A Thought on Friendship

When I first arrived in Qingdao, it was difficult for me to spend time with my co-workers outside of work.  I felt that my job was the only thing we had in common.  I felt that our conversations revolved around the school. Work was hard enough without the added pressure of discussing it after 5 p.m.  –or feeling the need to be professional outside of working hours.   When I first arrived in Qingdao, my friends were my co-workers.  

Now, 6 months later, my co-workers are my friends.  I see them in the hallway, and we start giggling about an inside joke from last week.  Someone teases me about losing the game we played yesterday.  A friend sits in the teachers lounge and lets me vent for a few minutes before her next class.  

The Christmas & Chen Jie break has finally arrived.  Not only do I feel relaxed and well rested, but I also feel loved and appreciated.  I feel comfortable calling friends last minute to watch a movie or play a game, or simply sit in their apartment while they do other things.  I feel like conversations come naturally (and not always about work!!), and I feel that we can sit and be quiet, and not have to communicate.

Relationships are very needed in this lifestyle we live.  I'm thankful to have friends that have been willing to open up to be more than co-workers.

  

The Winter Ball 2011

 We entered the extravagant hotel, stepped into a little rich America where everyone spoke English, someone took our coats, and Chinese waiters were willing to give us anything we needed.  We felt lost among the businessmen and luxury, until we found some recognizable faces.  From that point on, it was prom for adults.  We complimented each other’s dresses and hair, took pictures by the ice-sculpture, and huddled in groups with whom that we felt comfortable.  A while later, a Chinese man began ringing a bell while holding a sign that said, “Dinner time.”  At that point, we were escorted into a massive and beautiful dining hall at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Every year, there is a Winter Ball that foreigners attend to raise money for local orphanages and charities.  This year's theme was 1930's Hollywood.  The marketing department in our school pays for a certain amount of staff members to attend this event each year.  We were one of the lucky ones!  A ticket costs 400 RMB per person, which is over $60 US dollars. That’s a lot of RMB for us, so we are glad the tickets were free!

My co-worker Bean, and his wife Jane.

Ben and I sat with my co-worker in the Student Services department and his wife, along with our head principal and his wife, and another couple from a different school in Qingdao.  The diner was served in 5 small-portioned courses.  Afterwards, we chatted with others from our school, met a few teachers and businessmen that also live in our city… and danced!  The hired band was fun and talented, but we wished they played a wider variety of music.

Ben and our co-worker Warren,
and our friend from fellowship, Joel.

The evening at the Shangri-La ended at 11:30, however we felt like being adventurous. Ben and I, along with our friends, ended up at New York Restaurant, where a Filipino band plays every night.  Three members of this band also play in one of the worship sets at our fellowship.  They played for a few hours, singing a couple of their songs, and many covers of requested songs by the audience. The crowd was mostly foreigners, and all of the music was American from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.  It was crazy, it was fun, it was loud, and it was late!  But we had a great time!

Steak!  First time in 6 months!

This was a sweet treat. Everything was edible,
the outer circular covering is sugar, then ice cream inside,
one top of ice with a light inside of it.   Creative, huh?

More dessert.  Fun and beautiful!

Most of the ISQ group that came to the Winter Ball.

This is the couple we hung out with that night making funny faces.
Kevin is in the IT Department at our school and Marcella is in the Marketing Department.
They have two kids in elementary school.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the WESTBY'S!

Writer's Club... Finally!

I had been unable to go to writer’s club for over a month, and I miss it!  Last week, we met and I started an interesting story… although I’m not completely happy with it.  Enjoy!  Any guesses at the dad's profession?

The world never saw a better dad.  He was the adventurous kind, the dad that knew better than to be old and boring.  My dad would wake up early in the morning, whistling the same tune, drinking the same coffee, and he’d put on the same dusty, tan hat.  That was the only thing normal about him, though. I remember his smell mostly; musty, sweaty, because of the heat.  But his smell was in a handsome and heroic sort of way, not the ‘I never take a shower’ way.  He was the kind of dad that created stories I’d long to be a part of.  Each morning, I would hear him whistling in the kitchen, and I’d sneak down the creaking stairs just to see him map out his day.  His tall body would be hunched over a map of the area, and he’d be sipping his coffee one moment, and sharpening his knife blade the next.  Sometimes, my dad would catch me hiding behind the wooden bookshelf.  Without looking away from his map, he’d smile and say, “Well, I’m glad my side-kick is awake.  I’d be lost without her.”  The times that I spent with my dad were priceless. Our life was play, and that’s how I want to remember my dad.

