China Day 4 - Day of Rest
I woke up at 4 a.m. - making progress! After breakfast and Morning Prayer, we had a Meeting, which consisted mainly of prayers and hymns. Timothy also talked about the goals of the family and company. It was interesting to hear them from him, because all I knew, I had heard from Jesse. I learned a beautiful new hymn - from Isaiah 51:3 - which they sing as a prayer for North Korea:
"For the Lord will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and comfort shall be found therein,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Joy and comfort shall be found therein,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
In the afternoon, we rode on a trailer pulled by a tractor out to the Russian border. We got out, touched Russia, took some silly pictures, and 'stamped' our passports (put them on the ground and, literally, stamped on them. Mine is still a little bit dirty).
Then we continued on to a stream, where we had a nice picnic of egg, cheese, and lettuce sandwiches, peanuts, banana muffins, and watermelon. Some crazy antics ensued - John Alan successfully jumping over the electric wire, but unsuccessfully running away from Rose Mary with a cup of water. The weather was beautiful - warm sun, but cool breeze - so, except for the obscene number of flies, it was the perfect day for a picnic.
An American friend of Timothy, Jessie White, joined us for our picnic, along with his Chinese driver, Zaibin (we gave him our first TU t-shirt). He runs a hippotherapy program - using horses to treat handicapped children. In an interesting turn of events, Jessie had a wind turbine that was broken and he was looking for some help with it. Hmm, I wonder who could provide that . . . ?
I sat in the living room doing a little bit of journaling and starting Heavenly Man. Gradually, the others congregated and we started talking. We evaluated our Chinese experiences thus far, namely the interesting bathroom arrangements we've seen (squatty potties, trenches, no toilet paper). We also learned a little bit about Chinese and Korean cultures, and some great quotes were born in the process:
- about the custom in Korea to pat a baby boy's genitals for good luck:
"No, no, he's a girl!!"
- about the absence of vultures and crows in China:
Timothy: "There are no vultures in China, because they can't compete with the humans!"
- about the reason to eat dog:
"Be strong like bull!!"
- about the taboos of eating dog:
Timothy: "I'd have a house cat before I'd have a house dog."
Tanner: "I'd eat your house cat before I'd eat your house dog."
- about the tendency of older Korean men to grab other men's knees:
Jesse: "What about the Korean man and the dog?"
Tanner: "I'd go to my happy place . . . "
- about frog poaching:
"Hey, two frogs would get you an hour on the internet!"
- after discussing cannibalism:
Tanner: "So, would anyone like the rest of my tapioca pudding?"
I was tired by 7, so I read for awhile before I drifted off to sleep on the couch. When I awoke at 9, Naomi was taking the last of the little girls off to bed, and no one else was around. How pathetic? But I joined them anyway.
"For the Lord will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and comfort shall be found therein,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Joy and comfort shall be found therein,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
In the afternoon, we rode on a trailer pulled by a tractor out to the Russian border. We got out, touched Russia, took some silly pictures, and 'stamped' our passports (put them on the ground and, literally, stamped on them. Mine is still a little bit dirty).
Then we continued on to a stream, where we had a nice picnic of egg, cheese, and lettuce sandwiches, peanuts, banana muffins, and watermelon. Some crazy antics ensued - John Alan successfully jumping over the electric wire, but unsuccessfully running away from Rose Mary with a cup of water. The weather was beautiful - warm sun, but cool breeze - so, except for the obscene number of flies, it was the perfect day for a picnic.
An American friend of Timothy, Jessie White, joined us for our picnic, along with his Chinese driver, Zaibin (we gave him our first TU t-shirt). He runs a hippotherapy program - using horses to treat handicapped children. In an interesting turn of events, Jessie had a wind turbine that was broken and he was looking for some help with it. Hmm, I wonder who could provide that . . . ?
I sat in the living room doing a little bit of journaling and starting Heavenly Man. Gradually, the others congregated and we started talking. We evaluated our Chinese experiences thus far, namely the interesting bathroom arrangements we've seen (squatty potties, trenches, no toilet paper). We also learned a little bit about Chinese and Korean cultures, and some great quotes were born in the process:
- about the custom in Korea to pat a baby boy's genitals for good luck:
"No, no, he's a girl!!"
- about the absence of vultures and crows in China:
Timothy: "There are no vultures in China, because they can't compete with the humans!"
- about the reason to eat dog:
"Be strong like bull!!"
- about the taboos of eating dog:
Timothy: "I'd have a house cat before I'd have a house dog."
Tanner: "I'd eat your house cat before I'd eat your house dog."
- about the tendency of older Korean men to grab other men's knees:
Jesse: "What about the Korean man and the dog?"
Tanner: "I'd go to my happy place . . . "
- about frog poaching:
"Hey, two frogs would get you an hour on the internet!"
- after discussing cannibalism:
Tanner: "So, would anyone like the rest of my tapioca pudding?"
I was tired by 7, so I read for awhile before I drifted off to sleep on the couch. When I awoke at 9, Naomi was taking the last of the little girls off to bed, and no one else was around. How pathetic? But I joined them anyway.