The following is a daily journal of my experience in China...
This is China
I cannot believe that I am finally writing something about this trip. It has been one whirlwind of a trip so far. I am going to do my best to describe our first week together, which we spent in LA. We arrived in LA on Saturday morning. Leaving my parents when they dropped me off in Detroit was not near as hard as it was the year before. My mom cried and I got a little teary eyed but I tried to hold it in the best that I possibly could. The saddest part was knowing I wouldn't be on the same time zone as Jennifer until June 6th. I had to be at the airport at 5:30 so it was super early. While I was sitting at the airport I got super hungry and figured that I should treat myself to a nice meal before the flight to LA. I decided on breakfast at Max & Erma's. It was super bomb. On my flight to LA, I was lucky enough to have a seat in the exit row. It was an incredible flight. I wanted to sleep, but I watched BayWatch and the Disaster Artist. Two completely different movies but they were both super good. When I arrived in LA, I got my bags and then I could not figure out how to get to terminal 6. It was like a mile away from the terminal where I had landed. Luckily I found, our team manager, Tristian aka Murph, and we walked to terminal 6 together. Once we got there we found that most of the team was already there and they were waiting. I didn't see Grant yet, but saw Canaan, who plays at IWU. We instantly clicked and we became buddies right away. The first hour or so was a little awkward because nobody really knew each other. Once the last couple of guys arrived, we left the airport and went straight to In-N-Out. Which was so good. I love some good In-N-Out. I got a double double with a fry and a lemonade. After that we all had to go back to the airport because Cory's bag was lost on his flight. After that we drove to the beach houses in Oxnard. We took the Pacific Highway, which is a highway that runs right alongside the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the prettiest roads that I have ever been on. I am lucky to have traveled it more than once. It is such a beautiful road that really shows you how amazing God's creation is. On one side of the road you see mountains and on the other side the ocean is right there. The trip to the beach houses is roughly 2 hours. We arrived at the beach houses, chose our rooms for the week, and then we drove back to LA. We got to attend the Dodgers vs. Reds baseball game. It was so much fun. Dodger stadium is beautiful and the weather was perfect. Mark Hiepler got the tickets for us. Here is the amazing part. We had all you can eat concession food. So imagine eating all of the hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and peanuts that you can while attending a Major League Baseball game in Los Angeles. It was perfect. I think I had 5 hot dogs, 2 packs of nachos, 2 bags of peanuts, and one bag of popcorn. Probably a little too much, but I wanted to take advantage of the food that was available. The Reds actually ended up winning, which was cool. It was a super fun night, then we had the two hour drive once again. We were all so exhausted from our traveling day that we all fall asleep on the van ride. It wasn't just a quick nap either, we were like legit knocked out. Going to sleep that night was awesome. We got to sleep in until like 9:30 and didn't have practice until 3 that day. Jody and her daughter cooked for us all week. It was incredible. They sure know how to cook. Every single meal we had was delicious. It was just what we needed as we prepared for the food we are going to eat in China. I won't get into much detail about our week in LA because it would get repetitive. I am just going to give an overview of what we talked about and about some of the cool things that happened. Monday-Thursday we had practice everyday from 9-12 at the Sports Academy, which is located in Thousand Oaks, California. Sports academy is legit. We saw Trae Young, Terrell Owens, and Jamie Foxx. I actually got to meet Jamie Foxx and talk to him and get a picture. Everyday after practice we drove back to the beach houses and had lunch. Usually after lunch we would have team time from around 3 till 5. One of the coolest things that happened was on Monday night. We all went to the Hiepler house and it was the nicest thing ever. Such an amazing house. Mark had these two Mexican cooks who cooked for us. It was so bomb. They made fire tacos and nachos. We had an amazing time there. We did a lot of chilling and it was a great time. Rodney Pryor was there living with Mark for the summer, he played at Georgetown and has an amazing story. He is staying out here for the summer so that he can workout and try to make it to the draft. He shared his story and his testimony is quite incredible. He is actually a pastor back home and will preach occasionally. I really enjoyed his story because he trying to break the mold of the life of a professional basketball player. He talks about how he is different than the guys he plays with because everything he does is for Christ. When it comes to his life and the way he interacts with people it reminds me a lot about my life. I have a be still bracelet that I would wear every single day, and I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to give it to him. I decided to be obedient to the spirit and give him my bracelet. I said, no weird stuff, but I want to give you my bracelet. I told him that it reminded me to be still in the midst of the crazy life we live. He said, thanks so much bro, my mom always told me to be still when I was growing up. I told him, man that was crazy, that was such a God thing. During team time, Elliot would bring the heat. We talked about four principles: audience of one, inside game, holy sweat/wholly surrender, and suffering. There were a lot of things that I learned and was reminded of. I was reminded that I don't have anything to prove to anyone, just God. I also was reminded that God's love doesn't have to do anything with our performance. God loves us because He loves us, not because of what we do. I also liked when we talked about the battle we fight between the flesh and the spirit. Here is an important question to ponder. Does love create obedience? Or does obedience create love? Another important thing to remember is that the bible equips us for life. It teaches us what is right, what is wrong, how to get it right, and how to stay right. One thing I learned too is that when life comes at you, the spirit comes out, and the amount of time you spend in God's word comes out as well.
On May 18th, we left for China. It is not May 20th and we are still on our way to our destination. The flight from LA to Beijing is 13 hours and we cross the international dateline. So basically, Friday May 19th never happened for me. Crazy to think about right? The flight wasn't actually that bad. They fed us 2 meals and ice cream and I slept a lot because I was so tired. I watched the newest maze runner movie and it was very good. I spent a lot of time on the back of the plane with Tim, because when you are on a flight that long, it is important that you spend a lot of time walking around. Tim and I talked to the flight attendant for hours. They taught us some Chinese, and how to write our names in Chinese. It was a lot of fun. They laughed and giggled and were so nice to us. One thing that was super nice of them is that they actually fed us the food that was supposed to be for them. We just had to make sure that their boss didn't see us! It was a great memory and a lot of fun to hang around with them and spend time with Tim. Want to know something funny? But not really? Okay, it really wasn't that funny, but we missed our connecting flight again. Which was like the same exact thing that happened last year. There was no way that we were going to make it on time. We didn't. It was a hectic experience at the airport. Our time at the airport consisted of a lot of waiting in line and sitting around. Luckily, we got to eat Burger King. Here is the crazy thing. Our team actually got split up. 11 guys got through to security and ran to the gate, while 6 of us didn't make it through. I was one of the 6 to not make it through. We rushed up to the check-in counters to try and figure out what to do. We had to explain to the Chinese worker that 11 guys had possibly gotten on the plane but there was really no way to figure it out. We finally got it figured out and found out there was a flight at 12:20 that we could get on. But here is the catch, there wasn't enough room for everyone. So the 6 of us were able to get a boarding pass for the 12:20 flight, while the rest of the 11 have to sit in the Beijing airport until 9:45 tonight. Right now I am on the flight to Kunming. It doesn't feel right because there is only 6 of us. I'll take it though. This is China am I right? I don't know how many of you have ever flown or had a travel day this long, but one thing I can tell you is that I have never wanted to shower so bad. It's Saturday afternoon and I haven't showered since Thursday afternoon. I also haven't brushed my teeth since Thursday morning. I feel so gross. For those of you who know me really well, I hate feeling dirty and love feeling clean. Also, a weird thing that happens on the flight is that your ankles and feet swell up. It's so weird. I had my shoes off and I could hardly get them back on. I know that I must have patience and perseverance because this is where God wants me so I am going to do the best I can to be a light of Christ. I am also currently jam packed in this window seat, but hey! It's all good. I hope and pray that when we land in Kunming bags are there. I do not want a repeat of last year, when we had to go almost 2 days without our bags. One thing that is crazy is that we actually have a game tomorrow night. I can't wait. It will be a lot of fun and I can't wait to get the jet-leg out of my system. In about three hours we should land in Kunming. I can't wait to return to a city where some of my heart is already at. In that I should mention is that I downloaded Shrek on my phone for theology and traveling. I will honestly probably watch it like 5 times! We will see. I might be an expert with the lines of this movie by the time I am back in the states. Which will be great because I already know most of the lines. It's all for fun!!! I am excited to announce that I am officially in Kunming. We made it!! It is so great to be back. Also, praise the Lord. All of our bags were at the baggage claim when we got there. It still stinks that the rest of the team is still in Beijing. I feel so bad for them. As we drove into Kunming, I was getting so excited. I am so excited to be back here in this city. From what it sounds like, this is going to be an amazing trip with sell-out crowds at every game. I cannot wait. I am laying in bed taking a little break from the craziness. I finally got to shower and brush my teeth. It felt like I had died and went to heaven. Something funny though, as I was showering, I kept wanting to say "praise Jesus!" But I couldn't because we are in China. I got all clean, organized some of my stuff, and did my first load of laundry in the sink. It is gross how dirty my clothes made that water just from traveling. We are about to go out and walk around and then the six of us are going out to eat. I really miss the rest of the team and wish they were all with us right now. Until next name! I went to bed at 8:45 and got a decent amount of sleep.
