It’s Xiao En again. We’ve been watching the Olympics as we’ve been traveling. We were sad before we left when we found out that the Olympics were going on as we were on the road. But we’ve been watching at people’s houses. So far we’ve watched men and women’s beach volleyball, men and women’s swimming (including Michael Phelps), synchronized diving, women’s and men’s platform diving, track and field and women’s gymnastics. 

I love watching swimming and gymnastics! I’ve always loved watching gymnastics, all the flips and tumbling. But swimming is fun to watch as the 3 older kids have been on a swim team this summer. So we know how the strokes are, ones are longer than others, the lengths of the pool and everything. We saw Phelps win his 7th gold medal by 1/100th of a second!! I thought that the other guy had won it for sure but Phelps came through. You can’t get any closer than 1/100th of second, that was amazing! We also saw Dara Torres (she’s a 41 year old swimmer for the US) swim the 50m freestyle. I thought that she was going to win the gold but this German girl managed to touch before her. Again, 1/100th of a second! The announcers are like-”Wow, she has Michael Phelps’ magical touch.” and “How many more close races are we going to see?” That was pretty interesting too. We also saw the men’s relay team with Jason Lezak and how the US managed to beat the French even though they were like a half a body length ahead when Lezak and the French guy were swimming. Some very good races swum by the Americans.

We saw the rerun of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson taking 1st and 2nd in the all around for gymnastics. Amazing, we saw reruns of the uneven bars, vault, floor exercise and beam. We also saw a small interview afterwards, how they felt about the medals and everything. They said that they thought that it would be 1 and 2 in the all around they just didn’t know who would be which. 

I think that the beam is the hardest event. As you only have 4 inches and you’re doing these flips and kicks and tumbling passes. Shawn Johnson did a great job to get the gold in her individual beam event. China was doing okay at gymnastics too, they were the Americans greatest competition in the all around team event. Those Chinese gymnasts don’t look very old. They only look like 12 or 13 not 16. And they’re so small too. Dad said that being smaller is good though b/c your center of gravity is smaller or something like that. I didn’t quite get it. Gymnasts are definitely not very big, Shawn Johnson is only like 4 foot, 9 and I’m taller than that! She looks older though.

We’ve also seen Kerri Walsh and Misty May play beach volleyball, they are very good players. Hitting and blocking the ball. Diving to save it. Also Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser (don’t know if it’s spelled right) for men’s beach volleyball. They have great defense and quickness. And both teams won the gold medal matches! Yay! I have now learned some things about volleyball.

I also liked watching diving, both synchronized and platform. We didn’t see a lot of synchronized but it was cool seeing the divers dive almost in synch. Then the announcers show what was good or not so good about the dives. The synchronism, the push off, the entry into the water. Fascinating, in my mind. I also really liked platform diving. We saw Laura Wilkinson for the US dive but she didn’t get a medal, which was too bad b/c this is her last Olympics since she’s like 30 or something like that. A couple of her dives weren’t too great. Those Chinese divers were really good, Chen Roulen (spelled right?) and Wang Xin. They’re only like 15 or 16 years old. We saw divers start in armstand or just standing positions and then push off and go into somersaults with twists or whatever dive they were doing. So diving was one sport that I really liked this time around.

The Beijing Olympics, 2008 were really great. The Chinese were very proud to host the Olympics in their country. Did you know that the Chinese spent $40 billion on the Olympics? It’s amazing! The next Summer Olympics are going to be in London, England in 2012. And the Winter Olympics are going to be Vancouver, Canada in 2010. That’s all for now on this Olympic post. Signing off. -DL

Locations: His Mansion, Hillsboro, New Hampshire.

We arrived at His Mansion a day ahead of schedule, August 27th for those who had our itinerary.  Our house was beautifully repainted on the inside, and we are very thankful. Our Mansion family has been great to us in providing food, help with moving big items, space to unpack, and wonderful children for our children to play with when they are tired of unpacking. Frankly, we are a bit overwhelmed with number of decisions about our home we have to make.  It isn’t so much that we have a deadline, but lots of things all over the place. Where do I put that?  Where is this that I need?  Plus, part of us just wants to hang out with our new family and get to know them.  For those who pray, pray that we have God’s wisdom for all these decisions that we constantly making.  We want to establish some rhythm to our home and our family patterns that would reflect our hearts. We know it will take time, and it is an exciting time.  We appreciate you the readers very much.

Location: Shelton, CT, SW Connecticut at Randy and Marcia’s home.

