Katie & the Squatty Potty

Unless you've been to China, you've probably never experienced a public toilet like the "Squatty Potty."

The idea, which my seem obvious to you, is to place you feet along the grooved edges, squat down and holding your pants, skirt, underwear and whatever out of the way and off the ground as you take care of your business with whatever comes out going down the hole in the bottom and plopping onto the ground below. There is no water to flush, so whatever falls outside to hole just kind of stays where it falls.

While you are thinking that might not be that bad, the reality is that this must be a brand new Squatty Potty which has never been used! From what I have heard, most of the time the area you place you feet, any where you might put a hand to steady yourself and most every where else, is very, shall we say, "soiled." Also, unless you bring your own, there is most likely no toilet paper and if there is, it is a little like using a newspaper.

There are a few American style sit-down toilets in public restrooms, but these are usually only for the handicapped.

Katie has only had to use a Squatty Potty a few times. But, I think that has been a few times to many!

I was reading just a couple of days ago, that thanks to the Olympics, China has decided that they will put many more American style toilets in Beijing. I'm sure for those planning on going to China at a future date, that is great news.

To update you on the latest culinary delights Katie has tried in China.

At the wedding she attended, they served either fried or baked grub worms covered in sugar (I guess if I was eating a grub worm, covered in sugar would be best), baked bugs of various sorts (eyes, legs, wings and everything). Katie ate one worm and several bugs. She said that Iris' parents were laughing at her, because they won't even eat those. They were also served a bowl of seafood, only instead of chunks of filleted fish and maybe a peeled shrimp and a scallop or two, this was a bowl full of small fish, shrimp and numerous other sea creatures that we're cooked, but still just like they were when they were caught.

Katie went to an out-of-the-way BBQ place the other night. Now, I've been to a lot of out-of-the-way BBQ joints, because those are usually the best BBQ, but this one was, as you might imagine, a little different. It was out under a tarp and it was raining, so they had to keep poking the tarp with a long stick to keep it from filling with water. There was a large refrigerated (we assume) box that was filled with various types of meat on sticks and you would pick out what kind of meat you wanted and they'd grill it for you. Katie tried a number of different kinds of meat on a stick, including duck intestines!

Katie has eaten duck stomach, the Achilles tendon of a cow, cow tongue, calves throat (the esophagus), various animal intestines, duck (and other bird) eggs, a chicken kidney, cow lung, soft shelled turtle and much more which I've blocked from my mind. She did have Tex-Mex one night at Peter's Tex-Mex and said it was just like American Mexican food. She has had Pizza Hut and McDonalds, which she said were just like you'd find in America - except that the most popular item at McDonalds in China is fried chicken.

The grossest thing she has eaten was a little brown soft cube, which she thought was maybe some kind of tofu, but was actually coagulated duck blood - a real delicacy in China. Katie said it just about made her sick when she found out what it was and was glad she'd only eaten one instead of the whole bowl full. Me, too!

Katie said that most of the food has tasted good, but that the texture of some of of it was really unusual and sometimes pretty gross to an American.

Katie picked up her hand made, custom fitted, traditional Chinese dress - a "Qipao" (pronounced "Chee-Pow") and says it is beautiful. She will wear it to church the Sunday after Easter - the first Sunday she'll be back - and I'll get some pictures up for everyone to see. And, Katie has requested a special Sunday dinner - Dad's BBQ Brisket, Garlic Smashed Potatoes and Glazed Bacon-wrapped Green Beans. That sounds good even to me!

Katie has bought lots of gifts and souvenirs to bring home. Much of the shopping is from street vendors and haggling over the price is expected - at least to a point. Katie and Iris were shopping along a street filled with vendors and Katie saw something she wanted to buy for her sister. Iris asked Katie what she was willing to pay and apparently the merchant thought the offer was insulting and began to yell names at Iris and Katie that Iris would not interpret. That didn't deter Iris who yelled right back and Katie ended up having to pull her away! Way to go, Iris!

