Monday, January 5, 2009

The sky is bluer in China this January—coal burning ceased in preparations for the 2008 Olympics. It’s still as cold as ever. Lakes and small streams of water are frozen over, allowing for people to enjoy an afternoon of ice skating. Commercial skyscrapers are accented by flagpoles of Communist flags flying in the slight Beijing wind.

This morning, after visiting the Lama Temple in Beijing, we took the bus to New Day Creations in Qingyundian—the organization where we’ll spend the next almost two weeks teaching English language classes to college students and providing care to fostered children, all of whom have a medical condition.

For the duration of the bus ride I was able to quietly look out the bus window. I watched as coal-stained high-rise apartment complexes transformed into rural shacks. The passing of trains holding thousands of passengers became bicyclists transporting their groceries from the market to their homes. We began to pass vast open fields, bare and skeletal-like trees, and stray dogs. The many cranes and commercial high-rise buildings began to disappear while smoke stacks in the distance became visible, its billowing smoke contrasted by the blue sky. I knew we were getting close.

I was relieved when we arrived at New Day. Warmly welcomed by Caroline, the volunteer coordinator, I quickly remembered why this organization is such an important part of my life. As we toured the language school, the factory, and the foster home, I looked on quietly, taking it all in for my second time, and watching as my fellow-travelers reacted to the same things I did just one year ago.

It’s great to be a tourist, but nothing compares to what we’re going to experience in the next two weeks here: the conversations that will ensue between us and English students, the care that will be provided to the children at the foster home, and the adventures into the small village of 50,000 Chinese people that is Qingyundian. We are here to serve, but ultimately, we will be ones who are changed. Now that we are here, we can slow down.

Tomorrow we will begin teaching English language classes, caring for fostered children, and visiting families in the village.

Respectfully submitted by Jake Stortini