my eyes cloud with the fog of myself, but haze drifts clear when I see you near.

I think I have been challenged quite deeply lately, in how I approach the world and people around me. There is a lot we carry, and a lot we hold, and I am reminded of how easy it is to hold tight but just how easy, if we choose, it also is to let go. Blindness and fear provokes so much in this world, and it is easy to look, judge, and then unknowingly perpetuate what we see, simply in our judgment and harsh contempt of it. Here, in our very affluent TEDA, its easy to get frustrated with people budging in lines, almost driving over your toes, honking at you while they barrel in their BMW towards you in your own bike lane, short change you in a taxi and play deaf when you ask for the change, spit, stare, and unabashedly insult.....but this is hardly everyone, it just seems to be a prevailing accepted norm amongst seemingly many. But there are a precious handful who somehow hold joy and sight. People's eyes say so much. I said to Ben as we were walking today, that I don't understand the many scrunchy grumpy faces, yet even as I spoke there was a nod and a smile back at my foreign face. Later, the tailor we went to see was full of expression and patience, his assistant was more than thrilled to chat and give any aid, a coffee Barista was eager to attempt her broken English, though shy and unsure, she smiled and served gladly. Yes, this is a very different place, one I cannot even begin to understand, but when you remember there are diamonds found in many places, you only must look, you can definitely see them highlighted and shining right through and just beneath the veil of silt. And sometimes, I am just as much adding to the silt, so who am I to judge. Somewhere, beyond myself is when I can only begin to become a diamond.

Bonkers!

Yes, thats right, I am going bonkers! The internet here is insanely slow, completely unreliable, and seems to have a stubborn mind of its own! For those of you who are trying to spend some time giving up the facebook surfing, Ben and I have you beat, try 7+ months of every so often ATTEMPTING a facebook perusal, only to be shot down, spit up, and left on your side for more trampling and taunting from the China internet warriors. Fear provokes so much in this world, I tire of the fear that dictates the stringent methods of so many elements of our lives here right now. Seriously, its a miracle I'm even able to post this to you all! Ah, the wonders of the world, after being here for this much time, I have discovered that perhaps those ordinary giant rock heads bursting from green fields in beautiful gusty far off fields, are far from wonders of the world in comparison to many other perplexing puzzles, the rock heads become mere phenomenons. Come to some places in the East and you will wonder. Thankfully, not all of the east leaves me in such a trivial state. There are cities and places that seem to have far more awakened spirits and actual eyes.....but here, I find myself in a place where I am in serious contemplative confusion. What is up is down and when you have figured that out, its not actually down, its left and right at the same time. Do you get it? Details will have to be discussed at another date.

Safe and Sound

So, for all those who are wondering if we are alright, with all the action going on over here in the east, we are fine, and thus far, quite unharmed by any of the happenings lately. For some reason people have been blowing some things way out of proportion, in reference to the for reaches of areas being affected. We will let you know if anything changes, but for the moment, all the activity is worlds away.
The only troubles we are dealing with since all these events is INTERNET troubles! Seems China is tightening its hold because of many world events happening right now, which makes it difficult to maneuver through what would normally, back in Canada, be so simple. So, while we have waited for aid on our cyber troubles we have been creative in how we spend our time. Bike rides with the warmer weather coming in, badminton, and squash continue. We have also been finding creative ways to cook. For example, did you know that you can make the most FANTASTIC homemade yogurt using a rice cooker?!!? Who woulda thunk?! UHT milk is mostly what we drink here in the East and it is perfect for yogurt making, because you just pour it into the rice cooker bowl, with a couple tablespoons of starter, leave the cooker on warm, and VOILA! 4.5 hours later, perfect YOGURT! Yesterday we took some of that fantastic yogurt and made some tzatziki sauce for dinner. It was so full of flavor and so easy, who needs facebook when you can have food like this!? Anyways, the lesson, if you don't have a really good yogurt maker, and you want cheap healthy yogurt, just set the rice aside a moment and warm away:) (For you yogurt lovers in North America, UHT milk isn't everywhere, so make sure you boil regular pasteurized milk until it starts to froth then let it cool down to around 30 degrees Celsius before putting it in the pot.)

MARCH

It's already March!! We've almost been back in China for a month since our holiday and we've had a snow fall, a few -10 Celsius days, broken badminton strings, a new found love of squash (the game not vegetable), some very tasty meals at our favorite local restaurants, and smoothies for breakfast every morning.

The new semester has settled quite nicely and we're plugging right along. Students know the drill a lot better this semester and after a few weeks their English is coming back to them. Who knew 5 weeks away and you could forget what the English language was, is and how to use it.

We've made a purpose to see more of China this semester and so we look forward to exploring more of Beijing, Tianjin and some of the areas closer to home. Hopefully we remember to bring along the camera and snap a few shots while we're at it.

Today on the way to school we saw a most interesting sight. After the recent snowfall there are patches of grey snow strewn helter-skelter throughout the city. Today we saw a team of city workers sweeping the snow into piles and removing it so that another team could come in and 'weed-eat' the brown-winter beaten grass. The irony of it all being that the grass hasn't grown much at all in that it has been below zero degrees since mid November, and yet somehow, somewhere, someone decided that it was time to scalp the grass with a 'weed-eater' no less. I guess the brown dried out soil is more aesthetically pleasing than brown-winter beaten grass.

China never ceases to amaze.

The Return

Well, we're back in TEDA. That lovely month in Thailand seemed to zip by faster than a blink of an eye. Crazy! We are looking at a new semester starting in a day and we are refreshing ourselves with time to make new goals, new aims, and new expectations. We look forward to seeing how we have grown and will grow in the next few months, though we also learned and grew a lot even in Thailand. Great opportunity with family from both sides and lots of time to reflect and converse about all sorts of things. A pleasure to have time with both our parents and memories we are glad to hold close to our hearts. Here are a couple more photos of some things from our time away (the baby elephants and market busker pictures Ben took): some more elephants, flowers, Kantoke dinner, family portraits for some friends of the Farnells and more. Enjoy!

Thailand so far

Well, our lovely break has brought us warmth, sun, and family. Lots of adventures, too many to count but here are a couple shots, not many because my computer is being fussy right now, (by both myself AND Ben!) for you to enjoy:)

The Long Awaited

Today is our last day of school.....though technically school has not been in session for the past week, we have been cleaning up, invigilating exams, and getting ready for next semester. Students have been stressed and relieved all in the same massive bubble, and teachers have felt their strains and stresses. But finally, our long awaited extended vacation period is right here, on our doorstep, politely knocking and we are much obliged to let it enter. For a lovely 4.5 weeks, we will bask in the Thai sun, soak in the sweet tastes and flavors of colored curries and luscious fruits. We will also get to finally see some family, face to face! We are really quite excited for the adventure and it begins tomorrow at noon. Our semester is finished but it feels more like a whole year. The next semester is daunting so we try not to think about it, but I believe it might go faster and easier than first. Last night was amusing as we reminisced with some friends, over homemade pizza (yes, I am finally a pizza maker, attempting to keep up with my ever-so-talented mom), about the semester, funny moments with the students, mishaps, growth and change. Its interesting, though there are changes in culture and place, teenagers are still teenagers and act somewhat illogically sometimes and it at least gives us some light amusement to push us through each day.
Anyways, here is our "see you soon" to China and a big "Hello!" to Thailand. We'll keep you posted as we go:)

(PS-the picture shows some of Ben's heartiest beard work that he has accomplished since I have known him. It also highlights a bit of my Chinese haircut.....I guess I won't get to grow it out as I hoped, something was lost in translation there:)