Lost and Not Found

It's always comforting to hear things like this, especially years after the initial 'outbreak'.

No Melamine-tainted yoghurt found in Hubei

Authorities in Hubei said that they have not found any corn-flavored yoghurt, produced by a company in Hunan, that reportedly contains excessive amount of melamine, the Beijing News said Monday.

Melamine killed six babies and sickened nearly 300,000 others in 2008, after the chemical had been added to powdered milk to make its protein content seem higher.

The Hubei provincial industry and commercial bureau said on Sunday that the Yuanshan dairy company had produced yoghurt containing 4.8 milligram of melamine in every kilogram - far above the legal limit.

The company had apparently bought milk powder as a raw material from a supplier - without knowing that it was tainted with melamine, according to AFP.

Wang Qunzhang, a spokesman for the Xiangfan city's industry and commercial bureau in Hubei, was quoted in Chinese media as saying that the authorities had feared that 50 packages of the yoghurt had entered the Xiangfan market.

click here to read more of the article

My favorite quote from the article comes later in the article, so I'll quote it here:

He also said the yoghurt was produced in June this year, and the company has recalled part of it. Some more was recalled by the quality supervision bureau after they learned of the allegations.

"The rest has probably been drunk by consumers", said Li, "and there should be no such yoghurt on the market now".

Haha. It was probably drunk by consumers. Oh well. A little doesn't hurt that much, right?

I'm also comforted by the thought that I'm lactose intolerant (as of my college years), so I rarely drink milk...

Reminders to Myself

If you're "into" China, and would like some helpful articles to read, the Global China Center has some great stuff, book reviews, articles on pertinent topics, etc. Here's the intro to a review that was a good reminder to myself of that Path Emily and I have chosen. It can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task with no end in sight and seemingly little progress made. But, we are making forward progress and trusting in the Lord. He has led us this far and won't fail us.

Anyone who wants to understand Chinese Christianity today must have some knowledge of its religious milieu. In other words, to see the tree clearly, we must study the forest; to appreciate the flower, we must survey the entire garden. Why? Many reasons, including these:

1. The Bible employs vocabulary that existed in Chinese before the Christians arrived. Key words (such as dao, rebirth, love) carry denotations and connotations from other faiths that must be distinguished from their biblical uses.
2. Chinese who investigate the Christian faith bring a mixed repertory of religious ideas and images that inevitably color their understanding of the Gospel.
3. Even after conversion to Christ, they will be heavily influenced by notions that seem natural and right to them simply because they are so familiar and taken for granted, even if these ideas conflict with biblical teaching.
4. For Christianity to penetrate and redemptively transform Chinese culture, it must engage in meaningful dialogue with the best representatives of other faiths.
5. Love of neighbor has to include respectful listening, with the goal of understanding, before any attempt at persuasion.
6. To make sense of the relationship between Christianity and the government, one must go back several millennia for patterns and paradigms that prevail even now.

Numbers four and five were particularly encouraging to me regarding our direction. That's where we are, and where we hope to be in the future. Two and three are the biggest challenges for believers here (and everywhere else, I think; just look at our own American Church and it's excesses). Those mixed ideas and images (whether religious or not) tend to confuse us as to how we're really supposed to live, and what's "natural and right" is not always how God wants us to live. This looks different in each culture, because each culture lines up with God's word in different places. But the overall issue is the same.

One of the biggest lies I've heard from many a Christian (and even pastors!) that comes right out of our culture is, "God just wants me to be happy". And this is used to justify pretty much any action, as long as it makes you happy. The catch is, there's some truth to that! God DOES want you to be happy. He didn't create you for misery. But the source of that happiness is not always what YOU think it is. He has made it plain in his Word that our "Best Life Now" (if you've heard of Joel O's best seller...) is found, not in Health and Wealth (like Joel says), but in obedience to His Word. That doesn't guarantee that health or wealth will come your way. But you will be walking closely with the Author of Life itself, and JOY is found in His presence (Psalm 16:11), not in His presents.

Hoping you find Joy in His presence today.

Lest You Forget

-- WARNING: DON'T VIEW BEFORE DINNER, OR JUST AFTER --

Emily roasted a chicken for dinner tonight. First time for us to get a chicken with head and feet attached. It was a helpful reminder that we often 'sanitize' things in the States. When you buy chickens in the market they come with heads and feet attached. Only...not in America. So, by way of reminder how the rest of the world does things:

Life Direction, Advent and Tutoring

I have a Chinese tutor. I named him Louie (his surname is Lu, so it seemed to fit well, and he liked it).

He has been a good source of encouragement to me these past days. A week or more ago he was first to our room that we've been meeting in and when I walked in he asked how I was doing. I said good, the weather was warm and sunny, I was feeling good about studying at the time. Then I asked how he was doing. He said, eh, just ok. I asked why and that launched us into a lengthy discussion about life and big decisions, etc. He spent all of last year in Pittsburgh at a Confucian Institute, teaching Chinese to "foreigners" (I like to keep the label, even though he was the foreigner at the time). I was excited for him to return. He'll graduate this coming July with an M.A. in Teaching Chinese, so he's got mad skilz, always comes prepared, and he's just enjoyable to hang with.

