this one’s the real deal

(Warning: This post rivals Heather’s in length. Grab a smoothie or a cup of joe and get comfy before you embark on this journey. Please try and finish reading it. Please.)

Man. Man and dang. Those are two words I’ve used countless times over the past couple weeks. Here’s why.

A day or two after I turned in my two weeks notice at work, I sent an email to my Chinese contact asking him how things were coming on their end, and what all I needed to do on mine. He replied back informing me that the school I’m going to teach at cannot have me until January due to an Egyptian teacher whose contract doesn’t end until then. Apparently they cannot have multiple international teachers at once. He told me to stay tuned for more details.

Well at this point there were no shortage of thoughts racing through my head, battling for my attention. Those of you who know me well know that I’m a bit of a thinker, so you can imagine what my brain looked like at that point. Initially I wondered how long my foreign friend knew about said circumstance without telling me. Then I thought about what that meant for my trip. Then I started entertaining thoughts that had until that point only dwelt in the most precarious corners of my mind. (This is the part where the post starts getting significant).

From the time I’d committed to teaching overseas to approximately two weeks ago, I’d had, for lack of a better word, doubts about the whole situation. One of my main concerns was the fact that at no point in my decision making process prior to committing did I feel like the Lord had told me that He wanted me to be in China this school year. I made my decision to go and teach very much on a whim. For weeks I’d been thinking with a “why not?” mindset, and one morning I woke up, went to my computer and told the powers that be, “I’m in.” I didn’t really feel led to do it, I was just doing it. Make sense?

Remember how I had all those thoughts vying for my attention? Well the ones that were questioning whether or not China was where Father had me this year went from being suppressed and all-but-ignored to being legitimately considered. Do I really want to move to a place that Father hasn’t called me?

So this is what’s been going on in my head. The next day I received an update email saying that I may be able to teach in a different city (the province’s capital) for the first semester and then go to my original city in January. Later an email said that if I went to the capital city, that’d be a year commitment as well, which would at the very least postpone my going to City A, if not prevent it all together. One of my perceived problems with the capital city is the fact that it’s one of the most wealthy cities in China. This is probably selfish, but I don’t want to go serve overseas in a wealthy place. I’ve got that here.

My questioning of whether or not China was what Father had for me came to a point that I had to tell my Chinese contacts that what I was thinking. I told them, very honestly, that I was praying to see if the Lord really wanted me to go (or in their case, come) right now. They were supportive. Thus commencing two weeks that I did not enjoy. I sought the Lord with more energy and time than I had in a while. I spent time in the Word, in prayer, in simple meditation on things that the Lord’s revealed to me thus far in my walk, and seeking wise counsel. Those are good things. They’re more fun when you’re doing them “just ’cause”. They’re less fun when you’re doing them in order to make a decision that will potentially upset a handful of people a great deal.

One particular night, I had spent a lot of time praying and listening to the Spirit and I felt led to write down a list of things that I’m passionate about, things that I truly get excited about. Many of the things I wrote on that list I have no doubt came from the Lord. Some of them might not have. Either way, China and Chinese people didn’t make the list. That concerned me. It reminded me of a time when Jon (whom I love) lovingly pointed out to me that at no point in my talking about my upcoming trip to China did I sound very excited about it. I justified it and thought that upon arriving, I’d certainly be more excited about my situation. I may have been right. Still, it didn’t sit well with me.

I found out about four days ago that I was going to need to have made my decision by today, Friday the 27th. I went to bed last night not knowing what I was going to do. I woke up this morning, slightly upset that my dreams only involved kayaks in elaborate swimming pools and not a clear word from Father telling me “GO!” or “DON’T GO!”. But as a result of all my time spent in prayer, the Word, seeking counsel, and reflecting on previous lessons from Father, I decided to sit down at my computer and send an email to the appropriate people informing them that I would not be moving to China in August. That was a tough decision. It’s pretty humbling for a lot of reasons. I pressed send and got in my car to drive to my last day of work. Man.

So there’s that. That’s what’s been going on in my heart, mind, and spirit the past few weeks. It’s been crazy (that’s another word I’ve used a lot as of late). It hasn’t been entirely enjoyable, but I do think it’s been fruitful, and isn’t that always the case? Now this isn’t to say that I won’t be going back to China ever, it just means not yet. It also means that at least for a few more months, I’ll be living in the United States, of which I drew and labeled a map on the dry erase board at work, posted above.

Thank you so much to those of you who’ve prayed for me the past couple weeks. Thanks also to those who would have prayed if they’d known, but because I didn’t tell them were left uninformed until now. Thanks for caring enough about me (or just being bored enough) to have read this far in what looks to be one of the longest posts in online diary for the masses history. So comment away, and please keep in mind that this post, though long, isn’t the exhaustive recount of the past two weeks. More thoughts went into my decision than I’ve explained. You’re probably glad I didn’t include them. Thanks again for reading.

Read more >> Options >>

a big two

Friends, this is your approximate two-month warning. In two months I’ll be hopping on a plane holding a one way ticket to China. If that’s new to you, you’re welcome to read about it here and here. So why the two month warning? Because I want to see you. I think two months is plenty of time for me to see the people who want to see me (not necessarily all the people I want to see, but you do what you can).

So if you want to see me during the next couple months, let me know. Don’t just say you want to see me because it’s the nice thing to do. I just want the real-deal peeps.

I’m quitting my job at the end of July so I’ll have all of August to drive around the state (and country?) for visiting purposes. I’m looking forward to it.

Note: Click is exempt from this game, because he has no computer, but he will be receiving a visit from me.

there’ll be more where that came from

I sent my contact in China an email just seconds ago that basically said, “I’m in.”

That means that they’ll process all the necessary paperwork on their end, I may end up having to get a physical on my end, and then Father willing, I’ll be over there hanging out for a year.

Pretty crazy to think that this blog was started solely because I was going to China two summers ago, and now, you could very well be receiving a year’s worth of posts from that very nation.

Since this is now a very very real option, we’ll go ahead and start the whole speaking/typing in code. You know the drill, no churchy words… including church. Use things like Father, Dad, C, pr, rsvp, and others that you may come up with.

Feel free to continue pr-ing for me and the Chinese people involved for the next… well… until I tell you otherwise. I want Dad’s will to be done. I want Him to be happy, ya know? You can pr for that.

a little curveball

Man, there are about twenty different ways I could pitch this post to you, and I’ve opted, for my own sake, to just be direct. An opportunity for me to teach English at a Chinese University has come up, and I’m really thinking about taking it.

I went to China a couple years ago as you may recall (the very trip that birthed this blog), and loved it. Since returning to the States I’ve thought about going back and serving there again in some form or fashion, but I didn’t want to be dependant on raising money every time I went overseas. I wanted to be able to fund it myself (tent-maker style, ya know?) and now it seems I’ll have a chance to do just that.

I’m in the process of swapping paper work with the appropriate people and I’m still learning a lot about what this will look like but basically I’d be teaching for a year, with a salary and I’d be given a place to stay. Also, when my contract is up, they’d reimburse me for my plane ticket. Not bad.

So not only would this trip allow me to be Jesus to people who haven’t heard of him, it would also speed up my reaching the learn-another-language goal, and it would get me out of my so far terribly predictable and unexciting life. Thoughts?

rewind

I want to start this post off by letting you guys know how excited I am about this hurricane Rita, for all the fun times that I’ll have and the good post(s) that will surely come from it.

That said, I’d like to offer this filler of a post, a tweener if you will, until ol’ Rita rears her ugly face. This is a picture that my boy Jamz took while we were in China. This is at a park, and these wonderful ladies were spotted off in a distance, performing their flag dance for those who cared to watch. I remembered from reading on Joshua Langston’s blog that you can do things that seem taboo in China and get away with it, so I immediately went over to the dancers, made friends via hand signals and my extremely limited Chinese (I had been in the country 3 days at this point), and about 90 seconds later my new friends were teaching me their dance. Once I joined the dance team, I feel like the crowd of onlookers grew significantly in size. I’d like to think this was caused by my good looks and amazing dance skills, but I’m pretty sure it was just because everyone in China thought I was David Beckham. Oh well, I’ll take that.

sub-par post

well earlier today I wrote out a quaint but heart-warming post of a slightly different format than the typical posts read on this page. Upon clicking the “publish post” button after finishing my masterpiece of a post, the web browser showed me the dreaded “Page Cannot be Displayed” page… So if this post struggles, blame it on that little laptop down the street.

I’ll start with the two main points of the post that got away: books and music. I thought I’d give you a taste of the literature and tunes that have been gracing my eyes and ears here in the Orient. These are also recommendations for those of you who are literate and/or enjoy music. If you really don’t care about books or music, or just want to get on to whatever else I have to say, scroll down to “VDSLRJU.” And… go!

Books:
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller – I’m sure most of you have read this already, I was late to get on the bandwagon because for a long time I wasn’t going to read it simply because it was popular. Don’t make that mistake. Miller brings up lots of good points, and he thinks further outside the box than I do.

- Radical Reformission by Marc Driscoll – If you want to read this book about how we ought to be effectively sharing the Happy News we know with the scores of people around us who don’t know it, you should borrow it from Joey Rigney, his roommates, or myself. This one will make you think about stuff you probably haven’t thought about before, but are worth thought.

- Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot – Also one I’m sure most have read. If you haven’t, I really think that this story of the life of Jim Elliot as told by his wife (Elisabeth) and his own journals and letters has potential to change your life. This bro did not care at all. He was sold out for JC in a way most would consider radical, but he (and probably the Good Book) would consider simply the call of duty as a bro or sis.

Music:
- Caedmons Call’s “Share the Well” – This CD I would say has been the anthem of our trip (if indeed the trip needs an anthem album). The album is a product of the member’s of Caedmon’s Call’s various M trips around the world. Lots of stuff about India, lots of quasi-indigenous sounds with foriegn instruments and lyrics, but a very tasty mix indeed. I plan on buying this one immidiately upon arriving in the States

- LeCrae and the 116 clique albums – just kidding, I haven’t listened to these at all on this trip (until right now, as I type I’m listening to clips from the website). I’m really looking forward to my hip hop CD’s, and to ordering the new 116 cut. holla.

- Anything by Mae, Copeland, or Emery – rock at it’s finest.

- Chinese Pop music – most of this stuff is terrible. Chinese people don’t have any other option really, it’s either the really old traditional stuff (not bad), the techno (not good), and the pop (no better than in the States, therefore terrible)

VDSLRJU
I don’t know what all else to say here. The past few days have been extremely enjoyable, however they haven’t been overly eventful. I did successfully spend lots of money on souveniers and gifts for the fam (L.O., you aren’t getting shoes… but instead something much tighter). I’m really starting to look forward to coming home and enjoying various luxuries one is able to enjoy in the States. I think that’s all I’ve got to say really. I’m having a hard time focusing with all the smoke, sweat, and skeeters raping me. I’ll be home in way less than 1000 hours. Don’t loose sleep over me. Cheers.

only one week left huh?

Welcome.

Hey all! Here’s a picture that T-Burk took of us at one of the persistent Chinese people’s “hotels.” I managed to post a pic (though it’s quality may stuggle) to prove that I’m actually in China… see the Chinese people??

I do apologize for not posting sooner, but my desire to be on the internet has diminished a good bit over the past 5 weeks. Don’t be fooled though, I’m sure I’ll find the desire somewhere between Arlington and College Station… or maybe between China and Alaska. Who knows?

Well the trip has way less days left than it used to have, and most of the work that we’ve come to do has been done. I say most… really all the work we knowingly came to do is done, so whatever else happens is stuff that the Father is surprising us with, which He’s more than welcome to do.

Twas a good week for us. We went to a nearby site (not that close, 8 hours both ways on a Chinese bus, which if you’ve never had the chance to experience… it’s insanity) to encourage some bro’s and sis’s, and I believe what ended up happening was quite the opposite. We played around at another school. In the classrooms we conversed with introductions and “how are you doing’s”, and then we busted out the pictures. Chinese people love photos. They tried to steal a few of them, but none were so quick as to be successful against yours truly. A compliment to all the females in my picture album (most of you don’t know who you are, but if you think you’re in it, you are… maybe): all the girls, and boys, said that every girl in my little album was beautiful, one girl even received the comment of “very beautiful and lovely”. After classes we went outside where everyone played basketball, save one. I was saved from the public humiliation of having to play ball by a cheap guitar which some with the help of some of the students beckoned me away from the court, and I got to play P&W songs on the playground of a Chinese school… pretty sweet.

Later this week, we went to the University here in town and played basketball. Well, I didn’t play, I’d say I was the main cheerleader for the foriegners. To make this long story short, it was China vs USA (and one New Zealander); and China brought out their big guns. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the people in this country are short. All of them actually are, except for the 5 who found their way to the basketball court that fateful Friday afternoon. The United States looked sported a pretty good bench as well, with quite a few ballers of their own. Overview of the game is as follows: China dominated the first half, and at one point the US’s score was 18 while China’s was twice that. The momentum never seemed to shift dispite the high hopes of America’s head cheerleader. At the half, as the Chinese practiced shooting, the whitey’s huddled up, drew some plays with chalk on the court, gathered their thoughts and water bottles, and when the whistle blew for the second half to begin, they certainly had their work cut out for them, but everyone was lead to believe they were ready. The strategy discussed in the “locker room” must have been to set up the 3-2 defense quickly every time the Chinese had the ball, for that is exactly what the foreigners did. After countless turnovers and capitalizations on these defensive stops, the Americans tied the game up, and eventually dominated the Chinese with their endurance and beauty with a final score of US: 82; China: 68. It was quite the game indeed, and the audience turnout confirmed the fact. By the second period the crowd attendance numbered 250 to 300 students and faculty who came out to watch their home team get defeated. It was pretty sexy.

SHOUT-OUT CITY

Ma and Pops – when I got your comment about how you just finished watching Spanglish, I laughed because I just left the other room where the credits for said movie were playing. It was good, though not that tight, in my opinion… don’t get me wrong, it’s above average. It’s Sunday here, and that means I’ll be seeing you humans in a week. Now that wasn’t such a long 6 weeks not was it? love you guys, see you soon, make reservations at Taco Bueno.

L.O. – your comments make me laugh. I’m very grateful to receive them. I’ll see you in a week too… you can make reservations at Wendy’s. I can’t decide on the shoe thing, so we’ll see what I come home with for you. It may be way cooler than shoes. It’ll be something though, fear not.

BRAD – man, I remember all that stuff. We used to be awesomer than most people can even wrap their minds around. What happened? oh, that’s right… nothing happened, we’re still tight. Dude, I was thinking about you the other night and how you’re going to be married, and that you asked me to be in your wedding, and I think that’s really sweet. Both of those things. If I ever get married, you can be in my wedding. You can sing a song and play drums or something (if Winegeart isn’t free).

Pilgrim (Rouse) – say girl! Man, make sure you call my Chinese phone number when you and your awesome campers get to China… I want to give each of them high fives. and chopsticks. Keep being tight at camp, and we’ll see you soon!

Brooke, Schmale, and the rest of the 6 chicks – you girls are too sweet to be people. Way sweeter than anything here in China, where they don’t like sweet things. I am truly honored to call y’all friends, and I do look forward to seeing y’all “in the days to come” *Butch* and talking about how cool you are to everyone I know. Thanks so much for the pr’s, I don’t deserve them, but I’ll take them with lots of thankfulness.

Nutterd – you better believe you’ll be listening to stories from the Orient, complete with way more pictures than you’d ever wish to see. You, too, are too sweet to be a person. I forget what compliment Jon and I gave you the other day, but it was really nice, and I thought it fit well. So there’s that. Oh, and you like Emery (new album August 2nd!), so that’s even more points to you.

K Nall – it’s getting to be that time. Pack a rain jacket or an umbrella. You’re gonna have a rad time man, and I’ll be thinking about you for sure. These schools are a crazy place to be… a real good place to be also.

Becky – thanks again for the pr’s, and I’ve been talking to Pappy a lot about the youth group… how’s all that going? I trust He’s giving everyone guidance that we so desparately need.

Tommy and BCA folks – Dude, I’m so excited about going to your wedding for real. I love you (singular) and you (plural) so much. Keep seeking Father and what He’s got for you, cause I bet it’s way different that what you may think, and probably better too.

People I forgot – you are cool though apparently not cool enough for me to remember you.

Alright, now for the lifting requests:

- that I wouldn’t miss anything Father has for me in these last few days here
- that Father would help me debrief and figure out some of the things He’s taught me
- that He’ll graciously help me (and you) hear his voice

that’s it for now. If you leave a comment (which seriously blesses my heart more than you can shake a bamboo stick at), you are welcome to let me know if my posts are too long, because honestly, I don’t know if I’d want to read a post as long as mine tend to be. Kinda late to ask that, but hey, it got asked! I love you guys, every last one of you, though probably not as well as I should. lata.

my mind is blown

I’m overwhelmed here… it’s a collection of things really… I’ll attempt to give you a taste of things that are blowing my mind.

First of all, I’m listening to Copeland off of purevolume.com, and I think they’re great, so that’s a start. Add to it that I’m at the new nicer, internet place that I mentioned last week, where tons of Chinese males (and like one girl) are playing video games that I can’t imagine playing, or watching movies that would be seen as totally goofy and a waste of time in the states, but the four people to my left at computer 33 are thoroughly enraptured by it (and I won’t lie, I’m watching it too). Throw in the mix that the Father has once again proven himself faithful and awesome and like Mr Provider 2005 once again this week, and that He totally healed my knee last weekend, and that’s kinda where I am. Oh, and lest we forget the people who left me comments in the past few weeks, for you, I have a paragraph (it’ll be the next one) and some shout-outs.

Those who left comments: you have no idea how warm my heart was these past two weekends when I’ve come home to see you sexy people leaving me messages. Every one of you. I kid you not, I was happy as a lark. It is a huge honor to call you people friends (or families), and y’all are seriously, no exaggeration, at least 5 times sweeter to me than I am back to you, and I really do thank Father for y’all, and for putting people in my life that I do not come close to deserving.

Now for the story of the week. Wipe your tears away from the previous paragraph, and get ready for the tears that are to come from the current one. That may not be true. I still haven’t decided what story to tell… thinking… ok. We entered into the town I will call “Town 3″ which was the last town we needed to visit for the week, and the last one for the trip as far as some things are concerned (I have to be vague for security purposes). We, as always, immediately draw a crowd, and the majority of said crowd was distracted by Jon and I throwing the frisbee. The frisbee is an amazingly powerful thing here in China. After about an hour in Town 3 we hear a lady yelling at us from the roof of a building, and beckoning us to come up there. I thought she wanted us to go up there so we could get away from the crowds (I think I have a small idea of what JC felt like when he drew crowds everywhere he went). It turns out that she has rooms that travelers can stay in, and she was extremely persistent about us taking advantage of her offer. Not long after going upstairs a man ran upstairs and was yelling for us to go down to the po-po station. This isn’t the most desirable place for anyone to be, especially us whitey’s. After the officer offered much questioning and looking at passports, and made a few calls, and during the same time us lifting up some serious pr’s to Father, we walked out of the room safe, and allowed to stay in the town. After getting settled in our room we went down for dinner, where we ran into the po again, and we shared dinner with him. Father certainly has a sense of humor. That’s why he let Jamz break the chair he was sitting in and fall to the ground with no injury. Sorry for the choppy story, I’m slightly scatterbrained. Theme: Father is good, and better, and best, all at once.

Now for a few shout-outs, everyone’s favorite part (except for the people who don’t get mentioned… dang it):

- those who birthed me – I’m glad to hear camp was nice. I don’t know that speaker of whom you speak, but I’m sure he’s just fine. On a more important note: Pop’s… final three in kajobee can-can? that’s amazing. I’ll have to think about it, but I don’t know that I ever made it that far. I mean, I probably did, but it’s not coming to mind right off the bat. Congrats. The Y must indeed be paying off.

- L.O. – I love you a lot, but you don’t get a very big shout-out this week, because you failed to leave a message last week. I hope you’re hanging in there with your grown up job and all. lata.

- Misty, David, baby Abi – thanks for the collective comment last week. y’all are real sweet. I look forward to seeing my great cousin Abi and seeing whether or not she’s scared of me this time around. She has no reason to be, I’ll tell you that right now. I’m not scary. Period.

- Uncle Stan – I won’t lie, I figured that you’d make your way around to these parts of the web. Thanks for the encouragement, and for letting me borrow your hairclippers. No offense intended with the “po-po” comments earlier, I promise.

- BRAD – pony, thanks for trying to win the contest. I might give you the title of winner whether you win or not, because you’re getting stinkin’ married! are you kidding? You’re going to be grown up in like 5 months or something. Dang. I guess our days of fun are over. Well at least they will be in 5 months, until then, we’ll be tappers together and we should moon lots of people. peaces.

