Good News everyone... They celebrate Christmas in Macau. Well, semi-good news. Although they do celebrate Christmas here in Macau, it tends to be more a means to make money than to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But at least the concept of Christmas is not a novel one and therefore it is much easier to begin a discussion of the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Jesus's birth. God works through many things to bring people unto Himself and it is my prayer that He would work through misconstrued notions of what Christmas is about, in order to bring people to a knowledge of Him.

And I too get to benefit from the Macanese celebration of Christmas. The square outside of my house is littered with lights and poinsettias and santa clauses and a big Christmas tree. Below are some pictures. So although this Christmas I will be away from my friends and family and baking cookies... at least I have the decorations.

God's Peace and Joy to you!

This is my street that leads out into the main square. Please note the nice poinsettias in the middle of the street.


This is a cafe that is right outside my apartment door. The big santa clause sings and swings his hips. The Chinese love it. There is usually someone standing beside the santa getting their picutre made with him.
The above picture is the square that my street opens to and this picutre is taken facing the Christmas tree. The picture below is taken from the Christmas tree.

And this is the Christmas tree/fountain/sculpture display... you name it and the place has probably been it. Most of the time this space is a fountain, but upon occasion, the water will disappear and something will take its place. AKA, A Christmas tree.

... Four Months Later

It is almost incomprehensible how quickly time has passed over the last few months. And, if I may be cliche, it seems like only yesterday that myself and the rest of the orientees were sitting in a classroom bleary-eyed, sleep deprived, and hungover from jet lag. Now four months later it is time for some members to depart from our midst. When it comes to good-byes, there are usually so many things that I feel should be said, but when it comes down to it, thank you is really all there is to say. Thank you for being a part of my life and thank you for letting me be a part of yours. 'Til we meet again.

On a happier note, here is a couple of pictures of my middle school students. In America, most teachers would probably consider being mimicked by students to be insolent and disrespectful behavior. However when teaching ESL, that is the major mode of learning. Listening and Repeating. Sounds simple enough and it is until...

The room is filled with 38 children happily chattering away. I attempt to get there attention by any means available to me. This is a little of the dialogue that takes place.

Round 1

Teacher: Please be quiet
Students: Please be quiet

Teacher: No talking
Students: No talking

Teacher: (puts finger against mouth) Shhh
Students: (puts finger against mouth) Shhh

Teacher: helpless and frustrated laughter
Students: devilish grins and snickers (they know what they are doing)

Round 2: see Round 1

Yeah, I am still working on that one.




This picture is on here just because I told Joel that it was going on the blog.

One final note, if you would like to see some pictures from the Ablaze Summit that our team attended over Thanksgiving, visit Chris's blog http://macauchris.blogspot.com He is a super photographer.

I thought I would share with you, by pictures, some of the things that I have been doing and have seen. There is no order or reason, just random pictures.

The above two are hiking in Coloane, I think this event occurred in October. Many students from the center came on the hike so it was a great time to get to know everyone a little better and in a setting other than the English Center.



The above two pictures are of Penha Church. It is a Catholic church that sets atop a hill at the tip of the peninsula and below is a view of the Macau tower and Taipa from Penha hill.

I really do not know what was going on in the two pictures below and did not ask anyone as I was taking the pictures. I was out walking around the city and happened upon this event. One interesting story about this day. I decided to walk around and see if I could get lost. If you will recall from earlier posts, this was not a hard thing to do when I first arrived. Now I have found that I am having difficulty getting lost. The more I walk around, the more I realize just how small Macau is. There is always some visible land mark that alerts me to where I am at any given time. I have been told that if it is really my goal to get lost, then I should venture more towards the China boarder. We shall see how that goes.


In the background is the Ruins of St. Paul, it is very famous in Macau and things like this are going on there on an almost weekly basis.

Well that is all for now. God's Blessings and Peace.

Christmas in Macau

It is December 4th, 21 days until Christmas, and nary a thought of the holiday season has entered my mind. Until I spoke with a friend back home tonight. Christmas here in Macau is strictly a commercial holiday. There is no attempt made to pretend that the celebration of this holiday is for any other purpose than to make money. Maybe that is why I have given relatively little thought to my favorite time of the year. Maybe it is because Christmas over here is different. It is still something that is new to me. I do not know what to expect and there are no strong and poignant memories attached to the season here in Macau. Ok so the real reason is probably because I do not want to get homesick.

Strong and poignant memories rushed to the forefront of my mind, however, as tonight I reminisced with an old roommate about how we had decorated for Christmas just the year before. She worried about the tree situation over here in Macau. Would I have a tree and did I have Christmas music, she wondered. I reassured her that yes I do have a Christmas tree and, of course, I have my Christmas music (I listen to it throughout the year). She seemed relieved until I told her that I had yet to put up my tree, nor had I broken out the music. I tell you all of this to explain why it is now 1:03 am and I am still awake and on the computer. I put up my Christmas tree and put on my music. No need to worry, all is well. Below is a picture of my tree.

In case you did not figure it out, that is not really my tree. The next one is, but really, who can even tell the difference?

I have no reason for the above picture, but it was too good not to share. Yes, that is Chris sitting at a baby grand piano, in the midst of a roped off Christmas display, in a huge mall in Hong Kong. I think this photo was taken at the exact moment Chris realized that the mall security guard had him in his sights. And if I were one to title my pictures, I think I would have to name this one "Oh, ____" (you can fill in the blank with your word of choice) or maybe "Caught". More later. I am going to bed.