国庆节–National Day

Well this week has been interesting because it has been a holiday nearly all week.  At the end of this I must say that I really don’t like long holidays.  There is just too much time for me to know what to do with.  Maybe if I had planned a really big trip it would have been better, but instead I just wasted a lot of time during the week.

 

Last Sunday while everyone was having conference we were having a normal fast Sunday.  It really was good to fast.  I also figured out how to get my iTouch working so that I could purchase stuff in this country.  Anything that involves an online transaction can become quite the process in China.

 

On Monday I started what in many ways was the first day of “staycation” in this country.  In the morning several of us from flagship and got together to play volleyball.  It was actually a lot of fun.  The nets at the school are a little taller then women’s nets and a little shorter than men’s nets, which means that I was actually able to spike the ball.  My team one the first two games, but then we switched up teams and after that we didn’t win again   Luckily winning wasn’t what made it fun.

For lunch we all went over to the Miller’s house and had fried rice made by Chris Miller.  It was actually really good, every bit as good as the fried rice that you can buy on the street.  He is certainly going to save a pretty penny by being able to cook food.

After lunch all of us from volleyball headed out to see one of the parks that was about a 20 minutes walk from where we lived.  While there I saw a couple interesting things.  We saw two different photo shoots.  The really interesting one was this girl taking photos in very traditional clothing.  Apparently this is something they do as an equivalent to our senior pictures.  It was really cool looking, though I think she looked a little funny because she would never smile.

I also got to see another Daoist/Buddhist temple.  While this was normal to see in Taiwan I have only seen two my entire time in Nanjing.  We also got to see a little street market.  It was fun talking to the dealers.  They are all so cute when they try to convince you that you want to buy there stuff.  It was a lot of fun.

 

 

On Tuesday I found someone that would probably buy my iTouch so I ordered a new one online.  I also bought some other stuff and am having it shipped to my uncle so that they can package it all together and send it to me.  It will be good to have hand sanitizer with me.  When I was in Taiwan restaurants would have soap in their bathrooms, but this is rarely the case over here.  Clean hands when I eat will be a real plus.

The rest of the day was mainly a day to rest up and run errands.  I ate lunch at the cafeteria.  It is really crazy how packed that place is.  The food is all really cheap, not great, but good for the price.

The one things I thought of most as I was walking through campus that day was really how beautiful where I live is.  Sometimes I focus on the filth, the crazy traffic, or sometimes I am just too busy to notice, but when I stop and look around for a second I find that I really am amazed at how beautiful this place is.  I think that is true for most places in our lives.  If we stop and take a second to see what is really there we will be amazed at all the beautiful things the Lord has provided for us in this wonderful earth.

 

Wednesday became the second real day of “staycation” with me heading out to campus to take some pictures.  Nanjing University was originally Jinling University a Christian university for women students.  Because of this there is actually quite a bit of traditional architecture.  I also really like how modern and traditional are smashed together in China.  Buildings that look like they could be several hundred years old will have air conditioners on the windows, crazy modern art in front of very traditional buildings, and other things like that really spark my interest.

Another thing I really enjoy about campus is just how many little gardens are spread throughout it.  There are so many places to sit surrounded by the trees and just enjoy nature.  This is one thing that I really respect about the Chinese, they still understand the importance of nature and make sure that it is there even in there cities.  There is a special closeness we can achieve with the Lord in nature and I think the Chinese understand this concept far better than we do.

For dinner I went with Trevor to a muslim/indian resturant.  It was really good.  I had a dish that was grilled nan with lamb and Trevor had another lamb dish.  Like good Chinese people we shared with each other.  It was a little pricey, but it was really good.

 

The last set of pictures (except the very last one) are pictures of the building where I have most of my classes.  It is actually a pretty modern building inside, but the outside is a little untamed

 

Thursday’s big event was that I got a bunch of the BYU students together to sing Karaoke.  It was a really fun time together.  The wives of the flagship students actually sang with us which made it a lot more fun then it is when they just sit there.  I really enjoyed myself.  It was a lot of fun, I did feel like some people there played a fast one on me having me pay more than I should have, but that is just life.

On Friday I went with Trevor to an RT Mart.  RT Mart is kind of like Wal-Mart, but they had them in Taiwan so I am a little more used to their style.  I actually really liked it there.  They have a huge selection of items and they have really cheap breads.  Fun story: When I was first looking at the breads I only paid attention to the price which was 3.9 Yuan.  I thought this was ridiculous and way out of my range.  Eventually Trevor decided to buy a donut that was 4.9 Yuan, but when he went to pay they told him he had to pick three to buy any.  At that point I went back and read the signs a little closer and realize that they said it was four pieces of bread for 3.9 Yuan, a really good price.  I felt a little silly that I hadn’t read the sign better, but I was also really happy to find such a cheap place to buy bread.  I have a hunch I will spend a lot more time at RT Mart before I leave China.

Friday also saw me get a haircut.  May I say getting haircuts in this country is great.  For 10 Yuan, or about 1.30 USD you get your hair washed and cut with scissors and not just an electric razor.  Totally blows BYU’s barber shop out of the water.  I might actually start getting my hair cut more often with it being so cheap.

 

Saturday was a really weird day because we had to make up Thursdays classes that day.  Sometimes in China you have to make up classes missed during break on the weekends.  I really don’t like the system, but that is just something I have to endure.  It just did not feel like Saturday.  Classes all went well and it was a good normal school day, but it just felt weird when I went to bed to know that the next day would be Sunday.

 

And that was the week.  It was a really good week, though there was a little too much break for me.  My spiritual thoughts this week really do focus on things I heard while listening to conference.  The first comes from what I was thinking about during the week and then heard emphasized by President Monson, that is the theme of gratitude.  I don’t think that it is possible to be too grateful in this life.  Just walking around in China the last few days and paying attention to the blessings that God gives us had me thinking that he gives us so many blessing, large and small, but often because of our problems we can’t see them.  If we stop for a second and look around us we will come to realize that we really have countless things to be thankful to the Lord for.  Even in our hardest times it is clear that we have plenty to be extremely thankful for.

The second thought was the thought about turning our backs on sin, in the sense that once we repent we turn our back on the past and don’t dwell on it or return to look at it.  It is such a powerful lesson.  Even to this day I find myself being disappointed at myself for mistakes I made years ago.  I realize now that this is everything but counter productive.  When we dwell in the past we refuse to accept the enabling side of the atonement.  The enabling power of the atonement can only be operative as we move forward and act.  As we move forward we are filled with power, we lack regrets, and we can truly be happy.  I pray that all of us can continue going forward and enjoy the blessings that the Lord wants to give us today.