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I know this blog is a little behind schedule...sorry.
If you didn't know already, I am in America right now...this is how I got here.
I was just getting used to the idea that I was going to be in China for Christmas, and I was feeling like that was ok. But then...
Saturday December 20, everything changed.On Friday December 19, 4 of my family members were involved in a car accident. My aunt cyndi (my mom's youngest sister), and my cousins JT and Brianna (My cousin Jackie's kids) and Tori (my aunt cyndi's youngest child). They were on their way to meet my mom when they were hit head on by a coal truck. My Aunt Cyndi (35 years old) was killed immediately and the three children were transported to the hospital. JT (7 years old) and Brianna (5 years old) were both in critical condition so much so that they were air lifted to Children's Hospital in Birmingham. Tori (4 years old) was not hurt as bad, and so she was transported by ambulance. My mom rode to the hospital with her. JT's injuries were really bad, and not too long after he arrived at the hospital he would also go to be with the Lord. Brianna was still in critical condition, but her prognosis was much more hopeful than JT's. Tori was also injured, but her injuries were far less serious than the others.
Saturday morning in China, my mom called me. She called my cell phone and told me that she was fine, my daddy was fine and noah was fine, but I needed to call Carrie B. and have her come to my apt. Then I knew that it was serious. My mom wouldn't have said any of that if it hadn't been. Carrie B. hurried down, and I called my mom back. She proceeded to tell me what was going on. At this point Aunt Cyndi and JT had already passed away, and Brianna wasn't doing great. I was able to see and talk to Tori which was reassuring. I have really awesome people in china who began to take care of getting me home. by saturday afternoon-china time- I had a flight for sunday morning. After a bit of a fiasco, i arrived in birmingham at about 2am monday morning-alabama time. I immediately went to the hospital to see Jackie and Brianna. It was hard, but my father is faithful to do and provide more than I could ever imagine. Monday night we had the visitation, and Tuesday we had both funerals...This was the hardest day I have ever lived through. I don't think I have ever been as broken-hearted as I was that day. but He came to bind the broken-hearted.
We have suffered a great loss, but we have been given so much and have been blessed in so many ways. If you haven't heard me say it, let me tell you that my family is the most awesome group of people I have ever met. We are not perfect, but if anyone is in need, there is someone who will notice and do something about it. Our family is constantly giving to others, and when we were in need, we were able to see the product of what we had sown into others...There were 800+ people at the visitation monday night. It was supposed to be from 6-8pm, but that wasn't possible. We began letting people in at about 5:30 and had a constant stream of people until 10pm. My father is faithful to provide when His children are in need. The outpouring of support that we have seen is indescribable. JT was able to give both kidneys and his liver to other children. This was a christmas miracle for at least two families. Brianna has a long road of recovery ahead of her, but is getting better day by day. We have taken turns being strong for one another and that has made all the difference.
The day after the funerals was Christmas Eve so we tried to do Christmas as usual (for the kids). It wasn't the same, and it never will be the same, but it was a great time of healing. It was really hard because it felt like we had to "move on" quickly. Instead of skyping me in from China, we skyped Jackie and John in from the hospital. No one has ever missed Christmas at Gmoms, until this year...it was supposed to be me. I wish it had been. I have been at home since the 21st and will be here until Jan 3.
As the days go by, things get a little easier, but things will never be the same.
Things to think about:
-Brianna is still in the hospital and will be for a while longer. She has a caring bridge site so that you can keep up with how she is doing.www.caringbridge.org/visit/briannanewsome
-My aunt cyndi has 3 daughters. Megan is 11, Aaliyah is 6, and Tori is 4.
-Our family is tough, but is broken-hearted.
-He will be glorified in everything that is done.
-Give thanks that this Christmas, Aunt Cyndi and JT were able to sleep in heavenly peace. Pictures Below: JT and My mom and Aunt Cyndi. Aunt Cyndi is the taller one.
-Also give thanks for all of my friends in China that helped me get home and kept me company while I was getting packed.
Carrie B.- sat with me while I talked to mom, and made list of things to pack, and got the ball rolling on my plane tickets
Patti and Jon- Just sat with me and told me not to worry about anything in China.
Carrie J.-got the plane tickets and other travel arrangements
Jenee- made me breakfast so I could eat before I left.
Sherry- rode with me to the airport.
