Times are changing

Happy mid-February! This is always a fun month, because it's bitterly cold, cloudy, and seemingly never ending. But a lot of neat things have been happening. Plus, when you have to stay inside, there are always great opportunities to read, reflect, and just continue to abide in Christ.

This past week has had an international theme. Well, more like a Chinese theme. I still help out at the English conversation class at our church, where about 95% of the students in the group are Chinese.

Friday was one of my Chinese friend's birthday. We ate hotpot in his apartment, which I hadn't had since China. It was very authentic, and felt just like we had been transported back to China. I was just sad that I forgot so much of my Chinese and couldn't really contribute to any conversations.

I also got to talk on Skype with Reborn in Xinjiang! She was still at her little home with her little family in her little tiny, extremely remote town where Kelsey and I visited exactly 2 years ago. When we visited, the Internet had been cut off for 10 months to the entire province, which is like a step back into the 1800s. Now they have Internet and her family even has a brand new desktop computer!

So I got to catch up with Reborn and see her dear little face. I also talked with her other family members, who seemed like they would explode with excitement. One by one they came to the computer to give their greetings. Her sweet, funny mom asked about my mom, tried to feed me a baozi through the computer, and asked about my relationship status. Then her dad came to sit down, and munched on some nuts in his navy sweater. He looked and acted exactly the same. He seems like the most serious guy in the whole world, but is actually really funny and has a huge heart. He asked me about my school, what I'm studying, etc. All of this was mostly relayed through Reborn the translator.

Last but not least, her grandma sat down in front of the computer! She is now 90 years old and still has her little bound feet. She is still extremely tiny, hard of hearing, and cute. She wore her pretty padded jacket, with a little hat on her head. Out of everyone, she was probably the most excited. I got all teary-eyed when I saw her. She remembered me, asked about Kelsey, and just couldn't believe I was talking to her from America. For the remainder of my conversation with Reborn, Grandma sat right alongside her, looking quite intently at the computer screen. Gosh, I miss them!

Hopefully you can be lifting Reborn up! We actually seem to be at similar junctures in our life. She is also figuring out what to do when she graduates this semester. But she isn't anxious, and we were able to encourage each other a lot. She also shared some exciting news about how 2 of her classmates I remember teaching as baby freshmen are now sisters! They started going to fellowship a long time ago with her, and are now reading the Word avidly. They are 2 students I never really imagined coming to know Him, but God works in much more amazing ways than I can ever think possible. And it's just incredible to think how God can use one person like Reborn to have a ripple effect for all eternity...

The only non-Chinese-y thing beside homework I did was going to the opera with my friends. Usually it's held on campus at a huge, very modern concrete theater that feels more like a spaceship than a theater. This opera, however, was held downtown for some reason at the Buskirk-Chumley theater which was built about a century ago. It's much, much smaller, and you feel just like you stepped into the 1920s. The opera, Albert Herring, was pretty entertaining, and was in English, which is rare.

Xingjiang circa 2010.

Xinjiang circa 2012 + Reborn's older sister!

Skyping with baby Reborn! She had just woken up.

Grandma Liu on Skype.

My fellow SPEA and opera friends looking quite glamorous.

Wearing Mom's dress to the opera--hopefully the audience wasn't too distracted! And I curled my hair for the first time in many moons.