Hmmm . . . okay, let’s pull up the ole blog here to see when my last entry was . . . uh huh . . . right . . . click there . . . okay, here we are. WHAT? Holy crap! It’s been since February 5th?
Well, like you, Tracy and I have been extremely busy. It seems no matter where we go in this world, there is so much going on that we cannot catch our breath! In the past month, I’ve traveled to Yantai, in Shandong province, Jingzhou, in Hubei province, and Amsterdam, in North Holland province. J I’ve had too many dinners and too many great meals, yet my pants fit much better now than they did before. Weird.
But also in the past month, we’ve received some really great news and some really terrible news from those we love. Our heart rejoices for those who are expecting, and our heart mourns for those who are going through a terrible trial. We are praying for you, Kris—you’re always with us.
I’ve been learning Chinese slowly, and finding it impressive how much easier it is to deal with when you can say even a few small phrases. For example, I can now tell a taxi driver to turn right or left, or to wait a minute. In a town where Google maps don’t seem to mean much to drivers when you show them, these phrases are huge. Unfortunately, I still need to learn the phrase for go straight, slow down, stop here, and how to say an actual address. My fear is that once I know how to say these things, the drivers will want more information, since they always seem to ask clarifying questions in every conversation I’ve observed, but one step at a time, I guess.
I’ve been working on a sales deal for a big customer that has literally consumed me for the past two weeks. The boss has called me round the clock, and part of our travels was to visit them and come to an agreement. The numbers sold will be small this year, but these guys buy a lot every year, so next year may be much better if we can close the deal.
Tracy is settling in to working with the young women at church very nicely. She has been invited back to Hong Kong to speak to a large (300-ish?) group of them at the end of April, so she’s working on changing her trip home from the end of April to perhaps in time for Alyvia’s birthday? I say “back” to Hong Kong, because we went there last weekend to meet our 30-day visa requirement, and while the place itself wasn’t so bad, and the weather and temple were great, we had a bit of drama coming and going, and she vowed never to go back. Never say never, I guess.
The drama was this—I unknowingly dropped my BlackBerry on the Airport Express Subway in the middle of working this big deal. My boss had just chewed me out that morning, and now here I am on my way to Hong Kong with no contact. I haven’t been that nervous for a long, long time! But some Good Samaritan picked it up and called my office to let them know that they had it, and my office folks met them to get it back. Whew! And then, Tracy left her purse in the taxi when it dropped us off at the airport! No ID, no credit cards . . . and, you guessed it—no passport! Let me tell ya—if you’ve never been in a foreign country with a plane to catch in less than two hours with a lost passport, then you are very, very lucky to not know how it feels! We dashed downstairs to try to catch him picking up a fare, but missed him. We then spent the next half hour in the police station filing the report. And then, with me being the chivalrous son of a gun that I am, I gave her my credit card . . . and left to catch my flight. (Well, in my defense, I was flying to Amsterdam the next morning . . .) Anyway, after a couple of nervous hours (try to imagine that feeling), she got escorted downtown to identify her purse. Whew! Though we had to pay for a new plane ticket, it was still worth it to have her back with me. (And I don’t think she’s still mad at me . . . OWW! Stop hitting me! J)
Amsterdam was fun (not that kind of fun!), but a bit quick. But, after the past two weeks with very little time with Tracy, I am ready to be back home for a sort-of long weekend to unwind and recharge the batteries.
I hope March is calmer than February was, but based on the last two weeks, I’m not counting on it!
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