Last Few Days in Kunming...

Hello Friends!

In a few days Will and I will be back in Hong Kong. I will be returning to the rest of my summer adventure in Asia from going to Macau and maybe even some other places in China with Mike and his family! Will will (hahahaha) be going back to Canada in a few days - so for all those who want to see him - he'll be back Tuesday!

Since Will and I have been back to Kunming after our 5 day adventure we went back to the school to help wherever we could. A lot of the times we found that we couldn't really do much because of the lack of jobs available. Many times we found that we were the 'entertainment' for the kids during recess and class time. We must've sang 'Head and Shoulders' for 40 minutes! There were other times this week we helped put up 100's of pictures from different events at the school throughout the year. For the most part we felt kind of idle but really wanting to help more. Actually, come to think of it, I've only taught one real lesson where I had to plan! I taught the Grade 3's vegetables!

The Grade 5 class has been one of my favourite classes as they have a huge desire to learn English. I was really impressed by their intiative to practise speaking especially when everyone is really self-conscious when it comes to speaking - even the English teachers! They threw a party for us last week where Will and I were the guests of honor. We practised simple conversational skills like 'What can you do?' with them. They would usually answer 'I can play ping pong and Chinese kung fu.' After a while of us asking them, we switched. It was fun at first because they found out a lot more about us Canadians. Then out of the blue - one girl asks me 'Can you dance, Ms.Luk?' Before I could say anything in between Will and I cracking up the whole class including the teacher was chanting 'Dance, dance, dance!'. Will, then being the 'thoughtful' person he is said 'Ms.Luk is a GREAT dancer! Put on the Kung Fu music!' Oh man. It was hilarious and completely embarressing! Thank goodness they let me sing instead! Hah!

This past Saturday, Will, Lili (the principal's daughter) and I went to downtown Kunming to see the imfamous Green Lake. In the winter, seagulls from Siberia migrate there! Apparently there are SO many seagulls that you can't even see the lake anymore!! Who knew there were seagulls from Siberia! Green Lake was created dynasties ago when one of the emperor's from China made it his personal garden. With such a background we were expecting to see something spectacular - but in essence, it was just another Chinese garden with humongous lakes.

It was fun nonetheless, after an hour of walking around - we were off to discover more of downtown. We came to one part of the city where there were all these outlet shops! We went to one where they sold Banana Republic, Abercrombie and Nike! It was quite bizarre and random! Later that night, Will and I cooked a good ol' American dinner for the Wu family. It was a feat in itself to find ingredients in a Chinese Walmart - but we managed!

On Sunday we attended a fairly huge C that was humoungous! It really reminded me of RHCCC. DAD lead us to so many people that we've meet in our journey here in Kunming. Will and I were joking that it was such a nice way to 'wrap up' our trip by re-meeting all the special brothers and sisters on our journey. More on that soon...

Afterwards, Will and I decided to go to Stone Forest but got lost along the way! We were so tired we decided to head back home and rest. It was extremely needed...!

So instead, we headed off to Stone Forest today with another family from Hong Kong. It took almost two hours to get there. It's basically a forest full of, well, stones! There's a great history behind how the stones got there but it was written all in Chinese. It's quite a beautiful sight because the stones are huge and there are just so many of them! In many of the large structures you can often see human faces, animals and other objects. Some also have stories behind their origin. It's quite the sight to see.

We walked around for most of the day up and down the mountains, in between tiny and tight spots, in and out of caves, under huge boulders that are resting on other large rocks. I've never seen anything quite like it! We were told that if we did not go to Stone Forest, we have never been to Kunming. So we can officially cross off another beautiful scenic spot we've seen in the beautiful province of Yunnan.

On our way home, everyone fell asleep - and from my view - the driver was dozing off too! I was the only one that couldn't sleep. And almost immediately after I noticed that point, DAD started speaking to me. I've been reading up a lot on Mt.10 & 11 and just learning tons from HS lately. As He began to speak I looked outside and saw a beautiful scene of farmers harvesting some plants. He said, 'The harvest is ripe and plentiful, but the workers are so few. Ask me to send out laborers into the harvest field...'. It was a moment similar to that of my experience years ago driving up to a reserve in Northern Alberta. More on that soon as well...

These past three weeks in Kunming have just flown by. I've seen so much, experienced so much, eaten so much and have heard so much. My relationship with DAD has grown so much closer, intimate and trusting. All I can say is that He is so apparent, so alive, and so incredibly active here. What a priviledge it's been to have my eyes open in a whole new way. I'm still processing what everything means and what DAD's been trying to tell me. Please continue to remember me in these things.

I can't wait to get back to Hong Kong to see Mike, friends and to see what DAD has in store over there as well. After hearing much about GDOP in Hong Kong I am so encouraged by what He's doing all over Asia! I can't wait to hear and see more as His story unfolds for me in the following days, weeks and months before I return to Canada.

Thanks so much for all of your encouraging emails - they truly mean more than you guys know! Wherever you may be - be 100% there and live for Dad to your fullest.