Another Week Down...WOWZAH!!!

I finished another week of school today; technically my last week and day of school. HOW CRAZY!!! My time in China is quickly ticking away. I have one more weekend here, an exam, 2 papers, one day to pack, and then I'm back to the States.

China has been absolutely fabulous. I've had a lot of time to think about who I am, who I want to be and who I am called to be. I know, without a doubt, that God has great things in store for me. As sad as I am to leave, I'm ready to get back home and see my loved ones; ready to be able to talk/see my family and friends any time I want to; ready to take the next step in this journey that is life knowing full and well my God and Savior guides my every step. Time in this vastly non-religious country far away from home has reminded me of what is most important. First and foremost, God; may I never forget His will, His majesty, His daily presence in my life, His grace and mercy, Him. Second, God's call on my life. I've come face to face with the necessity to serve as Christ served, give, bless, and live not for myself but for my neighbor. I've realized that, for me, to serve is life and is the very thing that gives me purpose and reason to continue on living. Lastly, I've learned to appreciate the loved ones God has placed in my life. Selfless love is a prized gift. Previously, I've never said enough, showed enough, or reciprocated enough to the people in my life who love me above themselves and who would sacrifice themselves for me. This type of love and this type of person are more valuable than the biggest houses, most expensive diamonds, and best careers. May I remember such and love and appreciate them as I should upon my return to the States.

God has given us life so that we can live it; and not just live but live to the fullest. I earnestly pray that daily and hourly I remember God, His promises, His call on my life to serve, His call to place others before myself, His greatest sacrifice, and the freedom from this sacrifice that allows me to truly live.

May God Bless You in this Joyous Season of Our Savior's Birth,

Kendall Kash

"'For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"--Jeremiah 29:11

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."--John 10:10

Sisters...you don't know what you've got til their gone

Wow!!! I haven't posted in a really long time, but no worries. The last 3 weeks have been really busy for me. I'll just give you a little overview of what I've been up to over the last 3 weeks.

Sunday, November 23rd Kate and Kels arrived in Beijing to visit me for a week!!! I was absolutely thrilled. The week proceeding their arrival had been tough, frustrating, and exhausting, so I was really happy to see them. I met them at the Beijing Capital Airport, and we all headed to their hotel. After arriving, the girls decided they were hungry, and we went out to find something to eat. Kate informed me that she wanted some food that was gonna fill her up and not make her sick. Guess where we ended up? Yes, McDonalds. Kate and Kels's first meal in Beijing was good ol' American McDonalds...Haha. The flight had exhausted them, and afterwards they went to bed.

On Monday, Kate and Kels went sightseeing while I was in class. They hit up the Forbidden City, Bell Tower, Summer Palace, and hutongs (ancient alleys of Beijing). After class, I met up with them, and we all had some time just hanging out, being sisters, and laughing a ton. It was a really nice change from the normal weekday evening agenda. Tuesday, the 25th, the girls went to the Great Wall. After already climbing it myself, I knew they would be exhausted, so I left them to their hard climbing and then rest.

The girls and I met up after my morning class on Wednesday. We went to Yashow Market, a smaller, less frightening version of the Silk Market. Then we went to a Kung Fu show. Kung Fu is a pivotal part of Chinese culture, and the show was really fun and interesting. It's really amazing to see small 5 year old children doing Kung Fu, as well as men in their 20s and 30s. Thursday was the 24th, Thanksgiving. The girls came to Beijing Language and Culture University, my school, that day to have a look around at where I lived. They quickly discovered that I hadn't been exagerating about my room, dorm, and classmates. We ate at my favorite cheap, dirty, little Chinese restaurant, went to a DVD store to buy the most recently released films, and visited a Super Market to compare and contrast with Western super markets. After all this, we returned to my dorm to waste 3 hours playing "Save the Kitties." If you want a good example of how lame the three of us are, you should ask about "Save the Kitties." Since it was Thanksgiving, my assistant director had arranged a Thanksgiving dinner for all of us. My classmates and teachers got all dolled up, and we went to a African themed restaurant to eat our American style Thanksgiving feast prepared by Chinese chefs. The food, actually, ended up being a lot better than I expected, and Kate and Kels got to meet my classmates and teachers.

Friday was the girls last whole day in China, so we had a lot to do. During the morning, we went to the 798 District, the new art district in Beijing. We spent some time looking at galleries and walking around. From there we headed to the Silk Market to bargain for a couple items the girls were looking for. We did quite well bargaining our scarves down to 1/3 of the original price. One of the my father's favorite places to talk about in Beijing is Wangfujing or as he calls it, the weird food street. I couldn't let the girls leave without taking them to Wangfujing to taste some of the "delicacies" that my city had to offer. So we made our way there for Kelsey to partake in a little tourist food tasting. Although I tried to convince her to taste everything, she wasn't exactly willing. Kelsey did, however, eat a scorpion, starfish, seahorse, honeybees, and centipede. It was disgusting, thrilling, and hilarious. I don't know who was having a harder time, Kelsey who was actually eating the food, or Kate as she filmed Kelsey eating these little creatures. On Saturday, December 29th, Kate and Kels were supposed to meet their guide at 1 to go back to the airport, so we just hung around the hotel for awhile, took a quick stroll around the block, and then said our goodbyes. It was a really, really, really fun trip for them and me. I was so glad to get to share my experience, my life here, and my city with someone so close to me. The week passed in a blink, and before I knew it, I was bidding my lovely sisters adieu.

