Many Are Called, but few are Chosen~Day 2

As I sit in my bed at 5 AM watching Creflo Dollar, (not by choice, he just happens to be the only black man on TV in English and beggars can't be choosy) I realize how true the scripture is when its says that many are called, but few are chosen. I know for fact that there are people who could be here that are smarter, more deserving, and more appreciative than I. BUT...
As my favorite phrase says, "But....God," meaning regardless of the circumstances... there's always a need to interject God right into the middle of the sentence, to change everything...(i.e. I was on my way to hell, but, GOD....)
And but, God....I AM HERE, Grateful as ever that I have been given a chance to see things I never dreamed of.

And since my thoughts are not His thoughts, I won't try to make my finite mind understand why He chose silly little me, to see the wonders of his work. I'm learning day by day that my job is to follow the Good Shepard in all things.


Day two began at 8AM when we all walked over to the Beijing Foreign Studies University's main campus for class. Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not into walking. I tell people in Chicago,"I'm from the motor city, where we drive CARS!" But this walk was one worth taking. The trees and grass were a lusher, more vibrant green than the ones back home. I felt like U had been given sight and was seeing trees for the first time. Maybe the trees were greener, or may it was just the greener grass effect, who's to say? But the flowers caressed my nose with each step, and I began to thank God for the little things.

Our class is everyday, from 8:30- 12:20 in a building across campus, on the 6th floor with no elevator and no A/C....and normally I would go into how I don't do stairs, and how I require A/C....but the truth is that I don't HAVE to be here anyway.


>>> Oh boy, my roommate is talking in his sleep.....I hope he doesn't make a habit of this<<<<
In our classes are the 20 DePaul law students and 25 BFSU law students from China. They sat in the first three rows with their notebooks out and ready, most of the Americans didn't even have a pen!

The four ladies who met us at the airport are also in our class. Afterwards, we all did our hellos, and the four of them run over to me and say"HI REESE" in unison and wait for me to say something as if I'm famous.
I said, "Hey Lisa, Katie, Katie, and Jane." They commenced to tell me that they like my eyes, my shape, my clothes and my hair. I'm just happy its so easy to make friends around here. They ask me if I still want to go shopping, which was the first thing I asked about coming off the plane.....OF COURSE I STILL WANT TO GO SHOPPING....Different timezone, but same Reese!

The professor instructed us to get to know the Chinese students, so he asked them to give us a tour of the campus. Lisa grabs, my hand and takes off like she's trying to get me to freedom on the Underground Railroad. During our tour, she gave me her own special tour of the campus, almost as if she had designated herself as my exclusive Chinese friend.

Which worked out well, because Lisa took me to every market in a 3 mile radius, looking for hair products to replace the one's I'd left at home. On the way there, she taught me five new phrases in Mandarin, and I was thrilled, but she was even happier than I was. I told her that if I learn five phrases everyday, I'll be semi-fluent in 30 days. So we made a deal, she wrote out the phrases, and I practiced them the whole day. Then she told me, "I'm sooo glad you came to China, and I want you to like being here very much and I will show you everything and take you to the best places to buy the best shoes."

TALK ABOUT GETTING SOGGY, I felt like crying. She's a real gem, so I told her if she ever comes to the US, she can stay with me and I'd pick her up from the airport as well. That sent her over the edge and I still have the marks on my neck from where she bearhugged me to prove it!

During our walk I spoke my five phrases to everyone I could, and some smiled, but some just looked at me as if they had seen a ghost. So I asked Lisa if I was saying hello wrong, but she said that some had never seen a (black) person like me before, and they were startled. Times like this I really enjoy being a black woman!

In the Choa Shi (supermarket), there were all kinds of crazy things, like real squid and crabs. But eventually I found some hair gel, and Lisa had to go do her legal writing homework, so we headed back.

Later I went to play basketball with the guys, because I didn't want to waste my trip sleeping, when there was so much to do. One of the Chinese guys, Anniston, asked if he could play with me. I told him I wasn't very good, but he said...."You are very strong, strong enough to play very well" Then I thought about it, I AM a bit larger than most of their men! But as we played, Anniston began to see that I was really not that good. He said, "You are strong enough to play, but you don't have very good control."



And that's fine with me because my sport of choice is still SHOPPING, and I could win an Olympic Gold medal in that!


Well guys, I'm going to go work out before class starts, so stay tuned!