He was troubled on this particular day, wrestling with considerations of a PhD, getting a job after he graduates, etc. He asked me how I made and make my decisions regarding these things since I'm in China now, doing an M.A., with plans for a PhD, having somewhat recently gotten married, etc. This opened the door to a really great conversation about following my Lord, how He cares for us, how I talk with Him and hear His voice. He asked some fairly perceptive questions, like "wow, that's great, would he do the same for me?" Another cool part of the story is that it was all done in Chinese! I would say it was my first really significant conversation in Chinese (beyond, where are you from, how old are you, how much money do you make, are you married, how long have you been in China...wow! Your Chinese is really good!).

Then, yesterday he came to the apartment to tutor me. I was working on an Advent Reading Calendar for the family, a tradition we tried last year and wanted to do more of this year. By the way, if you'd like a copy I should have it done by middle-ish of next week, and I can email it out to anyone who wants it. I'll let you know when it's prepared.

He came in and asked what I was up to, and I said I was working on and Advent Calendar. He had never heard of it, so I brought him over to the computer and showed him what I had done. I tried to explain how each reading is significant, and we looked at one. The second day I titled: Brokenness and Healing. I read Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and explained how it refers to the future events in the life of Jesus, and what impact that has on our life. (side note: this time it was done in English...) He was impressed. He said, "I think I need to get [this book] and read it myself." I said, "that's a great idea! How about I bring you one next week?" He said, "Yeah, that's cool."

We'll see what comes of this. More later...

Mysteries

When you live cross-culturally you discover many mysteries. Some remain so, others are eventually uncovered, sometimes only partially so. Yesterday my wife had one of those mysterious conversations that made us laugh, sort of. I'll try to uncover it for you as much as I can.

A teacher at Emily's school working in the Kindergarten very recently had her baby. Emily saw the head teacher yesterday in the hallway and asked how this woman and the baby were doing and how the birth went. The head teacher replied (something like this, I'm relaying third hand here), "oh, it went very well, though her water broke so they had to do a C-section."

Uh....really? Because her water broke?.....

Emily I are discussing the possibility of having a baby next year, and up to this point we're thinking we'll have it in China, and we're doing groundwork and research to understand the situation here a little bit better before jumping in. We know of some of the potential 'issues' with this. One is the extremely high rate of C-sections. Of course we're aware that it is necessary sometimes. But we've heard numbers as high as 50% in China. Even if you don't know ANYTHING about birthing, I'm sure you can deduce that 50% is just a little bit high.

You may be surprised to hear such a high number, but we've heard some explanations for it. One, that also occurs in the States, is that doctors get paid a hefty amount for doing one, and not as much if they don't. That's a strong incentive to do them. And in China there's much less 'common' knowledge about things, so when a doctor says so you just do it.

Two, it is also not uncommon, because of the so-called "One Child Policy", that the doctors will also tie the woman's tubes while they have her open - sometimes upon request, sometimes without knowledge of it. We're not at all afraid this would happen to us, it only applies to Chinese. But, it partially accounts for the higher rate.

But, back to the story. We've answered the question as to C-sections in general. But why was it the solution to her water breaking. This is a greater (cultural) mystery. Here are a few options. Unless you really dig you may never really know the real reason. And digging can sometimes be painful. You never know what you may dig up.

Option 1: She didn't want to go through all the work of pushing the baby out, so she opted for a C-section. This is possible, though in my opinion less likely. And her telling everyone that her water broke so she needed a C-section might be her way of avoiding telling people she just didn't want to do it and losing Face.

Option 2: She couldn't push the baby out, so the doctor said she needed a C-section. Perhaps more likely than Option 1. And her "my water broke" reason is a way of saving Face and not having to tell people she couldn't do it.

Option 3: The doctor wanted more money, so he told her that because her water broke she needed a C-section. Emily said that she has heard of some people who believe that if your water breaks there's more potential for infection. I suppose there's some truth to that, like if you never ever push the baby out you just might have problems. But the doctor giving such advice is more likely because he/she wanted the cash that comes from the cut. But, you might say, wouldn't she know that the water must break if the baby is going to come out? Maybe. Though I wouldn't be surprised to find many women (and men) who don't know a thing about birthing here. Medicine is a very very interesting thing in China. Medical questions can be responded to with numerous answers, some that near making sense and some, like this one, that are wildly ridiculous. Which leads to our final option (though we're certainly not limited to this selection. There may be a huge, complicated story that we'll never know. And that's the mystery).

Option 4: There is much to the story we will never know. But, we know she had the baby and they're both healthy, and we know she had a C-section. That's the important material to the story. Why is 'not relevant'.

Conclusion: Here's my final thought on this situation. There are some fishy things in the story. The fact that her water broke does not mean she needed a C-section. The doctor wanting the money is likely. There's possibly more medical issues that we, and perhaps the mother, don't know, and it was merely the doctor's way of avoiding the explanation, and worrying the mom might feel. Very, very likely there's some Face-saving going on. You can't underestimate the importance of Face in China. America has Face too, it just looks a lot different in context, and its based on different factors.

