Well i am sitting in sweltering heat. It is the second day i have had no power, and there isnt a breeze for miles around. But it rained all last night, and the upshot of that is that the skies are clear and i can now see the distant mountains strewn around the horizon of the bowl i live in. The downshot is that i bet the humidity is 85% right now, and no way to cool off. But as uncomfortable as I am, i am very thankful for all of your pryrs, as i feel much more comfortable here.

Today i was able to go to an above ground c, which has 6 meetings every sun day, with about 10,000 in attendance each week. The teaching at this particular one is unbelievably evng for a govt c, but this area is well known for being something quite unique in terms of its s atmosphere and climate. I have already heard incredible stories of faithfulness and provision, which i wont be able to share in full pry till i leave here. The building is surprisingly obvious, occupying a very conspicuous place in the city, and a huge neon crss, the famous sign of korean c. Not a new language for me in terms of c service, but in terms of country for sure- even though here and tai wan are supposedly the same country, i see almost no similarity.

Yesterday, our J saved my sanity and soul by giving me the opportunity to go outside of town. i went shopping with chunhua, then had lunch with some people from the english dept (everyone here is a female! the meetings are going to be very female-style..) i looked at the distant mountain which has been tempting me from my office window. It is called Mu er shan (Hat mountain). I asked Chunhua if it is possible to go there, and she replied "well we can go right now". I cannot underestimate for you how much i needed to get out of the city. As we took the #14 though the mud streets (the ground here is a clay that seems perfectly engineered to create a particularly evil kind of mud when wet), through the huge construction sites, we sound found ourselves on a country road, leading through real trees, up into the hills. The fresh air came as a shock to me- i dont think i have smelled anything so good or needed. We climbed the mountain from the parking lot, past Korean men dancing with drums at their picnic, lovers hiding in the knarled tamarack groves, and soon left the people, taking a steep switchbacking path up the mountain. It turns out that on the otherside of the rim of this bowl in which i live is the China of my dreams, the scenery of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Steep mountains, forested valleys, little villages with clay tiled roofs strewn across valleys of terraced rice paddies. The woods here are full of tamaracks, which are my very favorite tree, a gift from Gd to me... Just sitting up there, breathing clean air, feeling the refreshing breeze all around me, the beautiful little rocks, having an amazing conversation with my so-hospitable, and so-much-appreciated friend Chunhua about the s realities of life here in Yanbian... wow for the first time i was able to feel at home here and at ease, and to begin to get out of defensive mode, and to to concentrate on having a heart for these people and this place. I came back enlivened and refreshed, and even though i had no power or way to shower, my german neighbor Sandra invited me to shower at her apt. I have appreciated getting to speak in German, and being able to express myself completely without having to worry about how i need to modify my language. I am very thankful for the German community here, who has made me feel so welcome, and seems like a rope- a link to a world i love and know and understand. I am even over jetlag....

Some random things i have noticed so far about China (or at least Yanji):

It gets dark at 6pm here... already... All China is on the same time zone, even though it should have 5. So the result of that is it is light at 5am and dark by 6pm. I imagine that in the winter, it is going to be fully dark by 3pm here. That is going to be rough.

Asphalt doesnt seem to have been invented here. Mud however is here in abundance

Even though Chinese population is officially shrinking, or stabilized, huge new housing complexes are springing up everywhere here. Who is going to live in these places?

I had Uighur lamb kebabs for lunch today, ironically, something that Yanji Koreans are kind of well known for.

The sculpture park at my school is the weirdest thing i have ever seen. I cant wait to post the pictures on here.

My school has 1600 students, from 6 countries, faculty from many more. All the buildings are connected by a long elevated walkway that they call "The Great Wall" because it looks like the Great Wall of China.

I saw people selling monkeys on the street.

I saw an ox cart tied up in front of a 33 story brand new luxury skyscraper.

every floor of every dorm here has bona fide members of the party, who keep an eye on things

the rooves here are- to a surprising extent- blue

you cant buy ground meat... but you can take your real meat to a meat grinder stall and they will grind it for you

in the cafeteria, you are given a metal bowl full of random korean foods- mystery meat, kimchee, cold noodles, which resemble earth warms, and lots of chili paste. then they spoon a ladel of beef broth over it all, give you two metal chopsticks and you are good to go. Still, cant complain for 50 cents.

the bus ride into town costs 27 cents. as does a coke. a nice meal costs around 5 dollars.

the downtown here looks very modern and sweet, but you dont have to get too far away from that to discover that you are in fact, in a rapidly developing country (read mud, dirt, trash, potholes)

it will be beautiful here once autumn comes

the bed in my apartment is a huge double bed, which no joke, takes up about a third of the space in the room.

the cars here are sweet! way nicer than the ones in lithuania- youd think you were in sweden if you were just looking at the cars. however they are mixed with rikshas, motor scooters, all kinds of bikes, and even livestock, on the streets of yanji.

More to come, and photos too!