Randy and Vicki's Letter- Friday

It's Friday at 5:40 pm in Beijing, China. Yesterday we wrapped things up at General Assembly in Japan with a wonderful worship service in the morning featuring a message by Sarah Lee--a missionary in Laos--and a message from Michelle Gillis, serving as a missionary in Seoul, South Korea. Their passion for spreading the Good News of Christ was infectious.

Renaissance, the show choir from Bethel College, provided inspirational and energetic music which brought the assembly to its feet more than once. After lunch we were treated to traditional Japanese music by the Hosana Ensemble (on what might be described as Japanese harps and a bamboo flute) and drum and piano pieces by sampo-kai and Danda. Tatsuyuki Yanagawa of the latter group amazed us with his drum talents. You may recall my mentioning that the opening General Assembly was called to worship by a drum solo that was "moving." This was the same guy. For the remainder of the afternoon we could choose between visiting Japanese culture experiences ranging from Japanese instruments to kimono, flower arranging, tea ceremonies, origami and calligraphy. Since we had done many of these at the Women's Convention, Vicki and I visited the Japanese instrument exhibit where we saw a group play on what was called a Japanese "guitar." It had three strings and sounded alot like a banjo.

Thursday night many of us headed back to the hotel because we had to prepare to leave early in the morning for Beijing. Consequently, I missed the closing worship service.

Our flight arrived in Beijing around 1:30 pm...Beijing is only 13 hours ahead of Missouri time, so that would be 12:30 in the morning for most of you guys. I'm frankly too tired to tell you much about my initial impressions of China but I will say, for now, that the new Capital airport in Beijing is huge and lovely. It has only been opened for a few months and it looks like China is doing everything to make it a wonderful greeting to the Olympic travelers who will come through here in a couple months. The people have been very friendly and signs of rebuilding run-down neighborhoods surround us in the opulent, beautiful hotel we're staying in. (Much larger rooms than we had in Japan). More soon....it's supper time.

Pastor Randy

Part 2

Just got back from a delicious meal here in Beijing. It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was very good. We were seated around two very large tables with a glass turntable in the middle of each upon which were placed dish after dish of food. Well-fed...we felt a bit refreshed as we returned to the hotel. The remaining members of our tour group will not arrive until pretty late tonight...it's too bad that they won't get the restaurant experience we enjoyed tonight.

Here's some random observations about Japan and what little we've seen of Beijing so far:

* It is a rare thing to see an American made car in Tokyo. China is full of them. That may be partly because the Japanese drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is thus on the right side of the car (like in Great Britain) but the Chinese drive on the right side of the road and have cars with the steering wheel on the left (as in the U.S.).

* There is much more concern about being ripped off by con artists and thieves in China than in Japan. We were warned to be wary of friendly natives who try to lure you away from familiar surroundings so that they can make you pay them to lead you back.

* Driving...and even walking...in China is a much more dangerous experience. The people drive like mad-men and take little notice of pedestrians and other vehicles. Sometimes the sidewalks and the streets are hard to tell the difference between...and marked, if at all, only by painted lines on the ground.

* The service people in the hotels have been polite in both cities...but you must not tip them in Japan as it is considered rude...while NOT tipping them in China would be considered just as much of an offense.

* The neighborhood where we stayed in Japan was very clean and well-kept. Even those that were unoccupied or under re-development were attractive and impressive in design. The neighborhood around where the amazingly beautiful hotel in Beijing sits looks like the bombed out remains of a battle zone. Old buildings are falling down....or being torn down everywhere you look. It is clear that China is in the process of rebuilding...or renovating...itself. The people are glad to see us and very friendly. Especially those who would like to entice you to buy something from them with the much-desired American dollar.

* In Tokyo you will find it very difficult to find a trash can anywhere...and yet, you don't see trash on the streets either. Japan is very big on recycling and conserving resources (ie. they won't let tour buses idle with air conditioners running while unoccupied.) Japanese restrooms seldom have paper towels and sometimes do not have air dryers either. (Don't be surprised to have the cleaning woman join you in the men's restroom while you're there) There isn't any problem finding a trash can in Beijing.

Okay...I realize that this is way too much information for you. Sorry. Tomorrow we're going to see the Great Wall! It's been an awesome experience...as you can probably surmise.

It's been great to hear from you guys, too! We love you guys.

Randy and Vicki