tis the season...

here in Macau the Christmas decorations are going up, with inflatable pandas sitting in front of fake trees all decorated with lights for the season... ahh the festivity of it all. however i am leaving the warmer (and somewhat rainy) Macau weather behind me and at 6am tomorrow morning I will begin my travels back home for Christmas! :D

to all of you whom i won't be able to see- have a very wonderfully merry Christmas!
and to the rest of you- i will see you soon!!

much love and hugs to all of you!

-Bethany

pictures!

enjoy these snapshots of different moments here...

top to bottom: sunset over Macau, street alter, lighthouse and church, Yangshou sunrise, Li River

i'll be heading home for Christmas in a bit under two weeks... looking forward to seeing some of you then!

hope you are all well! sending along my love and smiles... :)

over the hills and through the city...

to Yangshuo we go!

two and a half weeks ago, Allison and I braved several buses and a sleeper train to reach Yangshuo on the famous Li River in mainland China. It's known for it's dramatic and unique looking peaks (with names such as "seven fairy maidens coming to the human world" and "nine-horse hill"), and the scenery was remarkable. A few of the peaks are on the back of the 20 Chinese Yuan note, which would explain why people were waving the bills around and taking pictures. We took a raft to meander down the river surrounded by peaks that faded into the distance, and that alone was worth the confusion of the Chinese transportation to get there. But our trip wasn't over yet! We also got to bike through the countryside and some farmland (and even more farmland when we got lost...) which was somewhat old and yet also very charming and beautiful. Add in some famous beer fish, brief frustration with my camera not working, dried sharon fruit, watching the sunrise while listening to worship music, new friends on the train, and a crowded night market- that was my trip to Yangshuo!

A song that was in my head pretty much the entire time I was there was "How Great Thou Art" - seeing some of the awesome works of our God was humbling, and a reminder that He is worthy of all our worship!

Since then I've been back in Macau... doing the usual work stuff, still finding new discoveries and adventures (from killing bugs in the kitchen to visiting the food festival and eating snails and milk tea ice cream), hanging out with Allison and Hannah, and getting to go to church and Bible study. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have been scheming of how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in our primitive kitchen, it should be entertaining to try anyway.

Well and I am thankful for all of you! Thanks for your love and support- I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-Bethany

How Great Though Art-

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder

Consider all The works Thy Hand hath made,

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy pow'r throughout The universe displayed;
Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

hello again!

Well it looks like it’s a new month- Happy November everyone! Only I beat you all to it, since here in the East I am in the future-no flying cars here yet though… or if there are I’m not giving away the secret ;)
I’m doing quite well here these days, thanks for asking. The weather is getting a little cooler which I’m grateful for- though I know it’s not as cool as back home!
Today I was a scorekeeper for Macau’s English speech contest, and I got to hear a day’s worth of talks about Macau’s role as a cultural meeting point for the East and the West. It all sounded very important for this tiny little place that I’m currently calling home! It’s interesting to see the mix of cultures here: you can see old and simple neighborhoods with people burning incense at street side shrines or simply sitting on the sidewalks, and this is just a few blocks over from huge lit up and glitzy casinos and recently built McDonalds. I’ve been enjoying my time seeing more of this mostly laid back and somewhat quirky place. I can find items such as dried jellyfish or pure MSG at the grocery store- though I tend to gravitate towards the colorful fruits and vegetables I can find at the street market a short bus ride away...
Work with MPI keeps me busy mostly with debate and literature classes but then with various other projects as well. Wednesday lunches are always fun as we meet with student who want to practice their English in the cafeteria- this past week they tried teaching me Cantonese instead which was not very successful but very entertaining. Cantonese is a challenge, though the ever popular “mm goi” which means “thank you” “excuse me” or “please” has proved to be very helpful in pretty much any situation. At least then I can pretend to know what is going on ;)
Recent adventures have been attending a Portuguese festival with music and dancing, cramming onto crowded buses to visit Taipa and attend Bible study, and practicing my pantomiming skills in order to borrow a kayak to go out on the Nam Van Lake. Life is always interesting here for sure!
Verses of the day would be Psalm 62:1-2 “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” and Psalm 63:3 “Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.” Amen.

Love you all! and know that I am sending you hugs and smiles and prayers from Macau :)
-Beth

pictures: Macau lighthouse, field trip with Xinjian students at the communication museum, A Ma statue, daytime city view, night skyline

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Singapore!

What does a Fulbrighter do when they have a long weekend and cheap flights around Asia? Looks like it’s time to pack a backpack and hop on a plane bound for Singapore! Known for its shopping malls, cleanliness, and good food, Singapore has been recommended by many as a sight to see and we weren’t about to pass up the opportunity to do some Asia hopping and add another stamp to our passports.

First lesson of the trip: Never (never!) fly with Tiger Airlines. After many lessons in patience and a bit of restless sleep at the Macau airport we finally took off for Singapore almost 12 hours behind schedule. Arriving in Singapore was refreshing and welcoming- not only did we get to stretch our legs, but there were purple flowers around the airport, candy handed out at customs, and even signs in English! We were quick to become fans of this country.

We stayed right off of Arab Street, and walked to Little India and Chinatown - Singapore truly is a diverse place! Along with being multicultural, it is often joked about as being a “fine” city- clean and orderly because of all of the rules and enforced fines.

