Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

5 or 6 people ahead of me, but soon they all disappeared.  Let me explain.

You see all of them had cars that they parked in front of the bank.   Parked illegally.  However, I never knew there were parking rules, but apparently…   So as I was waiting one of the attendants in the bank announced to everyone in the bank that “the Tow truck is here!”  Which it was. Immediately everyone in front of me (5 to 6 men) ran out of the bank to move their cars before they got towed.   The last shall be first.  I was now first in line.  It pays to not have a vehicle.

~kevin

So the situation that I came across today is one that I heard about but never really got to see first hand.  Here is the deal.  Migrant workers typically come in from the country to the city looking for work.  This is a trend that has been taking place in China for years.  They come into the city looking for work–how?  Most likely they have connections and relationships with someone already in the city who can set them up with a job on a construction site.  And so they find work and this economy moves forward.  Sounds easy.  But in reality many times the following takes place…

After finding a job the employer/builder/developer/whoever tells them that he will pay them at the end of the year.  Now to most of us in the west this is completely unreasonable.  Most of us could never live only getting paid once a year.  However this apparently is a common practice in esp among the construction industry.  Almost always the migrant workers will be provided temp housing while in the city, usually on the construction site itself.

Here they are building the temp housing.
However, at the end of the year (before Spring Festival) what happens if the employer does not have all the money he has promised?  well, I suspect that most of the time injustice takes place and migrant workers are shorted and sometimes not even paid.   But today…the migrant workers made a statement. While I don’t know the specific details of the exact events of the following photos, I do know that I can form a pretty good explanation as to what is happening by observation and (asking one of the hundreds of people standing by on looking) –waiting in suspense as to the end result.

In the first photo you can see people (migrant workers) forming a line across a large intersection.  They are simply blocking the cars from going through. You can one person standing in front of each car.  Does this remind you of something from the past?   Yes, there were horns, but that does not matter.  This was two blocks from our house.  But this action causes a chain reaction on different levels.  One is obviously the police need to come.  You can see them standing in the center of the intersection deciding on what to do next.  What I don’t know is if they are actually negotiating with the employer as to wether he has the money pay his migrant workers or not.

In the picture below you can see the construction site where the migrant workers were working.

I have heard of this happening in other areas but now it is here in our town/city or 8+ million.   It is unfair and it is injustice.  I truly hope and pray that this was resolved with workers getting paid a fair wage.  I will keep asking around and maybe post again on this sometime.    Again, I say, no one can predict how the economic crisis will affect this country in years to come.

Christmas Eve we made turkey dinner for friends we haven’t seen in awhile. It was nice to reconnect. We have a growing vision for this group of friends. It seems improbable at the moment, but what if…? It would have to be The unseen power putting it all together, but it could be revolutionary. Would you think about this with us if it’s brought to your mind? (Vague, I know. Sorry.)

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Kevin was the pastry chef this Christmas. The pictures above do not lie. Most of the cookie stash this year were made by him.

Kevin, when not busy baking, finished up finals this week with his students. Last night he looked at the overall average for the class and said, “It’s too high.” Ah, the joys of being a teacher and changing grades at will. No need to fail anyone this semester. That is good!

More to come later on our Latin Party for our language teachers.

~Kristin

So we brought everyone in for questioning.  Can you spot a GUILTY face among the three?

Well lets listen to the defendants explanation and see if it is possible to determine if ONE or TWO of them are guilty or if SOME random Tigers entered our kitchen in search of chocolate cake.  Because that is what Tigers eat after all, right?  ? ? ? ? ?

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So the questioning was a bit unconventional and I am not sure that it shed any more light on the truth or not.   But it did reveal that at the moment, Kian IS willing to bring others down with him if that is what it takes.

Conclusion:  Malia appears innocent, defends her innocence, but still we are doubtful.  Kai, we feel is innocent.  He simply smiles for the camera and helps aid his parents in the questioning.  Kian, is most assuredly guilty, however, if it was ONLY him or him and his closest cohort (i.e. Malia) is still up for debate.

Knowing our daughters weakness for chocolate, cake and sweet things, it seems soooooo unlikely that ONLY Kian was the instigator of this destruction.

~Kevin

Have you wanted to be abel to simply highlight characters and automatically add the pinyin on top?  Like below…

你好，我是一位留学生。 Do the following:

Finder > Mac HD > Applications > Microsoft Office 2011 > Additional Tools > Microsoft Language Registar app.

Then select “Chinese Simplified” or “Traditional” what ever you prefer.  You may need to close Word and restart Word app.    Then after selecting character text you can simply click on the icon in your task bar:

Click on the icon marked “wen” 文。

Or go to the Menu bar:  

End result should look like this:

Done.

]]> http://www.eastasiaconnection.com/blog/blog/2011/12/12/adding-pinyin-to-han-zi/feed/ 0 http://www.eastasiaconnection.com/blog/blog/2011/12/11/water-in-wine/ http://www.eastasiaconnection.com/blog/blog/2011/12/11/water-in-wine/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:19:06 +0000 kevin b http://www.eastasiaconnection.com/?p=864 Continue reading →]]> (some insights from Kristin)

Our team recently studied John 2 when Jesu.s turned normal, everyday water into wine. Not just any wine; I’m assuming it was the finest wine the wedding guests had ever tasted. We are in need of a few miracles in our life. Normal-water situations that Go.d could turn into fine wine miracles. Can you pra.y for this?

The first situation is my friend, Ma Qn. She and her family live in our complex. (I wrote about her in my blog.) Our good friendship has the promise of becoming a great friendship. Qn knows we “very believe” in Go.d (to use her words). How can Go.d turn a normal-water friendship into fine tasting wine?

On a personal level, we have property in Ohio that is source of stress. The property is managed by experienced and fantastic people, but repairs are needed. Kevin’s attention is continually being drawn back to Ohio, and the challenges that come with owning property. This is our own struggle and pretty normal situation for everyday life. It seems to have no impact in kingdom work. My friendship with Ma Qn has potential for the kingdom, but our property? Ugghh! How can Go.d turn a very normal-water owning of property into a fine wine tasting experience?

I’m not a wine drinker. Coffee, yes, but wine, NO! I’ll leave the talk of wine tasting to others. (you know who you are ). To Jesu.s’ culture, though, it was important. There are parallels between the culture of the guests in Canaan and Chinese culture.
First, this situation is a dreadful loss of face. Wouldn’t you agree? In most cultures no food equals embarrassment, and Chinese culture is no different; perhaps a loss of face with stronger implications (loss of relationship, superstitious beliefs, etc).
Second, the mother asks the son to do something about it, but notice she doesn’t ask directly. “They have no more wine” (2:3). In Chinese culture this is a loaded statement; LOADED. Son, do something about it now! You can. You’re able. I believe. Help these poor friends. Give them their face back. Even after Jesu.s refuses Mary believes enough to tell the servants “do whatever he tells you” (2:5). I love it! Mary believes her son is the Savior of the world and came to make a difference.
What a great example of intercessory prayer! “Go.d, you can turn our water into wine. Please do!!”

We are  very thankful for the things have have been happening.  Post on thankfulness. In this day and age we do need to take time to reflect of Go.d’s provisions.

From us at EAC – Kristin

And then another — Cold day to go to PARK–but needed fresh Air.

Enjoy,
Kevin