Small digression on Face. For example. One day, several years ago when I was teaching English, I saw several guys shooting a couple basketballs on a court. I watched as I walked and noticed that no one was making any shots. I decided to stop and watch a little longer. For several minutes. NO ONE made ONE shot. For several minutes!! For an American, MAJOR Face loss. If we're not good at something we usually avoid doing it to avoid embarrassment (which amounts to loss of Face). In China, they value doing something together, rather than the skill with which you do it. So, they were all buddies, shooting the ball. THAT was the point, not making baskets.

So, for this woman who had the baby, she saved Face by not telling us why she had a C-section. She might not even know the real reason. And Emily, in good Chinese cultural form, didn't ask. She didn't need to. Option 4. Good Office Politics, Emily. Way to go!

Ups and Downs

Wow! It's hard to put into words the ups and downs you can feel in language study, and living cross-culturally in general. Here's a snippet.

Monday and yesterday I was feeling pretty bummed about my Chinese. Really, quite DOWN. It's not uncommon on days like those to think, "Am I just wasting my time here? What if I completely stop remembering characters, and I fail all my classes? I'll return to the States with my tail between my legs and go to flipping burgers or something..." I felt like my Chinese is just so-so after more than a year studying (Chinese has a great word-phrase for so-so: mamahuhu 马马虎虎, which, when translated literally, comes out horse-horse-tiger-tiger).

Here's how the day went. I had Comprehensive for two periods (a period being 45 min), then Oral for two periods; and my morning is spent. Comprehensive went well enough, just kind of went through it. Oral, we had a kind of mock midterm exam. We were supposed to have previewed two texts by reading and listening to an audio of them, and have done all the practice work for chapter seven so that we can speak the chapter problems and texts very fluidly. I listened to the first text a few times and read along, and listened a few more times on my way to class early this morning. No fluidity happening here.

In Oral class the teacher took attendance on the media projector, and then proceeded to have students read parts of either one of the two texts or the practice problems. He would then write the score he thought the student should have, based on their speaking. Some students whom I think generally better than me scored 60s. I was...a little bit nervous. He came to me and asked me to read from the second text (which I had not even glanced at). Thankfully it was not full of a whole bunch of new words. I, along with my North Korean neighbor (I'll definitely blog about him another time, so stay tuned), and the only other American in the class all read from the second text, and we all scored 95s. That felt very good. Very very good. [the text that I HAD studied was one of the more funny and interesting ones; I'll be posting it with my translation and commentary as soon as I can get it done]

The weather being INCREDIBLY beautiful today, my tutor and I walked around campus, attempting to work out a couple of things-a library card for me, and a question for a friend-and we sat on the grass in the warm sun and just talked for over an hour. Nearly all in Chinese. That felt good too.

As I said before, I had my first midterm today, in writing class. I hardly prepared, but I reviewed a few characters that I knew would be important. Three parts: writing a note, an email, and an introduction of a friend I am familiar with. I chose my N. Korean neighbor, and he chose me. It worked out well, and I feel good about it.

Then I walked home to a blazing orange sunset. I walked along a paved path through a large grassy area (there are not really very many of these in China, so its exceptionally enjoyable); people sitting on benches, roller bladers, little babies in split-pants, and four old men flying kites. There are almost always old men flying kites in the Quad (so-called because it's somewhat of rectangular area). These old men had their kites waaaaay waaaaaay out there--little specks in the distance--I would guess a half-mile away, maybe even more. And as I walked in the sun, with awesome blue sky above (also somewhat rare), I looked at one of the old men with his kite way off in the distance, and he looked at me. He wasn't smiling, not grumpy, not sad, just kind of a blank stare. I busted out my biggest grin for him, and he smiled back! And my heart was warmed.

And even once more, after I crossed the heinous intersection at the main gate of our school and on past all the various construction projects that are going on right now, I smiled at a worker pushing a wheelbarrow of sand, and he gave me a nice big smile too.

And...I'm up again.

A Taste of Chinese Class

Here’s a little taste of Chinese class for your enjoyment. You can really learn a lot about a culture by studying it’s language textbooks. What do you gather from this?.....
[and I have commentary in brackets like these]

小林：爸爸，有朋友请我参加平安夜舞会，今天晚上我就不回家了。

Little Lin [pronounced: Leen]: Baba, my friend invited me to celebrate a Christmas Eve Ball, so tonight I won't becoming home.

[Christmas Eve in China is a KAY-RAZY time. Imagine a carnival on steroids, all up and down the streets. All kinds of street food, balloons, flowers, and one BILLION of your closest friends all jammed together on the streets and sidewalks.]

爸爸：什么？一晚上不回家？这些洋节有什么好？我真是不明白你们这些年轻人。

Baba [means Dad; but I like the 'flavor' of Baba better]: What?! You won't come home tonight? What is good about these foreign holidays? I really don't understand you young people.

[in China the age-gap between generations is enormous. I've heard that every five years is considered a new generation, especially among the younger crowds. Students who graduated five years ago can hardly make sense of college students today, their worldviews and experiences are so far apart.]

小林：我也说不清楚，只要是节我就过，反正就是高兴，可以乘机放松放松。

LL: I'm not too clear about it either, only I like to celebrate these holidays, they're really fun, and I want to seize the chance to relax a little bit!

爸爸：放松？那为什么过春节，中秋节没见你这么高兴？传统节日不也挺热闹吗？

BB: Relax?! Why doesn't celebrating Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival make you happy? Traditional holidays aren't lively enough?

