Just in time for it to become questionable for me to keep talking about the funny things my daughter says (so that I don't embarrass her publicly), here comes my 2 year old son!

Last night, as I was putting the two of them to bed, J was upset.  I put them in their respective beds, but J didn't want to stay in his.

Me:  Ok, then I'll let your sister sleep in your big boy bed.  E, come here and lie down in J's bed.

J:  Noo!

E jumps into J's bed and they both start laughing.

J:  It's a hott party.  A hott, hott party.

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Today, J had to be manipulated into eating his dinner.  Lisa recounted it to me.

L: You should see how big Superman gets when he eats his cranberries.  Right, J?

J:  SuperYes!

L:  Show daddy how strong you are.

J:  *growling* I... am... big...  I'll take your head off.

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A few days ago, E got her face painted to look like the Batman.  Then, she and J started fighting.

J: I don't like that supergirl

Lisa:  It's Batgirl

J:  I don't like that Batgirl

So, just to give you a sense of yesterday's rain.  It was the most in 10 years here in Beijing, and did I already say I waded through a foot of really scary water with my shoes on?  Here's a picture of a flooding subway station:

So, we went to the Great Wall today.  It was truly great.  We took the gondola to a higher guard station and walked down from there.  We saw a lot of people doing the opposite.  I was impressed... and shamed.  We definitely took the wimpy way out.  But it was a beautiful, sunny, cool, and breezy day.  The first of its kind all trip.  Hopefully, I'll get to see some old friends tonight!!!  Can't wait.

The market at the bottom of the hill:

Resting for a bit:

I hope that donkeys like climbing, cause we were really high up.  This one carried snacks up for some people to sell to tourists:

The guards used ladders to climb up to the top of the guard stations:

This family was hanging out.  The baby stayed asleep as the parents carried him up and down and up and down stairs:

Obligatory shot of the Wall:

*edit* another funny moment: I was shopping in a store and approached a young woman who worked there and spoke to her in Mandarin. 

"Do you speak English?"

"If you speak Chinese, then just speak Chinese with me."

"How much is this pipe?"

"350 Yuan.  It's very good."

"Do you smoke?"

"No."  I smile a 'gotcha' smile at her and she says something I don't pay attention to about why it's so good.

A few thoughts and some pictures.  

I'm definitely feeling the drain of 1.) being a mere observer on the team, 2.) constantly being with people and 3.) the cultural distance.  So, I'm taking some introvert time today since I delivered my payload yesterday.  

With all that fatigue, my mind wanders to creature comforts.  It was nice to get a nice long Skype in this morning.  It was also really neat to speak Taiwanese with a tea store owner.  She served us some great tea and chatted me and a teammate up in 80% Mandarin and 20% Taiwanese for about 20-30 minutes.  It was really exciting to connect that way.  Her thesis: hot tea is for hot days to cool you down.  Figure that one out.

I've been working pretty hard on my picture taking.  One thing I found was that as I grew tired, I lost inspiration and focus to take good pictures.  I really only have 5 or 6 from the trip that I really like looking at.  I'll put those up at the end of the trip.  

We have about a week left, so I guess I should start the reflection process.  I really think that theology can assist a nation whose citizens are so clearly seeking to form their collective identity.  The tension between progress and preservation can be relieved by a pneumatology that expounds the Spirit's work in cultural history as well as the Spirit's sustaining and directing work toward consummation.  It perplexes me that the contextualization process (which seems, in some ways, inexorable) is fraught with 1.) Western seduction, 2.) intransigent ethnocentrism, 3.) and haste.  I know, however, that whatever happens, it will indeed be something to behold.

Here are some pictures in chronological order:

Day 1 in Haerbin.  Progress is incredibly rapid.

Here we have Beluga Whales kissing their trainers.  

What do you think of his outfit?

BEST THING EVER!  Haerbin's ice sculptures from the ice festival are brought into a huge freezer that you can walk around.  They make you put on huge coats because it's ~15 degrees Fahrenheit in there.  This warm-blooded boy cannot have been any happier on this trip than I was in there.

A picture I like from Day 1 in Harbin: Fluffy, white, cottony stuff falls from the trees to cover the grass like snow in the park.

Dancing in the streets!  First, it was hundreds of people dancing in unison to some pop song (with the exception of one wild woman who I failed to capture).  Then, it was ball room.  Whudathunkit!  China is amazing.

Day 2 in Haerbin:  We go to church on Sunday.  A vibrant, charismatic church where happy young people LEAD the early service filled with older brother and sisters starting at 7:00AM.  We have so much to learn from them.

Historic Russian Church in Haerbin.  Now a museum of Haerbin history.

Jailbird

Funny story:  These green lasers were everywhere in the park at night.  Roommie walks up to one of the salesmen and informs him indirectly (i.e. by asking) about the danger of shining green lasers in people's eyes.  The young salesman reassures roommie that there is no danger.  Roommie asks salesman, "Why don't you try it?"  lol.

Day 3:  Even though it was only a 10 minute devo, I'm grateful to have some seriously quality training.  I hope it's useful to the global church.

Charming Russian restaurant whose menu is somewhat difficult to understand (see item no. 3)