Friends Celebrate

Here are some of my new friends in Macau celebrating the Christmas season.



The Hanson girls, Emma and Andrea are in front of their tree in Hong Kong. Their Dad, Carl Hanson, is director of missions for this part of Asia. We had a lovely dinner with them last Sunday, when we were visiting Hong Kong.


The celebration photo is of a staff (Concordia English Center) get together at the Bowerman's home, the place I visited the first night I came to Macau - almost two months ago. I like picture because it shows the bright lights of Zhuhai, China out the window, as well as reflections of the whole room. Jessica, the woman playing the guitar, is a Filipino who takes care of Joanna, Sharon's adopted daughter. Jessica used to play and sing with a band in the Philippines. She has a sweet voice and spirit.



The next photo (003) is pastor Michael Wu and his wife, Grace. Michael is a very gregarious. He is part of the English Center and also spends much time in China working with missions there.



Pastor Yeung is the long time pastor of St. Paul Lutheran church in Macau. Please include the congregation and pastor in you prayers.



Last, but not least is Sharon Owens and I enjoying the festivities. Sharon has been here seven plus years and has done very much to inspire and build the mission here.

Christmas Eve the CEC teachers and students are doing two skits at St. Paul's - not quite the same quality as Priscilla Loring's, but our best effort. I will send photos of that after Christmas. Christmas Day we will all go to China to celebrate. The day after Christmas I will go to Zhuhai, China to visit Alina and family until New Years. I will use up my seven day, one entry visa to China. That means I will have to apply all over again at a price of $131 US for another visa for a possible 7 day visa, as I want to go to Alina’s home area with her for Chinese New Year in late January. Keep me in your prayers. The visas are a big headache.

Christmas blessings to you all in this most holy season.
With love, Jane

Worshiping Ancestors

On my way home from church this morning (Dec. 21) I stopped at the Kun Iam Temple temple which is very close by. It is a large active Buddhist Temple which dates to 1627.

There are many rooms and many people were visiting to burn incense and paper objects like money and food to honor and please their ancestors. It was very smoky. Note the fire in the one picture. In the photo with many women their are memorials with pictures hanging behind the altar and flower arrangements and more incense burning.

The first treaty of trade and friendship between the USA and China was signed here in 1844 at a large stone table at the rear of the temple garden.

Celebrating The Season

It's not the traditional snowy Christmas here in Macau, the flower beds are planted with poinsettias and marigolds - definitely not a combination we would see in New England. Macau is a blend of East and West in many ways, especially because of the Portuguese heritage since the Portuguese first came in 16th century. Some European style buildings as in this civil building have a tree, poinsettias and a full scale manger scene - no worry about mixing church and state.

Comfort Food

Congee - Comfort Food

There many versions of this, the plainer versions are eaten for breakfast. For me this is especially good when enduring a cold, however, the Chinese say, do not eat chicken soup, when you have a cold. Drink a bitter Chinese tea!

1 ½ cups short-grain rice
1/4 cup red onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 cup diced celery
6-8 chicken wings, or chicken with bones like drumsticks or thighs
10+ cups water (best if part of the liquid chicken broth)
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a large pot, bring the water/broth and rice to a boil.
When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low. Place the lid on the pot, tilting it to allow steam to escape - the same as you would do when making cooked rice.

Cook on medium low to low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice has the thick, creamy texture of porridge (1 - 1 1/4 hours). Take any chicken meat off bone and add meat back to congee - the Chinese do this as they eat the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garnishes such as crushed peanuts, parsley or cilantro, chopped green onion, if desired.

Decorating Cookies and the Center

Sunday, December 7 we had a very busy, joyful afternoon at the Concordia
English Center. We invited the students to come to the Center to decorate for
Christmas and to bake American style cut-out Christmas cookies. Lots of
families came and the children had an wonderful time making the cookies, while
the adults did a great job of decorating the main room.

Cookie baking is not something most Chinese do, as they use stove top burners
only , so this was a real learning experience. We teachers brought in three
portable ovens, which we have in our apartments. Jan Foytek our teacher
volunteer from Keene, NH teaches two children's English classes on Saturday.
The twin boys with the green shirts cutting out cookies are in one of her
classes, as are the girls decorating cookies.

I am decorating cookies with the wife and daughter of Danny, who is one of our
lunch regulars. This little girl is four and she really got into it, especially
the eating part.