[Spring Festival, usually in February and based on a lunar calendar, and Mid-Autumn Festival, also lunar, are traditional Chinese holidays.]

小林：传统节日也不错，不过，传统节日净讲究“团圆”，全家人在一起不是吃饭就是看电视，没什么意思。

LL: Traditional holidays aren't bad, but, traditional holidays merely focus on "family reunion", getting the whole family together to eat food or watch T.V.

[This is really quite true. When my wife and I visited a friends home for Spring Festival pretty much all we did was eat food and watch T.V. For Spring Festival there is the obligatory house cleaning and a few other small things, but not much else.]

爸爸：什么节你不也一样玩吗？再说，一家人团圆有什么不好？

BB: Are there any holidays that are not equally as fun? Besides, what's so bad about family reunions?

[Family is huge in China. It can be a huge insult to dislike family reunions, not to mention a turning from literally thousands of years of history]

小林：可能洋节更接近年轻人的性格吧，向干什么就干什么，什么规矩都没有，什么情人节，圣诞节，万圣节，都浪漫，都刺激啊！

LL: Maybe foreign holidays are more close to young people's disposition? If we want to do something, we do it, and there's no rules. Valentines Day, Christmas, Halloween, they're all romantic and stimulating!

[Word choice here was a little tricky, the last word in particular. It really literally "stimulating", but I think the idea conveyed is exciting. And, there's a very strong "foreign/Chinese" aspect at play through the whole dialogue, as in Chinese culture in general. The older people defending the traditions and the younger people accepting...well, pretty much anything, and often without much consideration. As he says, if we want to do something, we do it, and there's no rules! I've never heard of a holiday anywhere that had NO rules. Ridiculous!]

爸爸：这倒也是，洋节的过法和传统节日的过法还真不一样，连商场的气氛都不一样。

BB: I see your point. Foreign holiday celebrations and traditional holiday celebrations are very different, even the atmosphere in the markets is different.

[Here Baba is conceding a point, that there is something to those foreign holidays.]

小林：是啊，您在看看报纸，电视，广播，能不吸引人吗？

LL: Yeah! When you read the paper, watch T.V. and listen to radio broadcasts, you can't help but be influenced, can you?

[It is interesting to note that, although the Little Lin is incredibly rebellious throughout the dialogue, he continues to address Baba with the more respectful term, nin 您, rather than the casual ni 你.]

爸爸：热闹是热闹，不过，你知道这些洋节是怎么来的吗？

BB: Excitement is excitement, however, do you know where these foreign holidays come from?

[A little Chinese grammar: the first five characters are an admission of something, agreeing that it's true, but indicating that you have some reservation. You can see it's followed by 'however'... The more direct translation comes out a little wooden, but I thought you might enjoy a little 'Chinese flavor'.]

小林：不知道，我也不想知道，我就想好好玩儿玩儿，还有情人节，母亲节什么的，大家都过，我也凑凑热闹。就好像没有情人也可以过情人节一样，我管它是情人节还是愚人节呢，过节就是给自己找一个快乐的理由。

LL: I don't know. And I don't wanna know! I just want to have fun, and Valentines Day, Mother's Day, etc., I celebrate them all, and join in all the fun! Even if I don't have a girlfriend I can still celebrate Valentines Day. Whether it's Valentines Day, April Fools Day, they all give me a reason to look for happiness!

[Here our little friend shows a little more color. Not only does he not know where the holidays come from, he doesn't care. And we see again, nothing matters but having fun.]

爸爸：其实，咱中国也有情人节啊，还不止一个呢，三月三，七月七不都是吗？我觉得那洋情人节就不怎么样，咱中国活里头“情人”就不是个好词，我还看见，2月14日那天，有个饭店门口竟然立了块牌子，写着“非情人莫入”，也太过分了!

BB: Actually, Our China also has Valentines day, and not only one! March 3rd, July 7th, both are, aren't they? I think that foreign Valentines Day is not even worth talking about. In Our China lives "lover" is not a good word. AND! On February 14th, quite to my surprise, I saw a restaurant with a sign on it's door, that read "No Lover No Enter"! So uncalled for!

[I really got a kick out of translating this one. A few notes:

1. As foreign teachers talking with students, or just when you talk with anyone in English, unless they are pretty good with their English skills, will say Our China, which is a direct translation from the Chinese. It's an aspect of Chinese culture that is a little far removed from "Our American" lives. But it's Chinese culture. They find a healthy sense of identity in the group. So they use the plural.

2. And yes, China does have two Valentines Days. The first one is on March 3rd, the second on July 7th. And the dates aren't random either. In Chinese the months don't have names, they're just in order by number. So March is sanyue 三月, literally Three Month, and July is the same, qiyue 七月, Seven Month. So the date comes out 3.3 and 7.7. Chinese culture is particularly bonkers about numbers. Eight is also a very 'lucky' number. That's why the Beijing Olympics started on 8.8.2008 at 8:08pm. Pretty cool, huh? If you're bored you can learn more about the two different Valentines Days here and here.

3. I made the sign on the restaurant door a little Chinglishy, just because I can see it happening like that. Call it translators prerogative. It's also how the Chinese comes out, very very directly. But it wouldn't sound like that to Chinese ears.

