So I'm speaking Chinese and having conversations with my friends. It happened almost overnight. I thought I was gonna just suck for the rest of the trip, but now I think I'll suck less. I'm saying more in 3 months of Chinese in China than I was saying in Russian in 7 months in Russia. Granted there is something to be said in being allowed to use technology to learn and having a grammar teacher.

I met with the Elders quorum president. He was down here from a city an hour a way to go rock climbing with his family. Young guy in the Air Force. Special permission to study in China. The Skype branch covers all of China. It's pretty cool.

I'll be off the grid January 1st unless I stay in a hotel or hostel. I've got a solar charger and power bank, but it can only do so much. Even if I find WiFi, I'll only want to upload pictures and backup my phone. 

Going night hiking alone by Blue Sky Hotel and resort outside of Yangshuo.  I'll be walking south of the hotel towards the dirt paths and the village houses.

Those pictures are from earlier today

That girl is one of my bestest friends here. Astrid is the English name she goes by. She knows where I can find stuff in this town.

--But check out this view! It’s from my apartment window.

--Roommate is super cool.  He bought me a smoothie and food first day.  All the Chinese students here are great! I help him with his homework, he helps me with mine.  I’m having a blast!  I’ll be able to get down a good amount of Chinese before I go

-This city is nuts. No driving laws. Cars drive on the wrong side, pedestrians step in front of cars. Pedestrians truly have the right of way here.  All the scooters and cars will come within a few inches of you, but they all manage to swerve around. Everyone here are like Jedis. They know their surrounds really well.  Pedestrians can trust no one will hit them, cars and scooters trust the pedestrians to not make huge movements while walking in the street.  It seems chaotic, but it’s cool to see.

Jim’s in country and getting settled in.

According to him:

--I made it to the school but only with the mercy of strangers that came to my rescue like little angels. One even kept a taxi driver from ripping me off.  Classes start tomorrow so I’ll start picking up the language.

--I haven’t slept for 48 hours because I was running to catch buses and metros. Luckily picking the correct routes, but I’m here, and all the students, including my roommate are awesome.

Jim Bowden takes on China. He’ll be in mainland China for a month and a half doing an immersive Chinese training with other international students and then Taiwan for two months.  Sounds like quite an adventure.

He has a website, but I don’t know how often he’ll be updating it (if at all).  Since communication will be limited because of the Great Firewall of China, I’ll be posting what pictures and messages I can. I may just quote him.

Here’s some preliminary trip information.

Jim’s website:   http://howtowasteapassport.weebly.com/

This website has a bunch of information about his trip including itinerary and Omeida Academy ( http://www.omeida.com.cn/ ) , the place where he is learning Mandarin.

Gloria graduated today from Southern Virginia University (SVU) and spoke as Valedictorian.  She did a marvelous job speaking and showed her natural aplomb. She majored in theater with a minor in philosophy. Here's a link to her speech (Gloria's Valedictorian speech).

 The forecast had thunderstorms arriving during commencement, but when the time came it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. 

 She received a write-up on the school’s website which you can read here . And another bio here .

Simon is in the front right of the video.

Local paper article covering the Day to Serve multi-congregational service project. I just happened to be at the site where the photographer showed.

Naselle Farm Progress Photos Packet #5