At the same time my sisters were returning to the United States, I was supposed to be flying to Bangkok, Thailand with Xandra, a friend from University of Illinois who is currently studying in Hong Kong. However, the protests at the Bangkok airport kept us from doing so, and my plans quickly changed from Bangkok to Hong Kong. So on Tuesday, December 2nd, I left Beijing on my way to Hong Kong to hang out and relax for a couple days. Hong Kong was beautiful and SOO different from Beijing/mainland China; I almost couldn't believe I was still technically in China. Not only was the weather 40-50 degrees warmer, but everyone spoke and wrote English. It was really wild! Xandra had prepared a whole list of things we should do, and on Wednesday we set out to accomplish some of them. She showed me around the city, and we went to a little beach front area to eat and hang out. Wednesday night we went to a horse race with some of her friends from school. It was so fun. I'd never been to a horse race before. It wasn't nearly as sophisticated, but it was still a real experience.

On Friday, Xandra and I decided we would go to Disneyland in Hong Kong. There are only so many Disney's in the world; and I figured if we were only miles away from one, we should def go to it. We had SOOO much fun! After deciding to go to Disneyland, Xandra came up with the idea that we should wear costumes...and so we did. Xandra went as Snow White, and I was Belle. We took the subway from Xandra's dorm to Disney, which is a REALLLY long ride. It was amusing how people looked at us. But we didn't care. We're young. We were just living life. The costumes ended up being totally worth it, because the workers at Disneyland adored us. We totally got preferential treatment. At Disney, we got to meet/take pics with Mickey, see a parade, ride a bunch of rides, and eat theme park food...YUMMY! Our little day trip made me totally want to go back to DisneyWorld with my family...oh the memories. We left Disney and made our way to Kowloon, the main shopping street/area in Hong Kong. We spent some time looking around shops and such, wasting time until the Kowloon light show. Every night at 8:00pm in Kowloon on the river, there is this enormous and phenomenal light show...I think the biggest in the world or something like that. Anyway, all these huge skyscrapers and important buildings time their lights to music, and the lights kinda tell a story. It's kinda like those houses hung with Christmas lights that would flash to Christmas music a couple years ago that became really popular on the web....if you remember that...We watched the light show...AMAZING!

On Saturday, Xandra and I went to the main "downtown" area of Hong Kong, ate really good American breakfast (s0mething you can NOT find in Beijing), and hung around for awhile. Nothing big or too exciting. After our day at Disneyland, we were needing a chill day. My flight left on Sunday afternoon, so Xandra, a friend, and I got some tasty Italian food at a really nice little restaurant called Wagyu. It was a delicious end to a couple fun and relaxing days.

I got back to Beijing late on Sunday nite and have been super busy with school work since then. I have a big Chinese final and speech, a Sociology paper, and a film paper that I need to all have done in about week, along with daily Chinese homework. I know it doesn't sound like much compared to what students at many universities in the States are doing. But after having so little required of me during the rest of the semester, it's exhausting to suddenly be expected to actually work. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get thru it.

So this has been my life over the last 3 weeks...a whirlwind of sisters, friends, fun, and school. I leave Beijing in 12 days to return the to the States. It's really wild to think about! I simply can't believe I'm actually, really going home. The closer I get to the end, the more I find myself in a total heap of emotions. I'm so excited to return home and see all my loved ones. But I'm totally sad to leave this chapter of my life and the city that I've grown to love. I'm absolutely fed up with my classmates but frown at the thought that after this we won't talk daily. I long to give myself to a greater good but hate the idea of unfulfilled plans for myself. I find myself blurring the line between sorrow and joy, as one melds into the other. It's amazing how seemingless unimportant people, conversations, and events have ushered me into confusion yet hope at the same time. I cease to know anything, and yet I have somehow become ok with that...Oh China...

Regardless of everything, all my emotions and worries, I'm very excited to come home and see you all. I've missed you dearly.

Love,

Kendall

I have recently been quite unable to remove these phrases from my mind (I blame this partially on my father). I hope that they bring some of the inspiration and life to you, as they have to me. And if they don't, then I suggest you read/re-read Charles Dickens' "The Tale of Two Cities."

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

Lazy Days

I spent most of today either doing homework or cleaning, which was actually really relaxing and enjoyable. I sat in my window and watched the sun set behind the mountains, and now I'm coloring in a Disney Princesses coloring book. I love the lazy days!!! Tomorrow we are all going to the Forbidden City. Although I've been to the Forbidden City in the past, I've never actually had the opportunity to go inside. I'm excited!!! I'll be sure to update you all on that tomorrow. Love you and miss you bunches!!!!!!

It's All About Him,

Kendall

What are the Chances?

So, today was the first day of classes after a week long break. And today I felt so terrible that I missed part of one class and all of another. What are the chances? As soon as school starts again, I get sick. And I haven't been sick the whole time I've been in China. Why couldn't I feel bad last week? Anyway, Kels and Kate will be here in 12 days...I'm counting down the hours. CAN'T WAIT!!!! Just wanted to put up a little update.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Kendall

I'm Just too Young...I Still Feel 12

I sit here in my favorite cafe in Wudaokou staring rather blankly at my computer screen and typing words that I feel completely separated from. Why? I just finished signing up for my Spring '09 courses at U of I...my last semester of classes. And after signing up for the semester, I submitted my Intent to Graduate in Spring 2009. Intent to Graduate...WHAT??? I can't possibly be about to graduate. I'm not smart enough. I'm not old enough. I haven't learned enough. I'm not ready enough. I sit in this cafe feeling extremely small...much more like a lost, uneducated 12 year-old girl than a confident, soon-to-graduate 21 year-old young lady. I look around and find no familiar faces. I close my eyes and listen to the numerous different languages that I don't know. What am I doing with myself? A question I'm sure you've often found yourself asking. Yet as I sit here dry-mouthed with shaking hands and a racing heart, I find myself smiling. There's something beautiful about the unplanned; something perfect about throwing oneself into the unknown. For those of you who know me well, the thought of me delighting in NOT having plans probably comes as a slight shock to you. Afterall, I did have most of my life planned at about the age of 11 with charts and success sheets depicting a more intricate picture of the rest of my future added at about 16. It's funny. In the midst of my planning and organizing, I discover my future utterly unplanned. But instead of finding myself in a state of panic, I find myself in a state of calm, a nervous calm but calm nonetheless. I rest easy, or at least somewhat easier, knowing that despite my lack of plans there is some greater, grander plan that I'm unable to see; something better, more beautiful, and more worthy than anything I could ever ask for or imagine. So I continue to sit here, shaking and small, and drink my coffee, looking to the future not with worry but with the excitement that comes with seeing a promise fulfilled.