Brad-did everything a best friend should. Stayed with me while I packed. Stayed up with me all night so that maybe I would be able to sleep on the plane. Rocky 2,3, and 4 were awesome.
I know this blog was a little scattered, if you have questions just ask.
much love from the usa
So as you may have guessed, on Monday I visited the terra-cotta warriors!!!
Monday!--I was first privileged to be invited to a birthday brunch for brad. The parents of one of his students took Brad, TJ and myself to a really nice hotel where there was a really awesome Cantonese restaurant. We got to try lots of really awesome food!! Then from there we went to see the terra-cotta warriors a.k.a. the 8th wonder of the ancient world! It was definitely amazing... And if that wasn't enough for the day, we got dinner at the indian restaurant and then caught the fountain show at the pagoda.
Tuesday!--I officially told my boss that I would be teaching here again next year! Don't worry I will come home for about a month during the summer...Went to chinese class, I am learning a whole lot of stuff now. I am trying really hard to remember it all too! Dinner with some friends!
Wednesday!- We had an english corner christmas party!!! It was awesome..we had lots of fun telling the students about our family traditions and singing christmas songs...we also did a little making gravy there too! They thought it was hilarious. I love english corner. I feel like that is where most of my chinese friends will come from...I am planning to hang out with them soon!
Thursday!- School, Chinese class! a great nap...
Friday!- Today(also my 4 month chinaversary), School!...Dinner at our favorite hu tong place with brad and tj cause today was tj's last day in xian :( He and brad are on their way to a few days in beijing...TJ flies out on Tuesday, and then brad will come back to xian...I know what you are thinking...what ever will I do because brad will be gone for four days!?! (use your dramatic voice). Well for starters tomorrow I am going shopping, then tomorrow night I may give myself a haircut, or go get it cut...who knows. this adventure is up to me!
love from china
click on the words that are underlined for the pics of the week!
This blog is a little behind schedule, so I am actually talking about the first week in December!
Monday-December 1- School as usual. Had an early birthday dinner with brad (his bday was dec. 5th) Then I went to begin decorating for the festivities of the weekend...woohoo!
Tuesday-December 2- My mom's bday!-School, chinese class, and then a meeting...oh and T.J.-brad's brother arrived in Xi'an!
Wednesday-December 3-School, went and did some more decorating! This was when I began to feel the holiday rush...I was needing to buy some more stuff for the weekend, so I made a b-line for a place called ren ren le, but first I had McDonalds for dinner! Then I shopped for about two hours, and found most of what I was looking for!!!
Thursday- December 4- School, chinese class, and then more shopping! this time I was with brad and tj...we found pecans and some dvd's and had subway for dinner! The picture above was taken while on our shopping adventure!
This weekend is monumental for us in China...we call it Christgiving! This is a time when we celebrate thanksgiving and christmas together as a big group. Friday night is game night, Saturday is Thanksgiving, and Sunday is Christmas!
Friday- December 5- School, We had a small bday party for brad in his classroom (don't worry we will celebrate again because his birthday weekend was super busy!), and then the fun of the weekend began. Friday night was game night!!!
Many of the people that I know here got together to play games...We had lots of fun and then decorated for Saturday a.k.a. Thanksgiving!!! Then I came home, and made chocolate stuff (which was a hit by the way)!
Saturday-December 6- Thanksgiving!?! We had the whole spread and then some...In the afternoon, we played games and then had like a variety show...for all of my friends from mo town, there was some making gravy going on! FYI Making Gravy was a skit that we did a whole lot when I was in college. It is just funny and stupid...the crowd went wild. After all of the festivities, we decorated for Christmas and then went home to cook some more!
Sunday-December 7- Christmas!?! We had brunch...and then a speaker and some Christmas Carols...a little more of a variety show, and then we opened presents! I got an awesome necklace from Carrie J.! Then we cleaned up and went home to crash!!!
Monday-December 8- no school!!!the other details will be included in the next blog!
love from china
a few pics!
It is time for another blog, I know. But...I have been really busy the last week or so, and therefore have not had time...This weekend I will try to get you caught up on the events of the last few days...
Guess what? Christmas is only 2 weeks away!!!!aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
love from china
This week was sort of intense, but I'm not sure I can tell you why. It just was.
