Hi everyone!
Firstly, thanks/apologies to Annemarie, Candy, Josh, Ting, and Zach for photos I stole for the montage pics attached!! (Some of them are mine, really….)
The big news is: I am now a blonde! And not in a China everyone-with-non-black-hair-is-blonde sort of way. In a two boxes of bleach across ten days sort of way. And I am LOVING my new look!
In other news, Nick, a good friend of mine from Canberra, just moved to Beijing! It’s nice to be welcoming an old friend rather than bidding them farewell! He’s been in country less than two days as I write this, but we’re already putting him to work helping me lead worship at youth tonight ;)
Corporate – the Fall 2008 Youth Camps have come and gone… and we all survived! It was pretty exhausting, physically, especially with being sick. I never quite recovered from the laryngitis I got in Canada, and then picked up a nice new cold to go with it somewhere around camp time. I’m still coughing a bit but feeling much better now. I wouldn’t take any of it back, though. Even the exhausted meltdown I had between camps was worthwhile – I feel so much better, on the right track, than I did before. I’m more relaxed, more interested in enjoying life (funny, that’s what my HS workshop was on!) and more interested in following God myself than in pleasing all the people around me.
Camps were smaller this year, and the campsite different, but more than that, it was completely different for me because I had a very different role. I was heading up the worship stuff – which meant leading one of two teams at HS and co-leading a team with Stefan doing all four sets at MS camp. The kids I work with are so amazing – amazing people and amazing musicians. It was soooo fun to spend time playing with them. I am so, so proud of all of them. And in the interests of keeping this email to less than saga length, I’ll just stop there!!
Camp Videos done by two of the students – they did an INCREDIBLE job!
- Learned how to blow dry and straighten my hair somewhat effectively.
- Learned that if I sit on the couch and JUST watch TV (rather than doing something else at the same time) my cats will find a way to share my lap and sit quietly.
- Granting “music guru” status to Stefan, who has me addicted to a few more bands :)
- Drinking lots of Chinese tea, especially rosebud tea.
- More painting – and putting photos on facebook to share with people, since almost no one can see them in person :)
“Time of the Twins” – Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
“Transatlanticism” – Death Cab For Cutie (from Transatlanticism)
And that’s it for the latest installment of Tanya’s crazy China life! I look forward to updates from around the world, letting me know how you’re all doing :D
Stories From Tanya 