Saturday, September 25, 2010

Tidal Bore of Qiantang River

Each month during the full moon, and the few days around the full moon, you can see a wave coming up the Qiantang River. This week we had a holiday called the "Mid-Autumn Festival." For some reason this month the wave becomes a big deal to China. Many people come from all over China to see this phenomenon. What happens is when the high tide comes into the Hangzhou Bay it meets with the Qiantang River, which is flowing into the Hangzhou Bay. When the wave meets the water flowing towards it it causes a tidal bore. The river feeds the wave up the river and it can go for many miles. After the wave passes by you the river changes directions just for a short time.
Here is a video showing you the event.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you all!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

My well known fear.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I have a huge fear of flying. I have been around the world several times in my life and feel that I fly more then most people. And even after all of that I still get real nervous the days leading up to a flight. When I am on a plane I am really tense and aware of what is going on at all times. The littlest bit of turbulence has me going for the seat handles right away. I even find myself getting irritated at the pilot for not doing a better job avoiding the turbulence. Not that he has much he can do about it. And every time I land, I make a promise with myself that I will never fly again and will just have to take a boat back. I think you get the picture.
With that being said, I would not be here in China today if it were not for me dealing with my fears and powering through. We all have fears in life. Some are worse then others. Sometimes our fear is not really understanding something enough to realize it is not that bad or hard to do. If I let my fear over come me I would never get on a plane and would only live life in the South. Because from there I can drive to beaches, mountains, and all the best theme parks within a few hours. All my family is close and I would feel safe.
Today many people have a fear of talking about our Father. The fear of rejection, mockery, or the unknown are usually common reasons. We get comfortable going to our building and meeting with the Family, but the idea of going out and doing something is not for me, "We have specialist that do that." We are all challenged by the Son to go out and talk about Father. Yes, some of us may be better then others at it but who's to say you are not better at it then you think you are. No one is great at something the first time. It takes time to learn and grow. In the end, overcoming your own fear could be the only real challenge.