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