yeti speak...

random minutes on home life

This house is not large, it's comfortable.  Expansive windows invite sunlight which forms shadowed tapestries on the living room carpet. 

Anna and Sarah meticulously work on a pretend yard sale at the kitchen table.  Currency is cut from lined paper--$10 notes inked in black marker.  Everything must go!

Christa woke early to walk the neighborhood.  I slept off a late night--the All-Star game went into extra innings, it took 15 to decide the game and a millionaire ballplayer won a new car for his extra-effort.  I wonder how many families I could dramatically help in Tibet if I had a million dollars (or the equivalent value of that new car).  I daydream about ways the money could be used and fret over how it would be distributed.  I remind myself that throwing money at complex situations doesn't always help.  But getting medical care for a sick friend, helping an abused wife/mother escape from the violence couldn't make things worse, could it?  Partial solutions are better than no solutions.  I could use a million dollars.

Big dump trucks pull up outside.  The repaving efforts continue.  Jack hammers beat metallic, perforate the blacktop, and leave neat circles for manhole covers to fill. 

The sky is crystal blue--without a trace of clouds.  Something about this reminds me of a recovering alcoholic counting his days of sobriety.  "Hi, everyone.  I am the Northwest skyline.  It has been 32 days since my last cloud...."  We all applaud and shake our heads knowingly.

A dozen pink roses stretch their petals above the laptop as I type.  I am secretly proud of my spontaneity in buying them.  My wife deserves this bunch and many more yet to be bought.  They were long overdue.  I can't help thinking about all our friends, dear friends, getting separated and divorced right now.  Roses (like dollars) are not THE SOLUTION I know, but the thought, the care, the communication behind the gift of roses must at least be a partial solution.  I am planting a rose garden in my mind for all the thorns that threaten to squeeze love out.

One of the things I miss most while living in central China, I'm noticing now in retrospect, is trees.  Gargantuan evergreen, coniferous, trees.  They grow in such abundance here, towering over us like friendly Ents.  I have to restrain myself from unabashedly hugging each one.  Tree-hugger that I am.  I keep looking over my shoulder out the window to make sure they haven't uprooted and left.  Nope, still there.  Still staking the grass down--grounding us all to the terra firma.

One last thought...

There is an undercurrent that seems to flow through my spiritual thoughts lately.  It is like groundwater that bubbles up to the surface only to wash back down to its subterranean flow.  I don't know if I can adequately describe it: it's like water that way.  Basically, I have been thinking a lot about how Jesus always says, "If you have ears to hear, hear this..."  This flow is also tied to his parable of The Sower.  I have noticed that there is a theme in Scripture of being in a state of receptivity to the message.  I actually think that the parable of the Sower is all about making sure your "soil" is soft, grow-friendly, and open.  I used to think the Sower parable was just some kind of descriptive parable showing the heart-state of different types of people, but reading it a bit more carefully I think it is a warning (for all of us) against becoming jaded by life, trial, and tragedy.  Jesus is saying (I think) that we need to make sure our heart doesn't become a place full of weeds, thorns, or rough soil.  We need our inner-life to be fertile ground for God to plant seeds that will grow.  We need to have ears that actually hear and eyes that actually see.

There is so much in the world to see and hear.  Plenty of trees to be hugged.  (These thoughts all came together in a random way.  If there is a consistent theme, moral, or sermon in any of this post it was not intentional at all.  As usual I am pretty much talking to myselfm out loud.  I am thankful that you allow me this bit of space to do so.  Not that you could even stop me! :)

visiting some great lakes

In this family, you know you're having a lot of fun when you barely take any photos.  Having completed our whirlwind trip to eastern Washington, Idaho, and Montana, we realized that we didn't take too many photos of our adventures.  The pictures we did take show many of the great lakes we visited and ENJOYED.  Specifically, Moses Lake, Lake Hauser (in Helena) and Liberty Lake.  We also had some fun on the Missouri River and stopped to take a gander at the mighty Columbia River.

Here are a few photos...

Sadly, no fish were caught in the past two months.  We have tried a few times.

floating - (writing from the stream)*

We floated down the Missouri River yesterday on inner-tubes.  Using our hands as paddles we navigated the slow, steady currents and tried to keep our bodies out of the chilly water and baking in the clear sun.  The strong breeze pushed us downriver fast. 

