Too confident??

So last week I found myself in bumper to bumper traffic on my way home from school and many a time I thought to myself...hmm....will I ever get out of this?? Also I was praying to God that I wouldn't get rear ended or that the bus that was trying to creep in front of me would see me. Did I mention that this was all on a bicycle? Yep! I bought a bike at Nanhu market for $40 US buckaroos. And apparently when you start biking around BJ (short for Beijing), you also think that you are invincible. I find myself doing dumb things on my bike here that I would NEVER do in the States. But hey, when you're in Rome do as the Romans do. Right??

This is a pic of my new wheels.

This is me on my wheels. :)

Right now I'm biking in the bike lane but as you can see cars like to park there so you have to watch out for doors opening on you, people, other bikes, electric bikes, mopeds, motorcycles...you get the picture. If there's no bike lane, you have to be gutsy enough to face cars and buses. But no worries, because...............

YEP!! You're looking at a stoplight for bicycles.

Regardless of being in "Rome", there are many a thing that I won't be doing EVER--regardless of how often the natives do it. For example, you will not find this lady doing snot rockets or hear me dislodge phlegm from my throat the size of a baseball; both of which are acceptable here. :) I often find myself looking down as I walk. Not because I don't want to look people in the eye, but because I'm trying to avoid spiddles (puddles of spit). Another thing that I won't be doing is eating chicken feet or pig feet. Sorry...no can do.

I've been super blessed with the Church here and by my school. I've been attending a small group Thursday nights at Bridget and Simon Cheong's apt. Bridget was the music teacher at my school last year, but she left to raise her 5 month old son Nathan. Anywhoo, not only do I get to dig deeper in God's Word with wonderful people, but last week Bridget had a special treat: Chef Wong was there to cook. Now thanks to Ryan and Melissa, I've heard about Chef Wong for over a year. I must say that Chef Wong and the love of God are quite similar. Here's how: You never understand what people are going gah gah over until you experience it for yourself. Yep! The food on the menu was roasted chicken, vegetables, cauliflower with cheese, oven fried potatoes, and an amazing dessert called pavlova. Check out wikipedia says about pavlova: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_(food This meal was one of the best I have ever tasted, and unfortunately, he's booked for over a year in advance. Thankfully, God's love is never in short supply, and I can revel in His goodness always.

My school is a great environment. The staff there love Jesus and we're very caring and supportive of one another. This blessing is great, especially when I'm living in a different culture. Last Friday was house shirt day. At International Academy of Beijing, the whole school is part of a house team. We have the Red Bulls, the Yellow Lions, the Green Eagles, and the Blue Sharks. It's almost like being part of the houses in Harry Potter except there was no sorting hat. I'm a Blue Shark and cheered my team to win the first competition: jump roping. Our team jumped over 1200 times total between K-5th grade students. The Sharks have never won, but I'm hoping some new blood will change that. This Friday is Dictionary day at my school. This day is where students and staff pick a word and dress up as that word. I was thinking about picking the word "black" and coming as myself. Not sure that would be appropriate so does anyone have any ideas? There's some things that I'm still not confident about it.