4. "Lover" was also a funny translation. It's not uncommon for students to talk about their 'lover'. It's far far too late to try and correct the issue, though we attempt it from time to time with friends, explaining that 'lover' is usually used when referring to the woman a man or woman is sleeping with other than the man or woman's spouse. Then they go, "OH!!!!!". Yeah. And, one time Emily got an email from someone at the company asking if she could take her 'lover's' passport to the office for something. We got a kick out of that. And, yes, she is my lover, my only lover. Emily and I also thought it was funny that Baba says it's not a good word in China. But people use it here ALL THE TIME. All the time. Though, perhaps not among the older folks. I need to talk with them more, and find out.]

小林：哎呀，您那么认真干吗呀！我倒觉得节是越多越好，传统节咱也过，那是属于咱们全家的，外国节，我也过，那是属于我自己的，您看怎么样啊？

LL: Aiya! Why do you care about this so much?! I admit, celebrations are getting better and better -- traditional holidays we all celebrate, they're for the whole family; foreign holidays I also celebrate, they're for myself. OK?

[Aiya! - a very common expression, usually of exasperation. And more sass from Little Lin. He gives into Baba's pressure to include the traditional holidays in his effort at 'self-expression'. And he ends it with a question that is polite in form, but shows his frustration. It comes out more literally, 'How do you see that?', but it's basically saying, "see, I give in a little, so get off my back!", and he again uses the more polite nin, 您]

I hope you have enjoyed this tour through a Chinese text and culture today. If you have questions, please refer to my Contact Me page on this blog... :p

Police Action, Conclusion and Confidence

As a rather anti-climactic ending to the saga, here's how it has concluded.

I decided not to go to the local police station. I didn't want to make Officer Liu lose face, which was a possibility. That relationship can go a long way, in either direction, and it is good to be on his good side.

In thinking more on the issue of our address in the paper, there's really nothing we can do about it now. It's already out there. We could complain to the paper, but what would that accomplish? They might not do it next time? Perhaps. Is there also a good chance that it'll happen again, to some unsuspecting person? Yeah, probably. Is there any recourse that could be taken, should our apartment be broken into? Nope. We can complain. Throw a fit. Socially embarrass ourselves. Can we make a certain connection between to paper printing our address and the thief. Not a chance.

But, as I was pondering and stewing about what to do, these thoughts came to my mind.

I have a Protector and Shield that is far greater than any lock on any door, or any secret Bat Cave without an address for that matter, and He is watching over me, my wife, and 'our stuff.' Did I mention that he is a Master Administrator? Should He deem it good to relocate some things, that's His prerogative. He gave and He can take away, and His name will always be blessed in our Home, whether or not a stranger enters to remove things or not.

And as I was thinking through all these things, I was also reminded of Brothers and Sisters, not TOO long ago, who knew what was Valuable and what was not.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,

“Yet a little while,

and the coming One will come and will not delay;

38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,

and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Just a few weeks before the newspaper 'fiasco' we had our scooter stolen, "right out from under us" (we kept it beneath the stairs on the first floor). At that time I remembered this verse, and it came back to me again, reminding me to be joyful, even at the plundering of my property. For we have a better possession, and it cannot be taken away. It is stored up for us in Heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal.

The writer of Hebrews is right, that we are in need of endurance. We all are. Especially those who think their stuff is permanent. You've got your cameras, your alarm systems, and your dog. All to protect your STUFF. There's nothing wrong with alarms, or cameras, and I love dogs! Can a camera stop a volcano (catch up on the news in Indonesia if I'm losing you)? Can it stop a tsunami? A tornado, or a wild fire? Or simply TIME?

In the middle of all this my wife asked me, "what is it about stuff that makes us feel good? Why does getting something new make us feel good?" I think I tried to come up with some philosophical answer that was clever, but I don't recall it right now.

The question remains, what is my confidence in? In my stuff? Or in the One who is coming. And the writer of Hebrews is clear, He IS coming. Are you enduring in your confidence in Him? Or have you taken a side road that seemed softer, more easy going?

Here's a pic of our plundered property. Did I post it earlier? I can't remember. It's actually the only pic we have of it, taken with our friend Withy from Singapore. She's lots fun. And may the man (or woman) who stole our scooter be blessed as much as we are, and may he or she find a better Possession, and the only Abiding One.

In the News

As much as I like to watch China news, it can sometimes be helpful to read about what's happening on the periphery, yet still related to China. Here's an interesting article on Vietnam's recent comings and goings. It helps broaden one's perspective, and divides an often myopic a U.S. perspective of China's relations with the world.

China's rise prompts Vietnam to strengthen ties to other nations
That change of perception has led Vietnam to embark on an extraordinary undertaking to befriend the world as a hedge against China. And prominent among its new intimates is the United States, which is equally eager for partners to help it cope with Beijing.

"It is always good to have a new friend," mused Vice Minister of Defense Nguyen Chi Vinh in an interview. "It is even better when that friend used to be our foe."

Among the various issues that Vietnam is looking at are sovereignty over the South China Sea (all of which China claims as it's own, and other smaller nations dispute the claim), and the Mekong River (China possesses the upper region and has built a large network of dams, and the waterflow to the lower regions possessed by Southeast Asia is gradually diminishing).