My mother would paint the picture of our life a bit differently.  You see, she was always the one that worried when we were off on our adventures.  She doesn’t know this, but sometimes I’d walk into the kitchen after a day out with dad, and I notice that she was crying.  She’d blame it on the heat, or the onions she was cutting, but I knew that wasn’t true.  Dad would never talk about our adventures with mom.  I sometimes did, but Mom would just smile and listen.  I always thought she was too strict.  She never wanted me to have fun.  That’s how I remember my mother. 

This was my life.  At the age of 11, my dad was my superman.  My whole life had been wrapped up in him.  You see, something you have to understand is that in our games, my dad was always the winner, the hero, the good guy.  I was his side-kick, or “super-secret agent,” he’d like to call me.  We were fighting bad guys and hiding from pirates. And if it was a good day of exploring, we’d even find treasure.  It didn’t always seem like treasure to me, but when I found something I really loved, my dad would always let me keep it.  My dad always gave me his best. 

I played the game with my dad my whole childhood.  But, the September before my 12^th birthday, everything changed.

Currently Reading: "Life, In Spite of Me"

I am currently reading Life, In Spite of Me, a true story of a teenage girl that tried to commit suicide, survived, and has now started a ministry to young girls who fall into depression and hopelessness.  Kristen Anderson was 17 years old when she decided to kill herself by laying on train tracks and awaiting the moment the train would come to “end it all.”  Not only did she survive, but she remembers the entire thing!  

She wrote about the incredibly horrible moments of that night:

“As the train closed in, the ground shook so much that my whole body vibrated.  Then the train was upon me, over me.  Pain overwhelmed me.  The train roared.  The momentum of the cars pulled at me, as if the train were trying to suck me into itself.  The wind tugged harder, wrenching at my jacket and yanking my hair upward.  My body rose, lifting slightly.  …My head and chest hit first, then my hips and legs.  Again, I felt the power of the train, the shaking of the ground, the roar of it moving over me.  The force of the weight pushing me down hurt more than anything else.  Fear coursed through me.  I squeezed my eyes tighter.  …The sounds stopped.  The wind stopped, The train stopped.  Am I dead yet?  I opened my eyes and looked all around… To my right, an opening between the wheels revealed something next to the tracks.  My jeans.  And the bright white tennis shows I got for Christmas.  Disbelief filled me.  I was looking at my legs—lying about ten feet away.”

Although Kristen has lived the rest of her life without legs, she has been able to accomplish many things and has found a new hope in Christ that she never had before.  You can take a look at this quick interview on Oprah.  She seems a bit nervous, but I love that she’s willing to share her hope in Christ on camera! 

So.....

So.... Our internet has been terrible lately, and I've been very sick, hence why there hasn't been any blog updates as promised.  There's not much to say about the internet.  It's just a lot of waiting and trying to have patience.  The sickness on the other hand, has a little bit of a story, if you can bear it.

Monday started like any normal Monday, however I ate some sketchy food for lunch and dinner.  By 6 p.m., I was feeling ify at best.  That night, I didn't sleep much, which allowed me to make the decision to stay home and rest on Tuesday.  I slept until 2:00 p.m.!  Guess I needed it.  Wednesday was the same story, the same tiredness, the same stomach symptoms. Thursday, I felt as though I could go to work... so I went, although I probably shouldn't have.  I got so much done and was able to meet with 2 students who really needed to talk to someone.  However, by 1:00, I was about ready to keel over.  By 2:30, I locked myself in my office and laid down.  Needless to say, I stayed home today (Friday).  I got the extra rest I needed, cleaned up the house a bit, and feel just great now that it's Friday night.  Hopefully, I've seen the last of this stomach bug!!  At least it came now, rather than on vacation.  I guess all those e-mails and projects will have to wait until Monday. I'm OK with that.

So, on with the blogging....  I promise to give pictures of our holiday fun soon....!