It is May 19th now, and today is about to be a crazy day. I woke up around 6:15, so that I could chill and have a decent amount of time getting ready this morning. We had to be at breakfast at 7:00. It was a rough morning. It was rough for everyone else. The 11 guys who had to stay in Beijing last night didn't get back till around 3. They were a little behind getting ready this morning. They were late, but it was bound to happen considering they only got 3 hours of sleep. We got to breakfast, ate some chicken wonton soup and it was actually really good. Then we boarded the bus at 8, and now we have a 5 hour bus ride to Dali. This trip is crazy, the have USA Eagles bracelets, flags, banners, and stickers. It is incredible. I can't believe it. The hype is real!!! We are supposed to have a clinic this afternoon, and then a game tonight. But we don't have enough shoes or uniforms because a lot of the guys bags didn't make it. I put my basketball shoes in Canaan's bag and his didn't come so I don't have my shoes! I guess we will see what happens though. The trip finally feels real today. I do miss a lot back home, like my family and Jennifer, but I know that I am where God wants me to be, so I am fully invested into this trip, mentally, spiritually and physically. I cannot wait. We are about 2 hours into the bus ride and had our first rest stop experience. It was so fun, it's crazy what you see when you go into a rest stop in China. The snacks and everything you see are out of this world. You see gum, M&M's, Capri sun, red bull, Oreos, and lays chips. The one thing is, is that the flavors they have a crazy taste. We were talking about how some salt and vinegar chips sounded good so at the rest stop it looked like I saw some salt and vinegar chips, but when I got closer to read the bag the flavor was red Italian meat. Gross. But the overall experience was good. I love going to rest stops here because you can try something that is new and that you'll never probably tried before and it will be decently good. I got these crackers that were filled with cheery and chocolate filling, a drink that was like lemonade and some fruit snack looking things. I hope they're delicious. They look like they would be very good. I am waiting like 10 minutes than I am going to have some. The bus ride is cool though. We are on a huge bus and everyone has their own seat. I have been watching Skrek again. There is so much to think about on this bus ride. Seeing life on the other side of the world opens my eyes to so many things. Life is so different over here. It really teaches me not to take this trip for granted. I don't know where God wants me in this life, but I do know that I am going to embrace every single moment over here. Let's be honest I will probably never in my life be back in China completely out of my comfort zone like this. We just got back into the bus after our first clinic. It was a lot of fun. Like I said before, we are in Dali, and it was in one of the gyms that we played in last year. So it was really cool to be back. There were probably at least 100 kids there. Which was the perfect amount. I am really excited for our game tonight. We are actually sponsored by red bull so there are red bull signs all over in front of the arena. I bet that the game will be packed so I cannot wait. The game was super fun. We won our game like 106-60 or something like that. It was a little tiring. Everyday was exhausted from our travel day. My legs were dead, I was exhausted from the first quarter. I must not do elevation well, because I struggled in this same gym last year. I had a great time tho. We exchanged gifts, and we all got these super cool table cloths. After the game it was crazy. We signed autographs and took a crazy amount of pictures. I seriously signed their currency and some kids phone cases. Like what?! Guys on the other team were wanting to take pictures with me and their kids. It was nuts. It was so much fun. I am really tired. The hotel we just got to is very nice. It's like ancient Chinese. We also had McDonald's delivered to us, and it really wasn't that good. It was a mess trying to figure out how to room. We didn't know there was more than one building so we were on a wild goose chase trying to find our room.
It's may 20, and today will be very busy, the view that we woke up to is absolutely incredible. We went to the three towers in Dali. I am not sure what they were called, but it was incredible. We saw a bunch of temples and a ton of Budda's. It was super fun, but it was so sad seeing people bow down to the Budda's and pray to them. It was a seven mile round trip. It was absolutely beautiful. We are having a super important discussion right now on the bus. We are all struggling with the fact that we cannot say the Christian words and how we have to compromise who we are for him. We are a little upset about this. Like my mew friend Amber, she is incredible and super nice. But now I had to compromise who I am when I talk to her. I was told I have to be careful when I talk to her, because she works for the government. But anyways! Our experience this morning was incredible. Everything was beautiful. The temples were in front of an amazing mountains. It was incredible. We went to old town next to sop a little hit and of was so much fun. We shopped for like 30 minutes and I walked around with Amber and she showed me the best street food and it was really good. We had some honey slurpee stuff, and this bread, some spicy noodles, and a dumpling. It was so much fun trying even more super authentic food. It was one of the highlights of my trip. It has been such am incredibly busy day, but a lot of fun. I wish I could share Christ with her, but I have to keep being careful because she works for the government...so it's kinda dumb, I feel like I have to hide behind a wall. Today has consisted of a lot of deep though. Like super deep. I am sad at the fact that we have to be so careful over here. Like I don't feel like we are being obedient. I believe I was obedient in coming on this trip, but at the same time I feel disobedient because I cannot share the love of Christ. We are called to go to the ends of the earth to share Christ's love, but we can't really do that through our words, and I want to do that so bad. Like that is all I want to do. Apart from today being wrapped up in thought, it has been a very busy day, but a great day. I am loving it. I have really become great friends with new people every day. I have gotten close with Amber, and she leaves tomorrow. There is honestly just something about China that I love, but makes me so sad. The people here are great and seem to be so happy but they don't know what they are living for. They have no hope, so it makes me really sad. I hope and pray that I could share or can share the love of Christ. Even at McDonald's earlier, the Chinese workers there are so nice, and greet us with the biggest smiles, and they work at McDonald's! People are just special here. Well, I am back from doing Kunfu. I learned a lot but it was very cool. Something you might not know about China is that it is hot all the time. Like in buildings, outside. Like everywhere! Kunming was legit tho. Today has been such a long day. But it's like legit just starting! We had an hour bus ride to our game and it was great. The dinner they fed us before the game was so fire. It was like a five star restaurant. We then had an escort to the game. The stadium there was absolutely incredible. It was the first official basketball game in that stadium. It was packed. There were probably 7,000 people there. The pre-game events were super cultural and fun. They had a dance team, we exchanged gifts and they gave us all a dog statue. I guess this year is the year of the dog in China, so that is why they gave us it. We won our game by almost 70. We played the same team we played last night. Oh my goodness! I totally forgot about this, the dance team wanted me to take a picture with them, and I took a picture with them, and my arms were around them and I swear one of them like kissed my finger, it was so weird! When our game ended, we were all mobbed by the fans, and took hundreds of selfies and signed hundreds of autographs. They have us sign the weirdest things. I was signing the back of iPhones, military uniforms, arms, tickets, anything that a sharpie would show up on. As the madness began to die down, I was approached by a mother and her daughter (I think) and she wanted me to hold both of them at once. It was so hard. I put the little girl on my shoulders and lifted up the mom, it was ridiculous. The Chinese people are crazy awesome and I love being around them. I wish that I would've remembered to bring some giveaway stuff but I totally forgot it! Today has been absolutely great. It has been so long. We haven't been to our hotel since this morning at 9 when we left. I am glad that we are on our way back. I guess we are getting KFC when we get back, so I hope that it is very good! I can't wait to get back and shower, we all stink on the bus.