Sometimes the most important developments occur, not at the center, but at the periphery.

Maps for the geographically challenged. The first is of the South China Sea dispute. China claims the territory in the red dotted line. The blue lines indicate the United Nations international agreement on territorial waters, which basically says, a country bordering water has special economic rights to an area that extends 200 nautical miles straight out from its coast. China has signed and ratified this agreement. Ironically, the U.S., who helped shape the agreement, has signed it but not ratified it, due to internal disagreement. See the Wikipedia articles on UNCLOS and why the U.S. has not ratified it for helpful information.


The second map is of the Mekong river. You can see that it begins in China (for a long long ways, all the way up into Tibet), and comes down between Myanmar and Laos, through Laos, between Laos and Thailand, passes through Cambodia and then Vietnam before dumping into the ocean.

In The News

I like reading news on China. Here's two stories of bizarre things:

China to embark on Yeti expedition
A group of Chinese scientists and explorers is to embark on a £1m-expedition in search of the country's equivalent of the Yeti, or Bigfoot, which is said to stalk the high mountains and forests of the central province of Hubei.

Yes, it's true. Yeti :: Bigfoot. And they want to spend a million Pounds looking for it.

Suspended disbelief: the amazing art of Li Wei
Chinese artist Li Wei creates images of himself and his friends being thrown off buildings, dangling from bridges and hanging off cars, all in the name of art. Li's photos can take up to six months to set up and involve huge crews organising props such as smoke, mirrors, wires and cranes. After the photographs are taken the father of one removes traces of the wires with a computer.

This one was way cool. If you like pictures that make you go, "huh?" this is a good one for you. And his quotes were revealing too. For example:

He said: "I like to achieve the impossible. I have hurtled to the earth like a meteorite and flown through the air. My pictures show the unstable, there's a lot of danger and I love to create that feeling in my work"

I think this says something about Chinese society in general. There is always a sense of instability, things could come crashing down at any moment. But there's also a sense of normalcy to it all. You don't walk around wringing your hands or fretting about it, at least most of the time.

"Sometimes I am in real danger - I have to hang myself high with steel wires and people do get a little worried for me - but I am fine"

I think this is just funny. "Sometimes I am in real danger...but I am fine." It's also true. When things are unstable there IS real danger. But, "I am fine." The danger may be immanent, but it's not quite here yet and we feel quite comfortable.

America is in real danger, but it's fine. Your life is in real danger, but you're fine. It's not until things come crashing down all around you, and inside you, that you realize things are not fine; and upon reflection, that they weren't fine before - you were in real danger.

Li has a website too, with a lot more pictures. Though I would add, viewer discretion is advised. You can tell by the thumbnails that not all the pictures are good for your soul.

Police Action, Part Deux

So, I was sitting in listening class, and we were waiting for students to get settled when the 老师laoshi says, "We have a famous person in our class." We're all looking around, wondering who it is. Then he says, "It's an American." Well, there's only two of us in our class, so I look at the other guy. He's looking at me. I'm like, "肯定不是我!" (It's certainly not me!). He says the same.

It's me.

All through class I chuckled to myself. Picked up a few papers on my way home, keep one for myself and send a few home to folks.

I have a front page photo, and a second, only slightly smaller, on A4.

I read through the article. It was fun. It was pretty general, about China's MEGA-census, counting everyone in the country, including 外国人 (foreigners). I've been census-ized. I'm accounted for.

I'm happy to be in the paper, and I try to tone down my criticism of things that bother me since I'm a guest here and all and it can be really easy to find things you don't like about another country and culture, but I'm pretty ticked about the article. They put our whole address in the article, down to the door number (which, humorously, doesn't actually exist; when we moved in we asked the owner for the door number to receive packages and he said, "left").

So tomorrow I'm going to go down to our little police office and have a talk, to see what we might do about it. Obviously there's really not much that can be done, and it wasn't even their fault, it was the newspaper's. Maybe we'll see about getting some kind of alarm system put in or something, as long as it's cheap. Or maybe a BIG dog (I'd like that). Or I could hire someone to guard our house, or get my own gang of thugs organized...wait, I can't do that here.

We'll see how it pans out. I know the Lord is in control, and there's nothing I can do to change the fact that our address is all over Wuhan. We have decent locks on the doors. And we really don't have that much stuff worth stealing (unless they like dirty Western laundry that won't fit a Chinese person, or American cooking utensils which are also usually dirty...). We don't keep any money in the house.

Well, there's my rant. Here's a few pictures for your enjoyment.

This is the front page

Close up; don't I look happy! And our friend Officer Liu is also enjoying himself a good deal.

A4, with article

Close up

A Word to Myself

Second thing, from yesterday's post.

As I'm making steps towards maturity in my field of study (Chinese and Comparative Philosophy) I am reading LOTS, and learning and growing. It's sort of like a throw-back to the awkward teenage years, where you think you know a lot, and the more you learn the less you (feel) you know. Not to mention the physically awkward moments, bumping into things, tripping on nothing but your feet, voice cracking when everyone's listening...

