[everydaystories]

each day here has stories worth sharing. i've slacked a little bit. but i wanted to share some pictures and stories/ thoughts i had about each thing. here we go!

this is a picture from "english corner". it's a weekly group at the local public library for the citizens of hangzhou to practice their english. we were invited to lead the group this week and we talked about families. it was so exciting to see such a diverse group of learners come to this group- college students, and an 82 year old, engineers to teachers. this was an incredible inspiration to keep learning.

this is a typical day in the life. eating and attempting to study. seriously, we spend so much time on our computers. little emma joy (my computer's name) is getting quite the workout here.

the one of 3 phrases i know how to say ;) but i can't tell you how far this phrase goes. and how much it means. i am eternally grateful for these people, and i'm not sure if "xiexie"covers it enough. the people that we have interacted with deserve so many thanks for their hospitality, generosity, kindness, and patience. especially when it comes to speaking english. all i can say is i wish i knew chinese.

we caved. we needed french fries. so we went to mcdonald's. it was 3 stories!!! and they have special chinese style dishes. but they don't miss a beat on french fries. def got a little sick, but i was really missing potatoes.

i will have a chinese baby. just like this little guy. he was adorable and smiled at us with his sweet little beady eyes. any time there is a baby or kid around, i get so excited. ellen always says to me "darcy, you are going to be a great mother". oh i sure hope she is right. i mean if i had a cute little bundled up chinese baby, i'd be a happy camper. i say i'm going to steal one... not quite sure i'm ready for that though.

sugar cane. fresh raw sugar cane. actually, i don't love it so much, but the other 3 had never had it before, so i picked one out and we ate our little sugar cane popsicles. 

traffic. it never ceases to confuse me. i don't understand the traffic patterns here. and there is absolutely no such thing as 'staying in your lane' or 'turn signals'. there are however, horns and flashers to express anger to the opposing driver. and the little moped things and bicycle riders are just as bad. they have already run into other people many-a-times. and then they yell. in chinese of course. and we just giggle. 

....and last, my personal favorite..... 

i took this picture. and a few others. but this just speaks volumes of the word joy to me. this little girl couldn't stop laughing, smiling, and jumping for some soap in the form of a bubble. ahhh. so beautiful!

anyway. i thank you all for your prayers. as written in the previous post here are some prayer requests:
-that we would be encouraged to not cease in pursuit of understanding God's purpose for us here.
-grace. as we've started on the units, its hard not to compare. and i do not want to offend anyone by my observations/comparisons (but i do want to wear gloves during blood draws). the system is different here. 
-peace. at least for jordan and i. we so desperately want to rest in the peace that can only be found in God.
-my dad and step mom- they both had surgery on wednesday. for a quick recovery!

love,

罗达茜  

(luó dá qiàn--- my chinese name, roughly translates to familyname-attain/reach/talent- flower seen below)