Monday Night Sunday Night Football

We have started a new tradition at our household. Well really its a quite old tradition, but we have revisited it.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Actually, since we haven't had ESPN in since we've been married, the only Monday night football we get is if we are visiting some friends. (The last Monday night football game I remember watching was when we were in the hospital waiting for Kanyon to arrive.)

Since we are in China, we have to watch the Sunday Night Game on Monday night, because the Monday night game has not happened as of Monday night in China.



We have really enjoyed the sounds of football and the voice of the commentators throughout the game. And we get to watch the game without the commercials, so what takes 3 hours in the States takes us only 2 in China. The commercials are great though because by the end of the game, we are exhausted from having watched that much football. And plus, we have no break to go to the refrigerator and get a snack!

How does this work? With NFL.com you can purchase a game day pass that allows you to watch every single game for the entire season, past and present, and at any time. The only catch is that you have to wait until the game is over "live" and then you have access to all the games. It was especially great this Monday because neither one of us knew the final score. And if you watched the game this past Sunday night, you know that the Colts won on a 50 yard field goal in the final seconds of the game.

Now if they could only get something like this up and running for the Sixman football state playoff games!

Tuesday Morning Image (TMI)

China is a land of contrasts. Rich and poor, modern and old, open and closed, and the list could go on and on. Please remember all those who live in the old way of life that they will be sustained finding comfort and peace in the Father.

How to find turkey in China?

We celebrated a day of thanks today with many of our international friends here in Harbin. It was great to be able to share the day with so many different people from different places. What an incredible sight to see all of the Father's children together celebrating the great gifts from above. We are always encouraged with a group such as this as we all have the same heart for Harbin.

The meal was great, much like an ordinary potluck meal in the states. We did have turkey for the big day. Now comes the question:

How to find turkey in China?

Our friends at another university we walking out of their favorite Korean restaurant when they saw a sight like no other. Across the street was a man who had 4 turkeys roaming around. They went to talk to him and learned that these turkeys were his pets. After some bargaining they agreed to return later. Time goes by and the man decided it would be alright to sell the turkey for a price. But one catch, he would not clean or feather the turkey. After all, it was his pet! The friends found another lady that would do the cleaning and vola turkey for Thanksgiving.

We did ask if our friends got to choose the turkey from the 4 or if the Chinese man decided himself which turkey had been acting up recently and thus was least favorite. They did in fact get to choose the turkey. And they picked a good one!

After all this taking the pet turkey for a great meal, the Chinese man returns to say that any time you need a turkey, stop by and pick one out.

Happy Birthday Kanyon!

Students dropped by the visit Kanyon on his 1^st birthday. Check out the song they sang for him:

Happy Birthday Kanyon (0:17 min)

To see all our videos, click on the "Videos" tab above.

Table Sucking Bowl

I am sad that we tossed the instructions for this great gift idea, a table sucking bowl. We have bombarded Kanyon with little gifts for his birthday including the table sucking bowl that prevents the extremely dangerous childhood event of eating. The instructions were priceless, but unless I go out and buy another one I will never remember them all.

One tidbit I do remember is that it said "by sucking the bowl to the table, this could prevent the bowl from spilling." The stress should be on the word COULD. The table sucking bowl while a good idea, never really worked.

It does work as a great toy though.

Tuesday Morning Image (TMI)

Family is very important in China. Often kids and parents (or more probably grand parents) play in the park or outside in general. Please remember the parents in China as they raise the next generation of China. Remember the marriages also that they may be a beautiful example of love to the children.

Rocking Horse

Kanyon celebrated his first birthday party on Sunday. His birthday is not for a couple of days, but due to scheduling conflicts (yes, even a 1 year old have a schedule that creates conflicts) we held the party early. For his birthday, we got him a great little rocking horse. He immediately jumped on the horse (with help of course) and started rocking. We got a kick out of watching Kanyon play, and and even bigger kick out of the instructions.

Check these "Chinglish" instructions for the rocking horse:

How to play this game safely?
1. Please help kid to seat on the rocking horse and grab the spanners on the horse head while move his or her body forward to make the rocking horse shake accordingly.
2. For younger kid, please guide him or her to grab the spanners as tight as possible and let kid have basic idea on self protection.
3. Please pay attention on kid's balance and coordination of body and extremities as well as control the speed and scope while playing.

Suggestions & Recommendations
1. It is necessary for kids to practice rocking, turning and jumping if they seldom crawl in babyhood so as to develop the balance of body.
2. Guide kids to grab the spanners and control the speed and scope while playing in order to stimulate the consciousness of self protection as well as make preparation for riding tricycles.
3. Please offer enough protection before kids can play this toy totally by themselves.
4. Please provide guidance and patience if kids scared to play as well as give compliments for their achievements.

Laughing, 7 Calories

There are some new videos online. Check out one of them below:

Laughing, 7 Calories (0:47 min)

To see more videos from China, click on the "Videos" tab above.

12:2 Time November 2008

Halloween English Corner

Even in China, we celebrate Halloween. Our teammates, Calvin, Maddie, and Parker dressed up for Halloween and came to our door for candy. The funny part of the whole deal was that their mom, Joy, gave us some candy to give to them the day before. Probably so we wouldn’t forget to get candy and so that her kids could receive something.