As I write this blog on Saturday afternoon about 4:15 p.m., Katie just has one full day (Sunday) and then Monday morning with Iris and her family and then Katie and her group will fly to Shanghai for a couple of days before arriving back home in Tulsa on Thursday night. Please pray for Katie, especially over this next 30 hours. I know that she will want this last bit of time to be special and for her to have an opportunity to somehow make her stay with Iris and her family not just a lasting impression, but an eternal impression.

More on Katie in the next few days - and many pictures upon her return!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim

Pictures from China

I've heard from Katie several times since the last update, but only briefly. She is, of course, still in China. It seems like she has been gone a very long time, but her trip is only half over. Katie said that she is a little homesick, but I know that will quickly pass in the next few days as the time in China draws shorter and she'll be wishing she had more time there. Katie did say the other day that it was pretty difficult not knowing the language and only being able to understand the few people there who do speak English well. How did she put it? "It's like being in a 24 hour nail salon."

Each student on the trip had to give a presentation to the student body of the High School they are visiting in Chengdu. It is supposed to be something that represents a part of American life and is of special interest to the student giving it. Katie gave her presentation on the Girl Scouts. She has been involved in scouting since she was in 1st grade and this summer, I think, will receive her Gold Award which is about a good as it gets.

I don't know how her presentation went, because I haven't really talked with her at length since then. She also helped judge an English Contest, attended a wedding and the Opera, but I'll have to update you on those when I get an update.

The good news is that we finally got some pictures! And, that is better than me writing anyway!




Iris meets Katie at the airport in Chengdu! What beautiful flowers and what two beautiful young ladies!




Iris's Mom with western jacket we sent as a gift, Katie, and Iris's Dad with the western shirt we sent for him!




Iris holding a book which Savannah picked out for her, because it is about the moon and Iris's Chinese Name "Yue" means "Moon." At the last minute before Katie left, we were trying to find some Moon Pies to send, but apparently they are not a plentiful as I imagined!




I bet you thought blue cotton candy was all American!
(Katie and three fellow students from Jenks High School)




Katie must have eaten more than her fair share based on the color of her tongue!
(Isn't she pretty even with a blue tongue!)

Katie was measured for a traditional Chinese dress (don't remember what it is called) which will be hand made and ready just before they leave Chengdu. Even in China, it was very expensive. Katie said it is red and black with gold trim. Some of the kids on the trip adopted Chinese names as did the Chinese students when they came to America, but since Katie did not have a Chinese name, the just put "Pretty Girl" on her dress order to identify her. AWWWW!




Katie in front of a temple (I think). Katie said that the temples are beautiful there, but it also breaks her heart to realize that so many millions do not know Jesus and their Savior and Lord.






I think this is the area which Katie said reminds her of the River Walk in Jenks. Shops, restaurants and entertainment built along the river. It must be a little bit of a tourist area, because it has the street name in English.




The Katie we all know and love! It says on her MySpace - "I'm a really big dork, but you'll probably love me anyway!" I'm not to sure about the dork part, but to know Katie is to love her.




We were hoping that Katie would have an influence on Iris, but I'm not sure this is quite what we had in mind!




Katie must feel right at home in Iris's home. With three beautiful women and a Dad lucky enough get to hang out with them, it is just like our house!



Is that a design on those chopsticks, or is she eating ants? Katie must be enjoying the food and adapted to using chopsticks, because she said she thought she'd gained a little weight.

Stay tuned for more updates! Keep Katie in your prayers!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim

Katie in China (Update)

After having not heard from Katie for several days, she finally called Saturday morning, Sunday morning and again this morning.

On their second day in Beijing, they had gone to see the Great Wall (stay tuned for the video of Katie "galloping" along the Great Wall of China!) and then on a tour of the 13 Tombs of the Ming Dynasty. On the first day, they had seen Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City Palace and Museum, the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple and had seen a Kung Fu performance that evening.