Sometimes in reading news or other articles I follow internet trails to different sites digging for thoughts, and one particular time I landed on Dallas Willard's website. I've read a book or two by him and found them stimulating and helpful so I browsed a little. I knew that he teaches (or maybe taught, he's probably retired by now) at a public university (U. So. Cal. in L.A.) for a loooooong time (since 1965) in philosophy. Double interest for me.

As I browsed I came upon an article of a speech he gave to a faculty forum luncheon in 2003, titled, "My Journey to and Beyond Tenure in a Secular University." Sounds interesting, huh? A devout Christian, philosopher and writer, and his story to and through tenure at a fairly influential secular university. Some of you reading this may see some tensions in that sentence. Devout Christian and philosopher? Christian and tenure at a secular university? Are those things compatible?

I would argue yes! most definitely! In fact, the largest sub-group within the American Philosophical Association (I think, the largest academic philosophy 'club' in the States, and maybe the world) is the Society of Christian Philosophers. But that's not what I want to talk about. Back to Willard's speech.

His speech wasn't long, and I linked it above. Here are a few things he said that I found compelling:

1. I decided I would do nothing trying to secure myself or gain advancement...The Bible says promotion does not come from the East or the West, it comes from the Lord. So OK, I don’t have to do anything about promotion. But what I did was this: I said, "I am going to do the best work I can by God’s help," and that meant in writing and teaching. And once again, it wasn’t that I was smart. The Lord just guided me. So I worked on papers, and my idea was that, if it was any good, I would be able to send it to the best journals (where no one knew me), and it would be accepted.

I like this approach to 'professional life'. It reminds me a lot of Joseph. He didn't try to be second only to Pharaoh, he was just faithful where he was and God produced amazing results and used him in mighty ways. It helps me avoid pride (sometimes...), and to more clearly give the glory back to God, since all things are gifts from Him in the first place, whether you think you did it yourself or not.

It's funny when you choose to study philosophy. When anyone asks you what you're studying and you say philosophy, and especially Chinese Philosophy, they immediately go, "OoooOOOooo", like I said I'm the king of fifteen different solar systems. But, for the most part, I'd say most philosophers are not that smart. However, many of them are good at sounding smart and that makes a big difference. I think it would do many of us a great deal of good if you just said, "oh, cool." and asked about the weather, or better yet, yesterday's football scores. It would remind us that we're not as important as we think we are, and that paper 'I' just wrote on "Towards the Existence of Third-Order Phenomenon and the Fuzzy Logic of Infinity and Isomorphisms: A Theoretical Approach" [somehow this sentence didn't get finished the other day. It was supposed to end something like: ...etical Approach" didn't change the world like we hoped it would - in fact, no one will ever read it, except a few fuddy-duddies in the Philosophy Department.] Like Willard says, "it wasn't that I was smart".

2. Do work that you would think God had to help you with to get you there, and then do some more. Just stay at it. That’s the only strategy I’ve had is to work in that way...I really challenge you to believe that about yourself [that God will enable you to do work in [your] field that will be a benefit and challenge to everyone], whatever your area of work is. Not because you are so good, but because God is so great.

This idea has been rolling around in my mind for a long time. I first heard something like it from Michael Card when he came to play a concert (his first, and to my knowledge, only) at Trinity International University while I was a student there. He said something to the effect of, "live your life in such a way that if God doesn't show up you utterly fail", and then he played some really difficult song.

It's easy to live in a way that you get the glory, choosing things that you naturally excel at (a gift from Him in the first place!) and only attempting what you know you can do, or seeking/creating the smoothest route to avoid criticism or the discomfort of failure. Who doesn't want to be made much of!? (special thanks to John Piper for 'popularizing' that phrase) But we were created to make much of Him, and if we live in a way that doesn't display His power, then we should be asking ourselves what we're really living for.

Now, this isn't a free pass for foolishness either. Christians shouldn't be stepping off buildings trusting that God "will not let your foot strike a stone". Jesus was a good model for us in that, and all over the Bible God has said seek wisdom, not foolishness (Proverbs is a good place to start). But consider your life now. Where might you be hedging on the safe side? Where are you afraid of really stepping out in faith that God will work in and through you? Are you walking the smooth road, or are you taking steps of faith that would make people ask questions (not about your sanity, but about your faith)? Are you striving with God, knowing that He is working through you (not beside you) to accomplish His will?

3. I’m not there to be a witness. I’m there to do a good job as a teacher and writer. I will be a witness. I can’t help that. The only question is, "What am I going to witness to?" And I take a lot of comfort from Jesus’ statement that you cannot hide a city that is set on a hill. So I don’t have to think about it...I’m going to put my human limitations on the line, but my expectation is not from them. I expect to see something happen that I could not possibly do. And I would do that if I were preaching or witnessing on the streets, or doing whatever wherever. I want to see something happen that I couldn’t possibly do. And that’s what I would encourage anyone in the academic line of work to do: to say "I know what good work is. I’m going to do it, and I expect God to help me. I will give my life to it."

There's a lot here that's similar to #2 above, but what I want to point out is the first couple of sentences. It really resonates with me, with how I'm required to live my life by choice of my location. I can't get a soap box on the street corner. I can't even organize a rally or a large (or small) get-together. No Million-Man March will ever come from my efforts. But I can live. That's one reason I find Existentialism so fascinating. It comes down to a root question of living.

