The Shape of Things to Come

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way" - Yeah....on Friday, we actually sang Jingle Bells on a bus of about 100 Chinese people! The bus was so crowded, and us Americans were just trying to have some fun and keep our minds off of being claustrophobic. So, we started singing songs, and a Chinese girl requested Jingle Bells. Nothin like singing Christmas carols in September!

Well, we've been here 1 month today!! What seemed crazy a month ago, (i.e. 8 million people, crazy drivers, mystery meat street food, climbing 8 flights of steps to our apartment, not understanding anyone) has now become normal to us. We're really starting to get into the groove now. School is still going smooth, and we're making new friends with our students. Thomas has been playing ping-pong and badminton with some students, and guest starring on a Chinese radio show. And Callie has started studying with a new friend.

Classes are still going great! Students are continuing to invite us to lunch, offering to be our translators, and telling us they want to be our friends! :) Last week was apparently 'Teachers Day' in China. We got tons of text messages and emails from the students telling us 'Happy Teacher's Day!' and how they appreciate us...so sweet. We hung out with some students last night. They 'schooled' us in ping-pong, then we just hung out on campus with them for a few hours. We taught them some Southern slang and culture, and they taught us some Chinese slang and culture. We've already planned to meet these students next week...they asked us to teach them how to play American football.

So, Thomas thought he was good at ping-pong before he came to China. But he quickly realized, after playing some members of our school ping-pong team, that he's not as good as he thought! He got beat by a girl the first day he played. :) Also, Thomas made his first appearance this week on our campus' radio show. They have English hour every morning, and invited him to come and speak. They even asked him if he'd be interested in hosting an American Sports show every Friday! He's found his calling.

For the past two weeks, Callie has been studying with a lady. She's married to a 'Follower', and knows alot already. We feel like she's pretty close to taking the plunge. She expressed that she's been talking to the Father and asking Him to help her understand Him and His love.

On a side note, this week we found a Mexican Restaurant, a Cold Stone Creamery, and an awesome Donut Shop!! (And we were told we'd lose weight in China)

We want to thank everyone again for all your support and thoughts. Love & miss yall!!

Don't forget to check out our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitchellsinchina/