It's SNOWING in Qingdao!

Zhongshan Park fellowship

Joshua, from the Pre-K P.E. Class

Minchi and Emily from Pre-K

Mrs. B's Pre-K Class (MY FAVORITE!)

Qingdao's Hisense Shopping Mall



Wu Si Guang Chang, May 4th Square

The sidewalk outside of our apartment

The beach outside our apartment



A view of the coast looking West

Looking East



Looking outside an apartment window


Well Sunday morning was a little different for us here in Qingdao. Karen and I awoke VERY early because we were going to a Christmas performance that was put on by a few different fellowships. As we walked into the kitchen we saw blizzard-like conditions and we couldn't believe our eyes! Qingdao only gets "one day of snow each year and it isn't even enough to stick." Boy, are we lucky because we've had THREE snow days so far and this one wins by a stretch! Thankfully we bought jackets that were made to perform efficiently at these weather conditions (high wind, snow, below freezing temperatures, ice, etc) so we were able to put them to the test. The jackets were such a blessing! We blazed a trail up the sidewalk (pictured above) and hailed a taxi not knowing the next hour of our life would be slipping all over Qingdao's barren highways. The taxi's/cars/trucks are not made for these weather conditions AND there is no education on HOW to drive in these conditions so you can imagine the (X) # of car pile-ups along any given OVERPASS (aren't we supposed to stay OFF of bridges/overpasses when these conditions arise?) It was an adventure, nonetheless, and always is when Karen and I are traveling together. We arrived safely in Si Fang and found my friend, Paul, whom we came to support in the first place. We walked inside and were the only foreigners of course, but that is never a problem :) I was so excited for Paul because he's been practicing for this for months now! I went into the performance thinking it was going to be thirty minutes to an hour max, but BOY was I wrong. The production was WAY over THREE HOURS and I was stuck sitting in the middle of the crowd-unable to move the entire time. However, it was the best performance I've seen in a REALLY long time. It was beautiful because all ages were involved. There was dramas, a choir, children's program, youth, solos, and the "just older youth." After the performance was over I was so happy to see some familiar faces that work at our school who also happen to be some of my closest Chinese friends. After the production we prepared to go back out into the fronzen tundra-like weather conditions and decided to call it a day by grabbing lunch and going home and hibernating.

Tonight I'm helping with the first ever "English Service" at another fellowship. It's going to be grand. I'm in charge of singing and hand-motions (because we all know Chinese LOVE dancing and any hand motions). Please YARP for this time because the Good News will be shared for all to hear and there will be many many many people there who have never heard of Him. Then tomorrow we head off to Thailand! That is also another YARP-request. That we have SAFE and SMOOTH travels with no complications. We will be traveling for 8 days, Dec. 23-31. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. Even though I miss family traditions and dinners and time with friends there is comfort knowing that I'm here at this time for such a bigger purpose and reason and Christmas-time is a GREAT reminder of that. May His name ring louder than ever this Christmas.

With Love,
Tan Mei Shan 谭 美山

Christmas is here!

The last month and a half has FLOWN by, literally. I've traveled a lot for games and tournaments, but my favorite destination thus far has been Hong Kong. Our company flew all of our expats for five days of training at the ICEC conference. It was great to spend time with teachers and administrators from all over the world! Some came as far from Brazil! We had a great time and were able to spend our evenings and nights out on the town. Since I had been to Hong Kong a few times the previous year I was able to re-visit some of my favorite places, one of those being the Giant Buddah (see pictures). You literally have to take an hour bus ride to the bay, take an hour ferry across the harbor to Lantau Island, then take another 45 minute bus ride up the moutain, THEN hike all the way up the thousands of steps to the top to reach the Buddah. I also was able to catch up with a friend from The Village and have MEXICAN FOOD with him on Thanksgiving night. It.was.GREAT. So we have less than two weeks left and then its two weeks of vacation for the Christmas Holidays and we, Karen and I, will be going to THAILAND :) I'm so excited. I'm also meeting a great friend, Valerie, whom I also met through The Village, there and we will be hostelling and peeking our nose into the surrounding islands and even SKYDIVING and scuba diving (hopefully). I'm super excited about it. But what excites me even more than Thailand is how lovely I have found Qingdao to be as my home. It truly is my home away from home now and whenever I leave for a while then come back, its nice to say "I'm ready to go home" and home meaning Qingdao. My relationships with Chinese friends here are so precious to me and they truly are a huge reason why I am here. Language is coming faster than I expected and I'm hoping one day to study full time at Qingdao University (Father-willing). Anyway, just wanted to give you a quick update. If any of you want to chat, you can call the local number anytime for free, 903-689-4229, and I'd love to catch you up to date. Love you all!
-Mei Shan (my chinese given name meaning beautiful mountain)