Albert Camus, the more popular Existentialist when compared with Sartre because of his 'softer tone', said, "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy." For Camus the question was, WILL you live? And that's important to answer. But I think even more importantly, and more often overlooked is the question, how am I living? Or, Willard's thought turned around, "what am I witnessing to"?

4. I’m afraid to say this, because I’m afraid to burden someone else. But I never ask for a promotion. I never ask for money. Of the books I’ve published, all have been solicited from me by the publishers. And I’ll tell you why I have approached things in this way. When I was at Baylor University as a young man, as a very green young man, I was watching other green young men trying to find a place to preach. And the Lord said something very simple to me: "Never try to find a place to speak, try to have something to say."

Two things. One, this is big Trust. Will you seek to squeeze your way into places, perhaps unwelcomed, breaking feet and heads you step on along the way to the 'top'? Or will you allow God to make that way for you? As a man, will you cut corners, 'make deals', cheat, lie, and steal (ALL in a "clean" way that only white-collar, middle-class Americans know how to do) to provide for you family?

I'm in the middle of a challenging book by Andrew Walls, called The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History. In chapter two, Christianity in the Non-Western World, he says: "Perhaps part of the significance of the missionary movement is the very converse of the cultural imperialism with which is is often quite justifiably charged. The missionary movement arose from the need to live on someone else's terms, to make Christian affirmations within the constraints of someone else's language."

And I would add, someone else's rules, cultural and political.

Learning to play ball on someone else's court is challenging, and it is OH so tempting to force your way in, to make space for yourself, to do things your way and demand that your hosts do the same. It's even easier when you come from a culture who's rules are, "YOUR way IS the right way".

As American's were all very good at saying something, and the internet has created a wonderful platform for anyone and everyone to have a place to speak (whether or not anyone listens). But ask yourself, do you really have something worth saying, or better, something worth listening to? I've actually asked myself that question about this blog. Do I really have something to say? Most days, nope. Today? Eh. Perhaps; though most likely only to myself. (Someone should write a paper on Blogging as Self-Help Therapy, I just might read it)

Police Action

It's been a long time since I last wrote. My wife and I are quite in the thick of routine, and it doesn't include much time for anything but work, study, seeing a few friends, and us two being together. But I have a moment this afternoon so I'll write a couple of interesting things.

First, I just experienced my first "police raid". Don't get all antsy. It wasn't quite like what you're thinking. Here's what happened.

I was eating lunch with a former student who's applying to grad schools in the States, helping him with some writing. I get a call from a number not in my phone, so it could be anyone. I answer and the lady asks me if I'm home right now, or if I'll be home sometime this afternoon. Normally I have a grueling 4 hr Chinese Philosophy tutor session, but this week there's a guest lecturer for my tutor's major, so we're off. (I may still go to the lecture, it sounds interesting; a Brit is lecturing on various Bible books, today is Acts; it starts in a little over an hour) I say I could be home later, say 1 or 2pm. She says ok, and that's that.

I get a call a few minutes later from a guy saying that 1 or 2 is too late, and can I be there now. Well, obviously I can't be there now, because I'm not there now! But I said I could be there in thirty minutes.

I finish off my food, and the conversation with the student, walk back to the teaching building and grab my bike for a quick ride home. No one is there when I get home, so I call and they say they'll be there soon (in Chinese, mashanglai 马上来; literally it means horse-on-come, but in vernacular it means we'll be there soon - this could mean anywhere from a few minutes to several hours; I'm non-plussed, I still don't know who it is or what they want...).

Just a few minutes later I hear them coming up the stairs. I open the door to see two younger women, two younger dudes with nice cameras, and a very smiley police officer. I recognize him as the officer who oversees our little xiaoqu (小区 'community'). I warmly welcome them in and they crowd into our very very small 'living room' (we still haven't put up pictures or the promised video. My apologies. We don't have the correct equipment to get video off the camera onto the computer, and we haven't gotten around to doing a little grainy photo-camera video - some day...).

He asks to see my wife and I's passports, residence permits, our apartment contract, and our local police registration. I'm very thankful to a friend, Joann, who lives in Beijing and posted a description of a similar experience on her blog. She had all the documents prepared for just such a moment which inspired me to get ours in order. This was done just a couple of weeks ago, and I am SO thankful that it was! I knew where everything was, so I grabbed documents, handing them to Officer Liu.

He proceeded to examine them, one by one, asking me very innane questions like, is this your name, is this your date of birth, where's your residency permit (pretending he couldn't find it himself), is this what you pay for your apartment per month (it's a little expensive!), etc. etc.

With every new document I handed him the photographers were clicking away like mad. They had the full-auto shutters working overtime (out of the corner of my eye I think I saw one of them cameras smoking......)!!! They would hold the camera above our heads, close ups, wide shots, all over. I tried to put on my handsomest smile, and Officer Liu was quite pleased to have his picture taken with me. One of the young women had a clipboard and asked me a few questions like, what's your highest earned degree, and your wife's? and date of birth, etc.

It's the first time I've ever been asked for documents (it's also the first time I've lived in the 'general public'; i.e. - not on school or company campus) and I would have to give two thumbs up.

And I'm so thankful I was prepared. *Thanks Joann!*