Day 66-67 - March 12th and 13th

On Wednesday Morning I got up early again. Before heading to the gym I studied a bit of Mandarin. Before class Gen and I tried to no avail to get Mike's gift finished. We had made a video for his birthday. I went around to some of our friends and got them to say something brief. Anyways, once we were at the office we were able to finish his gift. Carmen and Grace had got Mike a cake so we had a brief celebration before class. Today's class was pretty long. I wasn't really physically exhausted but more mentally tired. After class Carmen, Karma, Grace and the three of us went out for dinner. The meal was delicious! We had sushi and chicken wings. Once we were back at the flat, I relaxed for a bit before heading out. Wednesday evening we went out with our friends from hot pot to celebrate Mike's birthday karaoke style. It was a fun evening. There were a lot of English songs, even one by Michael W. Smith. I am really going to miss our friends when we leave. Sometimes I get caught up thinking about the goodbyes. From my time in Zambia, I know that this is a hard and emotionally draining time. While I hate it I know that I ought to keep engaging and building relationships. If you are new to my blog I have seem to talk about our friends at hot pot a lot. We call them our hot pot friends because they work at a nearby restaurant. Hot pot itself is a traditional Chinese cuisine where you individually cook and boil various meat and vegetables. Please remember our friends when talking to our Father. He is opening up wonderful opportunities to share and trust Him. By the time we were finished karaoke it was 2am. A late night indeed, especially since we had to be out the apartment at eight in the morning. Almost all day Thursday I was running on built up adrenaline. In the morning, we returned to northern Beijing where we are teaching English. We got back by the early part of the afternoon. Carmen and Grace went to pick up a couple that will be staying with us for the next little while. In light of the soon to be new arrivals, the three of us spent the afternoon thoroughly cleaning up the apartment. I did manage to get a quick nap in before heading over to BICF. Although tired, I once again had a great time! In Him