First Week and a Half in Kunming!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while since I've written to you all - I hope everything is going amazingly wherever you may be on this earth :) I have been in Kunming, Yunnan, China for over a week now and within this short time so much has happened. I've attached some pictures so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about :)

Countless Kids At The School:
I've been helping out at the school for a few days now. Originally I thought I would be going to teach English to different classes but the principal has other plans! I'm actually helping the four English teachers in their English as well as encouraging and supporting them. I will be sharing different ways to plan lessons. I've already taught a few classes to Grade 3 and the Preschool classes. Teaching in China is SO different - truly 'worlds apart' har har :) The classes range from 35 - 40 kids to one teacher. It can get out of control really easily. But either way - there is a hunger to learn. Many of the students find learning English extremely difficult so they don't even try. English is not a core subject here so the teacher's don't make a big fuss about it either. I hope that I'll be able to encourage them more in their own personal learning so that it will affect the students positively. I've also had to pick up Mandarin even faster than I had thought! On my first day of teaching I had to teach almost entirely in Mandarin! Man it was so hard! It's even more difficult when students asked me a question and I just smiled and nodded. Haha I'm happy to say that the pressure of needind to communicate has pushed me to learn faster!

Super Nice Family:

The family I'm staying with (the principal) has been incredibly hospitable and nice. Their kids are great too! I feel totally welcomed and a part of their family. Last week I made sushi for them and later this week I'll make my 'famous' cheese cake! They've never heard of cream cheese because it's so rare here so it shall be interesting! They are so encouraging and we talk to our Father every morning and every night as a group.



Improving Health:

I'm feeling much better now that I've adjusted to the high altitude of this province. When I first got here it rained for several days. The rain brought on such cold weather it felt like fall in Toronto! I had no idea that it would be so cold so I didn't really bring a lot of warm clothes. But thankfully the principal's wife gave me some sweaters. I also visited some friends from Toronto who are working for Him here and one sister gave me her sweater too! After a few days of rain the intense heat came on. Since we are at a higher plateau we are - in a sense, closer to the sun. So when the sun's out it's extremely dry and hot. The weather is at such extremes here but PTL that my health is keeping up!

Random Travelling:

My friend Will Chen, from Queen's arrived from Beijing this past Friday evening. He will also be helping at the school with me. The principal has asked to sing English songs and play guitar during the recess times at the school. We can't wait to help out in any area! It's a lot nicer to a familiar face here in Kunming! When we woke up Saturday morning, the principal suggested that we take four days off to explore this province! We didn't have school on Monday and Tuesday b/c of a public holiday so we got the chance to visit two incredible cities. Our four day trip turned into 5 because there was so much to see!


So out of the blue we were whisked off by bus on a four hour trip to Da Li. It is the home of one of the king's dynasties ago! Da Li is a small city and within it there is the existing ancient city of Da Li. It's on an even higer altitude so the view of the mountains was simply amazing! We were so close to the clouds!! I've never been so high up in my life! Once we arrived we were bombared by locals trying to get us to use their transportation service. They can be quite persistant following us for quite some distance before they give up! The principal had given us a few contacts of his friends, brothers and sisters over in Da Li. We came across many old, old, old buildings that have had His presence for decades. It was truly a remarkable site to see such a landmark in the middle of the ancient city where brothers and sisters have met to meet our Father for hundreds of years. We spent our first night meeting many who attend His school there. They even asked us to sing a song for them! We were so unprepared but Will took the guitar and I took the vocals and we shared with them 'Open The Eyes Of My Heart'. Truly incredible...

The next day we attended the morning service which was literally packed. People had to pull out stools and other seats to cram everyone into the fairly large building. There were also many foreigners - we met people from Nebraska and Holland! The service lasted three hours and was filled with intense and expressive singing to passionate teaching...I will never forget those three hours.

In the afternoon, Will and I were off to Cangshan mountain. It's imfamous for it's incredible view. We were told to take the cable cars up to the top of the mountain. Little did we know the 'cable cars' would be rusty ski lifts! It was quite the adventure going up...we were so high up!

I wish I knew how high that mountian was...but trust me on this that the tops of the surrounding peaks were covered with clouds. We got to the top and our breath was literally taken away at the beauty we saw. For the next four hours we were speechless and couldn't stop exclaiming just how amazing our Creator is.
From the intensity and height of the mountains and density of the forests to the humble slopes of the valleys to the incredible waterfalls...Words can't even BEGIN to describe!! So I've attached pictures :) We hiked for over an hour and found a beautiful waterfall. Will, being the adventurous person he is decided to climb it. I thought 'What the heck, you only live once!' hah! So I followed him. Climbing up was easy...climbing down made me see my life flash before my eyes! For those who know the 'atheletic' side of me - you'd be proud :) We had such an amazing time there...!