Harbin Engineering University Teammates

After the 20th floor trick-or-treating, we headed out the English Corner. English corner is a weekly event hosted by the English Association on campuses across China. Students are elected officers and run the organization just like any student organization you would find on campuses in America. English corner is a chance for the students to come together with the purpose of speaking and practicing their English. Each week, the topic changes. For weeks past, the topics range from “Take me to your home” to “Movie Appreciation.” Since English was meeting on Halloween, the topic of course was Halloween.

We got Kanyon all dresses up in a makeshift costume. He of course was the hit of the party, which by the way is not because of the costume, but because of the foreigner baby fascination. To celebrate the holiday, there were some carnival type games and prizes. One of the games reinvented bobbing for apples. Instead of bobbing for apples, the students competed to see who could eat an apple the fastest. Another game was a candle blowing contest to see who could blow out a candle from the further away. (Not that candles are really a Halloween tradition other than the ones inside of jack o’lanterns.)

The prizes were just as unique. The winners of the apple eating contest received a special prize they had to drink as fast as they could. Only one catch though, you never knew what you might be drinking. Some cups were filled with Sprite, while others were filled with salt water. Chinese and other eastern cultures love the idea of punishment. This is one reason why the game Uno can be popular for students. The “Draw 4” card is a form of punishment for the other players.


Celebrating Halloween at English Corner

All in all, English corner is a great chance to get to talk with the students outside the classroom. It’s a chance to lead the conversation to deeper heart issues and prod the students to think about things they may not have thought about before. It’s a great way to challenge some of the students’ view of the world.

Crazy Sports World

Every time we leave the country the sports world goes absolutely crazy. And by crazy, I mean crazy good! Just take a look at this year. Texas Tech football is having the best season ever. They are ranked #2 in the nation and have defeated two top ten teams. Given the fact that we are out of the country, I would not be the least surprised if by some crazy miracle Tech ends up in on the best bowls games ever. We are in the same position here as our teammate from Alabama. He’s feeling the same pain as his Crimson Tide are ranked #1 in the nation. We are both hoping for a national championship rematch of the Cotton Bowl a couple of years ago. But there is plenty of football left.

The last time we came to China the sports world also went nuts. M’Lynn’s cousin on the Wall Lady Hawks basketball team made it to the state championship game. The Denver Broncos had one of their best years in recent memory by making it the AFC championship game before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers. The Valley Patriots (Jeremy’s high school) reached the state championship game in six man football.

Baby Kanyon Update

Kanyon has been learning to walk since the airport in Beijing. He is still not to the point of standing and walking on cue, but he is getting better. He often walks before he realizes what he has done, taking 4-6 steps trying to get something he really wants.

His teeth continue to come in. Now he is making the transition from baby food to real food. It’s a good thing, because there are some crazy baby food combinations here (tomato and salmon, tomato and tuna, bone marrow, pumpkin and dates). One of his favorites is lotus seed and tremella. We really don’t know what it is, but it is sweet and he really likes it.

It becomes a chore to bundle up the little guy to venture outside, but we have managed. We even purchased a great snow suit for him. Hopefully soon, we get a video up showing all the layers being put on.

Pizza and Snow

Winter is coming to Harbin. I will not say arrived yet because the temperatures are only in the 20's. We still have a long ways to go to get to winter. Check out the photos of the team's pizza party and first snow in Harbin.



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Tuesday Morning Image (TMI)

This is a scene from the local market street. Vendors come from outside the city selling their produce to make a living. Please remember these vendors as they go about "making a living." And that we can build relationships with some of them as we purchase fruits and vegetables. We hope to share light and love with them through our interactions.

Happy Singles Day

Today is single's day in China. Many of the singles celebrate this day. Well maybe celebrate is a big word. There are no parties, no special foods, and no others means of celebration. There may be some small social gatherings for "bidding" or dating but no real celebrations.

This day is celebrated solely for the date: 11/11. Four single 1's aligned side by side. Kind of fun eh?

First Day of Winter?

Today may have been the first taste of winter. At least it was a taste of what's to come. The temperature today at 4:00 PM was 25 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of 17 degrees. It is hard to imagine what it will be like when it is 20 degrees colder than now.

What do you wear when it's this cold? Here's what we had on for starters: Long johns and pants; 1 undershirt, 2 long sleeve shirts, and a fleece jacket; and don't forget the hat and gloves.

We have not yet busted out the warmest winter gear. As the Chinese saying goes, you are supposed to greet winter slowly (i.e. put on your layers a little at a time so you don't use all your warn stuff before the temperatures really drop). The same is true for spring, take your layers off slowly (probably because there is always one last winter burst that comes along).

UPDATE: When we checked the weather this morning the high was -14 degrees Celsius (aka 7 degrees F for all your folks in America). I had the strange urge to run outside really fast just to see what it felt like. I didn't probably because of the fact that 7 will be the high some days in the true dead of winter. But I have no reference for what that cold feels like.

The weather here can be very deceiving. In our apartment, all our windows face south, so we get a lot of sunlight. With it being sunny and clear, and the inside apartment all toasty, it is really difficult to put on all the layers of clothes and venture outside. We have found out though that once all the clothes are on, we better be heading out the door quickly before we overheat inside.

Tuesday Morning Image (TMI)

Kanyon makes friends with everyone we see especially the shop owners and their families. Please lift up these relationships that through our limited language, we will be able to share light and love everywhere we go and to everyone we meet.

Texas Tech 39 Texas 33

Celebrating the awesome victory over UT!!