latest adventures :)

well the Chinese New Year is now behind us and in no time at all it is almost the end of the month! the mini mandarin orange trees lining many streets and symbolizing fortune and prosperity for the new year have mostly been taken down (unlike our mini Christmas tree which is in fact still sitting in the corner next to our rarely watched TV) and students are back in Macau to start classes again. everyone is a little lazy after the long break and the many huge New Year meals but slowly and surely we are returning to a busy work schedule once again.

a minor misadventure: during the Chinese New Year my computer decided to call it quits... must have gotten sick of the traveling after all this time. thanks to my fantastic roommates and coworkers things have somewhat gotten themselves sorted out and i am so thankful! it is amazing how much something like a computer means when i am so far away from home and all you lovely people back home...

our latest adventure: this past weekend Allison and i took advantage of a still light work schedule to take a ferry across to Shenzhen in mainland China to visit a friend of mine from UNH. we had a wonderful time as she showed us around the city! we saw a village where artists paint and sell their work on the streets, a wholesale market where stores buy clothes to sell elsewhere, delicious food from various provinces in China, huge buildings, the new metro ... and of course we had to take a peek in the Chinese Wal*Mart just for fun :) after all our adventures we promptly fell asleep on the ferry returning back to Macau Sunday night...

next adventure: Malta in March! we will leave early on the 5th for a week in Malta for a conference through MPI. doing the paperwork and getting things ready now is keeping us busy and we are super excited for this opportunity!

and that's all for now, folks!

i'm sending along love and smiles- hope you are all doing well! :D

pictures top to bottom: New Year mandarin tree, hanging incense cones, a grey day in Shenzhen, Qinglan Allison and me, and a visit to wal*mart!

Happy Year of the Rabbit!

And the Chinese New Year is here!

well technically it doesn't start until next week, but decorations are covering Senado Square and we arrived just in time to see the traditional lion dance in front of St. Pauls ruins :)

(posing with the lion with Hannah and her brother Micah)

Gung hay fat choy! ...may prosperity be with you all :)

-between new years-

here we are, between New Years Day and the Chinese New Year... it makes me wonder if at the moment i belong to a year at all, or is this month a strange short year of its own? yet another strange aspect of time here in Macau, where sometimes it flies by, sometimes it creeps along, and sometimes it seems to not exist in a logical fashion at all.
getting to come home and see dearly loved faces for Christmas was oh so very wonderful :) i miss you all already-strange to think it's now been a week and a half since i landed back in the land of tea and bright casino lights! but things once again are settling into a pattern here, as we prepare for classes to start up again next month. the weather has actually been somewhat chilly here- not nearly as cold as back home with all the snow, but it is certainly encouraging us to drink lots of tea and wrap up in warm blankets as our apartment (along with most buildings) is without heat. today the sun came out though! and Allison and i ventured out to visit the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha, which is at the top of Bishop Hill and can be seen from anywhere in the harbor.

i've been thinking of you all and i hope that you are doing well and keeping warm! and i hope you have a very merry Chinese New Year coming up!

encouraging verse of the day: "The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand." -Psalm 37:23-24

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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