I love you all dearly. Your prayers, support, and love mean more to me than I could ever put into words.

May His Glory and Honor Be Portrayed Through Us All Today,

Kendall

The Halfway Point

Last Friday, we had a HUGE Chinese mid-term...marking the halfway point in my China trip. In celebration of being half done, we were given this week off to breathe, relax, and take a break from school. However, a little drama caused my plans to fall thru. So, I find myself staying in Beijing this week, which actually isn't as terrible an option as it sounds. I have a ton of work to do, which needs to be done before the arrival of my FABULOUS sisters in a couple weeks. I find myself right now sitting at my desk and writing characters while watching my millionth episode of Gilmore Girls. I like my Gilmore Girls. I like my desk and character writing. I like Beijing. I like my life!!!

Thought I'd drop a line to let you all know what I'm up to. MISS YOU BUNCHES!!!

Love, love, love

Kendall

Yeah, yeah...THE GREAT WALL!!!

It's been about a hundred years since I've updated, which signifies two things...1) China has had me EXTREMELY busy over the last couple weeks and 2) I haven't been up to much other than the typical studying, eating, sleeping, etc. However, this weekend I did something atypical. I went on an 11K hike across the Great Wall. FINALLY!!! I've been in China for almost 2 months and hadn't yet actually climbed Beijing's part of the Great Wall. Seeing as we would be hiking (=climbing a million trillion stairs), my Alliance adviser wanted to wait until the weather got a little cooler to make the climbing easier. About half way thru last week, the weather in Beijing got dramatically colder. The mid-70s temperatures that we had been enjoying turned to low-mid-50s temperature. So our adviser decided that we should go climb the Wall. We climbed onto a bus at 10:00 Saturday morning and headed off to our destination. We were going to climb an older, more authentic, and less touristic portion of the wall...from Jinshanling to Simatai...a little over 11 kilometers total...so we traveled 2 and a half hours away from the city to do so. A little after noon, we excitedly arrived at Jinshinlang and were welcomed by several shirpas. (Note: Shirpas are peasants/farmers who live near the Great Wall and "help" tourists climb portions of the Wall in hopes that at the end of the climb the tourists will be willing to buy a book, shirt, or some other small trinket in return for the help. Although this notion originally greatly annoyed me, my adviser, Bing, explained that this is part of these people's livelihoods. If the weather is bad, they have bad harvests and rely upon selling things to tourist for income. After hearing such, I was much more inclined to help.) We climbed up a couple of sets of stairs and saw the grandiose of the Great Wall. It was breathtaking...SOOO huge and beautiful!!!!! Jinshanling and Simatai were both unrefurbished (I can't think of the correct English word...too long in China) parts of the Great Wall; so climbing was hard with a lot of loose gravel/rock and unlevel stairs and such. It was hard work, and several times I quietly wondered to myself what exactly I was doing. Nevertheless, I continued to climb. And after almost 4 hours of excruciatingly painful and difficult climbing, I saw the end of our 11K hike. And I smiled on the outside and on the inside at the feat I had just accomplished. And there was a perfect ending to our incredible day...a zipline across a gorgeous lake to the bottom of the mountain range!!!

My legs are still aching, and I can't take the stairs without being reminded of my hard 11K hike. But it was satisfying and beautifully natural and well worth it. It's funny how every time I began to get a little down, I open my eyes and find God in a new place in China...in the faces of laughing children, in the warm breeze on my cheek as I walk to class, and most recently in the natural scenic beauty surrounding the Great Wall. I smile as I think back on the abundance of God's fingerprints I've seen. It amazes me that people are still able to doubt Him with the Divine Maker's evidence all around. May we constantly, every minute of every single day, be reminded of the greatness and love of our Father, of His eternal promises, and His CONSTANT presence in our lives. We serve a GREAT GOD indeed!!!

Love you and miss you all WAY more than I'd really like to admit!!! ; )

Dancing in the eternal beauty of the One True God,

Kendall

The Journey Westward: Day 8 & 9

Day 8 (October 3rd, 2008)---Today was a great day! All of China is on one time zone. So the sun rises really early and sets really early in Beijing but rises late and sets late in Urumqi. Hence, the people in Xinjiang start the day very late. Breakfast usually isn't any earlier than 8:30 and most people don't have to be at work until about 10. On the rest of the trip, we had been expected to wake early and began our day early, but now we could finally sleep in...YAY!!! We got up at 9 and set off to my most anticipated spot on the whole entire trip, Heavenly Lake. I had heard prior to our trip that Heavenly Lake was one of the most beautiful natural spots in all of China. However, I was a little worried it would be a complete let down after being so disappointed by the Flaming Mountain. But as we drove closer and closer to Heavenly Lake, I realized that it was even more beautiful than I had anticipated it would be. We pulled into the parking lot and saw waterfalls all around with moutains and pine trees. We boarded a bus to take us up the mountain to the lake, and then upon arriving, took a 15-20 minute hike to the lake. This place is undoubtedly one of God's many blessings to mankind; His presence was so evident. I can not even put into words the beauty of it all. It was quite possibly the most serene and perfect place I have ever been in my whole life. After spending a couple hours at the Heavenly Lake, we headed to a traditional Kazak yurt and ate some traditional Kazak snacks. Our last destination of the day was Red Mountain Park. However, the previous week of the trip as well as the whole day at the Heavenly Lake had really exhausted me. So while half of our group went to hang out at the Red Mountain Park, the other half of the group, me included, headed back to our hotel to rest and chill out for the rest of the evening. My roommate and I grabbed some Pizza Hut and watched "Mega Snake" and then it was off to bed.

