Spring is coming

Thank you for upholding us with prayers, encouraging emails and letters, and your support. In this post we want to include an update on Shane’s dad’s health and situation, as well as some notes about the past few months of teaching and life in NW China.

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Parties and Celebrations

Birthdays and holidays are perfect times to have guests over and get people together, and to share about hope, love, grace, and life. In November, Van turned 7 years old and wanted to have a big party at home. The whole family got involved to give Van a Lego-themed party and invited adults, students, kids from the community, and teachers. The kids and adults had a blast. We played games and ate local food prepared by good friends of ours who enthusiastically took over our kitchen and prepared a Muslim-friendly meal. We enjoyed seeing the joy on the kid’s faces as we laughed and played and celebrated life.

As an English teacher, Shane teaches language and oral English, and also about culture and values. Most students have never met a foreigner or interacted with someone from a different country or with a different worldview, so they are very curious to hear of a different way of thinking or doing things. Teaching opens doors to deep conversations with students and acts as a window into the lives of people living here. During Christmas, Shane wanted to really highlight Christmas and the impact of giving. With the help of Liberty and Van, he went out and bought 124 small gifts and, with Michelle, wrapped each one to give to each of his students. His students were truly touched. On the days of the Christmas parties in the classroom, Liberty, Van and Michelle dropped in on the classes to bring cookies and treats for celebrations. We all had a great time of eating together and playing games. Each classes surprised Shane on another class day with special music, singing, traditional dancing and a birthday cake in honor of Shane’s birthday (that means FOUR different cakes in one week!). Christmas with the students will definitely be a highlight of our past 10 months of living and teaching here.

Following Christmas, China celebrated its biggest holiday of the year: Lunar New Year. The New Year holiday is not just the Eve and the Day, but a 2 month holiday time when people travel back to their families for a big reunion.  For teachers, this meant Shane had 2 months holiday from classes. This in part is why Shane was able to return to Canada for 10 days

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Busy Busy Busy

(There is nothing special about this video! I was look for something that conveyed busyness!)

Summer has finished. September has begun. And that means homeschooling is in full swing. Michelle has worked hard prepping for the 2016-2017 school year, using a mix of Canadian and American curriculum. She is teaching Liberty, who is in Grade 4, and Van, who is in Grade 2. She is grateful for the amount of digital resources; but at the same time books are needed. It is challenging to conduct classes in Liberty’s bedroom, but there is room for two desks, leaving just enough space left for Liberty to have a play area.

This is one element of overseas life which is often overlooked but one which requires just as much prayer as the other aspects of our life and work here. Please pray!

The kids are doing well. I think the day we started home-school they were a little shocked! What? school? I have to go to bed early? I can’t play all morning? But after a week they were into the swing of things.

The students I have this year are the same as the ones I taught last year. I admit that I was sort of hoping to be assigned to the First Year students. One honest reason is that I could use a bulk of my lesson plans from the previous year with them and not have to come up with new stuff! But, I am glad now that I have the same set of four classes. They were glad too. You can’t beat a better start to your year than having an entire class stand up and cheer when you walk into the room!

The various literature projects are still on-going. There’s been a resurgence of sorts from others in sending feedback, whether it be spelling or grammar errors, or formatting, etc. For this I am really glad. I am still praying that a team of sorts can form to help with the last big push of combining

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into one published volume.

It is already cool here, weather-wise. We enjoyed the summer, and the heat, but not the mosquitos. We will be pulling out the suitcase with the Autumn and Winter clothes soon. I am looking forward to this winter actually. Since the kids are older we will be able to have more building adventures.

Liberty and Van recently became owners of their own individual guinea pig. The cage we have for them is too small, but we aren’t sure what to do about anything bigger. We don’t have room! One sad bit is that the first guinea pig of LIberty’s died. We don’t know how, or why, but after 5 days it went downhill quickly. Liberty found it in the morning, thought it was sleeping. And started crying when she realized the poor thing had died.

We look forward to hearing from you!

view of a nearby neighbourhood

Moving and traveling

We recently had a lovely and encouraging visit from some Canadian friends who live in a nearby city. They are new; among the various stories and tales we told there was a bit about being happy and content in good living conditions, or not so good living conditions. The day after they left we received a message from the school: We are moving you to another apartment, and you need to do it in a week. What?! We went and looked at the other apartment and compared to the one we first moved into, it was a mess. Dirty, full of broken furniture, and missing important items that the contract stipulated would be provided. Saying, “NO” rarely works in China, so it is better to decide on how far you might bend, then start bargaining from there. “Bargaining when there is a contract??” It is true, that is how things are done here.