The next day we were off to Li Jiang another beautiful city. Da Li pales in comparision to the oh my goodness beauty of Li Jiang! Many people say that once you see Li Jiang you forget about Da Li - and they could'nt be more correct!! Li Jiang is on an even higher plateau so if you can imagine...we are even closer to the clouds! The mountains here are snow capped - they are even larger in size and number. Li Jiang is also an ancient city - home to many tribal groups like the Naxi people. We met up with one of the principal's friend who is another sister that took us around for the past 3 days.

On the first night we were there we walked around the ancient city which is so different from Da Li. If you've watched or seen old Chinese movies or TV shows - the old city looks exactly like that!! There are so many alley ways and mazes in the old city. We stayed at this Tibetin like rustic inn which was so homey and exotic. It was right on the main street of the old city. We walked around the many shops that sold local handiwork, dried yak meat and other cool things like pashmina shawls and wood artwork.
Later in the evening we went to watch the world renowned Naxi orchestra that has been around for many, many years. They play music from dynasties thousdans of years ago! The fact that the music still exists is a miracle! The orchestra has members who are almost 100 years old! The music may not be our taste - but it was definitely a cultural experience :)

The next morning we were off on a 3 hour bus ride towards Tiger Leaping Gorge. We drove along the Yangtse River which is the longest river in China. Let me tell you...the scenery and the environment around us completely humbled and dwarfed us. We drove along these windy path ways towards the middle of the gorge. It was the ride of a lifetime! So many times I thought we would die!! We were driving so close to the edge and below was the feroucious crashing waves of the Yangtse and above us were these ginormous mountains. We even saw mountian goats!!

When we finally reached the middle of the gorge we couldn't have guessed our next four hours. We had to pay an additional 10 yuan to walk down the mountain. We were travelling with two other couples and our friend. We had to stick together for safety but man - do the locals walk fast!! It was quite the scary trip down as many signs indicated the trek down was 'at your own risk'. There were no stairs but make shift rock steps and slippery sand. For most of the trip down I was clinging onto dear life at every branch, our sister's hand and Will's backpack. It was also quite windy - but a nice breeze since we were so high up.

The view below was gorgeous but also deadly! It's amazing how something so beautiful can be so dangerous and fearful as well. After an hour we made it down. We were told that someone had slipped down the mountain and died the day before :S When we got to the bottom we climbed onto the rocks and was literally a few feet away from the magnificent gorge. It took my breath away. I've attached pictures for your viewing pleasure :)











We stayed there for a while and hiked towards a make shift cafe where this lady lived. The wooden hut was covered with people's signatures who have visited the middle of the gorge. We also left our mark and our country's flag :)

Will decided to hike a bit more - I opted to stay at the hut because the next hike was much more dangerous. It led to a rock where the name of this gorge originates from. The story goes to say that tigers used to jump across the river by stepping at the rock in the middle of the river. Hence, Tiger Leaping Gorge. A year ago, a man from Italy got onto the rock but he slipped and fell to his death. There is a flag that marks the spot. People can no longer get close to that area again because of the danger. It's quite scary...so beautiful yet so deadly.

After a while, our group hiked back up. We had to go quickly because our bus was waiting for us. The hike would be like no other. It was so intense - the mountain was so steep and so high. It was easier getting up in the sense that no one needed to help me. But the little oxygen and the crazy steepness of the hill tired us to death! But through it all HE put a song in my heart and His truth in my mind. I started singing (in my heart) Matt Redman's song 'Lead us up the mountain'. I will try to explain more about those revelations when it is more convienent. When we got to the top of the mountain I've never felt such accomplishment and adrenaline all at the same time! The wind nearly knocked me off my feet! I was sweating from head to toe and sun burned but it was such an amazing feeling. We got to see one of the most beautiful creations in the world...and we got to be a part of it while we climbed up and down. I'm still so wow-ed at what we saw and what I heard from HIM.

We got back to Li Jiang after a really gross, hot, and sweaty bus ride. We spent the rest of our night buying souviners and walking around. We took the bus back to Kunming this morning and it took almost 9 hours. We are back safely and full of stories. We've encountered so much in such a short time and I'm so thankful that I got this chance to see all that we did. It's truly once in a lifetime...

We will be sightseeing around Kunming for the next few days and heading up to the famous Stone Mountain this weekend. I'm finding that I'm falling in love with this nation...I'm here for another week and a half then I'm back to HK. I will try to update again next week.

Thanks so much for your encouraging emails - once again, please be wise with the words that you choose when you write about Him. I am remembering all of you and I hope you will continue to do the same for me and for Will.

I look forward to hearing from you guys! Email me :)

Miss all of you so much...

Kat