Cloudless Skies

Not really sure what to title this entry, I'm sitting in the backyard on a lounge chair, and it's so quiet and peaceful here. There is not a cloud in the beautiful, blue sky. Mad and Julien left for NYC last Thursday, so my agenda for each day has changed a bit since then. No car shopping or gun shooting attempts, haha. It's been nice waking up naturally, without having to answer to an alarm and then snoozing for an hour (the routine I was in when I was in NY). On Thursday, we went to a church member's house for our weekly prayer meeting. It's been an educational experience hearing the Word preached and people praying in Chinese, hopefully some of that will rub off on me and my Chinese will improve. On Friday, my uncle and I went over to a neighbor's house for their weekly ping pong tournaments. There were 7 of us all together, and besides me, everyone were like professionals (they're from China, where everyone plays ping pong, I gather)! Perhaps I'll actually get decent in the next couple of months if I practice with them. On Saturday, I took Jake out for a drive and sat at the park outside a local library for a couple of hours. It was so peaceful, and there was no one within 50 feet of me, what a difference from Central Park, haha!
On my way home, I stopped by a Sonic (don't think I've ever eaten at Sonic before), and it was a drive-in! I didn't realize that at first, and kept on trying to find the entrance to go in, until one of the employees came out and told me that I'm supposed to stay in the car and order, haha. Then on Sunday I went to an English-speaking church in the morning, it was such a huge congregation. I think many of the non-denominational churches here are pretty big (with thousands of people in attendance each weekend). And it's also interesting because most of the people were either older couples or young couples with their kids, so the Word being preached seems to be geared more towards families, which make sense. It's very different from NYC, where most people are single or young professionals. I've met many of Uncle Peter and Aunt Mary's friends (mostly Chinese), it's like all the Chinese people here know each other! I haven't spoken in Mandarin this much in years, it's been great! I've also really enjoyed chatting with my grandmother (and watching Chinese soap operas with her) and having fellowship with my aunt and uncle when we get the chance. It's been awesome to hear what's in their hearts and so encouraging to see them walking out their faith!