Clarks returning

Well, this is our last night in America for a long time. We are overnighting in Chicago tonight, and leave for shanghai tomorrow morning. We have really enjoyed the summer home with Phoebe and all her grandparents and our friends, but now it is time to go back and get settled back in and get to work. It is a little sad to leave, but also exciting,and comforting and familiar all at the same time. No wonder I feel so strange about going back, there are so many mixed feelings. My parents are so dear to me and it was hard to leave home, but china is very dear, too, in it's own way, and as we have said before, it is also home. We feel prepared to go back. We have bathed it in prayer, every step of the way. We have read some interesting stuff this summer, too, and had some time to think it over and discuss it slowly. Thanks for this time. It was very refreshing. It will be good, though to be at our post again, and it feels good to be back on the blog. We would appreciate your prayers for our travel, phoebe's health, settling in, and of course, the work. Pray that we will find those He is calling. We care deeply about this work, and really want to please Him. We are humbled by this task, and we need your prayers lifting us up. Thank you, clear creek, for sending us, and fellow team members, we will see you soon! We have missed you.

Snacks

One of the things I love about living in China is all the different foods we get to try. I miss many snacks and foods from the US but there are some wonderful snacks here.

We ate all of our Chinese snacks before we left for the US so we needed to replenish our pantry. I saw these cracker/ cookies things and thought I would give them a try. There were a couple of different varieties. I chose these because I thought they were grape flavor from the picture.




I tried one. They are a little sweet, but those are not grapes on the package; They are green peas! Yuck! The kids won't even eat these. I admit they are pretty gross. I won't buy this again! Oh well, it is a learning experience.

Public Bathing

Man, it is HOT! It is strange though, no one really knows how hot it is. You see, in China when it gets above a certain temperature (I think it is 40 degrees C, or 104 F) then people don't have to work because of the heat. But it NEVER gets above 40 degrees. It is amazing how hot that 40 degrees can feel! We are VERY glad that we have air conditioners. However, to go anywhere you have to get out in the heat. It is not the same as in America. In the US, you have to walk in the heat to your overheated car and then blast the AC until you feel better, then when you get out, you have to walk a minute or two and enter an air conditioned building. Here, we have to walk to the bus stop or at least the gate of the apartment complex to get a taxi. Then the air on the bus or taxi may or may not work. Then we get out in the heat again and walk some more to the store or where ever you are going. The AC here is not as cold as in the US. Also it does not really cool down that much at night here. I think it is because we live in a big city. All the buildings and stuff just hang on to the heat.



Our apartment complex has two swimming pools. We heard that they did not open until 4 in the afternoon, but when Jon and I were out the other morning we saw that the gate was open and there were people swimming. So we decided that we would go swimming after lunch. The kids were really excited.



I smeared them all with sunscreen, we grabbed towels and floaties and were off. When we got the pool, the gate was closed and locked, but there were people swimming. So a little locked gated didn't slow us down much. (it was only two feet high)



The people swimming were really just three little boys, and when we got closer, we realized that the boys were naked as jaybirds!



Their clothes and house keys were strewn on the steps of the kiddie pool. They were also using the lifesaving rings as their personal floaties. They were having a great time.



After we were there for a little while a couple of guys showed up and then 3 teenage girls. Then this one boy about 9 or so yelled something at Jon and he answered. Jon thought he asked us if we paid and then when Jon told him, "no". The kid jumped the gate and started to strip out of his clothes. Jenn wondered if he really asked if Jon was wearing clothes or not.....



That kid jumped in naked and started having a conversation with us. He wasn't shy at all, on any level. We only stayed about an hour. The water was really very warm. Then we came home, took showers, and had a long nap! We will go swimming again soon, but probably in the morning when the pool is really open. Maybe everyone will have their clothes on then.

P.S. Just for the record, all of the Hardins were wearing bathing suits.

Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival is held in June. It is a strange holiday. It can be fun because there are usually boat races and they are fun to watch. Like most holidays, there is a special food. Zongzi is a sticky rice that is wrapped in bamboo leaves. The rice is often mixed with different things like meat or sometimes fruit or nuts. Zongzi has a triangular shape. Jon really likes this food, but it is not my favorite. You can find zongsi all year round, but it is even more popular near Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duan Wu remembers a great poet and scholar called Qu Yuan. When he was 37, he drowned himself in a river. The local people searched and searched for him in their boats (that's where the boats come in). Then (according to some legends) the people were afraid that the fish would eat Qu Yuan's body so they threw zongsi in the river to feed the fish so they would not eat his body. I told you it was a strange holiday.

There is a river that runs right in front of our apartment complex, so we went out to watch some of the boats.



See the dragon on the front of the boat?










After the "race" this guy was hot so he decided to take a dip to cool off. I don't think I would have jumped in that water!




They let this little guy have a try. Look at that grin!!

Jane and Eryn

This is Jane. She used to live very near us. We only met her a couple of weeks before we traveled to the US. While we were in the US, she continued to search and has really plugged into the downtown group. We are very happy with that. She worshiped with us the first Sunday we were back in China. We think she is super sweet.



While she was visiting our home in June, Eryn got out her Bible Story Book and started telling her the stories that go with the pictures. She was sharing the Bible with her! It was so cute, so I snapped a few pictures.


Please continue to pray for Jane as she continues to Search for the Truth.