Day 9 (October 4th, 2008)---Today was the last day in Urumqi and the last day of our Westward Journey. We woke up at 10 and headed to yet another museum. But unlike the Shaanxi Museum in Xi'an, this museum was BORING!!! The best part of the entire museum was the mummies, and even those weren't so spectacular. We finished at the museum and made our way to the famous Bazaar of Urumqi. The Bazaar was a huge marketplace with numerous shops all over the streets and shops in multi-storey buildings. I think it is the biggest bazaar in all of Xinjiang. We spent a couple hours there eating dried fruit, buying pashminas, and listening to Uyghur music. It was a very enjoyable ending to our time in Xinjiang and our trip as a whole. From the Bazaar, we went for a traditional Uyghur dinner at a Muslim restaurant and then were off to the airport to make our way back to Beijing. Honestly, I was quite ready to get back to Beijing. After being gone for 9 days, I missed all my local hang outs and the Beijing language and food. I was so glad to be heading back to my home city in China. We got to the airport, and a couple of my classmates found out that Chinese airlines don't allow you to check alcohol. Since Xinjiang is so well-known for it, a couple classmates had bought Xinjiang wine to bring back to Beijing. So instead of checking their wine with the airlines, we opened the bottles and all toasted the end of our trip with a glass of wine; such a story book ending to an absolutely amazing trip. Hours later, we arrived back in Beijing, and I found that I had a small grin on my face as I looked out onto my loved city of Beijing and thought back on the many fabulous memories I will forever carry with me.....



And this was my Journey Westward.

The Journey Westward: Day 5, 6 & 7

Day 5 (September 30th, 2008: Nathan's BIRTHDAY!!!)---After trying to entertain ourselves someway, anyway the night before, we left the hotel on to do the only thing Jiayuguan had to offer; the one thing that makes the city famous...Jiayuguan Fort, the beginning of the Great Wall in the West. We all hopped on a bus and pulled up to the entrance an hour later. I didn't quite know what to expect at the Fort. Much to my surprise, Jiayuguan Fort was absolutely B-E-A-UTIFUL!!! The Fort is surrounded by snow-capped moutains and lakes and the sun was out and it was all simply gorgeous! We spent the better part of the morning walking around the Fort and taking pictures. The Fort has a bunch of guards that walked around in ancient wardrobe and imitated the old Great Wall soldiers. You could also shoot arrows from the top of the tower at dolls of Mongolian people. (The Chinese had/have a deep disgust for the Mongolian people.) That was pretty much all Jiayuguan had to offer us. We returned to the main city center, ate lunch, and then headed to a portion of the Great Wall that we could actually climb. (Jiayuguan Fort isn't part of what people would traditionally call the Great Wall. It's more a set of buildings and towers to keep watch from. But you can't actually climb or explore the Great Wall from it. So we had to bus to another part of the Great Wall to climb.) And so we set out to climb the Great Wall...the equivalent of 17 stories of stairs....SO MUCH CLIMBING!!! But I had the greatest sense of accomplishment when we finally reached the top. The view was pretty (as pretty as a desert view can be), and it was fun to have actually climbed the Great Wall after being here for a month and not doing so. We spent an hour or so at the Wall and then jumped back on the bus for...more traveling..more specifically a 5 hour bus ride to Dunhuang. We arrived in Dunhuang that night and checked into our 2-star Chinese hotel. Please take a minute and try to imagine what a 2-star Chinese hotel would look like...yeah, it was about that bad! In Chinese hotels, you must insert a key into a slot on the wall in order to make the electricity work. In the hotels prior to this one, the key we had used was also the door key to our room. So my roommate, Katie, and I walked into our room, and Katie shoved our door key into the power slot to turn on the electricity. However when the electricity didn't come on, we realized there was a problem. Katie had put the wrong key in the power slot. The door and power keys were 2 separate keys. We had to go find a hotel worker to come and help us. The dialect spoken in Dunhuang was so different from Beijing dialect that we couldn't understand anything she said to us. Then the worker had to go find an electrician, who proceeded to remove the socket from the wall sending sparks thru the air and nearly electricuting himself. After the key/power fiasco, we cleaned up and headed into Dunhuang's city center. Dunhuang has one of the most famous nite market's in Western China where you can buy food, clothes, trinkets, etc, almost anything. We did that and then headed back to hotel for bed.

