Making Potions in a Traveling Show

Well folks, it's time for another post.

Christmas themed!

My Christmas plans are going to be lonely, with an extra scoop of depressing! All my roommates have left, either to return to their home country for good or just for the holidays. Nevertheless, my 5-bedroom apartment now only contains me, wandering the cold, desolate rooms like a forgotten castle guard. I will wake up on Christmas day, maybe go find a cheap massage for a good dosage of treat-yo-self, and then I'll go off to work.

It'll be fun leading up to then, though.

I just got done with a Christmas dinner celebrated by my school and a nearby campus. This was following a Christmas fun-day at my school, which included me teaching Christmas songs and dances with my guitar. It was a lot of fun. Because of the school event, I had my guitar with me at the dinner, which led to some impromptu performances.

After dinner, we all headed off to KTV. KTV is similar to karaoke, but even more quintessentially Asian, and a very popular pastime in China. The KTV we went to look like the perfect lounge/layer for an extravagant Bond villain, and it was super fun. The Chinese staff sang their edgy Chinese Janet Jackson-like music and their emotionally-wrought ballads, and me and the foreign boys wrapped our arms around each other and belted some Elton John. It was fun. It was also a China bucket list experience. If you want to dip into some authentic Chinese culture, you must go to KTV with Chinese friends.

I've gotten some cool chances recently to make Chinese friends. I went into a Muslim restaurant, which is my favorite form of Chinese cuisine. I'd been there once before, and both times the family-owned restaurant workers would come sit down at my table while I eat and read. We had a fun conversation which consisted of fun Chinese phrases that roughly translate "Oh, you American? America is bad! Obama is bad, just bad all around." This time I brought a side-by-side Chinese and English Bible, and the guy asked to borrow it and read the first four chapters of Matthew. Talk about miraculous. Merry Christmas, indeed! I think I changed his mind a little about America, but Chinese is still not good enough to get him to stop hating Obama.

Then I went to ANOTHER Muslim restaurant, and while I was waiting for my to-go order, another patron of the restaurant invited me to sit at his table, and so now we're friends. His name partially translates to "Handsome Tiger," which I'm told is a completely acceptable name in Chinese society. So, cool.

Tomorrow, I have another round of KTV that will also serve as a concept meeting for an upcoming company-wide party, in which I'll be singing.

Tuesday, I have a Christmas Eve party with one of my life groups.

And that's that.

圣诞快乐
Which means, "Merry Christmas."
(pronounced something like "Shung Dahn Kuai Luh")

A Season Of

I realize that I have not posted a December blog, so I will update you a little.

The theme of these past few weeks is evaluation. I've been faced with so many situation that have caused me to step back and think about where I stand and what it is that I stand for. In fact, that's been a theme of my entire time in Shanghai so far...

How should I live in a country that incorporates lawlessness into every day life?

What do I truly believe about the hot button issues facing Christianity today?

Where the heck does such certainty in my own faith come from?

Where does the truth of my beliefs and the whirlwind of my own emotions intersect?

Why don't I drink?

At one point do differences in doctrine require a breaking in fellowship?

There are so many different beliefs in the world. So many. Atheism versus Theism does not begin to cut it. Republicans versus Democrats. There is so much more diversity in the world, that even within belief system, variety overloads the infrastructure of one worldview. People will choose one belief among the trillions and cling to it so tightly as truth.

It's almost obnoxious that I hold fasts to the beliefs that I have, isn't it? And yet I do. These questions were and continue to be challenging to me, but I see God rowing me through the torrent and strengthening me. It's an exciting, troubling, peaceful, crazy time.

Christmas is coming. I've spent way too much money trying to get my living room to reflect it, but my mom sent me some stuff to aid me!


I have four Christmas parties lined up, but nothing to do on Christmas day! Isn't that depressing? I might just have a treat myself sort of day, foot massages and what not. Who knows?

Had authentic Mexican food for the first time in a long time. Amaaaaaazing.

Oh and my company is has this yearly event, and my friend Maddie and I have been asked to sing! She has a terrific voice and we both have terrific taste in music, so I'm excited! Peace!