We’ve been a little off line, because of the weariness of 3 weeks on the road.  Randy, Marcia, and Geoff (Brittany, Ryan are in college) are a wonderful family we knew when we were students at Brown U. in Rhode Island in the early ’90s. They have continued to be dear friends for nearly 20 years. They are what I would describe as a “haven” family, meaning they are family that induces rest, restoration, and renewal.  They have a home that invites you to relax, have fun in their above ground pool, begin stimulating conversations, and delight in good home cooking.  Today, they took the children out and gave Emily and me some space to reflect, write thank you notes, read, discuss our new home, and for Emily to practice violin.  We cannot be thankful enough for friends that make their home and lives available to us in such a generous way. This all leads to the fast approaching landing in Hillsboro, New Hampshire.

The journey was filled with more miracles (def. an ordinary circumstance occurring in extraordinary timing) than can be chronicled on paper or blog but will be treasured in our hearts.  We now know that this journey served us in multiple ways.  First, we learned to lean into God’s provision and guidance in ways we haven’t before and found Him faithful in some awesome ways.  Second, we found flexibility a surprising and exciting way to journey in contrast to my typical plan down the last detail tendency.  We enjoyed travel more by being flexible.  Third, the trip served as a helpful transition from a life routine we know, we love, and we miss to our new life.  Being on the road for this long has created a longing to land and begin anew. Therefore, tomorrow we begin our final drive to our new home and new family.

Tracking: Currently at Mom and Dad Tso in Baltimore, MD

Recently we had the privilege of sharing with a group of my old friends from the Chicagoland area. Frankly, we didn’t know who would be able to show up on a Thursday night in Northbrook, IL.  At the conclusion of our time, we reminisced about our growing up, mostly jr.high through college. As I looked around I realized, the combined years I’ve known these people exceeded 200 years. It is true that we hadn’t always kept up in the details of each other’s lives, but it was awesome to see all these women and men still following Jesus 25+ years later.  I am not making this up but there is a unique bond found through the Spirit that dwells in each of us. 

• Dan - 32 years
• Mike -29 years
• Weilin -29 years
• Patty -29 years
• Dorene -28 years
• Evan -28 years
• May -28 years
• Sylvia -21 years

Den ganzen Beitrag lesen…

MOM here, just to list some new experiences we’ve had since hitting the road two weeks ago.  

Bounced on a trampoline, tennis lessons (given informally by my uncle), ate Speedies, climbed HUGE arches in Arches Nat’l Park, had a private pool party (just me, the kids and our aunt) snacks included, slept overnight in a college dorm (Emmaus Bible), explored a real Mississippi riverboat, tasted Chicago deep dish pizza (kids tried it but prefer thin crust from now on), played Chicken Invaders for hours(counsin’s computer game), saw first bridge built over Ohio River (during Civil War).

One thing on the “missed” list:  Culver’s Frozen Custard (Iowa).  Apparently there’s no turning back, as it is only popular there and no where else in Mid-west or rest of U.S. as far as we know.

Stay tuned.  We hope to reach the East coast tomorrow (Tuesday 19th).  Ten more days until NH.

Location: We arrived late yesterday in Cincinnati, OH and are staying with Howard and Mary and their children at a spectacular older home that has been beautifully remodeled.  Tomorrow we move on to Baltimore. 

My observation is that hospitality is a dying art in modern American life.  We can know people for years and never see the inside of their homes for a meal.  I understand it is easier for many to go out for a meal with friends for various reasons including their house is small; cooking isn’t their thing; or the hassle factor is high. And believe me I enjoy a good restaurant meal like anyone else, but I learn so much from being in people’s homes even just for tea or dessert.  I enjoy seeing what books they are reading (I love books of course), how they set up their home (since I need help in that area), what their family history is (through picture or objects in the home), and our hosts relate to one another on their turf, in their own home.  

This trip has been a strong statement against my observations.  We have experienced warm welcoming homes all across the United States.  From small apartments to generous sized villas, we have had the privilege of sharing a cup of coffee to a full feast and everything in between.  But as I shared above, it is seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and even smelling the life routines and growing our friendships with our hosts that is rich beyond description.  I have found that integrating into another’s life routine often brings a perspective that is quite foreign to one’s own worldview and challenges my family and me to ask questions about what we do and how we see.  This is healthy, not because we are constantly adopting other people’s routines, but because we often find pieces that can enrich our own life patterns. 

Hospitality may often include significant costs or sacrifices, and people have certainly given to us generously including some of their comfort.  My cousin and her husband gave up their comfortable bed to us while we stayed at their house and they slept on the floor!  And the food, people have just given and given and given; I am afraid to step on a scale in New Hampshire.  And people have served us in more ways than we can enumerate, we cannot even help with dishes most of the time.  We would also be getting gifts except that we have the ultimate true excuse, our van cannot take anymore stuff! Then, people offer to send them ahead of us, and for the most part we have been able to fend off that strategy.  All that to say, all this hospitality is wonderful, helpful, and invigorating. Without it, we would be a shambles, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Hospitality is life giving.

