Outdoor Education--Jungle Survival

Here's Mr. Becker and his OE squad. They bonded and learned lots together. I only have a few pics because I was not the photographer. One of his students had a camera and I got these from her facebook, (thanks, Hannah).

The theme was Jungle Survival. Nate and I led a squad three years ago here, so I can totally picture it. There is so much to learn in the jungle!

Random airplane picture--I did not know about this singing performance until I found this picture on facebook!

Mr. Becker's students help him over the wall. They learned lots of teambuilding and teamwork.

Students in the airport--where else can you go with your whole middle school on a plane for a trip? Pretty cool!

Mr. Becker is there in the background watching his students working together.

The old Subic military base is now a camp where they all stayed. It is like barracks.

Learning how to make fire with bamboo. It's amazing how many things you can do with bamboo.

Here is what they ate in the jungle. What is it??? All served on a bamboo plate with a bamboo spoon. Yum!

Lovely Philippine ocean. Here the whole school went to an outdoor adventure to watch dolphins and other sea animals in a show.

Taoism and Gardens

There were TONS of people actually worshiping at this Taoist temple. It was unreal to see all the different things happening. Here are people getting incense to burn for prayers.

Bowing in worship, to who?

Idols in the background with leaders in the front. Look at their ornate costumes! Candles on the floor, objects of worship, instruments (gong, drum, cymbal), chanting...people bowing, food at the feet of idols, people collecting money and writing something in a book...what does it all mean? This was brand new to me (I think there is a website www.shchm.org). I need to learn more.

Bowing to idols/gods? How many gods are there? What are their beliefs? I just observed taking it all in.

Elijah is very sleepy--what is happening in this place?

A monk? Leader? What a costume! And what is that stick for?

The ribbons tied had writing on them--prayers? This woman is praying to those gods...this is very sad to me. Wow, people were everywhere bowing to idols and gods. I guess it is hard to believe in an invisible God--only ONE--if you were raised in a culture like this.

Do you want to offer food to this pair of statues? Why is his face red? Why the long beard?

Outside the temple was a lovely garden. Much more fresh air here (no incense). I set Elijah down and, bam, there was a crowd. People loved to meet him. What a fun boy.

It really felt Chinese in these places. How funny to see Elijah in a stocking cap! I hardly recognized him in his winter clothes. Around the corner was a Starbucks where I had hot chocolate while Elijah napped. Not very Chinese, but they did greet us "Nee-how!"

WaterTown--Zhujiajiao

Thousands of bulidings built in Ming and Qing dynasty. 36 ancient stone bridges. I like this typical picture--simple life.

Cool sights and pictures everywhere we turned.

Ancient post office. The Chinese postal system is very ancient too. I love it! Wouldn't you like to send mail from this mail box?

Lots of cool stores and shops along the way.

Boating in China, how cool?!

Lovely waterways and stones. Cold but lovely. I felt like we were the only tourists there, so we were really looking in to their lives.

I love seeing people biking around. In Cambodia I had pictures of ladies biking. In the Philippines women don't ride bikes (but I stand out a woman, foreign AND with a baby on the bike! They think I'm crazy, but look at all the women biking in the world--it is truly cultural).

I realize now that we don't have many pictures of all of us! We shared the picture-taking. Here is Kaylee but Ashley is not in the pic--it was her 5th birthday that day.

Does he look Chinese? What an adventurer. He was so curious about everything and everyone. He could hardly close his eyes for a nap fearing he would miss something--just like his mom!

This would be a cool place for wedding pictures (I guess if you are Buddhist). I love stones and this pretty peaceful Chinese garden. One of the few pictures of me alone in China. Elijah is climbing around eating stones.

Buddhism, Food and People

Sunday we went to a Buddhist temple. It was very sad to see the people actually worshiping these idols. I look serious because I saw no reason to smile.

Here's another statue (another god?). Different position of hands, standing...what does it all mean? I need to learn more. It would take so long for me to get inside the mind and beliefs of Chinese people.

My expression, "Can you believe all these idols? Look at the people bowing to them? Lord, I will not bow to an idol. I will worship only You. Will you show these people the truth?" There are tons of kneeling benches and the idols on the wall were all different. They looked scary to me too!

I'm smiling to meet some monks. Very interesting to attend during their "worship service".

On a different day we went to an ancient water town with bridges and pathways. There was the largest wooden Budda in the world (smiling).

Attached to the Buddha (is there an H?)...were these--prayers? I need to learn more! This is currently my desktop background. Very interesting.

Would you like to guess what this is? Try to imagine the smell. Would you like to buy some? The smells down the streets were very distinct. We ended up eating later at KFC! Yikes! Not very brave, I guess.

This is my all-time favorite picture from China. I turned the corner and saw this very Chinese-looking man. Elijah had his little Chinese outfit so I passed him to the man and he was proud. I love the weathered older face with the young soft face. Elijah is so social!

Here's a temple of some kind. It was the coldest on this day, so you see our noses getting progressively colder. Me in my jean jacket--I am more from the tropics definitely.

Friends in China--who knew we would meet up there someday with kids? Fun! What a blessing to be together and explore the world together with our babes. Cool bridges and walkways--it truly felt like the ancient Chinese town that it was.

Friends in China

Here is the apartment Allison lives in. She is on the 6th floor. Wow, what a high-rise! It seems like a house inside, though, because there are lots of windows on all sides.

Here are the buddies--Elijah (almost 9 months) and Nathan (4 months). Nathan buddy is hanging on to his new pal.

Elijah zonked out in the museum--perfect! We were able to see all kinds of interesting Chinese writing, art, pottery, jade and artifacts.

This would be a cool desktop background. I like the writing...very interesting but hard to read!

This was the nicest weather we had--sunny but still crisp. The Chinese are very concerned that Elijah is too cold. I think he's okay.

Elijah made TONS of friends. Here is one of his little marshmellow buddies. They overdress the kids so they stay warm. Man, this guy must be burning up. They thought Elijah was too cold. Elijah is wondering, "Why are all these people looking at me?" You stand out, son.

Yep, we stand out here. This is the busiest street, supposedly a million people pass by every day. We really felt like we were in China here!

Try reading these road signs. Allison was indeed a great navigator, though.

Micah, I took this picture for you. A Chinese pizza hut (we did not eat here, but it reminded me of you in Spain!).

Dragon fruit, appropriately named for China! Inside it is white with black dots and tastes like melon a bit. We don't have this in the Philippines, but I think they have it in Thailand too.