Hawkers centers proved to be another main attraction of Singapore, with fifty or more vendors gathering at each center to serve fresh, cheap, and delicious dishes of every strange name unpronounceable. A BBQ stingray dish found down at the waterfront was probably my favorite, though I was enjoying being near the ocean so I may have been biased as well…

Other things that made me smile: On Saturday I joined the Singapore’s UPA Frisbee team for a bit of beach pick-up at Sentosa, and yes it was good to run and play and dive and score and get covered in sand :) And Sunday I got the chance to visit a church called New Creation, where we talked about the overwhelming grace of God and took communion. It was such an amazing feeling to be surrounded by people worshipping God while in another country, and just knowing that our God is worthy of all of our praises and all that we are and have! Our God is an awesome God.

Our flight back to Macau was far less eventful than our departure for which we were very grateful, and now things are more or less back to normal! Working and putzing around here in Macau :)

I’m sending much love, prayers and many hugs back to you all! <3 -Beth


pictures: Chinatown's Buddha Sacred Tooth Relic Temple, the Merlion (Singapore's mascot), street we stayed on and the Sultan Mosque, no durians allowed on the subway!, fun color at Clarke Quay

ready for the one month update?

It’s been a month since I arrived here in Macau and most of it has seemed to fly right by! A few days ago I found myself giving someone directions on which buses would take them where and I realized that yes, in many ways I am at home here. I do miss things like sandwiches (they don't really believe in bread here) and I miss the stars (too much light pollution- and other pollution too for that matter), but I am getting by with watching the bright city lights, eating dumplings and using chopsticks.
Life is starting to fall into more of a pattern here, admittedly a somewhat patchworked pattern that changes at times... I am taking Cantonese classes twice a week (and still trying to figure out the six major tones, suddenly Mandarin with only four tones is looking downright easy) and I am working with the school debate team and a literature translation class. The rest of my time is spent helping with the Xinjian students and various projects and classes as needed, and that all keep me busy as well.
Life is not all work and no play though! Recent adventures have include visiting Zhuhai in mainland China (a fifteen minute bus ride away) and braving the pushy salespeople there, venturing over the waters by ferry to visit Hong Kong for a fancy American Consulate dinner consisting of 13 courses, booking airline tickets and planning a trip to Singapore for this next weekend (and learning that chewing gum is illegal there so to leave it at home), watching Macau’s international firework competition, visiting museums, hunting for traditional tea shops, and trying countless and nameless foods of every shape, size and color. So far as daily life goes, I am enjoying hanging out with my apartment mates Allison and Hannah, I have found a few places to go running, I have acquired a guitar with which I can play worship songs and try to not forget everything I know, and I have been enjoying spending time with God and learning how He is faithful and our shelter wherever we may be. He is good and His love endures forever! May He be glorified. Amen.
So yes, to those of you who have asked, things are going well at this end of the world! I have more stories and I’m sure you do too, so send me a note if you want to know more and I would love to hear what you are up to as well! I miss all of your lovely faces, but as time has already been flying by I know I will see you all soon :) I hope you are all doing well!

Love always,
or as they often say here: Thank you for your kind attention,
-Bethany


pictures: a street shrine, traditional tea shop, two views from Caloane village, the Macau tower

Hello :)

I'm settling into life here in Macau, am getting lost less often, and could name a few good places to eat with *amazing* food (though most of the menus are only in Cantonese so be prepared to smile, point, and enjoy whatever they end up bringing you). I start Cantonese lessons next week so that may bring more enlightenment to the process in the future. I've been busy with orientation meetings and moving into my new apartment which has been going well. Classes are just starting for the students here and I'm officially starting next week! Mainly it looks like I will be assisting with some public speaking activities, a writing clinic, a debate team (which looks really interesting), a Shakespeare festival (again-yay!), and working with some students who are from Xinjian in mainland China (which is basically as far away from Macau as possible while still remaining in China). This should keep me busy for sure but I'll have time to do my own things too, such as visiting the Oasis church nearby, playing my new guitar, planning random trips to nearby countries, and of course walking the streets of Macau till I get lost ;)

I love and miss you all! And I hope you are all doing fantastically :)

Love and prayers from across the world,
-Bethany

ps- and I have an address and would love to hear from you!


Bethany Wakeman
ELTRC Office
Macao Polytechnic Institute
Rua da Luis Gonzaga Gomes
Macau

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pps- here are some random sights of Macau... enjoy :)

Pictures of Macau and Hong Kong! installment 1...

The night lights of the streets of Macau And the new apartment! With Alison testing out the couch (it is very comfy actually)






























Views of Hong Kong-
An overview of a street market and a close up of part of the goldfish market

hello from Macau :)

hi and greetings from Macau! I arrived here Sunday morning and have been busy apartment hunting, meeting the staff, signing books worth of paperwork (occasionally in English), eating delicious food, and getting lost around the city. Instead of the north star, the lights of the casinos are bright and colorful and they always guide us home. I promise that pictures and more info/stories will come soon, for now I just wanted to say hi while I had the chance! :)

look out world...

China here I come!

I am currently packing my bags for Macau, China and will be leaving Friday, August 27th at 7:05pm. Macau will be my home for the next 10 months as I work as an English Teaching Assistant at the Macao Polytechnic Institute through the Fulbright program.

I'm excited, nervous, not quite packed, and looking forward to the upcoming adventures! I don't know many details yet of my exact work duties or what my address will be, but I will keep you all posted.

I love you all, miss you already, will hopefully see you at Christmas, and hope to hear from you while I am gone! Zai jian :)