More Pictures From China

Me at the Juizhiagou park. The lakes there were really colorful, as you can see in the background.

Kelly with the viper. It was a heavy viper that stunk. It also had its mouth taped shut. :)

The Great Wall which Kelly and I climbed. It was hard. There were tons of steep, worn down, stone steps. It was good on our thighs and knees.




And finally, some guy out of nowhere who wanted us to take his picture.

Haha!

You hafta...!

You all hafta see 'Mr. Bean's Holiday'! It's hilarious! Also, no crude humor.

I saw it on the plane on the way back from China and I had trouble keeping myself contained. I was afraid everyone would stare at me if I burst out laughing. So I chuckled.....quietly. :)

Home

On our last day in Hong Kong we went to the Ocean Park. We saw sharks, fish, and a dolphin and seal show. It was very fun and the last thing Kelly and I did was ride 'The Dragon'. It was my first roller coaster ride and I was a little nervous that I might get sick or freak out and make a fool of myself.
For Kelly, roller coasters are just a breeze. She took the very front seat. I did the same.
From there it was all hoots and yells. I'd do it again if I could. If you want to see how the ride went, click here- http://www.oceanpark.com.hk
Click on Park Explorer, then click the Headland Rides link. Click on The Dragon video.

That evening we took a ferry across the bay to a swing dancing place. At first I was really nervous because everyone there was a lot better than me. Kelly is REALLY good! As the evening went on I was about to watch how the pros did it and learn from them. By the end of the dancing I had loosened up and was having lots of fun.

Some tips (from Kelly) on swing dancing (mainly for leads)-

• Dance on the balls of your feet. Not your heels.
• Keep right hand firm, supporting your partner.
• Relax left hand.

Alright! Byebye!

Some Pictures

A Chinese Bird in Jiuzhaigou

Cousin Kelly, Me, and Grandma Voyla

Kelly at the Great Wall

Susan and I watching pandas

Jiuzhaigou Park

Yellow Dragon Park

I'm having a blast, but I'm still missin' you all.

It's been awhile hasn't it? So much has happened and I've learned so much!

Gosh, I don't know where to start. Hmmm.....

The best part so far has been in Juizhaigou and Chengdu. With an awesome woman named Susan as our guide. She is such a friendly person who can speak excellent english. She normally doesn't do tours but she and Sue(the lady who organized the whole trip) are great friends. Kelly and I immediately became friends with her. She was very organized and flexable. By far the best guide we've had. She works for herself as a travel agent, arranging hotels and things for tourists. Because of that she had a lot of connections and everyone new her so we were able to get away with things other groups wouldn't. She's also really funny. Goofy. I like goofy. I also miss goofy a little. There's no Alexa here in China to laugh at my morning hair and point out how my nose sticks out. Haha! That's the kinda thing I miss away from home. I'm glad my cousin Kelly was able to come along....she laughs at my gooniness.

While on the road Susan would tell us alot about Chinese history and traditions and so forth. Some of the beliefs the Chinese have, to me, are absolutely absurd. The chinese are very superstitious. 8 is a good luck number. Crows are bad luck. Lots of of superstition. They're also very proud of hosting the 2008 Olympics. It's everywhere on signs and souvenirs.

She taught me and Kelly some Chinese and I have them all written down. Neehaw means Hi. Zow means Good morning. May nwie means pretty girl. Shuai ga means handsome boy. After learning those we were able to understand what a lot of chinese were saying as they stood looking at us. Kelly's blond hair sticks out here because nearly everyone here has black hair. At a silk factory we visited, a chinese girl, who worked there, told me in english that her friend wanted her to tell me that she thought I was "very cool". I said thank you(which is Shayshay in chinese) and grinned. I was wearing my leather jacket. Go figure. :)

People would randomly come up to Kelly and I and want to have their picture taken with us. One lady came up to grandma and asked her how old she was. That made grandma laugh. Grandma told the lady her age and the lady said she was very young and beautiful. Beautiful in Chinese is peeow liang.

I think Susan is a christian. And she has some christian friends that get together. I gave her my bible because the one she had was hard to read in english......probably a king james. It was wonderful to find out that she was a Christian, especially after hearing all the strange beliefs Chinese have. For awhile I thought she actually believed the strange things she was telling us about. Haha!

I showed her a picture of my family and she thought Caleb was so cute. And that Alexa was very pretty. She also laughed when she saw Boone. He's soo fat. Whenever I see one of those fat laughing Buddha statues here, I think of my nephew Boone. I wonder if Boone has gotten any bigger since I left America.

Every once in a while I think about home. You can't really call it homesickness, it's more like people sickness. I miss seeing everyone. Heck, I could take one of Tait's Pillsbury Doughboys just to be with people I know.

I could also use one of those Carl's Jr spicy burgers... oh yeah! Haha!
Guess what, when Chinese serve fish they serve the whole thing. Eyes, head, fins, tail, everything. Same with shrimp. And clam. At least they cook it. :) I've had enough chinese food to last me through purgatory. Haha! It's not all that bad, though. They serve beef and rice and food that fills.

Here in China we get to bargain. Mwahaha! It's really fun! Just today I bought 2 hats that were priced 40 yuan. I bargained with the seller and paid 30. :)

There are a lot of street sellers here that come up to us and try and get us to buy things. It gets tiring after awhile. Especially when they don't take no for an answer......but that's how they make their living.

