The Rooster Has Hatched!

So here I am, 4am on Friday morning, sitting in the terminal in San Antonio waiting for my next adventure to begin!  I’m sure my excitement is evident to the people sitting around me, however that probably has something to do with my bouncing and jamming to Group 1 Crew…

It won’t be long before I’m sitting in China!  I wonder if I’ll still be jamming to my happy beat when I am.  This trip has been a long time coming, so I imagine that I will be!  China has been on my mind for years now, so even though I’ve never been there, I have a lot of happy memories associated with it.

I remember my sister telling me that Giant Pandas were endangered when I was about 6.  I indignantly declared that they would never become extinct because they were my favorite animal—and so they have been ever since.  This was the beginning of my dreams regarding China.

When I was about 14, my best friend (Bekah, with whom I went on my Amtrak road trip) went to China for vacation.  She kept a journal while she was there, and let me read it when she got home.  I was fascinated by her descriptions of the places she visited and the food that she ate. (While some of that was just horrifying!  I still remember how she saw a monkeys head sliced open in a restaurant so people could eat its brains…. Hopefully that is not an “honor” that will be extended to me!)  From this point on, I knew for sure that China would play some part in my future.  I didn’t know exactly how, but I knew that someday I would get there and see those things for myself.

When I started college a few years ago, I began taking Chinese classes so that I would be ready if and when the opportunity to visit China should arise.  I’ve studied Chinese for the past two years, and I can confidently order vegetarian dumplings and tea… haha I can’t wait to see what I’ll be ordering at the end of six weeks!!!

I know that my Chinese will improve simply by being immersed in the language and culture.  I’ll be thinking about it all the time, and not just two or three times a week.  My group and I are enrolled in a Chinese University where we will be taking intensive Chinese classes and giving informal English lessons to some of the Chinese students.  (EEPS! Perhaps I’ve finally discovered something more daunting than a squatty potty!)

This is such an incredible opportunity though!  Scary as it is, I know I’m going to learn so much.

That’s about all I have for right now, but the plan is hatched, stuff is going down, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it :D

 Rebekah

Deep Breath annnnnnd Plunge!!!

Last summer I went on the most amazing “road trip” with my best friend Bekah.  It was 30 days of just me, Beks, Amtrak, the western United States, and our 5,000 pounds of luggage.   Bekah and I had so many adventures!  Snorkeling in California, surfing in Oregon, riding a Harley in Washington, and staying with some rather sketchy folks in Montana…  I got to take my first bus ride, and walk for miles and miles when the bus route didn’t line up with where we were going.  I had the chance to step outside my comfort zone and live life to the fullest. Along the way, I learned so much about serving people and loving them where they were at.  It was one of the biggest adventures of my life, and if you had told me then that I would have the opportunity to have another crazy and life changing adventure this year, I would have raised my eyebrows, laughed, and said bring it on. 

I’m still laughing, and I’m just as ready for whatever the summer can throw at me, however my raised eyebrows give away how unusual I find the particular Asia-style challenges that I will be faced with in the coming weeks!  That’s right, the gloves are off and I’m going to be navigating the TOTALLY UNKNOWN challenges of communicating in a language I can barely order a salad in, public transportation with Black Friday type crowds all day everyday, and—most terrifying of all—the infamous squatty potty.  Yeah, let me just let that last one sink in for a moment. Squatty.  Potty.  Like you squat to use them.  *Shudder*

Have I mentioned that I’m a girly girl??? 

However, if I’m (moderately) undaunted by the thought of navigating across language barriers and employing my weed-whacker-like elbows to get me through droves of people, then certainly I can adapt to the squatty potty…right??

This, among other things, will force me to come face-to-face with the outer limits of my comfort zone as I adapt to the vast, unknown land of China.  I’ll get to see life through the eyes of citizens of one of the most ancient countries in the world.  I’ll have the opportunity to eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep, and live how they live.  For six glorious weeks, I will be encouraged everyday to throw off the boundaries of my western lifestyle and embrace the terrifying and captivating way of life in China. 

As David says in the Psalms, “The Lord is my light and my salvation…of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1-3).  God is living and active among the Chinese, and I have the opportunity to witness his provision and love as it is received in a culture that is the polar opposite of my own.  No matter what situation I find myself in, I can rest in the knowledge that God is in control, and he has a plan for me and for this trip. 

Through the culture shock, friendships, and thrilling new experiences, I expect to see evidence of God working in each situation.  I anticipate Him stretching, challenging, and transforming me more into his likeness through my experiences in China.  I want to come back renewed in Christ and ready to take on new challenges for his name in the US.  I know that God is going to do amazing things, and I’m so excited that I get to be along for the ride! 

As always, I appreciate your prayers as I embark on this adventure.  I also want to thank each one of you who donated financially to make it possible for me to have this experience!  I honestly couldn’t have done it without you, and I can’t wait to share my adventures with you through this blog :D  I intend to post as often as I can, however I will not have my laptop in China so will instead be relying on the Internet cafés that are available there.

As the Chinese say, 再见 zai jin! (until next time),

Rebekah