Amoy Wanderings

After three years in Xiamen (Amoy), we are moving on to another school and another city, BASIS International School in Huizhou, China. So, I thought I would close our chapter in Xiamen with a collection of some of my favorite photos of Xiamen. It has been a very memorable time and we are sad to leave, but we are very excited for what awaits us. I am dedicating this video to my classmate and lifelong friend, Kyle Liedtke, who passed away this year. All the music in the video comes from his album Longing. Though the video is a little long (about 26 minutes) I hope it is worth the length. And please feel free to leave a comment and to follow my blog. For the full size video, go to Remembering Xiamen

For the past month, I have remained silent for a couple of reasons. For one, there really has been little change to our situation, so there has been little to report. The other reason is that from all I could gather, the rest of the world is now experiencing various forms of quarantine and lock down, so that most of you have had your lives upended and need to focus on what you are experiencing. But after receiving some questions from friends, I thought I should give you a basic update. First off, we are doing very well, staying healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually. Yes, we are mainly in a self-imposed lock down, meaning we mainly stay at home, but we do get out almost every day and meet with friends a few times a week. Our compound has been opened back up (mainly); we are free to come and go, and Sandy even had a guest over the other day. We have also been meeting with a group of friends at the beach (which is a 15-minute drive from our house) on Sunday morning for ...

Girl flying a kite at the beach. It has been four weeks since the shut down began here in Xiamen, and we are healthy and doing well though we are in the dark as much as ever. We are still encouraged to stay at home, cannot have visitors into the compound, and need to wear a mask whenever we go out and will be in close contact with people. However, businesses are slowly re-opening and some restaurants and coffee/tea shops are allowing people to sit together (although even then they prefer people to sit in pairs at most). Schools in our area still have no projected start date. Here is a recent article that shows China’s current plan for re-opening schools . At this rate, I’m guessing our schools at the earliest will open in mid-April.  Sandy flying a kite. With the closing of all public meetings, people have been using alternatives to maintain contact. Our foreign fellowship has been posting weekly messages and songs so that people still can have connection. Sandy,...

For my birthday this year, Sandy and Emily decided to take me to an old fishing village near the ocean for the purpose of shooting photos. It was a wonderfully relaxing evening which began with some beautiful seascapes. Sandy and Emily also posed some for me to let me work on portraits. There were several wedding shoots in the area (a very popular spot for them) and we even were treated to some beach musicians. As night came on, we wend to the fishing village, which actually is more of a night market/tourist trap. The vendors were pushy and loud (so my headphones were fully engaged), but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the unusual architecture. It was definitely worth the visit, and I wish I had more time  to explore and experiment, but the girls weren't feeling the best and the noise was annoying. As to the photos, yes, that is a roasted pig (sans head). I also really enjoyed finding a cat who posed for me. We end...