Saturday August 1, 2009

Today was a blast!We went to the Temple of Heaven and did a little bit of shopping afterwards.The Temple of Heaven was the place where the emperors would go to pray for the harvest.It was surrounded with beautiful flowers, gardens, and trees—it was very pretty.Since it was August 1st, it was national army day here in Beijing.It was like central park—people everywhere playing cards, playing instruments, dancing, and singing.We were told that the older crowd goes there every weekend and some were doing their morning exercises, and many men and women were singing Chinese government salutation songs to celebrate national army day.It was a sight to see.The Temple of Heaven was very spacious and lush.It was very peaceful and serene.There were just rows and rows of beautiful trees.The buildings reminded me a lot of the Forbidden City.Most of the buildings looked identical to one another.It is funny as we walked around the temple grounds people came up and asked to take pictures with us.I am considered "blonde" here since I have light hair and light eyes so they have an interest in that, which I find pretty.I'm definitely not used to strangers asking to take pictures with me, but I'm not complaining haha. I take it as a compliment. JThere was an area at the Temple of Heaven called the echo wall and you are supposed to whisper or speak into the west side of the wall towards the north; and then the east side is supposed to be able to hear you.We didn't know what we were doing though.We got to dance with some of the ladies there in the quad, which was my favorite part of the day!I had a blast learning another culture's dance technique.The Chinese women are very flexible.They also had ribbon dancers that we got to try.I actually had a smaller ribbon dancer when I was younger so it was fun to get to do it again.We ate at KFC for lunch and I bought a Rolex (fake of course) outside of KFC for $2.00 American dollars.I didn't have a watch, was always asking people for the time, and it is actually very nice.One of the T.A.s was shocked when they found out how much I paid for it—so I was happy with my purchase.I have been trying to think of things to buy for my T.A.I think she is catching on quickly since I keep asking her what her favorite things are.After shopping at the market we went to a very modern touristy area for shopping.In this area you can eat chicken heart, snake, and scorpion on a stick.I have a strong desire to eat scorpion—I honestly don't know why.When our guide, Grace, was talking about it the first week we were here it just sounded good to me oddly enough.We didn't get to try it because it started pouring rain, but since we were stuck inside for a little bit we went to a bookstore where I was able to buy a couple movies for about $2-3 American dollars.My roommates will be excited for me—I found ALADDIN!!They have Disney movies that are "in the vault" in the U.S. so I was very excited when I found it!The movies sold at the bookstore are not pirated so they give receipts we can use at the airport so that we can take them back to the U.S.Without the receipt we could be fined.I think we are going back there next weekend so I will be able to try the scorpion!I will take a picture to prove that I ate scorpion and show you how they serve it.We got back to the hotel around 8 and we went straight over to the school to rehearse for a wedding next Saturday.The couple that is getting married are Chung Chung and Faith.Faith works at SMIC as the vice principal and they are both believers.They actually are the ones who first invited us to the fellowship bible study on Fridays.Chung Chung is the translator there for us and he also translated to the Chinese people when I gave my testimony.They both are so sweet!They asked us to be in their wedding and sing two songs.The songs are called the Tribute and Eternity—both beautiful songs.Tribute we are singing just the chorus and we are learning it in Chinese!Faith got the girls these really pretty pink blouses and the guys blue dress shirts to wear at the wedding.I'm excited to be a part of their wedding.They are actually having a double wedding with another couple who met at the fellowship last week.They too are a very sweet couple.Both are getting married on the third floor of the school in the auditorium, which is also where our rehearsals are held.We will rehearse again on Monday night, Thursday night, and Saturday morning.It will be neat to witness a Christian Chinese Wedding Ceremony.I better get to bed.It has been a long, but wonderful day!We have church tomorrow and then I think we are free to get a head start on lesson plans or just to relax.Hope you had a great week and are enjoying your start to the weekend! God is blessing our time here more than I could ever express!The relationships we have built with the people here alone have been such a blessing!He continues to reveal His majesty to us and His beauty is all around.What a comfort it is to know He is always with us!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Psalm 139:13-14