stay up until 9:00 and then sleep. I sort of made it, but cheated a bit.
We went back to the Ox Tail Soup restaurant, but had a much larger and tastier selection of food. There's a picture I will post later that shows it all laid out on the round table. By this time, I was tired of trying to serve myself with chopsticks, so I picked up the tip from Patricia Kim to use my soup spoon to serve food onto the plate. Then I asked one of the hostesses for a fork. I know that's cheating, but I can't help it. I figured I would enjoy the food more if I didn't have to work so hard for it. And I was right!
These things weren't nearly as exotic as before, although they were all enjoyable and there was quite a variety. By the time supper was over, I was still falling in and out of consciousness. Mike decided that the professors all needed to share an experience, so we were taken by Ben and Sara Wellsand to an undisclosed location (which I will tell the other faculty members about in a separate posting). Suffice it to say that we had a faculty bonding experience unlike anything I would have ever been able to accomplish at a faculty retreat.
When we got back to the room about 9:00 pm, my roommate was already out cold. With only one key, I was unable to get into the room without the help of the maid.
So I fought with the Internet a little bit longer and finally ran out of patience and went to bed. Eight solid hours of sleep later, I'm up and ready to go!
What's the takeaway of this day. Coming to China is a total sensory experience. It's overwhelming to try to deal with the shopping, the eating, the smell, the sights and sounds. I wonder if the workers here ever get used to it?
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
7:35 PM