Today is May 21st and we are off to an amazing start. We woke up at 7, had breakfast at 8 and left to do a clinic at 9. We did our clinic at a middle school is Dali and in China, middle school is equivalent to high school. We walked in and everybody was ready to play a game against us. Like we were expecting a clinic but everybody was ready for a game. It was nuts. We put them through a 45 minute clinic and then we played a 20 minute game with them. We played at like 15% because they were all kids. We won, of course and it was so much fun. They put a show on for us, and played the United States national anthem and the Chinese national anthem. At halftime the students who were watching the game came onto the floor and we were mobbed again. We signed some crazy things, like school uniforms, arms, anything you could think of! We were signing navy blue school uniforms with a black sharpie. That like doesn't even show up! We just had one final meal in Dali. It was pretty good, they fed us the best food that the city of Dali has to offer. We are now leaving Dali, which is a little sad, Dali was a great experience, and it was a,song having them take such good care of us while we are here. As we depart for our next city, I am excited to see what God does next. It was an amazing first part of the trip. I loved every second of it. This trip just keeps getting more and more fun. I can't put into words how nice it is to have a great group of guys hang out with. If there is one thing that I really miss on my life, it is that. It's so nice to fit in and to feel so significant with the group of guys. Although I miss Jennifer and home so much, I am going to take full advantage of every second of this trip. We just got to the next city. I have no idea what this city is though! But hey, it's a new place that I have never been to before. Our hotel is super nice again. I am rooming with Grant, so we are about to have a ton of fun. He is getting rid of his beard, and I think I might too! I'm a new man. I shaved my beard. I haven't seen me look baby faced in a minute. Right now it's ten till 5 and we aren't doing anything until 6:30. Which is like the most free time ever. So I guess we will see what happens with this! I think I might take a little nap. I need that in my life right now. But our room right now is crazy hot,so that might be tough. We leave for dinner at 6:30 and then after that I am not sure what we are going to do. We don't have a game tonight so I don't know what we will do with our time! I'm definitely looking forward to it. I ended up taking a nice nap. Although I was so hot and sweaty. We left for dinner and drove up through some mountains and back roads, and I don't know how our bus driver did it. We got to the restaurant and it was something else. We ate pretty much an entire lamb. It was okay. They fed us this juice and we all think that there're was something in it, because we all got very slap happy, and could not stop laughing at anything. The food was not very good, but the fellowship and the company was out of this world. Now we are back at the hotel, and I think that I am about ready go to sleep. Nick, Shi, and Sam came into our room to hang out with us and I gave them so jerseys. Nick was so funny. He is 21 and speaks great English. It is really neat being able to learn about the Chinese culture from him and us being able to teach him about our culture. I had the three of them pic out jerseys and shirts from my give away suitcase, so that was great. It's crazy how something so small can make their day. That was the highlight of my day right there.
Today is May 22nd, and it is about to be another action packed day. We just had some really good breakfast at the hotel. One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast here is the noodles, and then you fill the bowl with some soup, spices, and oils. It's a bit spicy but it is very good. We all really miss cold drinks. Nothing is ever cold here, we never see ice. I think that China does a great job at conserving energy. The only way that the air in lights in the hotel rooms works is when the key is in the room. There is also never air condition in like ant public building. It's always so hot. We just loaded onto the bus, and we are heading to a mountain and we are going to one of the top 3 largest Buddish temples in the world. I am excited to see what it is lies, but a little erry because of all of the oppression that will be there. I hope to take some cool pictures there and hope to have a great experience. In the middle of the night last night, I woke up and felt the Holy Spirit telling me something. I was given the perspective that God is using this trip to give me an amazing group of guys to hang around to make up for a lot that I have missed out on the past year and a half. I know that God is using this trip to help me grow in many more ways than one, and I am excited learning the new and different thinks every single day. This drive to where ever we are going is nuts. We drove like am hour, then 40 more minutes though the winding, beautiful mountains. We got to our destination and it was crazy. We had to walk a mile up the mountain to the buses, and then it was about another 10 minute drive. We got to the gondola, and it was another 15 minutes up to the top. It was super high, we were 10,000 feet plus. We were up in the clouds and it was nuts. The clouds were moving so fast. Once we got to the temple, it was a weird feeling. It was like a nauseating feeling and I lost my breath. I felt like I needed to get out of the temple as fast as I could. There was so much evil up there in the mountain. There were probably demons everywhere. Which is super scary. I am glad that we are leaving this mountain. It is crazy how beautiful God's creation is here in these mountains, but yet there is so much evil everywhere. That is just the way life is. We did get to see some wild monkeys and it was so cool! I have never seen a wild monkey before. They were all so cute and they were everywhere! We are on our way to lunch, I hope! Lunch today was honestly one of my least favorites. We had two ducks, four fish, some rice noodles, chicken soup, and rice. It was okay. The duck was actually very good. One of the best things about our meals have been the sprite. Sprite has been so refreshing because everything else is like warm tea. We went to a drivers school and the place was very nice. They fed us the best fruits they had to offer. They have a huge swimming pool, and a nice basketball court. They also have a coffee shop. So they gave us all iced coffee and it really hit the spot. They had some weights and I got a little pump on. I also found a little baby to give the baby jersey to. I have been waiting all trip for the perfect baby to give that jersey to. It was a super fun experience the and we are now on our way back to the hotel. Oh my goodness. What a crazy awesome night. Our game was outside and it was so awesome. I would say that there were 3,000-4,00 people there. They had music blaring, and security guards guarding the court. There has been security guards with us also the the whole trip, and a videographer. We won our game 137-73 I believe. The game was so much fun, the atmosphere was incredible. I really can't put it into words what it is like playing a basketball game in China. The people absolutely go crazy for anything that we do. I was trying to hand this little girl one of the dolls my grandma made and grown men were like fighting for it. I eventually was able to give it to her. After the game when we were signing autographs we were supposed to stand by the bench and most of us had a security guard around us. It was a absolutely crazy. I still don't get why people are having me sign the back of their phones! But hey, I love it so much. After the game we went to this restaurant and had pizza, hamburgers, fries, dumplings, and watermelon. It was super good. In China, hamburgers are actually like chicken sandwiches, but they call them hamburgers. Super weird. Today was action packed, and I can't wait to put my head on my pillow to go to sleep tonight. God is good!!