Day 6 (October 1st, 2008)---We had come to Dunhuang for 2 specific reasons: 1) to see the desert, which began literally right on the city's borders and 2) to visit the Mogao Caves. And so we set off in a bus early this morning to take the short drive to the desert. It was absolutely ridiculous when we got there. Out of nowhere the desert just began. So crazy to be driving down a paved road one minute and then walking thru the deserts seconds later with sand dunes in the background. We all took some time to just walk around taking pictures and such. The part of the desert that we visited had a well-known oasis called the Crescent Lake. We headed that way and took more pictures of ourselves but quickly became bored with our photoshoot. Next on the agenda, sand boarding. For those of you who have visited a desert, you may have had a chance to partake in this. Basically, you climb up a sand dune a couple hundred meters, then get on a wooden board and "sled" down the dune. The majority of the people in my program chose to do so and rather enjoyed it. I, however, was feeling the effects of eating random street food the nite before and decided it not the best idea to throw myself on a speeding board down a sandy mountain. Plus, I was trying to get everyone to hurry up when sand boarding, because I couldn't wait for the next event...riding camels in the desert...YAY!!! My classmates finally finished sand boarding, and we off to meet our camels. The camel rides were in groups of 5 people and led by a local camel "expert." We got on our camels, mine was named Shaneequa because she walked with a certain sassiness and attitude much like myself, and headed up the dunes. The camels were slow, and the desert scenery began to repeat itself; sand dune after sand dune after sand dune. Nonetheless, I had a blast. I HEART riding camels!!! We got to the top of the dune we were climbing and had the opportunity to get down and walk around. A couple of my guy friends decided they wanted to roll down the dune in a huge plastic ball. You know what I'm talking about. Those big bubble looking balls that you climb inside and roll in. But they discovered that the promised "ride" down the dune was only like 6 feet; hardly far enough to pay money to do. Instead we got back on our camels and got ready to head down the dune. I climbed back on Shaneequa and turned around to talk to my classmate that was behind me when his camel started making some crazy noises and then spit all over me. SO GROSS!!! I had heard people say that camels spit, but I suppose I had invisioned something different. Let me tell you, camels spit, and it is loud and slimy and dirty...simply YUCK!!! I was left riding down the dune feeling miserable while everyone attempted to not laugh at the fact that I had been spit on. I think my classmates are picking up the fact that I rather like order and cleanliness. The fact that I, not another classmate who would have probably cared less, would have to spend the rest of the day in a shirt with camel spit struck them as particularly funny. Our camel ride ended along with our time at the desert, and we headed into town to eat. After lunch, we headed to our second demonstration...the Mogao Caves. These caves are the largest collection of Buddhist grottoes in the whole world. Despite what many of my classmates would say, it was really interesting to hear the history behind the grottoes and see the beauty of each. The first cave we walked into was home to the 2nd or 3rd largest indoor Buddha in the world. I believe the Buddha statue was 35 meters tall. It was absolutely spectacular. Buddha's hand was 3 times as big as my entire body. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the caves for obvious reasons, but I encourage you to Google or Yahoo or somehow look at some of the beautiful grottoes found at the Mogao Caves. Each cave contained different art, and I found each to be uniquely beautiful. Our time at the Mogao Caves was cut somewhat short by the fact that we had to catch yet another train. This was our last train, and I couldn't have been more excited. However, I was less than excited to find out that we wouldn't be able to shower until about 8pm the following nite...not good news for Miss Kendall Kash. As earlier stated, I can not properly start my day until a shower and a cup of coffee. But I had no other choice than continue on this crazy China journey. We got to the train station and boarded the train for our 13 hour train ride...BIG FUN...

Day 7 (October 2nd, 2008)---Our train arrived a little after 7am, and I found myself in another new Chinese province. This time we were in Xinjiang; China's westernmost province and home to the Chinese Muslim minority population, the Uyghurs. Our first stop in Xinjiang was the city of Turpan. Turpan is a very important stop on the Silk Road. The ancient city of Gaochang, which is about an hour outside of the city, was the oldest city on the Silk Road about 2000 years old. In the 1300s, Gaochang was abandoned and is now a famous ruins. We arrived at Gaochang and took donkey carts to the actual site of the ruins. We spent the better part of the morning exploring the ruins and listening to our guide retell the importance of the ancient city. After Gaochang, we went to a traditional Uyghur home. Xinjiang is well-known for its vineyards, raisins, dates, and wine. At the Uyghur home, we had the opportunity to taste many different kinds of raisins and dates. Then we went to the vineyard behind the house and picked grapes. It was super yummy eating grapes straight from the vine and roaming around the vineyard to find the perfect bunch of grapes. And then we were off again to our next destination...the Flaming Mountain. The Flaming Mountain is the hottest place in all of China. During the summer, the Flaming Mountain is so hot that it can melt the soles a person's shoe, almost 80 degrees Celsius. The Flaming Mountain was hands down the most boring part of the entire trip to me. It looked exactly like every other mountain to me. I wasn't exactly sure why we were going out of our way to look at something I've seen numerous times before. The Flaming Mountain finished our time in Turpan. We headed to the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, via bus, and 2 hours later we arrived. Xinjiang was the biggest and most modern city of our entire trip. It was so pretty and lively and fun!!! After arriving in Urumqi, we showered, dinnered, and then my roommate and I watched some terrible Chinese movies until we fell asleep.

The Journey Westward: Day 3 & 4

Day 3 (Sunday, September 28th, 2008)---After a good night's rest in a bed with a real mattress (my dorm mattress is practically a piece of plywood), I excitedly awoke and got ready for the day. As some of you may know, Xi'an is most famous for its collection of Terra Cotta soldiers. And today, we were going to see them...YAY!!! (If you don't know what the Terra Cotta soldiers, please, please Google them. There is actually quite an interesting story behind them). My classmates and I met for a "Western" breakfast and then quickly boarded the bus off on journey to the soldiers. We arrived at the Terra Cotta soldier museum and spent an hour or 2 looking at boring stuff that was found with the soldiers, like an umbrella stand and ancient shoes. Then it was onto the big show...THE SOLDIERS!!! It was absolutely breath-taking. We stepped into a huge room, and there before us were thousands of Terra Cotta soldiers...how astonishing! If you ever have the chance to go and see them, you should. I can't quite put into words how beautiful it all is at first. We spent a couple hours looking at the different Terra Cotta soldiers in the different rooms. There are actually 3 different rooms in which the soldiers are housed, instead of them all being in one room. This is because the soldiers have been left exactly where they were excavated. We left the Terra Cotta museum and headed back into Xi'an to go to the Great Mosque.

The Great Mosque is one of the oldest and most well known mosques in all of China. It was built during the Tang Dynasty (600s-700s AD) and is today one of the 3 main mosques that Chinese Muslims make pilgrimages to. The Great Mosque was beautiful. It was, at first, difficult to remember that the place was indeed a Muslim mosque seeing as how all the construction is done in a very Chinese style. It looked more like a Buddhist temple to me than a Muslim mosque. The Great Mosque was a series of buildings set around a central garden. It is probably the most peaceful and quiet place I've found in China yet. We walked around, looked at the buildings, and watched several Muslims reciting their prayers. However, that was about all the Great Mosque had to offer us; so after several minutes we decided we'd seen it all and headed into the streets of Xi'an for some bartering and eating. Bartering/bargaining is an absolute way of life in China. Other than in Western style shopping malls, bargaining isn't only encouraged but is a necessity (as I briefly explained in regards to the Silk Market). Chinese vendors set the prices of their items at about 4-5 times, sometimes as much as 10 times, more than what the product is actually worth, hoping that some unknowing tourist will stumble into their store/upon their kiosk and actually pay that price. But bargaining is tiring. Yelling at Chinese vendors while they throw fits and yell back can really take it out of a person. A couple hours of bargaining was enough for all of us, and we reconvened to head to the Big Goose Pagoda.