- Beth – thanks again for the comment and the pr’s. You are indeed far to sweet. I imagine you’re heading off to camp pretty soon, and I know you’ll have a rad time there, and I pr that you learn lots of wonderful things about Father and how cool he is and how cool he thinks you are. Until next time.

- La La – I won’t lie, I always thought it would be nice to receive a comment from you, but I never thought it would happen because you’re all wrapped up at LLYC, but you managed to find a way. You and I will surely share many-a-story come the second half of summer. Probably pictures too. And maybe even some ice cream. Or cookies or milk or handshakes or something. Oh, and speaking of pictures, I looked at your CO pics on webshots… I think you’ve got lots of things to teach me now… oh how the table has turned.

- Mallory – girl, you are so tight!! (not that everyone else mentioned isn’t, don’t be upset other people, if you knew Mal, you’d understand). I knew you’d appreciate my singing in a barber shop. I promise that you didn’t appreciate it as much as I appreciate it when you sing. Not a chance. I’ve told a lot of people here about how cool you are and how you sing like an angel. It always seems to come up when people are looking at my pictures and they get to yours.

- Kelly and Nutterd – you two girls like each other, and so I thought I’d pair you up for this shout-out. I think that you two are two that I shouldn’t be allowed to call friends. Clearly you are cooler and sweeter than I deserve. I covet your pr’s, and Nall, know that I’ll be doing the same for you when we swap. Nutter… what the heck are you doing this summer? probably being tight. See, that’s the kind of stuff I should know. This is one reason why y’all are sweeter than I.

- Matt Graham – bro, that’s a good number of states in one week. I’m pretty sure that you have beat my record. By two to be exact. Dude, I won’t lie, I really miss hanging out with you and other local CS rockers, and I miss listening to y’alls music. But fear not, I’ve sung Matt Graham songs, Cody Kimmel songs, and thought about Jimmy and Faith, while here in China.

- Mrs T. – thanks for leaving me a comment. Don’t you worry about Jon’s hair, it looks just fine. I thought about stretching the truth and telling you that he dyed it black, but I decided against it. He’s doing just fine. Fear not.

- SamB – I know you’re over in the Motherland, but I thought I’d leave you love anyway. Because that’s what you do when I’m D.O. and you’re SamB.

- Roomies (all 9) – I love you dudes a lot, and I know only 2 of you read this, but that’s just fine. Actually, I think only one of you do. So it’s your job to make sure all the others know I love them. Just kidding. Have fun in C town/ville/city whatever.

Ok, I hope I didn’t forget anyone. I’m gonna throw out some lifting requests, mostly the same as the usual ones, but still important.

- that Father will keep providing, showing us where to take our steps, and keeping us safe in this crazy land.
- that we will have safety in traveling next week, as we plan on taking a pretty long bus ride, and the buses here are crazier than the land is.
- security protection for us and the other team that’s here. We’ve had a few scares so far, so this is a big one.
- for Father to till up the soil of the hearts of the people here.
- (not related to the trip) that Father will bring healing in an amazing way to David Gilbert as he battles lymphoma

On that note, if anybody knows anything about David Gilbert’s current state, I would LOVE to know. If by chance any of you will be contacting him, please tell him that I love him and that I’m lifting him up. He’s staying at Arlington something… dang it… I guess MCOA, that one or the other one. Anyway, yeah, this dude is amazing, so is his family, and his sweet girlfriend, so lift him up man, cause I hear he’s not doing too well.

Alright, sorry to end on a kinda sad note, but fear not, because David is a bro, and whatever happens is good for him, it’s a win-win for us bro’s and sis’s! Alright guys, I love you all, I mean that, and I’m sorry I don’t love you the way you deserve to love, but at least JC does a pretty amazing job at doing that where I, and every other human, falls short. lata.

red carpet at the barber shop

I know I said in the previous post that it would be the last one for a while, but we actually aren’t heading out til tomorrow, and something amazing happened today, so I had to post one last time. We also found this really nice internet place that’s ten times bigger than the old one, and way nicer… and same price (0.25 US Dollars/ hour)! Yeah, things are certainly cheaper here, as I will illustrate in the story you are about to read.