welcome
Long story short, we agreed to move but only after the school had improved the next place and included the missing appliances. We heard the expected, “But move now and we will get those things for you in the next few days.” IF they actually went through with it, it would involve an unknown number of weeks of us waiting, patiently, then reminding them, hearing “Oh, tomorrow!”, then more waiting, until we either give up, or they live up to the contract.
imagery

So it has been a stressful week, compounded by the fact that we also had bought train tickets and hotels for 10 days in Urumqi. We leave tomorrow.
The word from the school has been that they still want us to move “within a week”, the end of which would be tomorrow. That is the day we leave on the train. We have packed up alot anyway. But the apartment also is not ready. So we don’t expect that it will actually be ready since we saw them start the work yesterday afternoon. BUT, we would not be surprised if they break into our apartment and move everything while we are gone.

So a few prayer requests:
A) That our stress decreases as we lean on our loving Father who has all of this in control;
B) That the school won’t be sneaky and move us;
C) and that if they do, that nothing will be broken or stolen;
D) That Michelle and I can set a good example for Liberty and Van when it comes to attitudes, and trust, and being content.

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Mid-Summer

family biking

Here it is mid-summer and we can’t believe how fast the time has gone.

Here it is mid-summer and it seems like we only just arrived. We realized that we have spent so much of our life overseas in Urumqi that we had developed something of a routine, in a good sense. We knew where to buy things, we knew where to meet people, we knew the buses, the traffic rhythm, the nooks and crannies. But here in Ili, after 4 months, we feel like we still don’t know it well. And it isn’t even all that big compared to Urumqi. I’ve in fact bicycled around the city, basically, only 25 km or so.

bike ride

 

eating eating

But we have noticed, bit by bit, people recognize us, we sort of have a few usual places to eat out, we have found an art store to which we make regular treks to buy brushes and paints, we ride our bikes along the crazy roads. It is slowly becoming familiar.

 

I am unfortunately still overweight which means finding clothes that fit is a challenge. Just nearby we walked by an aptly named store, I swallowed my pride, and we went in. Imagine our surprise when the clothes in this store turned out to be TOO LARGE for me!

fat man's wear

Here it is mid-summer and already Michelle is planning for planning for the next school year! The kids are sure gonna be good learners!

sun rays

settling in

Today marks the end of our 6th week here in Ili; the start of our 7th week! We have been busy settling in. We are grateful that just outside our apartment is a large public square within which all the neighbourhood kids gather and play. They have been very welcoming of Liberty and Van; Van just jumped right on in and started getting dirty with the other boys. Liberty enjoys talking with the small groups of other girls who, having gotten brave in a group, come over to Liberty to try their English. But Liberty also likes watching the boys do their crazy stunts, and when there is something they ca not do, such as climb a particular tree, she sort of wanders over there, then climbs the tree! “I am just trying to help them see how to do it,” she says when we ask her why she did that. 🙂

horse

How many times?

Here is a question for you: How many times in the last year have you needed to confirm with the local police your living arrangements? How many times in the last 5 years, you know what, let’s make that TEN years, have you had to visit the police for any reason pertaining to your person (I am not including crimes or emergencies)? Well, in the first 6 weeks we have been here we have had 2 visits by police to our apartment, 2 visits to the main police station, 2 visits to the campus police office, and one interview at the university Foreign Affairs Office with the Chief of Police, 2 assistant police officers, and the University Dept Chair, and the Faculty Head, and 2 other people (I have no idea who they were). You may recall us saying this part of the world can be tricky to get into, and to stay in… these police visit and interactions are all part of it.

Through it all we have had deep peace. Praise God. Near the end of the interview with the Chief of Police she began to relax and become more friendly. She thanked me (and by extension, our family) for choosing to come to her city to help teach the young people. She said to me, “Do you know what the greatest lesson you can teach them is? It is to help them appreciate all that is around them, and to help them learn to live as full a life as possible.” All I could respond with was, “Yes, I totally agree!”

Our HomeLiberty, Chopstick Master

Food as usual is delicious! So glad to have some spicy noodles again. And even better, because there are actual Russians in this city who have a bakery, we can actually buy loaves of bread! Remember, we usually only have flat nan-style bread. Do not get me wrong, nan is delicious too and comes in handy for making pizza. We Westerners love our bread but our style typically is not available in China. But, it is here! White bread, brown bread, and even rye!

We are thankful the apartment we have been assigned is more or less fully furnished. We do need to get beds for the kids, and we needed some curtains and rugs, but by and large it is fine. The building we are in is called The President’s Building… because this is where the President of the university stays when he is here! He stays on the 3rd floor, and we are on the 4th floor. When we look out the windows we see many trees, so that is a nice change from our Urumqi apartments which usually looked out on another building.