Making Cookies

Lunchtime Visitors

One of the things I like best about what we do at the English Center is have an open lunch period Tuesday through Friday from 12-2 PM. We discuss all kinds words and issues. Today they were discussing "threw" and "through, this led to lists of "th" words. I was in a nearby classroom doing a test with an incoming student and the noise level got pretty high - I told them they were having too much fun. Here are some of our regulars.




Anna is one our frequent visitors. She has been coming to the English Center, as long as Sharon has been here. She calls Sharon her "boss". She is a member of St. Paul's Church

Danny and Coco are brother and sister. Danny works at a hospital pharmacy and Coco does blood collection for a clinic. Coco often stops by in her uniform for her lunch hour. Today they brought a little cheese cake for all to share.

Sunny is really a sunny person. She is a local newscaster, who does newscasts in Mandarin. She is originally from mainland China. she is always curious about words.

Paid Students

Here are two of the "paid students" I have been working with.

Donald is a serious young man who is the IT person for a man who owns seven restaurants in Macau. He came in last Saturday feeling very overworked. The restaurant owner has bought an eight restaurant at the Venetian Hotel and he wants it up and running by December 25, so Donald has to be sure the computer systems are compatible. He left the class feeling more upbeat about things.

...two more e-mails to follow on English Ctr.

Marco is a personable young man who recently lost his job as a payroll clerk. I have been working with him on interview skills. He did have one interview, but he felt he didn't too well, so the young lady, who was also visiting for lunch, gave Marco some pointers on how to make the next interview better. Quite a few casino workers are being laid off, as their revenue has been affected by the world financial crisis.

Concordia English Center Staff

he third photo is Kali Williams, my roommate, a 2007 graduate of Concordia University in MN. Kali worked for her first year at another English Center in China, now she is working in Macau. She coordinates groups of short term missionaries from the States, often pastors and their wives. Kali also does some teaching and participates in our free classes and free Bible studies. Kali was a major maker of cookies for our decorating and baking event - here she is getting the different color frostings ready for decorating the cookies.

The next photo is of Mary Eddy U, a teacher and day-to-day supervisor at the Concordia English Center. She is standing in front of a bulletin board with a Bible student, Simon. The board tells about our December social event at the Center which was held Sunday, December 7. We decorated the Center and baked American style Christmas cookies. Mary is an extremely capable young woman, gifted in many ways including playing guitar, piano and speaking Mandarin.

Concordia English Center Staff

This will be a series on the Concordia English Center in Macau and the work we
do there.

Who's Who

Sharon Owens is a career professional (DCE), and the Director of the Concordia English Center. She has been in Macau over seven years. She has initiated many changes and helped put the Center on a good footing. We have paid students who help pay the day-to-day expenses of the Center. Sharon has a full time and some part time paid administrators. Most of the teaching staff is from the United States and they are volunteers supported by their churches in the States, though the center provides us with furnished housing. Sharon also has wider responsibilities for other Asian Centers already opened or opening. Sharon has adopted a daughter, Joanna, from a Taipai (Macau) Orphanage (Joanna's picture is in a November part of the blog called people and places). Pictured with Sharon is Paul U, Mary Eddy U's husband. He is a graduate of Concordia in Seward, NE and a Macau native.

The Church in Coloane

Christmas decorations are popping up all over Macau, Hong Kong and even China. It helps
us realize that we need to help spread the message of Advent and Christmas, which is
so much more than and decorations and material things, which seems so apparent in what we see
here.

When we were doing karaoke at the Harvest Festival, we put some Christmas songs on.
Along with the familiar Christmas words were bizarre images of an Asian rock concert.
Pray for the true meaning of Christmas to become the message.

Advent

Advent Greetings,

This sign posted at a small lovely church in Coloane helps us focus on the meaning of Advent.
The second photo shows the church in its setting near the sea.

The Buffet

The buffet is a potluck buffet/ Fall Festival we had with teachers, students and Bible classes on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Candy and Sophie are two of our students. Sophie is a high school student, who plays the violin. We will go to one of her concerts soon. David Pfiefer is one of my fellow teachers from Wisconsin.

"Turkey" and Chicken Feet

The one I have labeled "turkey" is actually a chicken roasted with his head still on. The "chicken feet" are real fried chicken feet - considered a delicacy here.

International Macau Food Festival

Last Saturday , Nov. 22, I went to the International Macau Food Festival, an
annual outdoor event that runs several weekends and attracts huge crowds of people - kind of like the Topsfield Fair food booths, only several times larger. I'm sending you photos of some of the more interesting foods available.