Loving Google Earth

Well, it is official now, the world is way too freakin' small. This site proves that point. I mean, I can scroll around the world in seconds and see you sipping your morning coffee in your pj's.....oops.. maybe I'll just zoom back out a bit. By the way, nice hair, bud.
We have really enjoyed checking this program out and finding many cool sights and places. Of course the familiar places draw us the most. For example we actually found the apartment that we lived in when we were in Shanghai.

The thing that astounded me about this satellite view is how barren this area was. The photo above must be in the late ninties or 2000 at the latest. The following photos are from a video I took from the roof of the apartment building we were working on at the corner of Guyang Lu and Gubei Nan Lu. You can see there has been a huge change in just a few years.

This would be looking towards the top of the Google Earth pic. It is looking up Gubei Nan Lu.

This is looking to the left of the GE pic. Note the ever present tower cranes, a constant fixture on the Shanghai skyline.

This is looking to the right close to the top of the GE pic.

And this is looking down the street just left of the middle of the GE pic that runs from the top of the pic to the bottom. That is Guyang Lu where I walked to work every day. As you can see it has changed quite a bit.

Of Course I'm Gonna See This...

AND FANS GO HERE FOR MORE GREAT STUFF

My Mistake

Well once again I did not do quite enough research.
The last post about the size of Shanghai was slightly inaccurate because the figure of 6300 square kilometers covers the whole municipality of Shanghai and not just the mostly urban areas of the city. For instance there is a long drive from the Puxi side of the Huangpu to the international airport at Pudong, but most of it is agricultural once you get out of the industrial area south of Jinqiao. We are not familiar with the northern part of the city but it may be similar. The outskirts are where you are finding more of the single family dwellings rather than the multistory buildings further into the core.
Anyway the long and short of it is that the urban area is roughly 2057 square kms.
So with this in mind we find these results as follows:
Shanghai's urban area is 14.28 times larger than Saskatoon's (for my Sask wife :) )
Shanghai is actually 18.04 times bigger than Vancouver (no this does not include Delta, Richmond, North Van, blah blah blah)
Shanghai's urban area is smaller than Vancouver metropolitan area, but with 3 times denser a population. (It sure did not look this way flying over it. It just went on and on while Vancouver seemed small by comparison. That's web stats for ya)
I could go on, but you get the picture......right??

Big Enough I Guess

Cris was wondering today exactly how big Shanghai, China is and so I found the Wikipedia site which says that it covers roughly 6300 square kilometers. This did not quite do it though because it gave no real reference. So we did some calculations and compared it to an area in Saskatchewan. First off we found that it actually covers substantially more area than Prince Albert National Park, but this also didn't do it. So think of this the next time you drive from Saskatoon to Duck Lake, when you arrive you will have just traveled across the city of Shanghai. The distance of 88 kilometers would represent the diameter of Shanghai if it were in a perfect circle.
Hmmm
Being from B.C. myself I had to find that it would also be like (well somewhat considering the curviness of the roads compared to the big SK). So from downtown Vancouver start driving and go till you get somewhere around the Vedder Bridge (Wow, eh Ma). Or go as the crow flies from Penticton to Vernon.
Cool.
Thought y'all might be interested.

The Dangers Of Mixed Marriages...:)

My wife showed me this after she had been checking out a Shanghai expat community blog.LOL.

The Beat(ting) Goes On

So it continues unabated in China. The PSB (Public Security Bureau) breaks up a meeting of our brothers and sisters and drags them off to detention, prison and torture. We don't hear much about this in the flood of news stories coming from mainland China. The economic boom and rising power of the awakened 'Dragon' makes up the bulk of the front pages, not the daily plight of Christians and others seeking religious freedom under an atheistic government.

The interesting thing this time is that there were Americans detained and interrogated as well. Perhaps this will bring the suffering into sharper focus for us.
The daily challenge to faith in China is markedly different from here and it isn't. In their case they must try to avoid detection by hostile forces and we must try to be detected by largely apathetic forces. In this we differ, but in the sense of conflict we do not. We are all under attack in this world, whether it is the sinister anesthetic gas attacks of the spirit we deal with here or the heavy blows of electrified police batons there.
Please join us in praying for our brothers and sisters who suffer abroad in conditions we do not understand. Please join us in praying for the leaders of China that their eyes would be open to the light of Christ. Pray for President Hu Jin Tao as he visits the U.S. on a trade mission that he would be confronted with these injustices by the right voices.
Please pray for China.