The Big Goose Pagoda...what a name!!! I can't remember the Chinese name, but the English name is a terrible translation of the actually Chinese characters. Anyway, we all went to the Big Goose Pagoda to see the largest water show in all of China. It was SOOO cool!!! Seriously, Disney and the Bellagio have a lot to learn from China. The water show was done in sync with several classic masterpieces. Not only was their water and music but also lights and fireworks. Xi'an's water show was so pretty, so fancy. I didn't expect this out of China. Our time at the Big Goose Pagoda was cut short by the fact that we needed to go catch a train to make our way to Jiayuguan...yes, another train ride...the bane of my existence. And so off we went to get on another China train for a 20 hour train ride...yes, 20 hours.

Day 4 (September 29th, 2008)---The majority of today was spent on a train, traveling from Xi'an to Jiayuguan. I nearly pulled my hair out. Just try to imagine living in a small box with 5 other people for 20 hours with nothing to do and loud Chinese chatterring all around. I have one word...TERRIBLE!!! When we finally arrived, Jiayuguan looked like the promised land to me. I had never seen such a beautiful city (although a couple hours after the train ride when I had recouped I realized Jiayuguan was a terribly boring and dirty city. It ended up being my least favorite city on the whole trip). We checked into our 4-star hotel, which I would say is the equivalent of maybe a 2-star hotel in the States, and then we ate. After showering and dinner, we all decided that we had to get out and could no longer sit around after the long train ride. So we headed into the city to find some fun. However, we quickly discovered that Jiayuguan didn't really have much to offer. The population of Jiayuguan is 150,000, super small by Chinese standards. So there wasn't much night life, and after an hour or 2 of wondering we wound up back at our hotel for some sleep.

The Journey Westward: Day 1 & 2

My trip was really long, and each day was absolutely packed with activities, sights, and feedings. Therefore, I've decided to try to break up the trip into a couple different sections/posts, so you can just kinda skim over what you find interesting and ignore the rest....enjoy your reading...

Day 1 (Friday, September 26th, 2008)---We, all 19 students in my program along with our program director Bing, left campus at 3:30 pm and headed to the train station. After battling Friday afternoon, holiday traffic in Bejing for an hour (it took like an hour to travel 17 kilometers...ridiculous), we finally arrived at the Beijing West train station, the largest train station in all of China. I nervously followed the rest of my classmates as we weaved our way thru the maze of Chinese people to our sitting area. I had never been on a train, and now I was about to get onto a China train for a 13-hour train ride. I calmed my nerves and made my way onto the train. I can't be positive, because I couldn't see my face. But I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the floor when I walked onto the train. I couldn't believe how teeny tiny the space we were supposed to live on for the next 13 hours was. There were 3 bunks stacked on top of each other with 3 more bunks stacked identically about an arm's length away. The entire car consisted of these "rooms," which were about the size of a closet...no jokes...I'm talking small here. And that train ride was a foreshadowing for all the rest of the traveling we would do over the next 9 days. Small unsanitary places and lots and lots of people. I was 150% outside of my comfort zone. A) I love cleanliness and organization...this train lacked both. For exampled, the "toilets" were squatters, aka holes in the bottom of the floor which one is expected to squat over and use while a train is barrelling down a track and taking turns on its side...just picture that. B) I hate eating or sleeping in front of people...I was expected to sleep out in the open pretty much next to people I had only known 2 weeks and share meals on a bumpy, shaky train which left food all over my body in potentially embarrassing places, such as my hair, ear, shoulder, foot, you name it. C) I am unable to properly function without a shower first thing in the morning...it is no surprise that trains don't have showers on them so you can just guess how that worked for me. Now I may sound like an absolute Negative Nancy but don't think I am. I loved the trip, and I'm sure coping with these uncomfortable aspects was somehow good for me. That's just an overall glimpse of China train travel that I thought you should know. And that was the entire first day/13 hours of our trip.

Day 2 (Saturday, September 27th, 2008)---We arrived in Xi'an at about 7 am and were, luckily, allowed to check into our hotel. We were all quite excited, because Bing, our director, had told us that we would be enjoying a Western breakfast. Breakfast in China is less than spectacular...cold noodles, pickled cucumbers, eggs...so upon hearing the phrase "Western breakfast" we all found ourselves in high spirits. Yet after arriving at our hotel, we discoverd "Western breakfast" in China means toast and peanut butter. I was thinking pancakes, bacon, and coffee and instead found Chinese breakfast plus toast and peanut butter. After breakfast we showered and hung out around the hotel for a little bit before heading out into the city. Xi'an was the first capital of China ever, and it was the largest city in the world for more than 1000 years. It holds an important part of Chinese history, and we were going to go see a bit of it. We went to the city wall, which has been up for a couple hundred years (I don't remember exactly how long). And then we went to a famous street that sells calligraphy and jade and such. It would all have been a pleasant experience except for the fact that it was absolutley pouring...not the best first impression, Xi'an. Raining when I arrived...that's not gonna get you any brownie points. After freezing in the rain for awhile we headed to one of the most famous museums in China, the Shaanxi National Museum. There we looked at old pottery, tools, and clothing. Although many of my fellow classmates would disagree, I find it quite fascinating and interesting. A 13-hour train ride, freezing rain, and museums can really take it out of you. So after 5 hours of museum-ing (not entirely sure if that is a word or not), we headed back to our hotel for dinner and sleep...ahhh, sweet sleep. And there you have it Day 1 & 2 of my Western journey.

