Baby Henry!!

On December 21 at 7:22pm I became an aunt!!! 8 pounds three ounces and He is the most adorable baby ever!!! His name is Henry August Jasmer and look at that little face. I just wanna squeeze him and kiss him!!!!!!!! Too bad I am way over here. It is hard to believe that he will be almost 2 before I actually hold him. I am trying to come up with a new way of transportation so that I can be in two places at once. Thank you so very much to all you who were thinking to Father about Henry. Praise Him that Henry arrived safely!!!

Important Newsletter Info!!!

(((Some of you may be very confused as to why my official newsletters posted here always seem behind in the news--that is because they are the same ones that get printed at the headquarters company and mailed to many others and so I must compose it two months ahead of time.That is why it seems out of sync with the rest of the info on this page. I have been trying to update this site at least monthly. Please continue to be patient with me. )))

Official December Newsletter 2009!!

Merry Christmas!!!
A Child is born, innocent and pure, full of the hope of a life filled with the greatest kindness this world can give it. However, each of us is very painfully aware that life, with the help of this cruel world, usually gives us bumps and bruises along with the little and big joys.

I am so thankful that bruises and bumps usually heal. Since my last letter I have moved, started school, dealt with a rodent problem in my apartment, had a minor collision on my bike, and been to Walmart more times than I would like to say. And believe me there have been many items that have healed.

In spite of my continual blunders and constantly making things more complicated everything has gone pretty smoothly. My teammates have been ever ready to step in and help me in even the smallest instances. They are my source of encouragement and companionship. In fact they are my kindness from the world.

I have attended the Kunming International Academy Fun Fair and spent some extra time with the kids while their dad was in a village. I got to party with the team while making Chinese dumplings and pot stickers. We went on a picnic near the Stone Forest a national park. All of this was part of me getting to know the team better and being an integral part of them.

I will be on school break here soon and I am excited to get to say those two words together in reference to myself. SCHOOL BREAK!!! It has been so long since I have been on a school break. School started very easily with a week of listening and no speaking. This proved to be very difficult for me. No surprise!! However, it is easy to say that Chinese has four tones and thus it is a tonal language but to begin to try and speak them or to differentiate between tones is a much much harder task.
So what have I learned??

Lessons Learned: if I want to buy a potato I must speak carefully or I may offer to pay someone to smuggle me into another country. I can commission the making of a death trap, for a rodent, for a little over 3 dollars. I struggle with hearing the difference in tones. I need to lower my expectations for what I can accomplish in one day. I still love jiao za (Chinese dumplings/potstickers). It is much easier to study Chinese once you actually have a desk or another place to sit other than your bed.

I miss you all and ask that you would talk to Father regarding my emotional health. I can tell that I am beginning to miss personal connections more. I also ask for patience regarding language learning both for myself with myself and for my teachers. I know that you are all preparing for the celebration of the only true innocent and pure Child and I hope that you would think of me as you hang lights, decorate trees, bake cookies and pies and other delicacies and know that I appreciate those thoughts and miss the festivities but that I also par take in the celebration of who and what Christ means.
Love, Denise

My School held a Christmas party on Friday December 18th. It was so much fun. We all brought food and we had a time of talent sharing. Then we sang some Christmas carols together in both English and Chinese. Once we finished eating we visited the home of two other Chinese families who are having some difficult things and sang some carols to them. This is not something that is a Chinese custom. So we shared it with them. Let me introduce some of the friends I have at school.

Here is the whole class and all the teachers and their families. It is a small school and I learn one on one at this time but the atmosphere is so wonderful that I am very glad that I am a part of it all.

This is Jiang Lao Shi who is the hard working administrator and delight of the School. I do not have the pleasure of learning under her but I know that I have been blessed by her anyway.

These lovely ladies are my dear, sweet, and patient language teachers. The one playing the guitar is Xu Lao Shi and the one who is only singing is Jiang Lao Shi. Lao shi is the polite title for teacher. Xu and Jiang are their last names. They have given me a Chinese name because they determined that the one given to me before was not suitable. Zhong Jia Ni. This is a good name they inform me. (shrug) It means "nice girl." They have a suitable nickname for me which I do not recall the Chinese but the translation is "Hands and Feet Not Clever." I really love them both.

This is Whitney (in the middle) and her two sisters, Kelly and Devon, who are visiting for Christmas!! Whitney is from Missouri and works for a water provision organization here in Yunnan.

This is Mirjam. She is a nurse from the Netherlands. She moves this week to another city in China. We will all miss her very much.

This is Tom and Angie. They are both engineers and are from Iowa. Go Hawk Eyes!!!

Faye is in the middle there. She has the brown curly hair. Faye is a lawyer from New Zea land. She will be in Kunming for a long time too. We are all helping her sing a New Zea land version of the 12 days of Christmas. I am holding "seven eels swimming" and "Eight Plants of Puha."

The Yunnan Minority Museum.

Christmas Fair!!!

December 7, 2009

So the expats here have put together a fair of sorts to celebrate this season!!! There is a small Scandinavian population here and will be having a Santa Lucia party. I am not quite sure if I will be attending but it is so good to know that I have options. I have put up a small Christmas tree (from Walmart)and the small shinning lights on it make me happy. Today, I spent 45min sitting in my apartment's courtyard just "talking" to those going to and fro. There were lots of laughs and hopefully lots of good connections. I am going to be an aunt any day here. Which I am so so so excited about. Please keep Molly and Ben in your thoughts. Anyway, things are good here and continue to feel more like home. Love you all!!!