Random Occurrences

So the internet at my homestay hasn't been working for the past week, but now it is, so I actually have time to sit down and write a post!  I'm going to explain the last couple days in random blurbs of stories, first of all with how my internet situation got fixed.

--So the reason the internet wasn't working was that my host dad changed internet providers.  He had a call into them to come and figure out what was going on.  Anyways.  It's Sunday afternoon and I'm in my room doing homework, when I hear the front door open and close and what sounds like more voices than normal coming from the study/living room.  I venture out to get some water and realize that we have guests- Clementine and Crepo (sp?).  Clementine is Chinese, and is dating Crepo, who is Polish.  They met at school in Finland.  Luckily, both spoke English.  After I had said only a few sentences they guessed that I was from California (not really sure how) and I said no, just go up the coast a bit though!  I was pretty impressed with that.  So we're talking (I'm just thankful to be in a conversation I can actually understand!) and it comes out that Crepo is some sort of software guy, and Julius (my host dad) goes, why don't you have him look at your computer?  So an hour later, with lots of Crepo crawling under the desk to look at the router, Clementine translating Chinese, and me pretty much just standing there, hallelujah I have internet again!  So some random Polish guy fixed my internet.  Julius then says, lets go out to dinner!  So we go to this super good (and kinda fancy) place that I've been walking by everyday to go to the bus and it was so fun!  It was great to have another Laowai (foreigner) there to because the conversation ended up being in English!  And I got to ask about life in Europe etc, and not be the only one having some minor chopstick struggles.  Though I've gotten way better with those.

--Last night I got to share my testimony with my host dad.  Words cannot describe.

--This morning I went to a service that was all in Chinese.  The best I could do was look up the verses that were on the screen using my handy dandy Chinese/English Bible.  It was SO beautiful.  I really can't say much more here.  It was AWESOME.  It was completely random how I found out about it too.  Oh the good Lord is just getting STARTED.  YES.

--On Thursday, we made jiaozi (dumplings) with our Chinese teachers.  It was really fun!  And jiaozi are DELICIOUS so the eating part was good too.  And I totally stole this picture from my RA's Facebook page, because I'm actually in it.  The ones on the right were NOT made be me.  Ha.


--We then went and bought train tickets for Harbin this weekend (a city up North with a famous ice sculpture festival).  I think we majorly annoyed everyone behind us in line.  We had two girls handling the Chinese speaking part of things, and then we all passed our passports and money through the window and the lady booked our tickets all together.  We had all the tickets there all good to go and the woman behind us was majorly starting to push forward.  Alas, impatient Chinese woman, we still have to come back home.  The line was super long by the time we left.  16/18 of us in my program are going on this adventure, and it will be my first time out of the city since I've been here!  Let me tell you, I really love Beijing, but I am soooo ready to be out of here for awhile!  This is one of the parts of my study abroad experience I've really been looking forward to- the opportunity to travel around and experience things and just be free. I'm not planning to have all my adventures in a group of 16 but I figure its a good way to start things off :)

--My host dad went for a walk after dinner and I had the apartment to myself which almost never happens.  I was in such a weird mood of desperately missing Hope yet being so happy to be in Beijing.  My sense of adventure is more than satisfied here every single day (how many times does a Polish guy hanging out in the living room just happen to be able to fix your internet?), yet I miss the familiar warmth and sound of Nykerk on Friday nights, the morning light coming through the stained glass windows in Dimnent, late night chats with the roommates about anything and everything.  I remember the ways that God so totally boggled my mind at Urbana and the sweet times with my best friends at home, since we never seem to overlap for long anymore.  I cherish these moments as I think back on them, considering how much joy I would have to just be in one chapel, once.  Or to be at a worship night for 30 minutes.  To sit with Rachel or Beth or anyone in my kitchen for just one hour and have world rocking Holy Spirit talks.  How I would relish each moment, and how I did relish each moment when these things happened.  I could start wallowing, and it probably sounds like I already am.  Yet, I wouldn't trade Beijing for it right now.  Because the God of Mouw basement and A-4 and laughing late into the night with the joy of the Lord, is the same God that is here with me in Beijing.  And I knew this would be a lesson I would need to know before I even got here, why my first semester was so truly beautiful in the way that it was.  And now God is really delivering the lesson, in each day as He says, "baby girl, I GOT THIS.  You know who I am.  You know what I can do."  And oh yes, He's blessing me here too!