ser•en•dip•i•ty (srn-dp-t)
n. pl. ser•en•dip•i•ties
1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery
n. pl. ser•en•dip•i•ties
1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery
That definition fits perfectly with my first two weeks back to China. Two days after Mike and I got back to China, we had to pleasure of hosting our first guests. Two of them had made their plans before the “accident,” and the other two we found out about a week before their arrival. I must admit that when I first heard about everyone’s plans I was a bit over whelmed and did not see how I could entertain, or even if I had the energy to visit with friends. But this is where the serendipity part comes in.
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| Kyle, Me and Theresa heading down to the Guomao subway station. |
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| Cyndi at the Great Wall |
Our first guests were Cyndi Harding, and her daughter Kimber, from Utah, (who I actually never met, but I am VERY good friends with Cyndi’s sister Connie and any sister of Connie’s is a friend of mine!) who were to arrive at 10am on the Beijing train (that was a ZOO!). Then that evening our lifelong friends, Theresa Merrill, and her son Kyle, were to arrive by plane at 5pm and are staying until the 19th of June.
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| Kimber making a looooooong distance call. |
Since we only have one guest room we had to do some finagling with sleeping quarters. Since Cyndi and Kimber were here for just the one night (they were already in country for a wedding and just popped up to Beijing for a quick tour), they stayed here. And I had Theresa and Kyle stay at a dear friend from church, apartment for that first night. Then we moved them over to our place the next night.
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| Temple of Heaven and the Beijing Zoo Panda |
As they arrived, and me wanting to be the good hostess, I forced myself to get up and get moving. I did end up spending most of my days sightseeing, which consists mostly of walking, walking and more walking; Silk Market, Zoo (saw a panda!), and the Temple of Heaven.
I was also pleasantly surprised that I had not forgotten my shopping mandarin, and was able to bargain for my friends as we were shopping. Which for the first time I found pleasant (that might be too strong of a word, more like I could do it without wilting and giving in to the shop owners first or second price quote), and was actually flabbergasted that I did know how to use the subway, (which Mike usually uses), and how to communicate with the taxi driver (my preferred mode of transportation), in mandarin. It appears that in my previous five months here I have actually absorbed some of the culture.
We all really had such a great time together shopping, eating Peking duck, and just enjoying being together.
My discovery could be called serendipity, chance, fate, or whatever you want, but I know that is was a blessing to have these good friends come and stay with us. I really believe that Heavenly Father had this all planed out before my fall. I know that He placed Theresa, Kyle, Cyndi, and Kimber in my life at this time and place to help me feel safe in China, and be able to see that the world is still a place that I can enjoy. I am still not over my fears of life here, but I am further along because of their visit. Had my friends canceled their trip, I would not have had the opportunity or desire to progress in my physical or mental therapy, and I am sure I would have just lain around waiting for the time to pass until my next flight back to Seattle.
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| This is my favorite place to buy silk scarves. It is behind the Pearl Market |