Everything in Montana, Idaho, and Washington state is aflame in green for us.  Evergreen trees, grasslands, bumper crops--we are in awe of such color carpeting mountains and skirting the water's edge.  Train cars lie dormant nearby envying the river's progress.

I want to take a bite of the scenery as if it were a fresh vegetable sprouting up after a long drought.

Our friends live in East Helena.  They have a porch that gets good sunlight in the morning; rocking chairs, and hanging plants with pink flowers.  I drink fresh brewed coffee, rock back and forth, and wonder what it might be like to speak Tibetan while drilling myself mentally on Chinese words I should remember.  None of this makes sense to me; the world is incongruent at times.  In geometric terms, obtuse. 

I think of a Tibetan friend, a disillusioned monk, and rehearse conversations I would like to have with him way out in the future--on that undiscovered continent of fluency I'd love to someday set foot on.  We all have a little Christopher Columbus in us, don't we?  Dreaming those impossible dreams of new worlds and boatloads of gold.

The kids bounce in the backyard--half-pint pioneers of the trampoline.  My thoughts bounce around, too.  There was that falcon's nest on the telephone pole outside of Lewiston.  A wrong turn lead us there and I know those birds of prey will remain perched in my memory for weeks to come.  There were big fish bouncing around in Lake Hauser and Moses Lake--visually appealing, but good for "nothing but fertilizer" I was told by a friendly fisherman.  A startled doe that darted back into the trees when we slowed our Ford to watch her.  The feeling of walking on water like Jesus--sort of--some like to call it wakeboarding, but for me it felt like a small miracle.  Sparrows darting batlike, consuming their weight in gnats and mosquitoes, below the pier in the blueberry dusk...

Is God in this?  Does he find us on the river, in the random memory, cached away in rural China sipping yak butter tea?  I don't know.  Facebook hasn't helped with my searches for Him.  I've heard a lot of sad stories the last few weeks.  Stories that make me bleed inside.  Stories that feel like the world might really be crumbling.  Stories that plead with us to shut the book.  I'm glad that these tragic tales aren't the only ones written or read.  I'm glad my daughter writes spontaneous worship songs.  (It's true; it's glorious.)  I'm glad that my wife and I still like holding hands.  I'm glad there are rivers that can still be floated.

I'm glad to float...

* - I wrote this post while listening to Jon Foreman's "The House of God Forever".  I recommend reading it to the same song if possible...

happy 4th

To all of my American readers, have a great 4th of July today.

After reading 1776 last month my favorite new (old) American hero is Henry Knox.

 

He was the guy who brought the canons from Ticonderoga that played such a big part in the battle for Boston. 

An optimistic type guy, Knox had a "can-do" type of personality and a lot of perseverance.  (Plus, looks like he was a fairly snappy dresser as well.  A hit with the ladies for sure.)  If I'm not getting him confused with someone else, Knox was a bookstore owner before entering the "revolution".  If you know of a good biography about Henry Knox, let me know.  I'd love to learn more about his life...

in montana for the 4th

In case you missed the memo.  The Johnsons are in Montana.  Yesterday, we were in Idaho.  The day before that we were in Mose Lake, Washington.  It's been great seeing friends we haven't seen in a long time and enjoying the official start of summer.  The weather has been amazing.  I got up on a wakeboard (without injury) for the first time in over 10 years.  And the girls (Christa included) enjoyed some tubing on the lake.  I'll get some pictures posted when we return to Edmonds but that won't be until the 14th or so.

More to come...

Happy barbecues!

summertime!

We've been a bit too busy for such trivial things as blogging, but here's a brief update and a photo album.

Anna finished her two-week trial at the local kindergarten.  Her teachers (of course) loved her and had many positive things to say about her.  They described her as being a "role model" in the classroom even though she had only been there a short time.  They said she was pretty advanced in terms of reading and math, was very sweet and friendly, and when given elective options would always choose the Reading Corner.  Imagine that?

Last week some friends from Montana (family of 5) came out and stayed with us for the week.  We hit all the Seattle hotspots and wore the kids out (or vice versa) every day with FUN activities. 