Now it's May 23rd, and we are leaving to head to Kunming. We have around a 5 hour bus ride. This morning at the hotel was something else. I was fortunate enough to be able to FaceTime Jen for a little over an hour. We woke up around 7, and had breakfast at 8:15. We were told that we were leaving for Kunming at 9. Everybody was packed and ready to go and as we were getting on the elevator, Nick told us that we weren't going to leave for two more hours. Everybody on the trip had to do a camera interview in one of the hotel rooms. The interview lasted a little less than 5 minutes. It was difficult too. There was a huge camera and all of the staff was in the room. The interview was difficult because I wanted to be able to share my faith when I answered questions but I was unable to do so. I still wrestle with that and feel like I have to hide in a sense. Other than that aspect of it, k believe that it went well, I was able to share my love for the Chinese people and their culture. The entire process of everyone getting interviewed lasted a little over two hours. It turned out to be a great time to rest. It was much needed as well. When we left the hotel, the staff wanted a picture in front of the hotel again, which is always a treat. As we took the picture, the cars driving by on the road stopped, the drivers got out of their running cars, and came to take pictures of us as well. It's crazy how much we are treated like celebrities. Our bus ride has been great so far. I had the movie How to lose a guy in 10 days downloaded on my phone and watched it. I now have no more movies to watch. We stopped at a restaurant about an hour and half into the trip, and coach gave us money and we got to choose between street food, and convenient store snacks. I got meat on a stick and it was so spicy but super good. If we were in the states I would have not been able to eat it. The spices here are so good. Like I mentioned a couple of days ago, I love stopping at convenient stores/rest stops so that I can try new snacks. I love how cheep everything is. There was also this booth where you could get smoothies. I pointed to the strawberry smoothie because that was the only way that I could communicate with the workers what I wanted. I was expecting an ice old strawberry smoothie and what I got back was hot strawberry drink. It was so gross! It was like drinking strawberry milk that you have put in the microwave. Now it may have not been the worst thing ever, but when I am expecting an ice cold smoothie and get that, it is easy to be disappointed. It was a really fun stop and I believe that we have five more hours until we arrive at Kunming. We have driven about two hours since our last stop and I slept most of the time. I woke up and we stopped at another rest stop and I bought some fruit and and ice cream. I love buying stuff at the rest stops but I probably get a little too much sometimes! But hey you're only in China maybe once or twice if you're me! The bus rides are very long, but give me a lot of time to think. I'm so lucky and blessed to be able to be on the trip. I'm excited for the rest of trip and I am definitely excited to get home. I'm back and we are still on the bus! This drive was supposed to be like 5 hours but it's been at least 6 hours, and I'm starting to think that nobody knows how long it is actually going to take to get there. I hope to get there in the next hour. Yes! We finally made it. It is about ten till 7 and we are here. We are about to the hotel and we are going to check in and then go out to dinner. Our hotel is a little messy. It's really small, and compared to the last couple of nights, it's not nice at all. There is visible mold in many of our rooms. We went to dinner and it was great. We had some orange chicken which so good. Then we came back to the hotel and had a super long talk outside. Our room smells so bad!...I think it is some of my stuff too...overall it was a great day.
It's Friday May 24th here in Kunming China. Today was started off so chill. We tried to find some breakfast, but the first place we went to only had crackers and coffee, then we had to get some sweet rolls on the street. It was decent. After that we went straight to team time. We talked about running the race with endurance which was perfect. I was reminded that I should not take this opportunity for granted because our time here is so short compared to my life and compared to eternity. It's tough because I really miss home, but I know that this is where God wants me. Plus there are only 12 days left. Which while absolutely fly by. After team time, we had some free time in he gym. So I went to the park and did a pull up and push up timed circuit workout. I came back into the gym and did a shooting workout with Matty Ice. One of the best shooters in the country. It was much needed and we got a really good sweat in. We just ate dinner at the same exact place we did last night, with the same exact food. But it was good! We were very hungry. As soon as we are done here, I believe that we are going to an elementary school and we are going to hang out with some kids and it will be lots of fun. Today is going to be a very long day, but I'm ready and prepared for it. It's going to be a great day. Wow. Currently at dinner and its about 10:30 today was absolutely amazing. We went to an elementary school, and did a clinic and the kids were crazy. In a good way! We walked in and there were probably 1,000 kids. The kids age was from 5-15. I think. The little kids were jumping around like crazy when we walked in and it was an imagine that will never leave my mind. It was absolutely adorable. We did about 30 minutes of a clinic and then the kids came on the court and we were all signing autographs and the clinic ended. I signed autographs and took pictures for at least a solid hour. It was absolutely insane. A lot of kids asked for my we chat and I had to right down my entire code like 20 times. After we were done with that, the kids showed us some of their artwork. A little boy gave me some of his art work and it was so meaningful. I love it. I am definitely going to have to bring my giveaway suitcase back with me. I have so much stuff to bring home. Our game was fun too. We won by like 40, and it was super fun seeing some people that I saw last year. The remembered me which was so crazy. Then we went to dinner and they had a bunch of food for us. It was the same restaurant we've had three times in the past two days. After that, we walked back to the hotel which was a lot of fun! Tim leaves tonight which is sad, so we had an hour debrief, and words of affirmation. I'll miss him a lot. He is so cool. Tim is that dude I know I can call if I ever need someone to talk too. So I hope him and I can remain in contact. Today was super busy, but it was incredible. I cannot wait to go to sleep.
It's Saturday, May 25th and we have officially been in China for one week. It was been an amazing week full of so many amazing memories. I can't believe we only have a week and a half left. It's 9 in the morning and I am just waking up. We don't have breakfast until 10 this morning and then we are leaving our hotel and we are going to another hotel at 10:30. I am very thankful that we got to sleep in a little bit. For those of you who know me well, sleeping in till like 8:30 is sleeping in for me. I a. Excited to move hotels but a little stressed out because all of my clothes I washed in the sink last night are still a little wet, so I gotta get that figured out...but hey! This is China. Today was the perfect definition of this is China! We were supposed to leave for the hotel at 10:30 but they only brought one little van for all of us and all of our luggage. So the van has to take probably 4 trips. We got to watch the Cavs game and LeBron was the goat. We came down and waited in the lobby and have been down here for an hour and a half. We packed all of our bags into the van, and then we were told we are not going to the other hotel until tonight, so we had to unpack all of our bags and get our stuff out for the games tonight. I wonder how much longer we will be sitting here, but hey, it's all good! I am still trying to make the most of today even though I have no idea what is going on. I will write back later with what ended up happening today! Well we found out that we don't get to go to our hotel until after the game. Which was news to everyone. So we walked over to lunch and had lunch at the same restaurant again. Don't really know how I feel about that. After lunch we walked to the gym for our clinic. We had to participate and it lasted for like two hours. Before the clinic we had team time. Team time was great day. We started off by saying simple words of encouragement. So everyone encouraged people on our team and it was great. That was just what I needed. It's amazing how encouraging someone or hearing other people encourage each other can lift you up. I know that it filled my heart. Next, Elliot talked about how we should do to one as we would for for others. The impact that you can have when you do something for one person can be huge! We just finished the clinic up and we are eating KFC in the locker room. I have a bunch of clothes laying out in here because my laundry from last night didn't dry. I think that we are going to chill in here until the game. Which is in like three hours, so we will see what happens with this. I can't lie, today had been a tough one. I really miss Jennifer and I really miss my family, but what else was I supposed to expect. I knew that I would miss them so much, so I am going to just keep on doing what I gotta do, and I'm going to enjoy every second of the trip, no matter what food we eat, no matter how hot we get, no matter how tired we get, I know that I am on this trip for a reason. I love every second of it because I know this is where God wants me, and China is just awesome. I still at times can't believe that I am in China. I'm so lucky to be here. I absolutely love it. We won our game tonight again by like nearly 50 and it was the best team we have played so far. The gym was absolutely packed. Signing autographs and taking pictures after the game was crazy to. Girls started asking me just to take a selfie of myself on their phones, it was super weird but u went along with it. After the game we went to the same restaurant again, which was okay. Then we took an uber to our new hotel. It is such an amazing hotel, especially compared to the last two nights. The bathroom is unreal. The tv is huge. My bed lights up. It's amazing. It was a perfect end to a busy long day. I am so thankful that coach hooked us up with this hotel tonight. It's absolutely amazing and everyone needed it. Today was full of adversity but it was great. I love China more every single day.
