Because...Beloved

because He gave us a choice, because we'd rather pay for glory and power than humbly accept The free gift, because you need two options to have a choice, because he is deceiving, because we think there is a price for everything, because we have to be P.C., because people arn't carefull, because life isn't fair, because we're looking in the wrong places, because we each have a different thing we're seeking, because it involves becoming vulnerable to both extremes, because we want revenge, because it's winter, because we're not capable of it, because the salt doesn't evaporate but it does run in with the rainwater, maybe we do, they were placed there, all the more to magnify His glory with, because we think that pain is a constant not a problem, because our eye percieves it as blue, because sometimes the darkness seems so thick, because it takes committing to that faith, because it means making yourself vulnerable, because it's harder to break a good first impression than it is to make up for a bad one, because everyone wants to be a rebel, because we've made God in our image instead of working ourselves into His, because they're searching for love, because it makes the plastic go a longer way, because Americans have to have dessert, because it involves becoming vulnerable, because we can be very self-centered, because we think that success is found in our jobs–our salaries– our 2.5 kids– our friends opinions, it means that we were created to be different–that we are Holy vessels–that He loved us That much, because red catches our eye over almost any other color--it's like a horn to our brain--better to be told with a horn to stop than to go.

Pictures

Here are links to the web albums I'm creating through Picasa Google. I'm slowly getting pics uploaded :) Enjoy!

Guilin to Yangshuo

Yangshuo

Architecture and Beyond

Signs

How big IS this place?!!!

The Urban Planning Museum
This last weekend we took an outing to the Urban Planning museum here in Shanghai. It was a lot lot lot of info about urban/city developement in Shanghai both in the past (how it became such a huge city) and in the future (how they're trying to clean it up and make it "green".)

My favorite part was an almost comprehensive model of the city. It is a model of almost the entire city as it is right now... and also throws in some of the buildings that are in progress such as the two that are going in at the area near the 'Pearl Tower' and the 'Jing Mao'. One or both of the new buildings are supposed to push their way into the top 5 list of tallest buildings in the world.













Here is a picture of what Lujiazui (spelling) will look like by I think it's 2008.

Ahhh our bridge. This is our "portal" between Pudong (where we live on the East side of the river) and Puxie (where everything is on the West side of the river). As you can see, there's a fun spiraly-bob at the end of it. You just go round and round until the taxi driver decides that it's your turn to exit, then you get off.






















Here is the gargantuan model of Shanghai. The wierd looking building that's basically a spire with a big ball at the bottom & top, and a small ball at the toppest. Keep your eye on the Pearl Tower for orientation.. it's the easiest thing to spot.













Moving out. Can you still see the Pearl Tower? I live somewhere off the bottom left corner of the screen.











Even further out. Can you believe how big this city is?!













Here's a view of the model from a couple stories up. The Pearl Tower is right in the basket of the bend of the river. I live off the top right hand corner of the picture.

Here are some Fast Facts about Shanghai

Time Zone
GMT + 8 hours, same as Singapore. The whole of China, including Hong Kong, is set to Beijing time.

Holidays
2006
Jan 1 New Year
Jan 29-31 Spring Festival, Chinese New Year
May 1 Labour Day.
Oct 1-3 National Day.
2007

Jan 1 New Year
Feb 18-20 Spring Festival, Chinese New Year
May 1 Labour Day
Oct 1-3 National Day

Climate
Shanghai summers are hot and humid with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius. The rainy season begins in June. Fall is mostly mild. In winter (January to February) temperatures can reach below freezing. Spring begins again in March. Click here for 3-day weather forecast for Shanghai.

Major Industries
Manufacture of textiles, garments, footwear, toys, crude oil, household electrical appliances, sports goods, telecommunication equipment, pharmaceuticals, steel products, general metalwares and coal

Teledensity
14.4 persons per telephone

Geography
China is the fourth largest country after Russia, Canada and the United States. It is located in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam.
Land area: 9,326,410 sq. km.
Shanghai occupies 6,200 sq. km. and lies in central-eastern China, facing the East China Sea.

Population
China: 1.28 billion
Shanghai: 13.4 million

Ethnic Groups
Han Chinese make up the majority of China's population (91.9%). Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities make up only 8.1%.

Language
The official language in China is Mandarin but distinct dialects are spoken throughout the country. Shanghainese speak Mandarin or Shanghaihua, however most tourist hotels have staff who are fluent in foreign languages.

Literacy
90.6%