After waking up late on Monday morning and going to the “fried rice lady” on the corner for some (of course) fried rice, Jon, T-Burk, and I decided we were feeling a haircut. We happened to be eating our fried rice on the steps in front of a barber shop, so we went in, told them what we wanted, and let them do their thing. We let them know that we wanted the cheapest shampoo (prices of haircuts here depend on the shampoo you get), and the cheapest haircut they had. Here is what the bottom of the line haircut entailed:

They start by sitting you down and shampooing your hair, but not in a sink, they just pour the exact amount of water on your head, throw in some shampoo, and go to town with the lathering. It was pretty normal until ol’ girl started thumping my head as a part of the lathering process. Then, and this really caught me off guard, she started shampooing my ears, and this was no mistake, no slip of the hand, she went to town shampooing my ears as if they were as hairy as some 80 year old man’s. She proceeded to basically just massage my head with the shampoo still there, and about 15 minutes after I sat down, I was instructed to walk over to the corner where the shampoo was to be rinsed off. I’m certain my hair has never been this clean before. After the rinse off, which also included some ear massaging, I was told to go back to the chair I started in. She started going for the shampoo bottle again, and I thought, surely not… and I was right.

Instead, she started massaging my head/ neck for a short while, until she abruptly reclined my chair, turned my head to the side, and made me cough. Just kidding. She turned my head to the side and started going to town with the Q-tips in my ear. After that whole process was over, I was certain that my ears had never been so clean before. She went on and started massaging the upper half of my upper body (chest up). She would beat on my chest like Tarzan would beat on his own, and she did all kinds of stuff I don’t even remember… it was a lot to take in. She then took my arms one at a time and massaged the mess out of them, including popping fingers and more punching. That part was pretty nice. She finally returned my seat to the upright position, and then she massaged my shoulders and neck some more, and my back to boot. I started to worry that they weren’t actually giving me what I asked for, I thought surely this isn’t all included in the cheapest haircut, seeing how we had been there for an hour now (no exaggeration), and not a single hair had been cut. So, after 15 minutes of shampooing, and 45 minutes of massaging, I was finally moved to the chair where people’s hairs get cut.

I was transferred to a bro in a pink shirt with dyed hair and orange glasses, who sang quietly beneath his breath has he cut my hair. Keep in mind, (or I guess for those who don’t know) my head is shaved. I just wanted it shaved again because it was starting to get a little long. Apparently in China, they do not have the different guards on hair clippers that we have in the States. So what happened you ask? Well bro used a comb in between the scalp and the clippers with the precision of a professional table tennis player (also a huge thing here in China). Finally, about 20 minutes later, my head was shaved. My head shave took longer than both Jon and T-Burk’s normal hair cuts. I thought that was funny. But not nearly as funny or enjoyable as the entire experience was. Oh, all the while, American hits such as “I Will Be Right Here Waiting For You”, “My Heart Will Go On”, “Candle in the Wind”, and others were being played while bro was clipping on my hair. He must have not known the words to these songs, so I sang in his stead. All the while people’s heads turned and eyes fixed on the foreigner who looks like soccer star David Beckham (he’s like a superstar here, and I hadn’t even heard of him in the States, but everyone tells me I look like him).

After paying (I’ll tell you the grand total in a bit), we went outside on the steps we ate lunch on, along with everyone who was involved in any of our haircuts (about 7 employees total), for a photo. The girls faithfully held up their peace signs as the guys probably tried (successfully) to act cool. And now for the moment everyone is waiting for. How much did your awesome haircut experience put you back D.O.? The grand total was 10 kuai, which is equivalent to approximately $1.25 USD. This place is wonderful.

Alright, thanks for bearing with me on that story. I know it was long, but I thought it was really delightful, and I thought you might enjoy it too. For real this time, until next weekend.

farewell until next weekend

It’s that time of week again, the time where D.O. puts up his last post of the weekend, heads out the next day for another week of backpacking and watching Pappy do amazing things, and y’all start turning up the pr’s. That’s about all I have to say to be honest (the only reason I’m here on the internet is because Jon wanted to use it, and I love him, so I said ok).

I will, however, close out by sharing with you my Chinese name:

陡香焦

which is read “dew shung joww” (joww rhymes with pow)

and literally means “steep banana”

Alright, love you guys… til next week, triple peace in the far East.