Our Winter Stride

Josh’s classes have ended for the semester, most of the other foreigners have left for traveling and retreats and the temperature outside continues to plummet.  After a few bumpy weeks I am happy to say that Josh and I have figured out a winter schedule (mostly).  Post-swim day, Josh and I have found a somewhat new rhythm.

A rough view of our daily life here in XJ may look something like this… Sometimes, Josh will go out or we all will go out in the morning to get something done (shopping, paperwork, etc.).  Usually,  Josh gets out to work/study/fix our paperwork and Jaden and I will stay home to play, clean and cook.  Jaden then naps during which I’ll nap or read or study (or all the above).  After his nap it gets dark quickly but we might go some place close to get out if we haven’t that day and the pollution is in an acceptable range.  Then its dinner and usually our neighbor comes down to “play”.  Finally, its our bedtime routine and sleep.

I must take a moment to thank the Father for providing me with an excellent tutor.  She is U but her Chinese is great as she grew up in the Chinese schools.  She is studying to be a teacher and hoping to teach English at a private school.   She is able to come every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for almost 2 hrs. and she prepares a lesson as well as assigns homework.  She is really encouraging and just what I needed in my language learning.  Many days my brain will be so exhausted from the intense one on one lessons.

I go up and down in my feeling of progress in this language.  Some days I think “yes, I am getting this I’ll be able to communicate in no time!” and other days I’ll be like “are you kidding me?! I’m never going to be able to fully understand what others are saying, let alone communicate myself!!”.  It is amazing how language and the desire to express yourself is so personal.  To be able to or to not be able to communicate can be very emotional.  When I can’t express myself I just feel trapped and alone, I want to reach out but I just can’t.  Yet when I successfully talk to someone about something (like being able to answer a question from a salesclerk) there is so much hope and self assurance.  It is quite the roller coaster.  No wonder Jaden throws a tantrum when we aren’t understanding what he wants!  It is just plain frustrating!

The Father has provided another avenue to practice of which we are truly grateful and yet burdened by at the same time.  After hosting a Christmas party for our apartment we met our neighbors on the 4th floor (we live on the 3rd).  They have a 9 month old boy.  Well, for a good month now they have come down to our apartment every evening to play with Jaden. Usually, it is the mom and her son and sometimes the grandmother will join as well.  They only speak Mandarin so for the hour that they are visiting it’s a lot of practice.

At first it was hard to adjust our schedule to be able to host whenever they came.  But now, we have found that they don’t mind us going on our usual schedule of cooking and eating dinner while they are here.  The mom always comments on how her son is so happy when he is at our home.  And she really likes how I teach and interact with Jaden.  They think Jaden is “so cute” and join us in our laughter at his antics.  Jaden is starting to get used to having a friend come in the evenings and they smile all the more when Jaden welcomes them with so much excitement.

As a whole we are grateful for their addition to our home.  But especially after a hard tutoring session, I am extremely tired and want a night off of translating.  So my pryer is that He gives us the strength, patience, and love to be able to always be welcoming.  I am so thankful to have someone who will be my friend even before we can fully be friends.  Hopefully, my language will continue to improve so that His love can completely overflow into their hearts.  They have already noticed how we talk to the Father before we eat (Jaden never lets us forget) and have begun to ask questions so that is really neat.

I am excited to see that our days are filling up.  With each person the Father brings into our lives the less lonely we feel.  It is a constant reminder that He cares for us and understands our need for friendship.  We continue to look for other b’s that perhaps we can have true fellowship with.  In His wisdom He brought us here without a tm, so we know that He will sustain us until we are able to build one.  But we also know our need for true fellowship and accountability so we keep knocking on His door asking for tm.