Schooling

I started teaching classes 2 days after we arrived. Currently I am teaching 8 hours a week, spread over 3 days (Tues, Thursday, Friday), with about 4 hours of prep each non-class day. All my classes are first year students, which means for most of them I am the first foreigner they have seen and interacted with! The other day I needed something from home, so Michelle and the kids interrupted their homeschool to bring the things to me. Well, it was like Justin Bieber came to the class when Van and Liberty walked in! All the students were oohing and aahing, pulling out their cell phones to take pictures, even rushing to the front with their arms outstretched to touch or grab Van, or Liberty!! Then Michelle came in! Oh my, some of the students almost fainted with delight at the sight of her blond hair and bright smile!

Homeschool is also back in swing. Michelle has been amazing keeping things on track and in order despite all the travel and upheavals of the past year. It has been interesting trying to explain to people here what we are doing. The previous foreign family actually sent their kids to a local school, so we assume everyone thinks all foreigners would do the same. It maybe worked for that other family, but we have chosen to not do that, and Liberty and Van are thriving.

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Onward

It is hard to believe, but it is true. We have visas for China. We have plane tickets for China. We have packed our suitcases for China. And we still have love in our hearts for China. On Tuesday April 12 we will board a plane and fly from Chiang Mai to Guangzhou, China, stay there for 4 hours, then continue on to Urumqi. We arrive basically at midnight. Our dear friends are arranging a van to meet us and bring us to a hotel where we will stay until Saturday. Assuming we can get train tickets we will then take a train to Ili, an overnight train leaving Saturday evening and arriving in Ili Sunday morning. Our plan is to have a few days in Urumqi to say hi to everyone, and to arrive in Ili on a Sunday so that we can at least pack a little before I need to teach on Monday.

That is a question we have… the school sent me a class schedule, but has otherwise been non-communicative about what exactly I will be doing. I suppose I will find out as we go. Please pray for us as that mode of learning can get very stressful, especially on Michelle who will be trying to make a home, set a home-school schedule, and figure out the neighbourhood for shopping, transport, etc.

As we say good-bye to Chiang Mai we asked Liberty and Van what they will miss. They said without hesitation, “motorbikes and songtaews!”.

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flowers and kids

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city, and we were blessed in many ways to have been able to stay at length, again. What was especially nice was the lack of smoky air. Usually at this time of year farmers all over the region burn fields. This results in such a heavy degree of smokiness that you can’t even see the building across the street. People need to stay indoors, or wear air filters if they go outside, etc. But… no smoke! The air has been wonderful, and we are glad for that. On the flip side, this is due in part to a drought that the north regions are experiencing. Please pray God’s mercy fall upon these people.

Homeschool has gone well. Michelle is glad to have been on-schedule, even in the midst of traveling, settling into new homes, and all that is part of overseas life. We participated in an expat homeschool co-op on Mondays. Liberty and Van quickly grew to look forward to Monday mornings when they would get to school and greet their news friends. Thankfully in this last week a few of these friends have been able to come over to our apartment to swim and say their bye-bye’s.

It is not easy for the kids, at least not as easy as they make it look. Liberty abroadThe other day I was explaining to them what our family life in our home would look like with me teaching classes. Even though they did not say much at that moment, Liberty has been asking if we can do this, or that, together as family, because, she says, “you will be so busy daddy once you start teaching, we won’t have as much family time.” I hope this is not the case. But it is a good reminder for me to be alert to how my kids are doing, even if on the outside everything looks ok.

As we move on, be prepared for some internet silence from us. Many VPNs seem to be blocked; social media sites are blocked; we will need to see if we even have internet at our new town! But in the meantime please feel free to keep emailing us, or posting on the blog here, knowing we will see your words of encouragement.

check out the three guys on the truck

the ball is rolling

As you know, we heard from the school who invited us to still come teach. We enjoyed a flurry of email from them, including one which had an Excel file with my teaching schedule. Since  then the email levels have dropped back to 0. That is fine. What is important is that they actually sent the LOI to the visa company in Vancouver. The agent in turn confirmed that the LOI they received was actually correct! So on that side things are looking good. We refrained from sending our precious passports, photos, application forms, and other documents (like birth and marriage certificates) until we could receive confirmation about the above two “actually’s”. So we sent out our share of documents this week and they are due in Vancouver, to the same company, by Thursday. We paid extra for Express processing, so we figure we will get our passports with the China visas around April 4.

Until we get word that the applications were successfully submitted, we are holding off buying tickets, or cancelling our 6-month apartment rental contract. Once we know the visas have been issued and are on their way back to Chiang Mai, we will then prepare to leave.

