Kunming: The City of Eternal Spring

It is a warm day, sunny and mostly peaceful, here in Kunming. I am sitting in a coffee shop, my husband across from me, no doubt working on putting some fusion of his heart and mind on paper. Offhand, I can count about five other foreigners in this coffee shop, not that that's a normal sight, but it gives you an idea of the concentration of foreigners in this city.

Kunming is called "the city of eternal spring" by the locals. Since it's cozy to the equator, it tends to be fairly warm most of the year around, but being at a higher elevation keeps it from being stiflingly hot. Thus, a warm day in November with a slight cool breeze is not uncommon. It's not hard to see why foreigners want to live here.

The presence of the big P also seems stronger than other cities we've visited. On many street corners, you can find them set up with little tables and official looking signs and, at times, long clubs or helmets sitting atop them. Even so, most foreigners say that there is much more freedom in this place than most other places in China, including Zhengzhou, where some friends were being "asked" to revisit their homelands. I would love to have a dialogue about the upcoming Olympics and how proud China obviously is to host it, and of the current consequences to their people that the preparation of this event has brought them... but this, as in many things, will have to wait for another time.

We are finally feeling settled in to our apartment. It is a very spacious apartment, more than we could ever use, but it lacked certain things like an oven, a wardrobe/closet and a fridge. As payment for staying there, we offered to buy a fridge and a wardrobe for the apartment. The owner thankfully accepted, so we just got a fridge put in yesterday. 'Tis a glorious thing to have cold milk.

Last week I had a day all to myself, so I set a goal of mopping the apartment. China is generally a dusty place, so this is a bigger feat than at first you might imagine. Think: mopping the moon, and you're getting closer. I was just about to head out to purchase a mop, when I decided to have one more look around to see if I could find one in the apartment already. I had gone through all the rooms, when at last I opened the door to the back deck to find a barely distinguishable mop, stiff with years of dirt and rain coming in through the windowless room. I took one look at that, and thought, 'I think I can give that mop some dignity'. I kinda like to rescue dirty useless things because it reminds me of a very good Friend who did the same for me. So anyway, to make the story short, I proceeded to spend the rest of the day redignifying the mop and then putting it to use. The end result: a floor that didn't turn your socks brown when you walked across it. I do like to make things shine. It was a good time, especially since I have been reading Henri Nouwen's book The Genesee Diary, about, among other things, finding contentment in everyday tasks. I recommend it.

Moving on, there is so much opportunity in this city. Nearly every day I am given more contact info for people wanting to learn English, or some other project that we could help with, more than we could possibly ever do. The first week we stepped back and tried to figure out what our priorities should be. Justin visited a preschool for English and Chinese kids and, not surprisingly, ended up loving it and started helping them twice a week in the mornings. I am teaching a small group of housekeepers who cannot afford to pay for English lessons but who want to learn the language. We meet once a week at our apartment.

There is also so much influence practically plopped onto your lap in this city. John and Mary, a couple in Kunming who have been here for about five years, were invited to give a lecture at a university. They asked if we could help them with the small group part of the lecture, not knowing how many students would show up. As it turned out, approx 350 students showed up for a lecture on what it means to have good character, and the auditorium was silent with students listening eagerly to what John and Mary had to say. I have never before seen a crowd of Chinese people be silent to listen to someone else, unless they were harshly rebuked beforehand. 350 students turned out at a secular university to hear two foreigners talk about having good character, amazing. Where else are you going to get that kind of influence?

At an English corner last week, I also had an attentive audience. Where else will people come who want to talk to an American about what they think of things? We talked of some inconsequential things, to be sure, but the potential is there to lead the conversation to a discussion of values, worldviews, and ethics. Our group, for instance, talked briefly about abrtn, which is generally accepted as common practice in China since the 1-child policy took root.

Healthwise, we are both feeling a little on the down side. I am recovering from about my third cold so far (I have sneezed at least ten times while writing this post), and Justin's left jaw (of all things) has been hurting. Your prayers are appreciated.

It is hard to believe that in one short month, we will be waving goodbye to China. I am so thankful to have come and experienced this country.

Um, these are some random pics... Enjoy.

Kunming