Oh no, my computer is gonna die any minute, and I can't find my power cord. So I better skidaddle. I'll have the rest of the trip up along with the site to my pictures soon.

LOVE YOU!!!

Kendall

Oh Beijing, how I missed you!

So...I'm finally back from my 10 day trek thru all, not literally all but what felt like all, of Western China. It was an absolutely thrilling, tiring, beautiful, long trip. I have so many stories to tell and pictures to show, but for right now I just wanted to let everyone know I had returned safely back to the capital, back to my home away from home. I'll post a more detailed report of my trip later today along with a site you can visit to see the pics I've captured of China thus far. I miss you all terribly!!! May the hand of God guide you as you walk thru life today.

Revelling in this opportunity,

Kendall

Here I Come Western China!!!

So I'm literally leaving in 11 minutes to travel for the next 9 days around the western areas of China. We're hitting up Xi'an (home of the Terra Cotta soldiers), Jiayu Guan (the very beginning gate of the Great Wall), and Urumqi (the capital of Xinjiang, which is the Muslim minority homeland in China). It's gonna be an amazing trip, and I'm SOOO excited. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and stories to share when I get back. I love you all SUPER, SUPER MUCHO and miss you bunches!!!!!

It's All About Him!!!

Kendall

Oh China...you're just like a bad tease!!!

You know that guy (or girl) who totally flirts with you every time you see him (or her). And just when you start to think you might be interested in him (or her), you find out that he (or she) was never really interested in you. That person is just the inevitable bad tease. Well I've come across my own tease. However, this tease doesn't come in the the form of an attractive young man. No, no...this tease is much larger. Let's think like country large. China, you're just like a bad tease!!! You're probably thinking what could this rant possibly be about? Well, let me tell you.

So in my past posts and in all the conversations I've had with any of you, I've been quite positive about all China has to offer. My last post even kicked around the possibility that I was beginning to fall in great like, possibly love, with this country. But just like a bad tease, China has drug me along for the past 3 weeks only to humiliate and hurt me this week. (Sidenote: This note probably shouldn't be taken too seriously. Since "the incident" I've recovered and fallen back in love with China. So no one worry too much about the severity of this post.)

On Sunday, I went to the Summer Palace with a couple of friends to see the beauty of the area before fall had completely overtaken summer. So we went, and it was absolutely beautiful. The art and the architecture...simply beautiful. Well, about half way thru the tour of the Summer Palace, which ended up being about 20 times larger than we first believed it to be, it began to rain. It wasn't a cold rain or a necessarily hard rain. Thus, we decided to continue on our journey. We were, after all, at the highest point of the Summer Palace. I suppose we didn't have much option other than to descend the mountain. And herein this simple and menial task of descending stairs did "the incident" occur. The majority of the steps at the Palace are marble. So the rain made them wet. And I just happened to be wearing flip-flops (unaware of the chance of rain). You probably already guessed as I slowly and cautiously walked down the last set of about 20 stairs, I slipped and fell in front of, oh let's say, 35 Chinese people. It was in that very moment, I knew China had been setting me up for the last 3 weeks; allowing me to think I could trust and love it, only to humiliate me in front of a crowd. Oh China...you're just like a bad tease! So I hurt my ankle and couldn't really walk on it for 2 days, but now I'm better...YAY!!!

That's pretty much the most exciting thing that has happened in the last week. On Friday, we're leaving for our week long trip (with the Alliance program) on the Silk Road into the interior and west parts of China. I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY excited about it!!! I'll def post again before then and let you all know what's going on here in China!

LOVE YOU!!!

Kendall

So this is love...

(My roommate, Katie, at the Silk Market)
I'm absolutely falling in great like, possibly even love, with this city! The more I see and the more I explore, the more I like it. This weekend I had the opportunity to see various different areas around Beijing and further experience life here...SOOO much fun!!!

On Friday, my roommate and I met up with a friend of hers, Lenny, who has been living in Beijing for the last 7 months and working in the broadcasting sector for the Olympics. Being here several months, he's made many, many friends that we had the opportunity to meet. It was really enjoyable hanging out with "locals" (although none of them were actually Chinese, they had all lived here in excess of 4 years). It's a completely different dynamic from trying to figure out the city alone. My roommate, Katie, and I got to sit back and actually enjoy ourselves without having to put energy into translation and reading maps and such. All of Lenny's friends were really laid back and fun; and even better they were all soccer players!!! One of them even used to play for Manchester United for 4 years until he got injured...be still my beating heart...JUST KIDDING. But really you know how I love soccer players!

This was the weekend for meeting cool people. On Saturday while hanging around outside of our dorm, Katie, Tony (another friend), and I met this cool French Canadian guy named Yan. It is hard to find fluent or anywhere near fluent English speakers here in my dorm or in Wudaokou, the surrounding neighborhood. So we were all pleasantly surprised to discover Yan spoke English fluently and was from our neck of the woods, relatively speaking. The four of us hung out the rest of the day, getting to know each other, and discussing East vs. West. It was relaxed and natural and a breath of fresh air.

Katie and Tony decided we should show Yan around some of the attractions of the city on Sunday, since he had only been here 2 days. After discussion, we decided we would take him to Wangfujing to the Night Market. For those of you who don't know, this is the infamous street in Beijing where tourists go to eat all kinds of odd and disturbing foods, such as starfish, seahorse, honey bees, silk worms, sea urchin, scorpions, pretty much anything you can think of. However, upon arriving there, much to our dismay, the Night Market was closed for the Moon Cake Festival (an odd holiday in which Chinese people thank the moon by eating little sweets called moon cakes. It dates back to ancient China.) Luckily, Wangfujing is also the number one place for Western shopping. So instead of eating deep fried scorpion dipped in soy sauce, we decided to window shop.