A lot of the street sellers have bad teeth. We americans are blessed with dentists and so forth. Almost all the chinese smoke. And their allowed to do it almost anywhere. Their cigarettes have a different smell then American's. It's a blacker, deeper, stronger smell that makes me cough. Some of them also chew a reddish tobacco or something that stains their teeth and gums a little red. Yuck. :)

I brought 4 or 5 (can't remember) bibles and only have one left. I've been leaving them in hotels and gave Susan one. I'm glad I was able to bring them. I also brought a Rascal Flatts cd that I gave to Susan. She likes american music. She bought me a really nice coat. You should see it sometime.

Susan said that she's goin to look at my blog sometime and post a comment. About how clumsy I was. Haha!!

Well, that is just a sliver of what's happening here. See ya later!

I Still Exist!

Howdy, ya'll!

Just want to let you know I am still alive and having a good time here in Chengdu!

See you later!

I'm in Portland

Howdy! We made it! Nathan drove me up to Roseburg this morning to Grandma's. Grandma and I left Roseburg about 4pm and she had me drive. We stopped in Salem for some delicious burgers, fries, and a milkshake. We arrived at our hotel in Portland about 8:30 pm. Portland feels so huge and scary, especially when you're driving and it's dark. We got 'lost' twice but eventually we made it.

I love small Grants Pass. :)

When we first got to the hotel there was a mix up about our reservations and we were given a room that had just one master bed and smelled awfully of cigarettes. We, thankfully, were able to get a different room with 2 beds and clean smelling air. So after that I explored the hotel and then settled down in our room. The beds are kinda neat; they have remote controls to pump up or shrink the mattress. Both the left and right, separately.

This feels weird.

It's strange being someplace huge and unfamiliar. I've been to big cities and hotels before but, for some reason this feels different. Maybe because it's just me and grandma. It was nice to be able to use grandma's laptop and to go friends blogs just to see something familiar.

But I'm not supposed to feel this way yet because I haven't even left America! I haven't flown any planes yet!! I'm still around people who speak English!!!

Well, as you can see, I'm feeling wimpy. I'll soon get over it. :)

Tomorrow, the plan is to fly to China. My visa was supposed to arrive today at the our tourist's house, in Portland, but I don't know if it has. I can still make it if it comes tomorrow. If it doesn't, Sue, our guide will try to arrange me catching up to them on a later flight in Beijing.
So things are still a little uncertain. But God is in control. If He doesn't want me to go to China, so be it.

You can pray for me that God will use me on this trip, in whatever ways He wills. In case you're wondering, I did bring extra bibles; to smuggle into China.

God bless you all!!!
-Aaron

Troubles

Hey, this is Alexa reporting. Aaron is in Roseburg right. But he is in need of prayer. This past month and a half have been a constant struggle for him to secure his passport and visa. Now, for some reason, his passport has not yet been delivered, and his flight departure is scheduled for tomorrow. He might be delayed until his passport shows up. So cross your fingers! Signing off...Over and out...10:4 or whatever.

Bye

I'm leaving in a couple of minutes toward China.
I'm going to Portland today, and tomorrow I'll leave from there, across the Pacific, stop at Tokyo, Japan, and then land at Beijing, China.

I'll miss all of you great friends.

See you all much later!

YeeeeeHaaaaww!!!!

WHOOOOOOOHEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
TACKLE FOOTBALL IS AWESOME!!!!!!!

Idols

During the summer, us Sleadd guys went to a men's lunch group every Wednesday at the Sub Shop in Grants Pass. Mr. Emmons, Pastor Dale, Tim McGilvreay, and some others guys went. We went through the Proverbs and talked about them so forth.

On one particular meeting, Tim McGilvreay, who if you know well, is a theological genius; anyway he had recently been listening to some C.J. Mahanay cds about idols.

Tim shared a quote by Mahanay that was something like this, "It's not so much that what we desire is wrong, it's when we desire it too much."

This really made me think about what idols I might have in my life. Before, I had always imagined idols as being obvious. Such as bowing down to statues or worshiping animals, or deifying celebrities....something that was obvious. But according to C. J. Mahanay it's not really the object that makes it an idol, it's how much we desire the object that makes it an idol.

And many times the things we desire are not bad, in fact they might be very good things. What makes an object an idol is when we desire it above God. When we seek satisfaction in that object rather than in God.

One of the examples shared was how a father can desire to be respected by his family, which is a perfectly legitimate thing to be desired, yet if he desires it to the point were he is yelling at his family to get it, than it has become an idol.

You see how desiring something good too much immediately turns it into an idol?
It could really be anything. It might be desiring a good reputation too much, it might be desiring to see your friends over God, it might be(in my case) wanting to get a driving license and a car too much. :)


In Conclusion,
After having this discussion at Men's group it really helped me to understand why at times I would feel frustrated and dissatisfied when things didn't happen my way. It was because I was desiring things too much. Even good things. Idolizing them over God.

Some questions to ask yourself-

• What are my idols?
• Am I desiring things above God?
  
• Do I seek satisfaction in things other than God?

A book

Here's a book you all should read, one time or another. I'm reading it for the second time right now and there is still soo much eye-opening stuff in it.

It has really helped me to understand that there is indeed a spiritual battle raging on around us. And the battle isn't between fat, naked little cherubs with harps, and demons dressed in red tights, with spade tails and tridents.

There is a serious battle going on that we are to be aware of and prepared for. "Put on the full armor of God...."

Anyway, I wish I could tell you more but you'll just have to read it. It is very similar to the Screwtape Letters written by C.S. Lewis.

Note: I don't exactly recommend it for younger kids....who are 11 and younger. But if you're a teenager or soon to be, I highly recommend it.

An Old Speech I Did.