Monday- I was having a bad day. I was a lot frustrated. Sometimes I have trouble being content with the way things are. I am learning a lot about trust and patience right now. So after school, instead of the regular nap, I decided to go get my nails done. Sometimes a little pampering makes me feel better. This time (the second time) the nails were black with silver hearts-rock star fabulous. It did help a little, but not as much as I had hoped. I went to the usual meeting and then came home and tried to get myself ready for the rest of the week.
Tuesday was pretty normal. I still wasn't in a really awesome mood, but I was coping better than Monday. After school I went to chinese class, and did my first lesson with vocabulary!!! This means that I officially know some words now. Whether I remember them or not is a whole other story. My teacher is awesome though. I now know how to introduce myself, sort of. Then I got dinner with some friends, and went to English Corner! The girls I normally have in my group were not there at the beginning, so I was a little sad. When I did find them they were as happy to see me as I was to see them. I am definitely starting to really be connected there. I named a few more people. There is now a Jonathan and an Elizabeth! Some of the girls mentioned wanting to hang out over the spring break so I guess you could say I have made some chinese friends now. My favorites are Yolanda, Alice, and Joy. Them and a few of the other girls are currently working on me a chinese name. It is definitely time I had one!
Wednesday I decided it was going to be a good day. I did a few things to make that happen of course. After school, I wanted to go to Joe's for dinner, because Joe's always makes me happy cause it feels like home. But much to my dismay (and brad's) Joe's was closed. I am afraid that it might be closed forever:( So instead of Joe's we went to the SIT cafe for dinner-it was the place we had gone to try out chinese corner, but hadn't been successful. So wednesday night, we had dinner and were chatting and this guy walks up to us and asks if we want to attend the chinese corner! So we went. It was a little weird, but I think I will go back. My chinese is very limited still, but I feel like things will go faster now. Chinese corner was a little overwhelming, but I think it might be helpful for me to acquire the language.
Thursday- hmmm....what was thursday? oh yes, it was thanksgiving...Went to school, and skipped chinese class. Then went to dinner at Carrie Jones's House. The meal was delicious and very similar to what we would have at home! When we first started eating I was a little sad, cause it just didn't feel right, but I didn't cry cause I didn't want to ruin the party. Just know I really missed being at home for about 15 minutes, and then I decided that it was awesome that I was in china and was experiencing a new way of doing thankgiving. I do have a family here that is awesome! When I come home over the summer, I want fried turkey!
Friday- I really didn't want to go to school...mostly cause I was tired...I stayed up till about 2am talkin to some of the fam, and then got back up at 5am to talk to the rest...I really enjoyed getting passed around the family (well technically the phone got passed around to the family) I got to talk to lots of people and got caught up on the festivities of the day. I went back to bed at 6am and got up at 7:30! Needless to say, I was tired all day. After school, we went back to check on Joe's-still a no go. Then our second choice was McDonald's! It was awesome! Then I went to a lady's house so I could help stuff goodie bags for our trip to the orphanage on Saturday.
Saturday- Up early to go to the orphanage! We did a Christmas program and it was awesome. We also took them a pair of shoes and a pair of long underwear. There are 80 kids at the orphanage, so we took 80 of each. It was awesome! I feel like we are really meeting some needs there! When I got back, Brad and I began on an adventure to get his computer fixed! We went to several places and then on a hunt for a few others, and finally got it fixed. I really was only there for moral support. We had tea and coffee at a coffee place called No No Coffee Time which is right next to the No No Club #2(didn't go there, but I am sure it is awesome) Then we went across the street to this restaurant we thought looked cool. The name of the restaurant was something weird, but part of it was Du Du...I know that is not the way it is spelled in the states, but it is pronounced that way in china. So we thought that was funny, but didn't really understand (and still don't )what that meant. We were shopping through the menu when we came across Du Du flavored chicken...so of course we had to order it! But it turned out that they were out of Du Du flavored chicken that night :( We will probably go back and try to figure out what that means sometime soon. At some point brad and I were discussing what we had done this week, we usually do a recap before we write our blogs, and we both forgot-even if only for a minute- that thanksgiving was thursday...sad I know.
Sunday was a great day...I went shopping for some gatherings that we have planned for this weekend, and bought a lot of stuff! It was an adventure for sure...
So I guess one thing I am learning is that I can't expect things (fingernail paint, Joe's...) or people to make me happy...it is only my dad that can.;)
love from china!