MOM’S FIRST POST:

We’ve been glued to the TV every free evening since the Olympics began.  Along w/ millions of viewers we’ve watched Michael Phelps’ amazing accumulation of gold medals.  Even while we see the sports and athletes U.S. viewers care about, I’m reminded of thousands of international competitors we don’t get to see who are still Olympic athletes in their own rights.  I can’t begin to fathom the long hours of dedication they put into reaching personal goals and finally getting to the Olympics!!  And seeing this level of commitment and passion to a sport/skill/event inspires me every time the Olympics roll around.  Inspiring me to pursue w/ excellence the passions in my life, specifically at this time playing the violin.  Finding something that requires long hours of study and practice but when I work at it, it doesn’t feel like work, it feels like breathing in and out.  Becoming excellent does take work, but it often doesn’t feel like it.  What a gift to have a passion to live for and to share.  

Happy Olympics to all!

Many months ago, my boss at His Mansion, Stan Farmer, recommended I visit Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, IA on our way across the country.  I had heard about Emmaus from various people back home, and our soon-to-be neighbor Ryan in our duplex at His Mansion is an alum. To be frank, I am fairly ignorant about Iowa, and Dubuque is a complete unknown as well. 

The faculty and students at Emmaus are a great group of warm, thoughtful, energetic, and courteous people.  Courtesy is something that seems to be disappearing in modern culture.  My generation and younger are so busy being efficient, we have forgotten how to treat people with courtesy. I cannot help but believe that declining courtesy is a very subtle form of dehumanization that is insidiously pervading American society. In our brief time at Emmaus everyone looked me in the eye, greeted me, and offered a handshake or hug in greeting.  These are small but important gestures that helped me see that this is a community where people genuinely care about people whether you are well-known or in my case, a total stranger. 

My meeting with the president, the VP of advancement, the VP of Student Life, and the director of counseling bore out what I experienced with my brief interactions with student leaders coming early before the start of school. This is a college that intentionally builds authentic community and wants to collaborate and partner to further enrich the educational and service experiences of their students.  It excites me to find an enclave like this in higher education, and I look forward to working together with the faculty and students of Emmaus. 

Another pleasant surprise of Dubuque was to discover the Mississippi River Museum which was a first rate museum about the history, the people, the boats, the wildlife, the flora and the culture of the longest river in the U.S. We spent three hours there and it was totally worth it.  We were introduced to a part of America that is vibrant, changing, powerful, and virtually unknown to us.  One great part of driving across America is that it gives us an appreciation of the diversity and breadth of this country and opens our eyes and our minds to viewpoints different than our own.  That is always a healthy practice in the life of growing people.

The Enormous Double Arch

This is my first post. It’s me, Xiao En (shao un), the 12 year old. My dad doesn’t want us to use names so Xiao En is my nickname that my family and my best friend’s family calls me. If you can’t pronounce it, that’s okay. It’s Chinese so don’t worry. Hopefully, I’m going to post on the blog too.

What should I write about? I’ll give a quick summary of the past week. I’ll write about Arches National Park since that was pretty cool. We went to Double Arch, Windows, Landscape Arch, Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. We saw Delicate Arch but didn’t go up close b/c it was too much of a hike. We got to sit in Double Arch and one of the Windows. Hopefully, Dad can get some pics up so that people can see the beauty of the arches. Dad said it was as if God was playing with clay or rocks and then just set them down in Utah. Being creative, having fun. It is as if God said, ‘Hmm. Maybe people on earth will have fun seeing these arches and rocks.’ We kids used our imaginations to see what the different rock formations looked like. One formation looked like a man sitting down with a turban on his head and we saw a formation that looked like a camel. Pretty interesting.

We’ve also been watching the Olympics. The opening ceremony was spectacular and creative! The 2,008 drummers, the fireworks and those Chinese kids dressed up as the 56 minority groups in China. Right now my sister is sitting in the next room watching the Olympics. We watched the women’s volleyball with May and Walsh against the Japanese. We also saw some swimming and Michael Phelps win his first gold medal. That was really cool. We’ll probably be watching the Olympics here and there on our trip. When we go to people’s houses or hotels and such. We’re in Omaha, Nebraska right now. My dad has an aunt and uncle here. We’re driving to Iowa tomorrow and then to Chicago. Keep checking back for new posts! -DL (dog lover, my secret name for right now. just for fun)