snow stories

Snow is beautiful and also annoying... but it makes for some wonderful and meaningful days full of good stories.

Story 1 – To walk or take a taxi, that was the question… I (aka Krista), was already sore from the nearly 1-hour trek of walking to school. The intersections were deep with slush and water and, by our Father’s grace, I had made it to school with dry shoes and socks. But how to get home? Taxi’s are a premium during snow days and it wasn’t really necessary to take one. So I decided to walk and Pres said he’d walk to meet me. Pres had already abandoned the morning shopping since conditions were so terrible and stayed home to clean the house and do other chores. He’s the best!

At the school gate, I trudged past a taxi, knowing that Pres was already on his way and that someone else needed the taxi more than us. And the walk home was crazy but rewarding. We helped some people get through a severely flooded area and at one busy intersection, we noticed that a taxi had a nearly-flat tire. We pointed out the problem, and the taxi driver was so grateful. We were exhausted but thankful for the adventure. Sometimes the longer way gives you a better perspective!

Story 2 – Many of our students are not from “snow country.” Mark, is from Shandong, and he had never seen such a big snow fall (about 6 inches fell that day). While some students were lamenting and saying, “I wanna go home.” Mark was so excited, that in all of his 18 years, he was finally seeing something so unique. As we stood and talked, piles of snow were melting and falling from cars, trees and ledges. Each time a chunk fell, he said, “I’ve never seen that before.” It was so cute and such a blessing on a long and tiring day. Kids help us find the beauty in each day.

Story 3 – On the weekend, we usually try to go to the bigger supermarket across town for fish (which is relatively cheap at the market) and other supplies that we can’t get nearby. We couldn’t ride bikes because of the weather, so we took the bus (which is cheap!). We went across town switching buses half-way and enjoyed a rather pleasant, uncrowded ride. PTL. The market was empty and it was easy to fill our cart (seltzer and cheese too!) At the check out, we offered to give a couple some “mao” (worth less than a penny) so they could buy a plastic bag to carry their things. It seemed like it was their first trip to the big supermarket. They were perplexed that the few things they had purchases totaled 200 yuan (which is about $30). They were extremely grateful of our offer to give them some change, even though they didn’t need our money, and kept smiling and saying how nice we were.

About two hours later, after we had a snack at the coffee shop and one bus ride back to the center of town, we went to catch our bus home. Bus No. 19, picks us up and drops us off at our complex. However, it doesn’t run as often as the other buses, so we don’t usually get it. However, bus No. 19 was coming just as we arrived at the stop. As we got on, a man waved us ahead of him. We smiled and went ahead, thinking it was a bit strange that an older man would wave us ahead (seats are a premium and usually people push ahead to get on first.) We always just wait for the rush to end and just stand. We were tired and appreciative that we didn’t have to wait any longer or have to walk farther to catch another bus. The man got on still smiling and sat down, while we wandered to the back of the bus where we could stand and prop up our bags on the back wall.

Then on the other side of town, near our complex, we saw the woman, who we had earlier offered the small change to at the supermarket across town. She got up and was ready to get off the bus. The smiling man who had let us on the bus
first was her husband, who we recognized only because he was with his wife. In our small city of 3 million people, we had seen them twice in one day at two opposite ends of town. We got to say hello again and send them off with blessings.  It made our hearts smile! The bus is a meaningful way for us to connect with strangers.

Let it snow…