Window shopping led to the desire to actually shop, and the four of us soon decided we would go to the Silk Market and see what kind of deals we could get. [Sidenote: The Silk Market is another infamous attraction in Beijing where thousands upon thousands of knock-off designer clothing, purses, shoes, etc. are sold. The price depends upon your bargaining skills. It's a typical Beijing experience that any visitor to the city must take part in.] It is safe to say, we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into. We arrived at the Silk Market, walked in the doors, and immediately the Chinese salespersons were upon us. Every stall had people calling out to us in English to come, look, and buy. These people are good. You haven't even seen salesman/woman until you've come into contact with these people. They shouted all kind of things, like "Sister, come try this clothing! This jacket made just for you; look perfect for you. I give you special bargain cause you speak Chinese." and a million other things all the while reaching out and grabbing us and shoving articles of clothing in front of our faces. Once you actually entered the stall, it was another experience. The salespeople ask for ridiculously high prices, and you're supposed to barter with them. But these salespeople aren't just salespeople, they could also be professional actors/actresses. I saw some of the most convincing surprised and offended faces from them when hearing offering prices from their prey (that was us); I even saw actual tears from one saleswoman. I can't fully explain it without you actually living it. It was a whirlwind. It was, at first, quite intimidating. But after awhile, quite fun. By the end of our shopping experience, we loved the place. Katie and I are already planning a trip back. And that was pretty much the day. The Silk Market wore us all out so we came back to Wudaokou, went to our favorite pizza place (yes, pizza in Beijing), and hit the hay. And that's actually what I'm gonna do right now. I hope this post finds you well. God Bless!!!

It's All About Him,

Kendall

Today was the first day in my new, more advanced Chinese class. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the class, as of yet, isn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined it would be. I think it is a very good fit considerring where I left off in my Chinese studies at the University. The teacher is good, the students are cool, and I actually knew what was going on today in class...YIPPEE!!! So all my worrying for nothing. God is great; God is faithful. Why do I always sweat the small stuff?

I've discovered since arriving here that several of the students on my program are fellow believers, fellow Christians. And again I must say how great is our God? I was kinda worried that I'd be thrown into an unhealthy and unwelcoming environment here and that my faith would suffer. But God provides for my needs even before I know what they are. It's been a great blessing to have the opportunity to talk with these students and simply know we share a bond much deeper and stronger than I can explain. We serve an absolutely amazing God!!! As I lift my eyes to Him, He reaches down to me. How lucky I am! I'll leave you all with lyrics from a song that has been on my heart to remind me of who exactly our God is.

LOVE,

Kendall

I will lift my eyes to the Maker of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You.

Oh the decisions...

After sitting thru another day of an EXTREMELY boring Chinese class, I have made the decision to.....move up a level into a much more advanced class. I'm SOOO nervous; my pulse quickens and my hands begin to sweat just thinking about the difficulty of the class I am about to throw myself into. I'm afraid that if I do poorly in the class then the transferred credit will hurt my overal GPA; not a good thing when trying to apply for a good law school. But I'm here to learn Chinese, and in a class where I already know everything, I won't be learning much. So all that being said, I've decided to go for it. Please, please, please be praying for me, that my nerves will be calmed and that I put in as much time and effort as possible to learn this difficult language.

Today was a pretty boring day other than this decision. I just went to class, ate, napped, went to class, and then homeworked...oh the life of the college student. I should actually probably get back to homeworking now. Love you all!!!

All for One, All for Him,

Kendall

Settling in to China life

After weeks and weeks of waiting and anticipating, I finally arrived in Beijing last Wednesday at 3:30 Beijing time (which I believe is 13 hours ahead of Illinois time right now). I felt like I was stepping into a completely new world. As nervous and scared as I was, excitement overwhelmed my whole being at the thought that I had finally arrived in China, my home for the next 4 months. Wednesday nite I met the other people in my program, and we all went to dinner together. I'm really glad with the group of people that I'm surrounded with. We are all quite different from each other with different backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. Yet, for the most part, we all get along quite well; something I was very pleased to discover. My roommate is from Naperville, and she's really cool. She makes me laugh, and this past week we've had a lot of fun together. I thank God for blessing me with someone I relate so well with.

From Thursday thru Sunday, we had orientation for Alliance (my program). It was terribly boring. Our director went over hours and hours of unnecessary information that I'm sure we all knew but is Alliance policy to cover. We did get to go to Tian'anmen on Friday afternoon to see part of "downtown" Beijing. I live in Haidian District, the northwestern part of Beijing. The area I live in is quite nice, simple, and liveable...but it's no "downtown" Beijing. Tian'anmen was absolutely beautiful. As we walked around the area, numerous Chinese people walked up to us to take pictures and simply stare at us. It's somewhat annoying to have people studying us like we're animals, but it also opens my eyes to the lives of other "minority people" living around the world. How odd to think that people in Marshall and the surrounding areas look at my own siblings like that.

Other than going to Tian'anmen, we didn't do much outside of the dorm during orientation. (Sidenote: The dorms are surprisingly nice. As said earlier, I do have a roommate, but we have our own bathroom...granted the bathroom is actually a shower head hanging over the toilet with a sink to the side. Anyway, I hear our dorms are much nicer than many in the surrounding areas, because we're Internationals living in the International Dorm.) Today was the first day of class. I did very poorly and tested into a low level of Chinese; lower than I probably should have tested into. But I'm attempting to make the most of the experience. My Chinese is very rusty after not speaking for nearly a year. The review of simple grammar (yufa) and words (sheng ci) is good for me. And if the class ends up being too easy, the director said I could probably move up a class level.

Things in Beijing are SOOO different from things in the States, but not necessarily bad different...just different. There are too many differences to possibly discuss right now, but I'll be sure to let you in on several of the differences as I write future posts. I need to go to the market now and pick up a couple things I forgot. I will post again later. Keep me in your prayers as I attempt to figure out life in this place.....Love you all!!!