Our Little Oasis

So we finally made it for a night out on our own. It has been a while, but well worth the wait. Cris found this great B&B in Peachland called Okanagan Oasis. We would totally recommend this place to anyone, it was so relaxing. Of course we would also recommend getting married in early April because you get better rates and there are fewer people around. We got the whole place to ourselves and it was great.
The view was amazing wherever we looked and the amenities were very tasteful. The first thing we did was just crash on the bed and relax. It was so good to not be wondering when the kids were going to come in and jump on us or when we would have to go and mediate a fight.
The house had been reno'ed for the B&B just 3 years ago and the back yard is still in progress. The deck they have built is multilevel and at night it is set off with rope lights which add a great atmosphere.In this picture you can also see the palm tree by the hottub which was lit up at night too and just added to the ambiance. We sat and talked in the tub for 2 hours. This is another benefit of the April anniversary, the air was cool enough to let us sit in the tub for as long as we liked.
Going into the weekend planning a month previous we both had to let go of any huge expectations. We found that this was just putting too much pressure on us to have the 'perfect' weekend. We have found that when we do this we just find ourselves going from thing to thing trying to find that 'perfection' and it just eludes us and we are totally spent by the end of it. This was the perfect opposite.

So all in all this was a fantastic weekend getaway, and a great 10 year celebration. We can't wait for #20!!

Ten Years Ago Today...

Wow, it has been ten years since I wed this gorgeous lass and not a minute of it has been a regret. She has made me a better man in so many ways. This isn't some wined up anniversary toast either. Her perserverance and patience has challenged me to rise up on more occasions than I can count. I shudder to think who I would be without her.
Her beauty is truly radiant. It will always be, because it is the reflection of her heart on her whole being. She is lit by God's love which guides her through our family like a thread. If I am the covering over this family, she is assuredly the walls. She holds me with love and respect and shelters our wee ones with great care. I see in their smiles the comfort they draw from her daily. Their confidence in the face of life's trials is a testament to her nuture.
I love this lady and always will.
If as you read this you have a glass in hand, please raise it and toast this, my great love.
Happy anniversary Sweetness.

Shaking Off The Dust

Today I was talking to a friend who has been feeling a lot of pressure lately. It has been coming from all sides and he is really wanting a respite. He said to me that it seems he is in the middle of that verse in Hebrews, you know the one. It says

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:27 (KJV) Courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

As soon as he said this I got this picture of someone hanging onto something like it was their last breath and being shaken violently all over. It seemed like it wasn't them being shaken, but the object they were clinging to. Then it came to mind that the verse he was referring to came just before the one that says,

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:28 (KJV) courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

So then if the kingdom within us cannot be moved then all we have to do to stop the shaking is let go. Let go of all the stuff that is shaking. Let go and grab hold of the kingdom.
Ever notice how a worrisome thought will slide in through the backdoor of a good day and all you have to do to draw in a bank of clouds is to take hold of that thought. Then as you sit down at the table with it, maybe sharing a coffee and a bagel, you notice that the clouds are now raining down. So you ask your thought's friends to come in before they get soaked and the next thing you know a hurricane is filling the horizon of that beautiful day. At this point you have the choice of heading to the storm shelter with your new buds to wait out the 'storm that never ends' or to see the reality of what is happening and kick them out. The amazing thing is that when you kick them out the clouds show themselves for what they are, momentary vapours. Light afflictions I think Paul called them. All we have to do to start the shaking is take hold of them because they are shaking and will never stop. All we have to do to stop it is let go.
AAaaaaaahhhhhhhh, doesn't that feel so much better???

Doin' What We Should

This weekend was a one day affair since I had to work Saturday to make up for a sick day so I was pretty fried at the end of it all. The kids were happy to have me home on Sunday afternoon and were rarely more than 10 feet away.
As I finally took an opportunity to sit down on the couch, Ethan and Sammy, my two boys, took the opportunity to join me. Their idea of relaxing was to try and coax me into a wrestle session. When I tried to tell them I was too tired they just kept poking and prodding so my wife came to the rescue.
"Boys, daddy is tired and just wants to sit with you guys."
To which Sammy replied," But mommy, we're boys, and boys play with dads."
The irrefutable logic of a four year old wins out again.