Katie said she was so tired after the trip to the Great Wall, that she decided she'd wait till the next day to call and she had also needed to purchase another Calling Card, which she did before leaving Beijing the next day. After lunch on Friday, the group of exchange students, flew to one of China's ancient capital cities, Xi'an and that evening saw a dinner theater performance of Tang Dynasty Song & Dance. Back at the hotel room, Katie discovered that the Calling Card she had purchased was only good in Beijing, so could not call home.

Saturday morning, she toured the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Museum of Terri Cotta Soldiers and the HuaQing Hot Springs and then caught an afternoon flight to Chengdu, the home of their Chinese exchange students.

The picture above is of Iris (our exchange student) and the rest of the Gao family. From the left are Mom, Grandmother, Iris and Dad.

Katie was telling me how beautiful their home was. I thought that I remembered Iris telling us that they lived in an apartment, but Katie told me that it was a very spacious (by China standards, at least) townhouse and that she even had her own room. She would find out later that they had rented the townhouse just for Katie's visit, so that she would have her own room! What gracious hosts!

We had purchased gifts for Katie to take to Iris and her family. We went mostly with a Cowboy theme, since, after all, this is Oklahoma. We sent Iris's mother a beautifully detailed tan suede jacket in a western cut with western designs. It fit her perfectly and she loved it! We sent Iris's dad very fancy, retro western shirt - black and red with black diamond shaped pearl snaps. And, we sent Iris a black cowhide messenger bag that still had the cow hair on one side and a pink "Genuine American" Levi tee shirt. We sent a crystal cowboy hat to decorate their home, as well as a cross to go on the wall. Next time you go shopping notice how difficult it is to buy anything that is not "Made in China."

Katie has, of course, eaten from interesting food! So far, she eaten a pig's ear, beef lung, frog (not legs, but a skinned body), whole shrimp (eyes and all), a whole fried fish (head, eyes and teeth) on a stick, hot soup made of wine and tofu, a cold drink of wine with watermelon and other fruit and opium balls.


Yes - Opium Balls! I don't know the details, but they had something called opium balls and when you eat them, it makes your mouth tingle and then go numb. The Chinese call them "Sustenance from the gods." Katie says she ate 5 at once - a feat matched only by one other person.

Chengdu, a city of 11.5 million people, is in Sichuan Province which is known for spicy food. It is a different kind of spicy than we think about and Katie is finding most of it to her liking. She said they had Bamboo stuffed with meat and rice and another dish which was rice and corn wrapped in leaves and that both were spicy, but not "hot" in the way we think of spicy, and they were very good. Some of the other kids were served fish eyes and I'm betting those were not so good.

In Chengdu, Katie and the other exchange students will be spending some time at the school with Iris and the other host teens attend. It is Chengdu's top high school and a great honor to be able to attend there. Katie and the others were presented with official school uniforms upon their arrival and also picture ID badges. Katie says the school grounds are beautiful. They had "American Hamburgers" prepared for their lunch. Apparently these were prepackaged and heated and Katie says they were the worst thing she has every eaten! Remember, that includes frog back and fried fish heads! When she met Iris for lunch, Iris told her that they are allowed to go off campus to eat lunch and that is what all the kids do. Apparently school cafeteria food is the same throughout the world!

Katie was one of five American students selected to judge an English Competition at the school on Friday - a great honor! (They must not have seen her current grade in English!)

Yesterday, they toured the Panda Research Center and were able to have their picture taken with a baby panda. They couldn't touch it for fear of making it sick, but, hopefully, we will have a picture of Katie with the panda to post sometime soon.

Wednesday night, they go to the Chinese Opera.