The weather "seems" to have turned into more summer-like conditions, but I'm not holding my breath.

We'll be taking our first road trip this weekend and are looking forward to some time at Moses Lake, WA, in Idaho and Montana.

Here's a photo album of our outings last week.

bad idea

Kids with skewers...

This was taken at a favorite Xining restaurant...

refunds are easy, technology is crazy

OK, I am still a bit enamored by the "little" things of convenience in my mother land. 

 Case in point: A week ago I bought a little car-adapter for our I-Pod so that we can play our music while traveling around.  But the AM/FM digital adapter thing didn't work very well.  The static was terrible and then one day it just didn't work at all.  So I grabbed my receipt and returned to Radio Shack with the adapter.

Within 5 minutes I had a full refund (cash in hand even) with hardly any questions asked.  I didn't even have the original packaging.

Whoah.  Intense.

Contrast this with a story my expat friend told me about purchasing a portable DVD player in Xining.  Basically he bought a portable DVD player from an electronics store only to discover that the battery was dead when he bought it.  After haggling with the retailer, my friend got a different machine which unfortunately had the same problem.  Because the retailer guaranteed a full refund if the customer was not "completely satisfied" my friend asked for his money back.  The clerk tried many ways to avoid giving my friend his money.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  The person who gives refunds isn't here today.  Oh, I'm sorry the refund agents are at lunch right now."  My friend, cleverly, decided to just wait in the store for his money.  Call it a sit-in.  Eventually, after much arguing and perseverance he was given a full refund!  It was a process that took quite a lot of time and trouble and most of us expats still can't believe he actually got his money back.  If his Chinese wasn't so good, I'm still not convinced it would have worked.  Things are a lot different in China.

Technology has also changed a bit in the last 3 years.  The little things that is.  We recently got cable in our home because we were desperate for English-speaking news, kids' shows, and Major League Baseball (well, I was desperate for baseball--Christa couldn't care less.)  Well, "basic" cable has changed a lot from the last time we had it.  Now you get a bazillion channels and FREE On-Demand.  What?  With the internet package we also got, the price wasn't drastically different from when we had cable/internet in the past.

And speaking of kids shows, I guess some smart TV exec felt my frustration vibe about Dora the Explorer being a Spanish speaker.   "Why can't she speak Chinese?" was my daily lament as my girls were glued to Dora, Boots, and Swiper's every move.  Well, there is a NEW Nick Jr show in town called, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and it is a cartoon that teaches kids Chinese.  Sweet.  I may watch it so that I don't lose all my elementary-level Chinese while we are in America the next 9 months.

You just gotta love this country...

politics, schmolitics

It's an election year here in the U.S. so there is a political buzz in the air.  Even before we left China our expatriate friends would often ask us what we thought of Obama, Clinton, and other U.S. politicians now on the world stage.  Whenever I get questions like this there are typically a few immediate corresponding physiological responses:  my eyes glaze over, my head nods forward, I yawn, my mind begins analyzing forgotten baseball statistics, and I essentially do everything in my power to tune out.  I can't help it--it's an involuntary response.

My wife, on the other hand, is immediately interested in the conversation and has informed opinions about the candidate and the issues. She is very willing to add to these types of discussions.

My main problem is that when it comes to politics I have a bad history of cynicism, apathy, and skepticism about the whole process.  (This is perhaps the highest form of taking something for granted--i.e. the freedoms one enjoys in a democratic society.)  Over the years it seemed to me that the political arena was more of a circus of self-interest than of service to the public.  I have rarely felt represented by those in power and have had a hard time getting my mind around how governments work and why they don't work a lot better.  What can I say?  Complaint is my spiritual gift.

Because of this I have held an underlying, if highly misguided, philosophy of revolt by totally abstaining from political thought or activity.  But since we've lived in China and have been away from our "homeland" for the past 3 years,  I have felt my views slowly starting to shift towards something that looks vaguely like interest or even...hope?  I guess you could say I have a newfound love and appreciation for this nation (with all its many flaws and transgressions) and I want to be more educated, more active, and more interested overall in the political process.  As a Christian I also see the importance of making hope the thrust of everything I live by--even my political stance.

It's been a slow awakening for me.  Seeing how other nations of the world run their daily affairs was part of it.  Digging into American history through various media (i.e. watching the TV series Band of Brothers this past year and reading McCullough's 1776) also left a deep impression*.  But as this is such a new interest for me, I didn't know exactly how to start educating myself.  I am not one to put a bumper sticker on my car or watch political debates.  I decided I have to start grappling with the issues from the crux of my own doubts and skepticism.  So I picked up this really great (if a bit dated now--published in 2005) book by Jim Wallis entitled:  God's Politics:  Why the Right Gets It Wrong And the Left Doesn't Get It.

I think the title perfectly sums up one of the biggest issues I have faced as a believer who has been frustrated with the political process in this country. I don't always fall into what people might mistakenly label the "Christian camp" or the Religious Right, but I can't always accept ALL the policies of those on the other side either.  What to do?  What to do?

 I'm not finished with the book yet, but I already see a "third" way (a prophetic vision) forward thanks to Wallis and some of his insights.  Wallis also intelligently shows how it is important for faith to be part of any political discussion/process as it often has fueled radical progress and social justice revolutions (i.e. think MLK and civil rights) in society.

As an evangelical I particularly enjoyed some of his thoughts on "fundamentalism" and how it should be viewed in light of politics.  Here's a long quote (if you have the time):

Fundamentalism is essentially a revolt against modernity.  It is a reaction usually based on profound fear and defensiveness against "losing the faith"...  But most of fundamentalism in Christianity, Judaism, or Islam (and it exists in all three) does not result in what we witnessed on September 11.  That takes a shift, or a turn--to theocracy, to violence, and to a reach for power.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the antidote to religious fundamentalism is more secularism.  But that is a very big mistake.  The best response to bad religion is better religion, not secularism.  The three great monotheistic traditions are religions "of the book".  The key question is how do we interpret the book?  For example, in Christian faith, we have the interpretation of Martin Luther King Jr., but also that of the Ku Klux Klan.  Better interpretations of the book are a much more effective response to fundamentalism than throwing the book away.

Southern slave masters gave their captors the Bible to keep their eyes trained on heaven, instead of their plight on earth.  But in the Bible those same slaves found Moses and Jesus, who became the foundations for their liberation struggle.  We must always acknowledge that our religious traditions can be both a cause for oppression and an inspiration for liberation.  Religious arguments have fostered terrible sectarian division, hatred, and violence, but faith has also helped to set people free.  We must be honest about both.  In the very same traditions that have been used to sanction injustice are found the seeds of justice, peace, and freedom.  Those of us from religious communities must be the first to be critical of our own traditions when they are used to foster more conflict and violence while, at the same time, holding out the prophetic possibilities in every one of our religious faiths.

It is also often said that fundamentalism comes from taking religion too seriously.  The answer, then, is to take religion less seriously.  Wrong again.  The best response to fundamentalism is to take faith more seriously than fundamentalism usually does.  The best critique of fundamentalism comes from faith itself, which challenges the accommodations of the fundamentalism to theocracy, power, and violence.  It is faith that leads us to assert the vital religious commitments that fundamentalists often leave out, namely compassion, social justice, peacemaking, humility, tolerance, and even democracy as a religious commitment.

_{*This is tongue-in-cheek reference to an overused Chinese-to-English phrase. They say everything has left a "deep impression".}

amazing anniversary

Our return to Union, Washington for our anniversary was perfect.  I'm not exaggerating.  We got sunshine (again), amazing views, great food, luxurious lodging, lots of laughter and romantic (kid-free) quality time together.  I think Christa would agree that it was the perfect celebration of the perfect wedding.  Call me biased if you will.

The venue where we got married, Alderbrook Inn, changed hands in the 8 years since we were there last.  A Microsoft big-wig evidently bought the place and put 23 million dollars into it!  Now it's called Alderbrook Resort and Spa; talk about a serious makeover.  So we had our dinner there and visited the grounds where we had our ceremony, but we were glad to stay at a familiar place down the road called the Selah Inn.   The Selah Inn Bed & Breakfast is a cozy little bed-and-breakfast where we spent the first night of our honeymoon. 

There were NO disappointments at all in the meal OR the accommodations.  And just look at my beautiful wife...can't say enough about being married to her.  I'm a very, very lucky guy.

Here's some photos we took.  For those of you who went to our wedding, you wouldn't believe all the changes they've made to Alderbrook.  It's a pretty plush establishment now so I'm glad we got in there when we did.  It's fun to go back and relive such great matrimonial memories.

8

Celebrating eight wonderful years with this beautiful wife of mine.  No posts for a few days because Christa and I are returning to Union, Wa where we got married.

 

home, sweet home

Here's a picture of our new home.  It's actually a long house so it is bigger (inside) than this picture indicates.  It's actually a 3 BR house with a large unfinished basement.  (Our new wheels parked there in the drive.)


Today was Anna's first day at the kindergarten across the street.  She will start 1st grade there next year, but the school said that she could come for the last two weeks before summer if she wanted to.  She said her first day was a lot of fun.  Wednesday she will be with her class on a field trip...


The girls are right at home here.  All the TV shows are in English--can you imagine?

Christa catches up with friends in our comfortable "master suite".


Meanwhile, I am still in awe at the massive size of this fridge!

It's at my EYE level.  Gargantuan...

The thing I appreciated the most today: when I went to the mall with Sarah this morning, EVERYONE ignored me.  No one stared, yelled 'Hallo' at me, snickered when I walked by, or even seemed to notice me.  Anonymity has never felt so good.

wheels!

We scored a good used car today--a 2001 Ford Focus. (This is a picture of a 2000 and it looks basically the same as ours.)  A big thanks to those of you who were looking, asking, and praying on our behalf.  With a house and car in our possession we feel we have re-Americanized pretty thoroughly in less than a week's time. 

Look out!  We're coming soon to a city near you...(continentally speaking, of course.)

initial impressions

Well, we've been back in the homeland for 4 days now.  We're starting to feel a bit more human.  Here are some of my re-entry impressions thusfar.

• Our fridge is huge!  It's merely gigantimous.  It's funny to think about how, in Jianzha a month ago, I packed our borrowed fridge on my back and single-handedly carried it down four flights of steps.  I couldn't even pick up the crisper drawer in this American-style fridge without getting a hernia.  (OK, slight exaggeration.)
• Our washer is also huge!  This is what Christa tells me.  I guess in America EVERYTHING is a LOT bigger than in other countries.  Now we know firsthand.
• Everything is green here.  They don't call Seattle the Emerald City for nothing. There is an upside to so many gray, cloudy days.  Evergreen trees are my new infatuation.
• No one sits outside in front of their home here.  Strange, but true.  There are no porch canaries in our new neighborhood so I try to make an effort to squat on the curb from 2-4 p.m. daily.  It helps with my adjustment.
• The internet is screaming F-A-S-T!!!  And surprisingly, none of the typical sites I visit are blocked.  Not even blogging sites...that's incredible.
• Customer service is back ON.  You can actually call someone on the phone, speak English to them (whoah), order something for a specific day, and receive it on the agreed upon day.  It feels like a form of witchcraft to me, but it works.  It really works...
• Teriyaki chicken tastes as delicious as I remembered.
• The public library system in America is my idea of heaven.  So many books, so little time.
• America has mastered the concept of junk food as art form.  As most of our friends here have moved on to more organic and wholesome dietary habits, my time in China has caused a regression to the point that I only crave consuming highly-processed, highly-fattening, highly-caloric substances loosely labeled as food.  Jabba the Hut--my mentor.
• In the suburbs I can look out my window and not see a single person or car for entire blocks of time.  Eerie. 

I am sure as we integrate into American society more these impressions will change.  It has been really wonderful settling into our "own" home here.  The girls can barely understand this non-apartment concept.  Seeing some of our family and friends has also been a great joy.  We are really excited for the next 9 months States-side.

back in edmonds, wa

We're here.  We're zombies; but we're home.  It feels good, strange, comfortable and surreal.  More re-entry impressions once I've slept...can't wait to hit the hay tonight!

we're all getting older (and better looking)

Here's Sarah and Anna when we came to Asia in 2005




















 
And here they are now (spring 2008)...
















And here is how our family has aged in 3 years...
Before
















After
















We've had a nice relaxing day in Beijing today.  Tomorrow we'll be boarding a 9 a.m. flight to Seattle via Tokyo (14 hours in the air).  Looking forward to landing in the good ole' U.S.A. on Memorial Day!  See you all soon...

FYI

Just so everyone knows, the earthquake down in Chengdu today did not affect us this far north. 

The Johnsons are back in Xining packing and re-packing and tying down the fort (or whatever strange metaphor you'd like to use for such things).  We were all so exhausted today I doubt we would have EVEN noticed any residual shakes in the terra firma.

Let's be in prayer for those who were closer to the epicenter.  With that, we'll see (some of) you VERY soon...

hiatus

We'll be moving from Jianzha back to Xining one week from tomorrow!  Then it will be a short 2 weeks until we plane back to the States from Beijing.

In lieu of a lot of changes and activity during this month of May I have decided I am going to be taking a hiatus from blogging.  I am not sure if it will be a short hiatus or a long hiatus, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.  I am going to be reflecting on the "journey" thusfar, especially over these past 3 years.  After being somewhat of a "spectacle" during this time period in a different country, I am looking forward to a bit of a sabbatical from being in the public eye so much.  In other words I am building a little privacy back into my daily life.

It might not last for long.  Thanks for checkin' in.  I'll let you know when the yeti surfaces again...

we're looking into it

The girls, Anna and Sarah, have had a bad case of "la duzi" lately, otherwise known as diarrhea.  The other night Anna came into the living room and with a very sad face said to Christa, "Mommy, I had diarrhea again."

Christa replied sympathetically, "I know, Anna.  Tomorrow, Beth [a co-worker friend] and I are going to look into it."

Anna paused a second and then her eyes got as big as saucers, "What?  You're going to look into my poo-poo place?"

I about died of laughter.  The beautifully literal mind of a child.

power outages end in pecans

It's not uncommon to lose electricity for a day or two in China without any explanation, especially out where we live.

But here's an interesting power outage story that ends in pecans...

Last month I went to pay the electric bill for our apartment.  (You've heard about going "paperless".  Well, China has this concept down already.  They don't use paper; unfortunately they also don't use the internet or any other digital format for paying bills--at least not where I live, other parts of China may work differently.  You won't ever receive a bill in the mail for utilities nor will you receive any notification that a bill is due in paper form.  You just have to know where to pay the bills and more importantly WHEN...)

So I went to pay in March, but was told I didn't owe anything.  OK. No worries.

So on the 9th of April I went back to pay my electric bill (at the bank) only to be told that I needed to come back on the 10th through the 20th to pay it.  Frustrating, but not uncommon.  I resolved to return.

Of course I quickly forgot and on April 21st at 9 a.m. our electricity was suddenly just GONE.  At first I didn't make the "lack of payment" connection.  Since power had been out at various times during the week I just assumed that it was a normal outage.  Since it is nearly impossible to tell during the daylight hours who has and/or does not have electricity, we assumed that  our whole complex was cut off.

In the meantime I went and paid our bill which was a whopping $5 (US).  When it got dark outside we noticed that some of the windows in the apartment complex had LIGHT emanating from them.  Electric lighting that is.  Hmmmm.  Christa got curious and began asking our neighbors if they had electricity.  Many of them did (while a few didn't).   A friendly half-Tibetan neighbor took Christa under her wing and started making further inquiries.  She asked around and finally called the electric company for us...

Turns out, paying your bill on the 21st of the month IS a bit too late and our power was cut off. So, after a candle-lit evening, I had to wake up early the next morning, walk down to the electric company and pay the fee $1.50 (US) to get our electricity turned back on.  It was the first time in my life I had my power turned off because I was negligent in paying my bill.  Oh, the SHAME!  It was quickly fixed thankfully.  That afternoon we had power once more.

Our friendly neighbor also had a nice chat with Christa and gave her some pecans as a parting gift.  When Christa asked where the pecans had come from (since she had never seen them here) our neighbor replied, "America." 

(But she had to import them all the way from Xining.  Turns out you can't buy imported pecans in J-town.  But, man, they have a stringent 0-tolerance policy when it comes to tardy bill pay!)