It's Sunday May 27th. This morning has been great. We woke up around 8 and had some good breakfast. I had my favorite breakfast here, the noodles. Right now Jamal and I are watching the Western Conference finals and hoping that the rockets win. It's been a great game. Today has been off to a great start. We had team time at 10:15 and it was very good. We talked about Romans 12:1-2 and about how we shouldn't conform but we are transformed. I really enjoy our team times regardless of how tired I am. As soon as the game is over we are leaving the hotel for the day. The Warriors ended up winning by a lot which sucked. Today it is cold and rainy, which is actually really nice. I should've worn my sweatshirt today. We are all currently at KFC, and this KFC is right next to Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen. I can't wait to smash this food. KFC was a great meal this morning. After KFC we went to Dairy Queen and got blizzards. We came back to the university and I found the weight bench I used yesterday and got a quick lift in. After that Canaan shared his H's. Right now we are chilling in the locker room waiting for the clinic to start. I am excited to see what the clinic is like today! The clinic is currently finishing up, and I just had my first squatty potty experience. I cannot believe it. I will never forget that moment. It's actually quite hysterical. After the clinic this man that we had met at the clinic welcomed the entire team to his coffee shop and gave us all free coffee. Brain ordered us Burger King so we ate whoppers and drank coffee. That is the recipe for a upset stomach. We then walked back to the gym, and got ready for our game. There was probably 4,000 people there. We played then university's team where we were at. It was crazy. The game was so lopsided. The other team shot 39 free throws and we shot 13. We won by like 20. It was our closest game yet. I got to play against my friend Zhu and we traded shirts and jerseys again. It was so cool seeing him a again. Last nights game was just a lot o fun. It was a perfect reminder that basketball is more than a game. There were performances at the end of every quarter and halftime was like 40 minutes because there was a three point contest and a dunk contest. It was wild. After the game we had dinner at the same restaurant we have eaten at basically 7 times. We didn't leave the restaurant until almost midnight. Once we got back to the room, I was super hyper and had a great time. We didn't get to go to sleep until around 1:30.
It's Monday May 28, and we just got onto the bus and are traveling to our next city. It was hard leaving the hotel where we were just at because it was so nice. We were supposed to leave around 8:30 but didn't end up leaving until 9:15. Everyone is a little upset because we have to miss game 7 of the eastern conference finals. Today makes single digits until I return back to the United States. It's absolutely insane how fast this trip has gone. Before I know it, I'll be back home with my girl and my family. I am also at the point where I need some clean clothes. I don't mind washing my clothes in the sink, but it's hard to get them totally clean. I am looking forward to another city and the memories that it will bring. I have 9 days left on China, and I will probably never be back. But who knows! I'm going to treat every single day like I will never be back to China and time will fly. We just finished our clinic for the day. There were probably 40-50 kids who participated and around 250 kids watched. The village we are in, is really small. The courts were back rounded by mountains and it was beautiful. As we were walking up to the courts, the kids had dressed up in the native village groups and they had a dance prepared for us. It was very neat. The clinic lasted for an hour and a team wanted to play a game after the clinic and it wasn't going to be good for us, so as soon as we finished the clinic we took pictures and signed autographs and even joined in on the native dance. The dancing with all of the kids made the entire clinic worth it. Next, we are on our way to our hotel, I hope that it is very nice! We ate a nice lunch at the hotel. I am honestly getting tried of French fries. I can't tell you the last meal that they did not serve us French fries. We then unpacked our bags from the bus, and had to hang up a banner on the bus and the got situated into our rooms. Our hotel is very nice. It's a quarter till 3 and we have our own time until 5. I am going to take the most bomb nap ever. It's 5 and I am up from my nap. When I woke up from my nap, I thought that it was 5 in the morning. If that doesn't spell good nap, I don't know what does. I guess we have dinner at 5:30. Something amazing happened today, a prayer was answered. I had been praying that God would do work in Jennifer's heart while I am gone and challenge her with something. She told me today that she felt in urgent to start watching some sermons on relationships and she told me there's this longing that she has to truly be the best that she can be for me and that she is going to do everything in her power to do so. I shared that with you because God is omnipresent. Meaning God is everywhere at once. Jennifer is 10,000 miles away from me and I've been praying. God hears our prayers and responds to them no matter where you are at in the world. So never have the fear that God wont answer a prayer just because you are in another country, or what you are praying for is in another country. I hope that encouraged you in some sort of way or form. I love when the Holy Spirit works like that. God is so good and I get chills thinking about Him and his power and the things He has done on my life and will continue to do. God is so good all the time! Our game tonight was pretty cool. It was a sold out arena again and as we pulled up all of the kids from school earlier where outside the building waiting for us, and they had a video of us on the big screen outside the stadium playing. We won by like 45 and it was probably the best team that we have played the entire time. I traded jerseys with Lochi after the game, he is also a Christian and we traded gifts last year too. Once we got back to the hotel we had dinner and went back to our rooms to do our laundry and chill. I have a feeling that tonight's sleep is going to be something special.
Today is Tuesday May 29th and this morning went from a chill morning to a rushed morning with in a matter of 5 minutes. We wee originally supposed to leave the hotel at 9, and then last night the coaches got it charmed so we could watch game 7 of the western conference finals. So we got to watch it and sleep in. At halftime I was going to start getting packed up because we were supposed to be ready to leave right after the game. At halftime we got a knock on our door that it was time to go and that we should be ready, so Canaan and I got threw our stuff in our suitcases and got ready in like two minutes and got to the bus because the leaving time got moved and we and no idea. This morning we have a three hour bus ride to our next city, and then we are going to put on a three hour clinic. That is super long so it's hard saying how it will go. We don't have a game tonight, so that is good for us, now we get to rest. There are officially eight days left of the trip which is crazy. It could be five days, but I added the extra couple of days so that I could see Beijing! We just had another rest stop experience. For those of you who know, I love writing about my rest stop experiences. This one was fun. When we got off the bus we were handed 100 kuai to get snacks and maybe a little lunch. I started off with some spicy hot potatoes which where so good, they might be my new favorite snack. Then I got a mango drink as the gas station, some "chips a hoy" cookies that were garbage and some fresh fruit. At every rest stop we stop at, there is fresh food, and usually a fresh produce section. It's super healthy. One thing that is easy to notice in china is that you never see anyone who is over weight. Everyone is skinny. When it comes to food, although some of it may not taste the best, they do it right. We ate lunch at the China Southern Power Grid and it was okay, I think it messed with my stomach. After lunch we arrived to the school to do a three hour clinic. The gym where this clinic was held was from 1932, and it was very old and very cool. The clinic was a little boring because there really wasn't anything that we as players could do. The clinic seemed to drag on forever. The school was very cool. One thing I've learned about the Chinese people is that they are selfless when it comes to helping us. We told the players they got a 5 minute drink break and instead of getting water for themselves, they all brought us waters. Yesterday it rained the entire day. When we were walking towards the dining hall from the gym, students from the school had umbrellas and they walked beside us so we don't get wet. It was so nice of them. When we were leaving the school a man and his son got on the bus and told us how thankful he was that his son got to experience us today and that he will never forget today in his entire life. The man also sang us a song. It's the little moments that make everything worth it. During the clinic we found out we have a three hour bus ride, but it turned into like 5 1/2 hours. I felt like we were never going to make it to the hotel. The hotel staff had a meal prepared for us and it was almost midnight. But we finally did and had a great nights sleep.
It's Wednesday May 30th, and we officially have one week left. Today is a new day and I know it's going to be great. I cannot wait for what we are about to do. This hotel serves French toast for breakfast which hits the spot. We are leaving for school to play with kids and then we are going site seeing and we have a game tonight. Our hotel is by one of the most famous lakes in China and we are going to get to see it today. The first school today was incredible. That school definitely pulled out the red carpet for us. When we pulled up they had little cheerleaders, and little kids playing music for us. All of the students at the school were outside waiting for us, and then they put on a show for us. We put on like a 40 minute clinic and it was basically us just having fun with a bunch of little kids. The kids at that school spoke great English. They were interviewing me with very solid questions. When we signed autographs, it was crazy yet again, papers just kept getting my face. We were not at that school for very long, because we had drive to the arena to put on another clinic. When we walked into the arena there were three different minority groups putting on a show for us. The crazy part is, as I was walking out, the older ladies with their drums from the performance wanted me to sign them. I felt like I ruined the drums because those things seemed super sacred. "This is China" perfectly sums up today so far. Yesterday we were told that we have one clinic left and today we had two and it's not even noon yet. I can tell that everybody is starting to wear down a little bit, and everyone is a bit exhausted. Over the last couple of days, people have started to get sick and have upset stomachs. I am not sure what the name of this town is, but everywhere we have gone so far, we have gotten a police escort. I am not sure where we are going right now, but I hope that it's lunch or site seeing, or maybe even another nap. I forgot to mention in yesterdays post that people have something to me twice about staying here longer on the future. I don't know if that is the Holy Spirit prompting my heart of what. I think that is something that I would enjoy but I don't think there is anyway that I could do it without Jennifer right here with me. One thing that has been tough also is I have had Chinese people ask if I will be back again next year, and it's been hard telling them no. It's easy to see the disappointment on their faces. One thing that I could really go for right now is a bomb nap. We just ate dinner at the best and most famous restaurant in the city. I can't say it was the best food we had though, usually when we eat at the best places they feed us the most suspicious foods and we usually have to guess what they are because we have no idea. The best thing about this meal was the rice for sure. The rice had potatoes and ham in it, and numbing seeds. A lot of foods here have this numbing seed in them and when you eat it your mouth goes numb. I am not sure what we are doing next but I am excited. Today is flying by and taking forever all in one. We finally got back to the hotel and we get 2 hours of free time. Which means I'm going to nap for sure, I have fallen asleep every bus ride so far today. I am very thankful that we have been given time to rest the past three days, it has been much needed. For team time today Cheng Shi, shared what he is struggling with it and broke my heart. He shared that his parents are not believers and neither is his wife. He went into great detail how hard it is for him. He said his father is very strict on Chinese tradition and beliefs and when they talk about God is often causes fights between them. Shi also shared how it's hard for his wife too because she has a very strong personality and lately it's been tough with her as well. We also found out that his wife is pregnant with their first child. So there is beauty in the struggle. Shi told us how much of an impact we are having and it was so special to hear. I am so thankful that he shared his struggles first hand because I have never heard how tough it is for a Chinese man to be a Christian in this country. He shared 1 Timothy 4:12 which says: "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." Shi assured us that we are doing those things. What he shared was also convicting. With my relationship with Jennifer, Christ is the number one thing and he is at the center of it. I was convicted because I know God is number one in her life but what do I do about? I feel as if I'm not thankful enough for it. My favorite thing about Jennifer is that she loves God with all her heart. I can't wrap my mind around all of the people on this great country who don't have hope. One thing I have learned today is that there is beauty in the struggle. Today, everyone was tired and starting to focus on themselves and what they miss and their own struggles, or team time and Shi's talk reminded us that this is all about so much more then ourselves. It's about the people in China who love us and serve us. His encouragement was beautiful in the midst of our struggle. Every single day, there are struggles, and every single day God gives me something that makes everything worth it. Have perseveres and you will reap a harvest. God is so good every since day, and i am so thankful to be able to live in a country where I can talk about God whenever I want to and I am so thankful to be on such an amazing and life changing trip like this. After team time we had dinner at the hotel, and saw an Olympic gold medalist. I believe that he is coming to our game and I'm definitely going to take a picture with him. He won the gold medal in gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympics. We are back in our hotel room for the night. The game was great. We won by over 80. The gym was absolutely packed and it was an amazing environment. After every quarter, at halftime and before the game, there were shows that were performed for us. It was an incredible night. I need to get a lot of sleep because I do not feel well at all and want to feel great for the rest of the trip. It was an awesome day. Every since Cheng Shi talked earlier everything has changed. I am so thankful for that moment.
It's Thursday May 31st, and it's officially less than a week until I am back in the United States! Last night was great, after the game we turned on our tv and home alone was on. I was so excited! It put me in such an amazing mood. The trip is really winding down today, we have three days with everyone before some of us go to Beijing and the others go back to the states. Everything is down hill now and it's going to go so fast. I am going to have the best possible mindset and attitude that I can these last couple of days. Today will be fun and super busy. We are just leaving our hotel and we are driving back to Kunming. On the way to Kunming we are going to stop at a museum and then we have a game at 3:30 and it is our very last game. That is when the trip is about over. I have loved traveling to so many different. It has been a treat seeing so many different cities and being so welcomed as well. It's very unique how every city has had a different show/performance to offer. I am super excited for today! We just got done at the museum and I really don't know what was going on! It was a pretty cool. A lot of the artifacts were from the Han Dynasty. The dates ranged from 202 BC-220 AD. The man who was in charge of us was giving us a tour speaking entirely Chinese which was comical. The coolest thing there was this bull symbol and I guess and the insurance on that piece is $50 million. We were only at the museum for 30 minutes which was the perfect time. Now we on our way to Kunming! I am pretty sure we just had our last rest stop experience. I copped some sour gummy worms, cookies, and a Starbucks mocha. I can't believe we probably won't stop at any more rest stops. One of the things I really miss about home is coffee. I love my coffee and haven't really gotten any of it here, so the Starbucks drink his the spot. We finally made it to our base hotel in Kunming. It was supposed to be a one hour drive but it turned into almost a 3 hour drive. We did stop twice, once at a rest stop and another time at Burger King. Of course...more fast food! I am rooming with our team manager the next two nights so that will be a lot of fun. I am praying for good conversation because he has shared that he is ready to be able Christ be in the driver seat of his life and hasn't made that decision so I'm hoping the Holy Spirit does work with him and me. We leave for our game at 2, and it doesn't feel right that we only have one game left! It's really quite crazy how fast these last couple of days are going to go. Our game was something else today. I hurt my knee in the second quarter and didn't play the rest of the game. I sat at the end of the bench, with tears in my eyes and my knee wrapped with Popsicles because we couldn't find any ice. All I wanted was to be out there with my brothers. All of the coaches made there way over to be and prayed for my knee. I believe that God answered their prayers and mine. We won our game by a lot again and the game was actually pretty chippy. Afterwards the crowd was great. There were a lot of students who spoke decent English so we did a lot of taking. I got a bunch of gifts, like food, pictures, and a drawing of me. I gave my red jersey to a girl and her brother because they came to four of our games and it's better off with them and not me. I was so happy to give my jersey to them. After the farm it was pouring down rain and students from the school were standing outside the gym and walked us to the bus with their umbrellas. We had dinner right on campus and when we were walking to the bus, these girls were waiting right outside our bus and had gifts for me. I am excited to get back to the hotel and shower and rest. I am not sure what the night will bring, but I am pretty sure that it will be chill and we will have team time. Our team time was great. We heard some H's and a great team time. After that we all got to McDonald's!! I got to lead everyone there and we had so much fun. We walked through the back ally's and on the railroads tracks finally got there. We all got so much food. We were living. We all got Sunday's, burgers and fries and it was all freshly made for us. I loved it. It was an absolutely amazing end to the day.
It's Friday June 1st! I cannot believe it's June. This morning started off a little rough. I was told that I was wrong about what day is as getting home, I was confused with it being a different day back home and I felt terrible about it. When I got in he shower I started praying and immediately felt at peace. God told me that I need to enjoy these last couple days here and embrace the brotherhood we have made here because I might not get to experience something like this ever again. I will get home when I get home and enjoy the time I have here why I am here. I love it here. It's amazing what can happen when you give it all to God. This morning we got to watch the first half of the NBA finals and bron bron was killing it. Everybody is in a great mood this morning. We are on our way to do a meet and greet with top government officials. They are sending us off. After that we are going to the stone forest and I am super excited for that again. We got to the university where we were supposed to meet and greet government officials, and there were a ton of kids and presenters and we had to listen to a bunch of speakers. After all of the speakers we had to put on a 30 minute clinic with a bunch of kids. We were there for probably two hours when it was supposed to be only 20 minutes. After the clinic we walked to a nice restaurant at the university and it was nearly a two mile walk. Right when we were walking up the final hill to get to the hotel, we turned around and our bus was right behind us. If this morning/afternoon doesn't describe China, I don't know what does. The restaurant where we ate was at a very nice hotel. The bathroom at this place was probably the nicest bathroom that I have seen the the entire time I've been here. The food was mediocre. They served the delicacies of the area and I am usually a little hesitant to eat those. The servers just kept serving us food and we had plates stacked in threes on the lazy Susan at the center of the table. It's 5 till 2 and we are on our way to the stone forest. Well, it ended up taking like three hours to get to the stone forest when were told that it would only take an hour. This is China yet again! Once we got to the stone forest we had a good time. We were here for like three hours. It was a great time. It was hot in the sun and nice and cool in the rocks. I spent most of my time at the rocks with Grant, nick, and Shi. It has been such a blessing having nick and Shi on this trip. They are our translators, but more importantly they are our brothers. They are both two amazing guys and so much fun to be around. Some of the best memories from this trip include those two. Both of them speak very good English so we can talk about anything together, and some words they don't know so it makes it funny. For example, while we were walking through the stone forest I was explaining to them what the word "crap" meant. I was laughing so hard. Our experience at the forest was great, and it was even better the second time. (I went year) we got some really cool pictures. It's about 7 and we are on our way back to Kunming. Rumor has is, we are going to a pizza restaurant when we get back to the city, I hope that is true. Today has been great, the timing of everything was different than what it should've been, but what is a trip like this without a little adversity. One of the things I have learned is that brothers are born for times of adversity. There isn't any other group of guys I would want to be with than this group. Today has flown by and it's crazy to think that tomorrow is our last full day in China together. The time is flying by. The drive back to Kunming is beautiful. It's a perfect reminder that there is beauty in the struggle. The sun is setting over the mountains and I can't out the image into words. I also cannot put into words how beautiful it is here. China is absolutely huge and everywhere we go it's stunning. There are beautiful mountains, fields, cities, buildings, and people. Pictures don't do justice...especially when it comes to China. I wish that my family, my girl, and my friends could experience China someday. Everything is so different over here, and sometimes it is still hard to fathom that I am in China. I'm on the other side of the world and its so beautiful. What breaks my heart is that there are so many amazing people in China, and there are so many great things about China, but so many people don't have hope. They have no idea who Jesus Christ is and no idea why this place is so amazing. It makes me wonder, I believe that all of God's creation is beautiful, but is China more beautiful so that people here question that? Like maybe some sort of wake up call? God's handiwork is all over China and I hope and pray that the beautiful people here will someday have hope and believe in God. There is something about this place that I love. China and the people here will forever have a place in my heart. The rest of the night was great. We got back around 8:40 and had team time and pizza at 9. It was a great team time. We talked about what it means to be a Christian and sexual purity. The sexual purity talk was so good. I recorded it on my phone. Jordan shared his H's and he was the last one to do it. It was a hilarious night. He was so funny because he is dating coaches daughter and it was absolutely hilarious. We all got a really good laugh. I am hitting the sheets and going to sleep. Today was packed and absolutely amazing. This is my last full night of sleep in Kunming.
It's Saturday June 2nd and it is our very last day in Kunming. We went to a minority village park a sat this park there are 26 different minority villages and we got put into groups and had 7 different villages that we had to go to. It was a lot of fun. Our group finished first, but I think that we got 2nd. We had a lot of fun. It took 3 hours for us to complete and we were busy the entire time. After the minority village we taxied over to mall/market. We got ripped off my the taxi drivers, apparently they had already been paid through their apps before hand, but they wanted money when they dropped us off. We met at KFC and we got a little snack and then we went to the market. The difficult part about the shopping was that there was a super nice mall and that is where a lot of people wanted to go. Which makes sense! It's easy to not be interested in bringing some cultural gifts home. I went to the scroll shop that I went to last year. I spent nearly 700 yuan there. I am so excited to give those gifts away to friends and family. The scroll shop is very unique because all of the amazing artwork contains bible verses that the artist writes on them in Chinese. I love the place because it's a Christian business in a country like China. After the market and shopping we went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. I had mixed feelings about because my expectations were super high and I was a little bit disappointed with how it turned out. The meat they served the most of was cow tongue and you already know that there is no way I'm eating that. The restaurant did have a lot of good things about it, like all the fruit, and the cold drink machine. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but to find a drink that is cold in China and very rare. We bussed back to the hotel and had to walk about a mile and a half in the pouring rain. Now at this point, the trip is pretty much over, but we still had one thing left to do, our closing statements and conversations. We started around 8:30 and finished around 1:30. It was an emotional night. We had to say goodbye to our friend nick, shi, and Sam. Saying goodbye to nick was so hard. Tears were flowing from my eyes along with many of the other guys on the team. Nick was absolutely amazing and such a great friend. I want to share with you that nick hasn't fully committed his life to Christ yet but is on the right path, so to see his growth from the beginning to the end of the trip was amazing. He told us that he is just not ready yet, which is totally fine! Seeing him cry made me cry too. I can't wait to see Nick again someday, whether it's on earth or in heaven. Once we said our goodbyes, we went around and shared our favorite moments, funniest stories, and most impactful things we learned on the trip. It was so much fun to hear how God worked in all of our hearts in different ways. While we were sharing funny stories everybody was in tears because there were some hilarious things that happened on this trip. If you want to know some of the stories you're going to have to ask me, I'm not going to share it on here for privacy purposes. The next thing on the list of things to do was a period of time if anyone had any decisions to make. A couple of guys recommitted their lives to Christ and it was amazing to see. The best part of the night was when one of the guys gave his life to Christ! Remember how I talked about rooming with the manger and hoping he would make that decision before the trip was over? Well last night he made the decision to commit his life to Christ and I am so proud of him. Ever since he told me in Dali a week or so ago that he hadn't made that decision, I prayed everyday that God would work in his heart and that he would make that decision before the trip was over. Next was words of affirmation. That was a time where the floor was open for anyone to say something encouraging to the guys on the team. I love doing things like that, because it's often hard for guys to open up to other guys about their feelings. I was given some words of affirmation when it comes to my basketball skills and those words refilled me with confidence when it comes to the game of basketball. I was also assured that I had an impact on some of the guys during the trip and that was something that I had hoped and prayed for. Last night was amazing because it was a perfect example of how we all had formed a brotherhood and became brothers. I loved each and every guy on the team and will never forget the memories that we made on this trip and the lives that we all impacted for years to come. Last night we were told that we all had such an impact on thousands of people while we were in China. We were all over the news and formed so many amazing relationships. Everywhere we went, there were people that new who we were. It was amazing to play in front of thousands of people every game and to have people notice that we were different. At the end of it all, people didn't care about how we played, they noticed that we were different than them and they saw that we loved each other and had a certain demeanor about ourselves that they have never seen. Basketball is so much more than a game. I didn't get to bed until around 2:15 because I had to pack because we had to be awake at 4 so we could get to the airport.
It's Sunday June 3rd, and we are all on the plane on our way to Beijing. We woke up around 4 this morning and had to be ready at 4:30 and ready to leave at 5. We didn't end up leaving till around 5:20. Mind you, our flight this morning took off around 7:30. The drive from the hotel to the airport was at least an hour. As soon as we got into the airport we had to start running. We were already late! So Sam and Shi followed us to the airport this morning so that they could help us and without them, there is no way we would've made our flight. They fought for us like no other. Shi was literally sprinting through the airport so that he could figure out where we needed to be and when. Shi is a man that I want to be like someday. His selflessness, love for God, wisdom, and love for his personality are out of this world. I'll never forget him and I cannot wait to see him again in my life as well. So it was 6:40 and we were still checking in, our boarding time was 6:40. We ran to security, someone got into the express line and then had to run from security all the way to gate 53. It was a long run and running through airports suck, you never want to be that person right? But we were all that person. From the security line to the gate we had 8 minutes until they closed the gate. (The gate closes 15 minutes before take off) At this point, I'm thinking no way and I also realize I really have to pee. I looked at my watch, saw that I had 7 minutes, and I could also see the gate in the distance, so I ran into the bathroom, and then ran to the gate and had a whole minute to spare. Now at the gate we were all finally getting there and coach Val, had everybody wait for each other and reminded us that through the good and the bad we are still a team and that we were going to board the flight together. I appreciate coach Val's wisdom so much, he is such a cool guy. We all made it to the gate right on time and then had to take a shuttle bus to the plane. I think we may have made the plane late because we took off 40 minutes late. But we made!!! I am so thankful for that. God had or backs and without him there is no way we would've made our flight this morning. Once we get to Beijing some of the guys are going home so it's going to be hard to say goodbye. The rest of us have two and half days in Beijing and I am incredibly excited for that. Well.... So about Beijing today. It was messy. We had to say good bye to some of the guys as they flew back home and tears were shed. It was very sad. Once we got to Beijing we had to take like three different subways and walk two miles with all of our bags to our hotel. We were running on two hours of sleep. It was absolutely brutal. Then we got to our hotel around 3:20 and had to leave at 3:40. We then took two more subways to this basketball court and played pick up basketball and I was dead, but we ended up running the courts. Then we had dinner with a bunch of sweet body builders, and played the counting game and we had to drink and slap each other. It was such a long day. It was one of the worst days ever until the end. The ending was great.
It's Monday June 4th and we are in Beijing and we are on our way to the Great Wall of China! We have had this saying the entire trip and if started day 1 at the Dodgers saying "we are living." Today we are living again! Everybody got sleep, and we are all recharged. We know how cool today is going to be and how soon it will be until we head home. Everyone is in a great mood. The breakfast at the hotel was pretty good, it was supposedly a western breakfast but I still got some noodles. The game was playing where we ate breakfast so that was fun. There is a 24 hour convenient store next to the hotel and we all got a bunch of snacks for there day. They have huge waters for like less than a dollar and this store had Ritz crackers and Doritos. We got this super nice huge bus to take to the Great Wall and it's only 1,200 yuan which is like almost 200 dollars. It's so nice to have such a big bus to drive around with today. We are living!!! I am so excited to see what today brings. The drive to the Great Wall had been beautiful. It's so cool to see more of another province in China. I am not sure what province we are in now, but it's beautiful yet again. We faintly got to see some huge skyscrapers and they're like nothing I've ever seen before. Beijing is absolutely huge. Not all of the skyscrapers are in the same part because everything is spread out since Beijing is us huge. The population is around 20 million and there are huge buildings everywhere. Beijing is like nothing I have ever seen before. It's difficult to see far because of the pollution. We are starting to drive through some mountains and they're beautiful. I cannot wait to see my first glimpse of the Great Wall. I have a feeling that the first glimpse of the Great Wall will be something I will never forget. Like seeing my girlfriend for the first time, or seeing Chicago for the first time, or even having my first college basketball game. I cannot wait to see it. I feel like I do the night before we open up all of our Christmas presents! Just got back into the bus from the Great Wall. I can't even put the experience into words. The Great Wall is one of the coolest most amazing things I have ever seen in my life, and I've been blessed to see a lot of amazing things. First off, I learned that the Great Wall is 13,000 miles long. We got to the wall and at the bottom we ate Burger King again. Then we took a bus to the base and a ski lift to the top. The views were incredible and pictures will never do justice. We walked probably up and down 20,000 steps. It was unreal. Some of the wall was so steep we had to use our hands. We walked probably only a 2 or 3 miles and took pictures of them most amazing sites I've ever seen. I will never forget those views. It was a perfect and sunny day so everything was beautiful. When we were finished we got to toboggan down to the very bottom. It was was one of the funniest things I have ever done in my life. It was about a 3 minutes ride. Once we got to the bottom we shopped for a little bit and I got some cool souvenirs for my family. Today has been so fun so far and I am so high on life. I also got a good tan so that's a plus, and a Chinese man working the toboggan said I looked like Tom Brady which is not accurate at all, but I will take it. I am looking forward to the rest of the night! When we got back to the city we went straight to the gym to watch out brother LP (love people) play basketball. After that we went to dinner and ate at a Muslim restaurant and the food was really good. We met LJ (love Jesus) and he is an amazing man. I guess he has been apart of thousands of Chinese men and women accepting Christ into their hearts. I am honored to have meet him.
It's Tuesday June 5th our very last full day in China. Today has been so tiring. Currently I am writing this in the basement of a KFC. The KFC's here are absolutely out of this world. So far today we've seen the forbidden city and the tianamen square.(spelling is wrong) Today in Beijing it is 102 degrees. It's so hot. There are so many people. The smog is absolutely insane as well. Apparently Beijing is surrounded by mountains and we can't even see the mountains it is so bad. After we ate lunch we got on the subway and made our way to the silk market. The silk market is the place where you buy all the fake stuff and some of it is real. I spent so much money there this afternoon and it was a ton of fun. I would share what I got but everything I got were gifts. So I don't want to give anything away! At this huge market I somehow ended up spending most of my money at three stores and two of the owners were sisters and the one was one of their best friends. Since they new that I shopped at all of their stores they gave me good deals. After shopping we got back on the subway and made our way back to the hotel. We got an hour to chill and it was the quickest hour of the trip. We had one last Chinese meal at dinner tonight and it was very good. After the meal coach asked if some of us want to go to the Olympic park since the summer Olympics were here in 2008. We took two taxis over there and the taxi I was in, none of us had any Chinese money and we got split up from our coach and the rest of the guys. It took about 40 minutes to find them and by this time it was already 9:30. When we drove up to the Olympic park it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The birds nest and the ice cube were lit up and it was beautiful. So we ended up meeting the rest of the group like a mile or two away from those buildings. As were were about a half a mile away they shut the lights off and the magnificently lit buildings were no longer lit anymore. It was sad, the pictures were about to be amazing. I still got to see the buildings which was very cool. I had never been in an Olympic park so it was quite amazing. Once we had walked through everything we lowkey got lost. The park is surrounded and gated off like crazy. We had to walk all over the place to find a way where we could get out. We finally did and then we called some taxis and we were driven back to our hotel. I can't believe that today was our last day in China.
Today is Wednesday June 6th and we are heading home!! I cannot believe that our time in China is over. This morning was pretty simple. We left our hotel at 11, so we could sleep in as long as we wanted and were on our own this morning. I woke up around 8 to have breakfast and a little bit of a FaceTime date. I got back to my room around 7 and it took around an hour and a half for me to pack all of my stuff and organize it the way that I wouldn't to organize it. I have two suitcases, a book bad, and an MCM bag. I came back with way more than what I brought. We luckily got to take the nice bus to the airport and it was about an hour and 15 minutes because the traffic was bad. Once we got to the airport we got our bags checked, had another meal at Burger King, exchanged some money and then made our way to the terminal. When we were checking in we got the option if we wanted an isle or window seat. I of course chose an isle seat. As a matter of fact, this flight is so empty that half of the team has their very own row. Baby Q wanted to come to my row so he is in the window and I am in the isle. It's been a great flight so far. I am watching a movie called game night right now and as soon as it is over I might start to watch another movie and then prepare to sleep! We are around 45 minutes away from landing in LA. The flight has actually been pretty quick. I might have slept around 5 hours. I have watched three 4 movies and they have all been very good. When I landed in Detroit I was surprised by Jennifer and was so excited to see her and my mom. When we pulled in the driveway later that day, I stopped by timer and it took 35 hours and 43 minutes from the time we pulled out of the hotel in Beijing.
