Good and bad

The next day we drove to one of my student’s hometown. When we got there, we stayed at her sister’s family’s house and ate lunch. Then we went white water rafting! It was so fun. It’s funny because they told me we were going floating, which sounds like a lazy river and really relaxing. Then it ended up being white water rafting! So cool. I was pretty much the tourist attraction, because there are no Americans in this city. They all kept saying hello, and they wanted to take my picture with them. My friends kept saying, “Sara, you’re a star!” Hah, only in China  Then later in the evening we hiked up a mountain that was lit up really cool at night.
The next day we traveled to my other student’s hometown. It was about a 2 hour drive. On the way we had some interesting conversations. They were asking me when people in America start to date. I had had this conversation with another student, so I kind of knew where it was going. I found out that it is assumed that every couple in China has sex. They were shocked to hear that some people in American wait until marriage. Then they were asking me about abortion in America. They thought it was really bad that some states don’t allow abortions. I asked in China what happens if a woman is pregnant with a second baby. The one student said matter-of-factly, “you get rid of it!” My heart sank. Wow. Man, even thinking about her saying that makes me sad. Then I got to thinking about how empty China is. Without God, they really have no purpose! It’s really quite depressing.
When we got to her hometown, we went to a tea farm. I learned how to pick tea leaves! Unfortunately I don’t like tea, but I was “forced” to drink some and say I like it  It was REALLY strong. Yuck. Then we went to a limestone cave. It was really interesting and beautiful. It made me wonder why God would make something so beautiful and hide it in a cave like that. I guess maybe for His own glory, and then he was humbly excited when someone found it one day. It was awesome. Then we went to this friend’s house in the mountains. I had a fight with the mosquitoes and they won 14 bites to 0. Bummer. As we hiked a little bit of the mountain, they showed me how to cut down baby bamboo to eat. It didn’t look so delicious to me, but whatever!
At dinner, we sat in the restaurant for hours. At 9:30, they decided we should go to a hot spring. So we went, but it was about an hour away. I had fallen asleep and was ready for bed by the time we got there at 10:30. It was really cool because we swam in the mountain pools. It was all lit really pretty at night. Then we swam in a pool in a cave! It doesn’t get much cooler than that. I was a little (ok a lot) frustrated that we didn’t get to a hotel until 1:30, knowing that I had to get up early this morning to drive to the airport.
I learned a lot about patience and trust on this trip. It was frustrated because my student was the only one who spoke English, so I was at her mercy to translate some things that were said. So most of the time I had no idea where we were going or when until we were there. I’m kind of a planner, so this was tough. Also, I knew I had to be to the airport by 2:30 today, and we were 5 hours away from the airport. So last night (at 1:30 in the morning) I asked what time we would be leaving for Shenzhen. She said, “Oh, maybe about 10:30.” I knew that we needed to leave by 9:00 to get the airport on time. Time really isn’t an issue for them. I pretty much flat out said, “We need to leave by 9:00 to get there on time. I knew that we needed to leave by 9:00 to get the airport on time. Time really isn’t an issue for them. I pretty much flat out said, “We need to leave by 9:00 to get there on time. I hated telling my hosts what to do, but that would be a lot of money if I missed my flight.
So we left this morning at 9:00 and got to the airport early! Yes! But then, they thought we were too early, so we went for a LONG lunch  I kept looking at my watch and she kept telling me “don’t worry about the time. It will be ok.” Ahh. It was a lesson on trust. We did get there on time.
A phrase that I will not miss in China is, “That is bad for your health.” Oh man. It seems like everything I do here is bad for my health! First, when we went rafting, she thought it was bad for my health that I didn’t take a shower immediately after. For the next 3 hours she kept asking me if I wanted to take a shower now. Umm, not really  I was going to wait until night. Then yesterday at the hot spring, I took a shower after to please her. But then they had dryers for you to dry your hair. Well, if I dry my hair curly, it will turn into a fro, so I just put it in a pony tail. She looked at me and said, “Your hair is still wet!” When I told her I would just go to bed with it wet, she was shocked! She said it was bad for my health. I just smiled and said, “It’ll be ok.” She brought it up three more times on the way to the hotel and said, “I don’t know how you’re going to go to fall asleep with your wet hair!” Haha. Well, I woke up this morning alive, so I guess it is ok. I don’t want to be rude, but I also want to do things my own way sometimes.
But I should not complain, because they were wonderful hosts. I pretty much tagged along on their family vacation around their province. They paid for everything, food, hotel, activities… When I tried to give money she got mad! She said that is the Chinese way. They were so generous!
I am so glad I got to see the countryside! It was pretty much what I was expecting, but still shocking to see. That is the most poverty I had ever seen. The farmers work by hand, sometimes with a cow pulling the plow. They go barefoot and pull up the rice from the rice paddies. It’s pretty amazing that people still farm like that! The living conditions are really bad. Most of the time their house is just a shack with a grass or tin roof caving in. The view is amazing! I love to see the country because it’s so simple and beautiful. I didn’t realize how much I miss the country until I saw it. I think city life is really the same anywhere you go.
Tomorrow I will go back to teach the kids!