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Thank you for praying!

van and the ping river

van and the ping river

Liberty turned 9

Happy birthday to Liberty, who turned 9 on March 16. We are so very proud of her and how she has grown. Her brother was such a support too all day, not once getting jealous of her gifts and such. We started the day with a great big breakfast that Michelle prepared. During breakfast Liberty opened one gift: Books! Homeschool was not cancelled so off the kids went with Michelle to study.

They were finished by 11:45, so we went off to have a special lunch at a hotpot+sushi buffet, a meal Liberty specifically asked to do. She really like the carousel-style food delivery, and had great fun grabbing that plate or this plate.

After lunch we then went to a screening of Kungfu Panda 3, in English. It was quite funny, but we will need to talk about what this ‘qi’ idea.

We were still full from lunch after the movie so we went home for a quick swim. Before we did Liberty opened her next gift: A battery operated swimming sea turtle, perfect for the pool. We swam until 5, then headed out to Liberty’s favourite spot, the Boat. While we were eating Liberty opened her next gift: a Shopkins girl! Yeah, we might be on the other side of the planet but some things are global,

By the time we were finished dinner it was almost bedtime so we all piled onto the motorbike and went for a little cruise. Once we got home it was time for the final gift: a robot dog! But, gasp, it didn’t work. Liberty didn’t let it get her spirits down; she was thankful for all the gifts and all that God has given her.

Hard to believe we will have a double-digit age kid next year.

 

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LOI and an open door

The Letter of Invitation Came!

We have amazing and surprising news. Remember way back in October/November 2015 when we were trying to get our paperwork to get a visa to go to Ili on a Teacher visa? The paperwork in its entirety did not come, and we stopped hearing from the school official. So, in December 2015, after some time of waiting, we decided to move on and opted to go to Chiang Mai as a first step back to China. We honestly did not expect to hear from that school ever again. We even shared some suggestions as to what was behind their strange behaviour: some underling lost the paperwork; the other foreigners were kicked out in January so maybe higher-ups did not want more foreigners there; the current single English teacher had volunteered to cover my classes, prompting the school to think, “Hey, we have one guy doing two classes worth… why pay for the second teacher? Anyway, the possibilities could be endless.

Out of the blue on Friday, Feb 26, I checked email

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to discover she had emailed me the last, missing, elusive Letter of Invitation. WHAT?!?! We wrote a quick response acknowledging her email and asked her when she hoped to see us. “As soon as possible” was her reply. According to her another office had delayed this Letter for 2 months, and she only just recently acquired it. The document clearly has a date of issue of December 2015, and a school stamp of early January (so why were we being told in late February?) We emailed it to a Canadian visa company who has helped us before with China visas to see if they could confirm that this was indeed the correct Letter. They responded ‘yes, it is’.

So, it seems the door has been opened for us. We need specific prayers.

Timing is everything. These Letter of Invitations indicate in which country the application will apply. Ours reads, ‘Canada’. Except we are not in Canada. Just the other morning I tried to apply for the visas in Chiang Mai, and this Consulate was ready to accept the applications without seeing the originals (printouts suffice), but then they noticed our LOI says, ‘Canada’, so they told us they can not process it here. We then told the school that, just as with the Work Permit, they would need to mail us the original Letter of Invitation to Canada.

The challenge then is getting the school to send the original LOI to the visa company that will help us (because we are not going to fly all the way back!!) in a speedy manner. The last time they sent the original Work Permit it took 3 weeks. The school has said that classes are basically starting now, so we can’t afford 3 weeks. Neither can they really. And this morning we did in fact get an email from the school official telling us they mailed the LOI (but did not provide a tracking number nor confirmation that they sent to the visa company in Vancouver and not to our home address). And though it is out of our hands as to how quickly the school opts to send this last original, the speed at which we can get our visa may affect the school’s willingness to keep this door open. I know, I know, this is beyond our control, and really a situation created in part by the school, and in part by the slow office somewhere in Urumqi. But the way these things go in China, the ball is now in our hands and we have to somehow make it work, and work quickly, even though the previous delays were not our doing.

Please pray this LOI gets to Canada, preferably to the visa company who is waiting for it, soon.

Pray also that our own passports and other documentation will make it to the same visa company safely. We will only send our paperwork when we have a tracking number from the school to confirm that they have indeed sent the LOI, and in fact we are only going to mail our paperwork once the LOI tracking indicates it has left Asia.

Pray that we find some grace with our apartment rental. We signed a 6-month contract, and it stipulated that we lose 2 months rent if we break the contract early. Well, at the time we thought this was entirely unlikely! 

Please pray also as we begin to prepare the kids for the move. They still most definitely want to go back to China, but they have just settled into Chiang Mai, enjoy their routine here, and importantly for Liberty, have made some friends. They don’t relish another good-bye.

on our way... maybe?