Chinese new year in Beijing is something quite difficult to relate second-hand. It’s something I recommend experiencing in person! Yes, there are plenty of annoying things about it, but I enjoy it anyway. I arrived in China just after Chinese new year 2004 and I was out of the country for the start of 2005,…
On the way to church this morning the taxi I was in had to travel by a circuitous route as the main expressway was closed. There was no explanation, just a guy with a police car and cones blocking the on-ramp. The driver and I both assumed that some dignitary was travelling that road in…
I am frequently asked what a “typical day” looks like for me. I never know what to say. It’s a legitimate question, and I appreciate the interest in what I do. While youth work is the most natural thing in the world to me, I understand that many of you have no idea how it…
May is a crazy time of year for me. There are graduations and farewells and end-of-year events and all sorts of related stuff. This May I’ve had a bunch of extra stuff too. CRAZY! But all wonderful stuff I’d never want to miss. Instead of talking about all that, though, I want to tell you…
Youth Conference in Beijing was April 2nd-3rd. I left early in order to get to Thailand and was SO bummed to miss the last session with my Beijing kids, but that’s what happens when you try to do two conferences at the same time. (I was a day late to the conference in Cha-am). I’ll…
For the past 4or 5 years I’ve received invitations to attend a sunrise service on Easter morning – held on the Great Wall. This year, for the first time, I actually went. We took a group of 50 people (teens and youth leaders, and a few others) to the Great Wall at Huang Hua Cheng.…
Hello all, Well well well, I haven’t been good with stories lately, have I? I shall have to make up for it here. But first, a quick rundown on all the busyness that has kept me from writing thus far! Youth work continues to be crazy busy, and I love it! I love visiting IAB…
Hi everyone! Took me longer than I planned to get to writing this update – sorry! I’ve been pretty busy over the past month. Lots of youth ministry activity, I’m working hard on the Youth-in-Asia stuff, and I finally went to see a doctor after a couple of bad migraines. (It’d been over a year…
Hey everyone, This isn’t a regular update email. Instead, it’s some China storytelling! I was reminded recently that one of the most popular updates I ever sent out was the “Water Stories” of last summer (July 2009). So I’ve been on the look out for some stories to tell you – so here goes! Cold…
Hello all! This is a very overdue update, I’m sorry! It’s been a crazy three months since I last wrote. I have too much to tell, so I’ll leave the stories of my Australia trip for another email. This one will be an update on my CDs and my new life in Beijing! Highlights: CDs…
So! Lots going on in TanyaWorld! Bec and I looked at an apartment on Friday and put a deposit down on Saturday! There are some things to resolve but overall we feel a real peace and confidence that this is The Place and that, therefore, everything will fall into place sooner or later. It’s 200m2,…
Finally, here it is, the last installment of my travelogue. This section is about Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. We were only there for two days but it was fun, and involved pandas! Facts about Chengdu (成都): Chengdu was the birthplace of the first widely used paper money in the world (Northern Song Dynasty,…
Stories From Tanya 