A Reprieve

When we arrived in China three weeks ago, stifling heat surrounded us and the humidity was out of control. It reached up to 99°F during the day (though it would feel like 105°-115°, depending on the humidity) and dropped to 80° at night—not much relief.  They sold out of air conditioners in our city, since this was the hottest summer on record for the past 50 years! To top it all off, smog blanketed the entire city, so much so that we couldn't even see the mountains that are less than a mile away. 

[Good thing we're practicing gratefulness in all situations. We're so very thankful that our sweat glands are working properly, along with our olfactory systems!]

Believe it or not, there are supposed to be mountains in the backdrop.

This past week has been so beautiful, such a drastic change from the first two weeks. It's been in the 80s during the day, without too much humidity, and then low 70s at night.  And it's been clear! I had forgotten how beautiful the mountains are.

And this is just the view from our bus stop!

So yes, we've had a break from the heat, and we've had a break this weekend to relax before we start teacher days this next week. We had new teacher orientation last week, which was very helpful; we learned more about the school, Chinese culture, and our new coworkers. Now we just have five work days left before the madness begins September 2.

Changes

Since coming back, we've noticed a lot of change here in the city. They're fixing the road so that traffic will flow smoother (meanwhile, making it all the more congested) and so that we have more frogger territory. The city is also in the midst of constructing a subway system, though that's not going to be done for quite some time. Downtown, they revamped the Starbucks and made a sweet underground mall with an excellent Thai restaurant nearby.

This was the traffic jam we ran into today. After not moving for 20 minutes,
 we decided to get off the bus and just walk home.

They also repainted and re-roofed our school, preparing it for the wear and tear of a new school year. And they've changed more than just the appearance of our school; there have been multiple shifts in staffing, too. Some teachers have left, and new teachers have been hired. Many of the administrative positions are different now, with people being shuffled around and given new titles with new secretaries. This is probably why we're participating in new teacher orientation this week, even though we really aren't new to this school. With all the policies and guidelines that went into effect after we left, it will be somewhat like we're teaching at a new school.

This is our school with scaffolding all over the place.

Though I suppose all of this could be slightly frustrating, we are excited that things are different. If we came back and everything was the same, we would be more likely to fall into our old pattern of living with the same ruts. Now we have the opportunity to form new friendships, new habits, and new understandings of the culture. This is good! We just hope that other people realize that we're not the same as we were before, either. God has done a lot of work in our lives over the past year, and although we may look the same on the outside, our hearts have changed for the better.

We've Arrived!

Thank you Fort Wayne Airport!

Thanks for all of your prayers! We have arrived safely as of 11PM on Monday night (that would be 11AM on Monday morning, EST). All of our luggage arrived safely and intact. Actually, more safely and more intact than we had ever expected...

新疆面！

On Tuesday morning (from here on out, I will be talking in Chinese time), we had to head out early for a health check. Thankfully we had all our paperwork from our American health check, so we only had to get our blood drawn. (That means that we didn't have any traumatic experiences peeing in a cup like the first year....) Then we went out to our favorite noodle place at 10:30 in the morning to eat brunch, since we weren't allowed to eat before the health check. Though I assure you, this meal was worth the wait!

Hot Pot

The past few days have been filled with waking up early (gotta love those 3AM mornings), unpacking, situating ourselves in our new apartment, and visiting old friends.  And let's not forget eating good food and baking bread.

We have heard a lot of 欢迎你回来/huān yíng nǐ huí lái / welcome backs, and people have told us they are happy we have returned to China. Though it was hard to bid farewell to our family and friends back home, we are so glad to be back with our family and friends here. We trust that this is not just the jittery excitement of a honeymoon stage, but rather a joy that springs from following the Father's will.