Do keep Katie in your prayers. Yesterday, she was walking across the street in a crosswalk - turned around talking - and would have been hit by a speeding cab, except one of the boys pulled her back out of the way and it missed her by inches. After experiencing traffic and driving in China, Katie has decided that her dad is not such a bad driver after all, so I'm thinking about sending Sheila on a trip to China!

The group has visited many temples, shines and other places of worship while in China and Katie says she has almost cried several times at the thought of so many millions of people who do not know the one true God and His son and our Savior and Lord, Jesus, but instead worship these gods who are not really gods at all. She was also deeply touched when their bus was detoured off the highway by a wreck and had to go through a very poverty stricken area. In fact, Katie said she had a dream that night that she was out in the country side in China delivering food and medicine to the people and preaching the Gospel. I told her it might be God beginning to reveal to her that He will someday call her back to China.

That is a thought that, on one hand, makes me very proud, but, on the other hand, makes me pretty sad, because I really do believe deep in my heart that one day way too soon God will call Katie to a far off country to use in an incredible way for His magnificent purpose! That will be so cool! But, I can't imagine how much I'll miss her!

I love you, Katie! And, am more proud of you than you could ever know!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim

Katie In China

I received a call this morning at 6:10 a.m. from my Daughter, Katie, to tell me that she'd arrived safely in Beijing, China!

Katie is 17 years old and a Junior at Jenks High School. In September a group of 16 High School students from Chengdu, China, came to spend about 3.5 weeks and yesterday morning at 6:08 a.m., the 16 Jenks High School hosts left Tulsa for 3.5 weeks in China, including about 10 days in the homes and school of what are now their host students.

In September, Katie was host to a beautiful, personable and very bright young lady who took the American name of Iris while she was here. Her name is actually Gao Yue. Gao is her family name and her given name is Yue, which means Moon.

This is a picture of Katie and Iris (Katie won't like that picture, because she still has her braces on) and one of our family, including Iris who we feel is a part of our family now. (That is Savannah down front, Iris on the left, then Katie, my incredible wife Sheila and yours truly on the right!)





This a quite an adventure for Katie, but Katie is quite an adventurer, so it should work out well. The group will be in Beijing for a few days seeing all the sites there (and shopping!). They will visit the Great Wall tomorrow! Then they will take a plane to Chengdu - China's 5th largest city at 11.5 million! Katie will spend the 9 or 10 days there with the Gao family and go to school with Iris. She will also see the Panda Research Center, which is in Chengdu. They will spend the last few days shopping in Shanghai and fly home from there.

Katie has felt God's call on her life to be a missionary, maybe working with the deaf and/or orphaned children and that is a part of the reason she wanted to go to China. One of Katie's High School teachers asked her to please not get arrested while she was in China for trying to smuggle in Bibles or telling people about Jesus. We have been praying, since Iris was here, that through her visit with us, the Fire Bible we sent home with her and Katie's visit there, that Iris would come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and I hope you'll be praying with us in that regard.

Katie said that last night they had a meal with lots of vegetables and rice, as well as some beef and pork, fish with their heads still on (eyes open and teeth showing) and some kind of intestines!!! But, she said that she really liked what she ate.

Today, they are seeing Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and, I believe, the Temple of Heaven and tomorrow Katie has promised to shoot some video of her skipping along the Great Wall.

Katie is a most amazing young lady - and I am so very, very proud of her - and love her very, very much! She is beautiful, very personable and has a tender heart for the Lord and for others, especially those less fortunate. I am certain that God is going to use Katie in an incredible way.

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Katie that will not only show you what a beautiful young lady she has become, but also give you a glimpse of her personality.













Please pray for me over these next few weeks, because I'm already really missing Katie. With her being 17, there are lots of days I don't see her, but it is somehow different knowing she is clear on the other side of the earth!

And, please keep Katie in your prayers over these next few weeks while she is in China, not just for her safety and that she has a good time, but that God will use her in some way to impact someone for Jesus Christ (I know that is what she wants) - and that she won't get arrested!!!!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim